Raskolnikov Lives!

St. Petersburg is the setting for many great Russian novels, perhaps most notably, Crime and Punishment. In one of my guidebooks, I discovered a "Crime and Punishment walking tour." Apparently, based on things said in the book, people have figured out where the events of the novel took place, so I spent Thursday evening tracing the steps of Raskolnikov, from his own attic apartment to the apartment where he murdered the pawnbroker and her sister, Lizaveta.

The novel is set in the neighborhood around Sennaya Ploshchad (Haymarket Square), once one of the seedier parts of St. Petersburg.


I'm not sure what the reputation of the area is now, but Sennaya Ploshchad is big and busy. This picture really just shows a tiny corner of the square.

Dostoevsky actually lived in this neighborhood (in this building)


while he was writing the novel, just around the corner from Raskolnikov's apartment. Where, exactly, Raskolnikov lived is the one fuzzy part of the tour. There are two possible buildings. This one is the officially designated building, as demonstrated by the sculpture and plaque on the corner of the building. The plaque says "Home of Raskolnikov" at the top. The rest of it says, "The tragic lots of the people of this district of Petersburg served as the basis of Dostoevsky's impassioned sermon on goodness for all mankind." Something like that.


And this is the building more popularly believed to be the correct one. I wonder if this one is the more popular just because there are no locks on the stairwell door.


Whichever building it was, Raskolnikov lived in a tiny room up at the very top of the building, so at the top of the open, popular building, people leave all sorts of messages for Raskolnikov.


These messages say things like "Rodya rules," "Rodya, we love you! You're the most unique! Hold on! We're with you!" and "Raskolnikov, you're a super hero!" Rodya is the short form of Raskolnikov's first name, Rodion.

From Raskolnikov's apartment I crossed the bridge over the Griboyedov Canal where Raskolnikov often stopped to think as he stared into the water.



And finally, I arrived at the building where the pawn broker's shop was. Unfortunately, fancy gates and locks have become popular in Russia in the last several years. Apparently this courtyard used to be open and you could go in and up to the apartment where the crime took place. Not anymore. Instead I just got this picture of a gate while some drunk guys tried to become my buddies. They probably thought I was a little strange for taking this picture at all.