Lenin's Shalash, Museum complex and memorial in Sestroretsk, Russia
Lenin's Shalash is a museum and memorial site on the shores of Lake Razliv northwest of Saint Petersburg. The complex features a reconstructed shelter alongside exhibits that document the period of concealment.
After the July Days of 1917, Lenin and Zinoviev hid from Provisional Government arrest in a hay hut on Lake Razliv, built by worker Nikolai Emelyanov. Lenin worked on The State and Revolution there and left on 8 August 1917 for Finland under the alias Konstantin Ivanov. A granite monument by Alexander Gegello opened on 15 July 1928.
The site is known as "Ilyich's Last Underground," a name it gained after Nikolai Emelyanov recounted the 1917 hiding at a 1924 memorial meeting. Visitors can see the granite hut carved to resemble the original hay shelter, with inscriptions cut by stonecutters Sakharov and Reshetov.
The site sits in a wooded area by the lake and is best reached by local transport from the city center. Visiting works year-round, but summer and early autumn offer the most comfortable weather and clearest views of the landscape.
The granite monument unveiled on 15 July 1928 was carved from stone quarried at Borisova Griva on Lake Ladoga, following a full-size clay model made on site. Architect Alexander Gegello had first shaped the hut in plasticine at one twenty-fifth scale, and a student of the Academy of Arts cut the facade.
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