ANNA AKHMATOVA & THE FOUNTAIN HOUSE

After my visit to Ice-Breaker Krassin on Wednesday, September 5, I deliberated between heading back into Petersburg's city center or taking the ferry out to Kronstadt, a Russian naval center (at one time, it was the HQ of the Soviet Fleet in the Baltic and was closed to the public.)

The sun was actually shining, but I had not eaten, it was 3:00 p.m., and Andrea had told me not to eat after 4:00 p.m., because of dinner plans.

So I opted to take the tram into the city, grab a sandwich at a bodega and visit the Anna Akhmatova apartment at the Fountain House, which is located behind the fabulous Sheremetev Palace on the Fontanka River. (I wanted to visit that, too, but there is only so much time...)

Unlike the Rumyantsev mansion that nicely displayed bright examples of Soviet living quarters in the 1920s and 1930s, the Anna Akhmatova Memorial Museum depicts a probably more realistic view and description.

The Fountain House is a sad place.

EXTERIOR OF THE FOUNTAIN HOUSE. IT STANDS BEHIND THE GRAND SHEREMETEV PALACE AND OVERLOOKS A CHARMING LITTLE PARK WITH TREES AND BENCHES. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF ITS LOCATION IN AN INNER COURTYARD SHIELDED BY LARGER, TALLER BUILDINGS, IT IS A DARK AND COLD PLACE.

THE ENTRYWAY TO THE APARTMENT. APPARENTLY, IT WAS OFTEN VERY COLD IN THESE ROOMS AND THERE IS A DESCRIPTION OF ANNA TALKING ON THE TELEPHONE WITH FUR COAT, HAT AND GLOVES. THROUGH THIS ENTRYWAY AND TO THE LEFT IS THE KITCHEN.

THE KITCHEN AS IT WAS IN THE 1920 & 30s.

FROM THE KITCHEN LOOKING DOWN THE CORRIDOR THAT TRAVERSES THE BACK SIDE OF THE APARTMENT'S ROOMS.

ANNA'S SON FROM HER FIRST(?) MARRIAGE, LEV GUMILEV, CAME TO LIVE WITH ANNA HERE AND MADE THIS NICHE IN THE CORRIDOR HIS STUDY. IT'S HARDLY WIDE ENOUGH FOR TWO PEOPLE TO STAND, BUT THAT WAS LIFE IN SOVIET RUSSIA IN THE 1920s.

THIS IS CALLED THE WHITE HALL. THE MUSEUM NOTES DO NOT SAY WHAT IT WAS (PERHAPS THE BATH/LAUNDRY ROOM AND PUNIN FAMILY SPACE), BUT IT IS NOW AN AREA THAT DISPLAYS MEMENTOS AND PHOTOS OF ANNA'S. PHOTOS OF HER DEAD  COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS ARE DISPLAYED ALONG WITH THEIR OFTEN TRAGIC STORIES. THOSE THAT DIED, DIED BY STARVATION OR SUICIDE. THOSE THAT WERE KILLED, WERE KILLED BY STALIN'S AUTHORITIES . 

ANNA CAME TO THE FOUNTAIN HOUSE AND LIVED WITH HER LOVER, NICOLAI PUNIN, AND HIS WIFE. THIS WAS HIS STUDY. THE MUSEUM PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO ANNA'S STATUS AS A REVERED RUSSIAN POET AND REVEALS THE DIFFICULT CONDITIONS OF LIFE FOR CREATIVE MINDS IN THE U.S.S.R.

THE DINING ROOM, WHICH SERVED AS A COMMUNAL SPACE. A SKETCHED PORTRAIT OF ALEXANDER PUSHKIN ON AN EASEL IS DISPLAYED, AS IT STOOD DURING ANNA'S TIME.

ANNA'S ROOM. SHE LIVED, WROTE AND SLEPT HERE FROM 1927 THROUGH 1952, EXCEPT FOR A FEW YEARS DURING THE SIEGE OF LENINGRAD, WHEN SHE WAS EVACUATED.

PART OF THE FOUNTAIN HOUSE MUSEUM IS JOSEF BRODSKY'S  "AMERICAN STUDY." BRODSKY WAS A POET AND DISCIPLE OF ANNA AKHMATOVA BEFORE EMIGRATING TO THE U.S.A.

BRODSKY'S DESK.