–    The book's whole story is unfolding in Moscow in 1882, the second year of Alexander III's reign. The purpose of this web page is to show how the city and its inhabitants looked at that time, thus helping you to better understand the book and its characters.

Nothing can serve this purpose better than the images left from that period of the Russian history – photos, paintings, postcards etc.

The Death of Achilles at Amazon.  —

The author Boris Akunin (penname of Grigory Chkhartishvili), who conciders himself an archetypal Muscovite, stands near his home in one of the city's ancient lanes. n

The Moscow downtown's topography hasn't changed much since 1882, so most of the book's important venues can be easily located on a today's city map.

While some of them still exist – notably the Governor-General's palace – other haven't survived the Soviet-time "reconstruction", including the Dusseaux, Angliya and Troitsa hotels and the Church of Three Holy Hierarchs. n

The Red Square has been Moscow's most famous and revered place for the last 500 years. It's also an example of the city's ever changing but still very characteristic and recognizable landscape.

Compare these two photos: the upper taken in 1880, the lower in 2005. The Kremlin's Spasskaya tower and the picturesque St.-Basil Cathedral form the square's two high-rise dominants. The only major difference is the monument of Minin and Pozharsky that has been moved from the middle of the square closer to the cathedral. n

The Nikolaevsky station, to which Erast Fandorin arrived from St.Petersburg upon his appointment as special aide to the Moscow Governor-General.

General Sobolev's train from Minsk arrived to the Brest station, which also served trains to Warsaw and Paris.

From this Ryazan station Sobolev's funeral train departed for his family estate.

On his arrival in Moscow, a traveler had to continue on a cab, driven by a typical Moscow coachman in his peculiar kaftan and hat.

From the station Fandorin was driven to a first-class hotel – like this Grand Hotel de Moscou.

After changing is his official uniform, Erast hurried along Moscow's main Tverskaya St., …

… until he arrived at the Governor-General's palace...

…to meet Prince V. Dolgorukoy - whose prototype Dolgorukov was presented the address (right) by "grateful Muscovites" on the 25th anniversary of his rule over the city.

The law and order in Moscow was preserved not only by the policemen (left), but also by Cossack troops stationed in the city (right).

Moscow was known for its abundance of Orthodox clergy, like the bishop (left) and monks of the city's numerous convents (right, painting by V.Perov)

Another characteristic segment of the population were the merchants – kuptsy.

However, the less prosperous city dwellers preferred to buy food and goods at outdoor markets, like this one at Staraya (Old) Sq.

The homeless were waiting for the municipal lodging houses to open well before the dusk (painting by V.Makovsky).

Public water fountains were a customary part of the city landscape (painting by V.Vasnetsov).

The funeral serviced for General Sobolev's historic prototype, Michael Skobelev, was held at the Church of Three Holy Hierarchs.

The train carrying the coffin was seen off by huge crowds of Muscovites. Right – Sobolev's favorite Chateau Yquem wine that played a tragic role in the Death of Achilles.

© 2005. Michael Chereisky (idea, texts and design)  |  Images for this site have been borrowed from various Web sources – in a hope that no copyright was violated.