Anna Akhmatova Literary and Memorial Museum Museum

The Anna Akhmatova Literary and Memorial Museum is located in the Fountain House (Sheremetev Palace) in Saint Petersburg and is dedicated to the life and work of poet Anna Akhmatova. The museum preserves rooms associated with Akhmatova and displays manuscripts, photographs and personal items.

Exhibits cover her literary output, her role in the Acmeist school of Russian poetry and the social and political context of her life in the 20th century. Period rooms, including a reconstructed study, are a central element of the museum’s presentation.

The building itself is an eighteenth-century palace that later served as a residence connected to Akhmatova; the museum integrates the palace rooms with exhibition galleries and archives for researchers and visitors.

The museum occupies the Fountain House on Liteyny Prospekt in central Saint Petersburg, within walking distance of the city’s central cultural institutions.

• Collections: Museum preserves Akhmatova’s study and personal rooms, along with manuscripts, photographs and archives related to her life and the Acmeist movement.

What to See#

• Fountain House (museum rooms): The former Sheremetev family residence known as the Fountain House, where Anna Akhmatova lived for part of her life and which houses period rooms and her preserved study.

The museum is in the centre of St. Petersburg on the Fontanka river embankment. From Nevsky Prospekt, it is a 10-20 minute walk; public transport options include several tram and bus routes that run along the Fontanka. If using the metro, Nevsky Prospekt or Gostiny Dvor stations place visitors within easy walking distance.

• Arrive just before opening to hear the rooms settle into silence - the small museum fills quickly with tour groups in high season.
• Ask the attendant to point out the exact spot on the piano where Akhmatova sat; small, human details matter here.
• Combine the visit with a stroll along the Fontanka (the museum is in the Fountain House complex).