Ryabushinsky Mansion (Dom Ryabushinskovo)

Ryabushinsky Mansion (Dom Ryabushinskovo) Review

This marvelous example of Moscow art nouveau was built in 1901 for a wealthy banker and designed by the architect Fyodor Shektel. (If you arrived in Moscow by train, you may have noticed the fanciful Yaroslav station, another of his masterpieces, just opposite the Leningrad railway station.) The building has been wonderfully preserved. This was thanks in part to the fact that Maxim Gorky lived here from 1931 until his death in 1936. Although Gorky was a champion of the proletariat, his home was rather lavish. Gorky himself apparently hated the style moderne, as art nouveau was termed back then. Those who don't, however, are charmed by this building of ecru brick and stone painted pink and mauve atop gray foundations. On the exterior, a beautiful mosaic of irises forms a border around the top of most of the house, and a strangely fanciful yet utilitarian iron fence matches the unusual design of the window frames. The spectacular interior is replete with a stained-glass roof and a twisting marble staircase that looks like a wave of gushing water. Tours in English are available; call ahead for more information.