Designed by one of Russia’s most celebrated art nouveau architects — Fyodor Schechtel — in 1900, the Ryabushinsky Mansion is most famous as the former home of writer Maxim Gorky. This magical building is full of beautiful stained glass windows, a spectacular marble "wave" staircase and exquisite carved oak paneling and is worth visiting just for aesthetic reasons. There is extensive written material available in each room giving insight into Gorky’s life in the house, his tastes in décor and ornaments and there are some stories about the famous contemporaries who sat and talked about the Russian soul there. Considering Gorky was the head of the Writer’s Union, that list includes everyone from Mayakovsky to Tolstoy.