Vladmir Ilyich Ulyanov or Lenin, as he is more commonly known, is everywhere you look in Russia. St Petersburg is no exception, after all the starting point of the revolution itself was named after him for more than 65 years. If you want to track down the infamous Soviet leader, here are some places to start...

Alliuev apartment museum
Often referred to as ‘Lenin’s secret flat’ this museum was established by the Communists in 1937. Lenin actually only lived here for 3 days in July 1917 while he and the other Bolsheviks thought of a better place to hide. It’s a plain and cold place sparsely furnished with paintings of Lenin in heroic poses and his voice (coming from an old gramophone) swirls around the rooms. It’s actually more famous for being the home of Stalin’s wife Nadezhda Alliuev and thus has a very eerie atmosphere.
Address: Ul. 10-ya Sovietskaya 17, tel. 271 25 79.
Open: 10.00 - 18.00, closed Wed, Sun.
Prices: foreigners: 100 – 200Rbl, Russians:  20 - 40Rbl.

Elizarov (formerly Lenin) apartment museum
This beautifully preserved 5 room apartment was the home of Lenin’s sister and her husband Elizarov. Lenin and his wife lived here too from April to July 1917. This is the place to get close to the everyday things that the he used such as his chess set, bed, toothbrush and even the wheelchair (specially brought to the museum from Moscow in 1927) in which he spent his last dying days. Atmospheric stuff.
Address: 52 Ulitsa Lenina, flat 24, tel: 235-37-78
Open: 10-18. Closed Wed and Sun.
Prices:  foreigners: 100 – 200Rbl, Russians:  20 – 40Rbl.
 
Lenin Memorial Museum
Following the success of the October revolution Lenin and his wife moved into this former girl’s school along with the first provisional government in the final months of 1917, before Moscow became the new capital. Now the seat of the city administration, tours are held once a week (Friday 15.00 – 16.00). On a tour you’ll see Lenin’s office and living quarters, the majestic assembly hall, a small exhibition about the revolution, and some inspiring socialist realist paintings and statues.
Address: Smolny Institute, 3 Pl. Rastrelli, tel. 576 74 61.
Prices: foreigners: 100 – 200Rbl, Russians:  20 - 40Rbl.
Tours by arrangement only. Fridays 15.00 – 16.00.

State Museum of Political history
The mansion in which the museum is housed was the Bolshevik headquarters for the most part of the 1917 revolution. The top Lenin sight here is the faithful recreation of Lenin’s office plus the balcony from where he addressed the many bands of passing workers. The museum has a fascinating exhibition about the revolution and the years that followed as well other exhibits documenting the whole soviet period in glorious detail. (in English)
Address: Ul. Kuibysheva 2-4, tel. 233 70 52, fax 233 73 00.
Open: 10:00 - 18:00. Closed Thurs.
Admission: foreigners 100-200Rbl, Russians 0-60Rbl.
Excursions: foreigners 700-1300Rbl, Russians 250-400Rbl

Lenin was a what?!
Some of the more strange stories that circulated after Lenin’s death include claims that he was:

A father – He may have later become ‘the grandfather of the Soviet Union’ but Lenin and his wife never left a little pioneer of their own. Some have suggested that he was impotent or that he had syphilis although most historians believe that they were simply too dedicated to the revolution to think about starting a family. In exile he did have a beautiful young mistress, the Russian emigre Inessa Armand, and many claimed he had an illegitimate son with her, but thus far no solid evidence of an heir has ever surfaced.

An ink-pot sniffer – No-one is really sure about the sniffing of ink-pots but what is known is that he ate some from time to time. Let us explain. During his time in prison Lenin was determined to stay in contact with his comrades by writing them secret letters - penned in milk. After experimenting with ink-pots made out of meat, fruit and even cottage cheese he finally decided bread ink-pots worked best. So after hiding his completed texts in the pages of his library books, he simply gobbled up all the remaining evidence!

A mushroom! – In 1991 the St Petersburg artist Sergei Kuryokhin produced a documentary which was shown on Russian TV which not only ‘proved’ that Lenin was addicted to magic mushrooms, but also declared that he had actually been part mushroom himself! In the same show Kuryokhin also ‘revealed’ that Stalin built the Moscow metro to cover up his search for the remains of a meteorite which had landed in the Moscow region containing messages from aliens!! The truth is out there...

Lenin memorabilia
During Soviet times many officials kept small busts or portraits of Lenin on their desks. You too can get your hands on your very own paperweight from almost every souvenir shops - the chocolate museum even sells an edible version of his famous head. Other kitsch items emblazoned with Lenin’s face include matrioshkas, McLenin t-shirts, watches and some very cheap woodbine cigarettes – long live the revolution!