DOSTOYEVSKY MUSEUM

Set back from the main square, the museum can be spotted by the relief sculpture of the great writer wearing a beard on the modern part of the building; it is adjacent to the small log house that Lieutenant Dostoyevsky occupied between 1854 and 1859. It stands out enough from the surrounding architecture to be noticed. On the right is a statue of Dostoyevsky in uniform, chatting with Shokan Valikhanov, Kazakh ethnologist and historian, a contemporary of the Russian writer and considered the father of modern Kazakh historiography. The two men met in Omsk, and struck up a close friendship that lasted despite Dostoyevsky's exile.

The museum, housed in a beautiful setting with walls decorated with large pages of Dostoyevsky's handwriting, displays mainly period photographs and a number of books that marked, influenced or inspired the Russian author, just like Hugo, Byron or Balzac. Semey is also featured, with a historical model of the city and black-and-white photographs of its main monuments. In the center, a space evokes the world of the Gulag. Here, visitors can linger over drawings by Korsakova and Tolkacheva, depicting prisoners' faces with intensity.

The tour concludes with Dostoyevsky's house, which consists of an entrance hall adjacent to a small bedroom, a living room and a study. Period furniture has been arranged to recreate Dostoyevsky's everyday world during the five years he spent at Semey.