🖼 Ryabushinsky Mansion (Gorky Museum)

ул. Малая Никитская, 6/2

A Shekhtel mansion of 1900 with a wave-like staircase, stained glass and mosaics.

Shekhtel built the house in 1900–1903 for Stepan Ryabushinsky, whose icon collection was considered the largest in Russia.
In 1921–1925 an experimental psychoanalytic kindergarten operated here, attended by Stalin's son Vasily.
Maxim Gorky, who moved in here in 1931, called the mansion a "ridiculous house".
At meetings of Stalin and Gorky with writers here in October 1932, the term "socialist realism" was discussed and given meaning.
During restoration in the mid-1970s a bulky eavesdropping device was found in a wall.
The windows of the four floors look identical but get smaller toward the top, which makes the house look taller.
The basement kitchen was connected to the dining room by a lift so that dishes reached the table instantly.
Gorky's library in the mansion has 12,000 volumes.