CDL: Central House of Writers (Tsentralny Dom Literatorov)

CDL: Central House of Writers (Tsentralny Dom Literatorov) Review

The CDL is an exclusive club for members of the Writers' Union, now run as an independent nonprofit. The club (at 53 Bolshaya Nikitskaya; it's the same building, but the club entrance is on another street) is off-limits, but the dining room is open to the public and is now one of the city's best and most elegant restaurants. Next door (No. 52) is a large mansion, enclosed by a courtyard, that houses the administrative offices of the Writers' Union. It's commonly believed that Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) used this mansion as a model for his description of the Rostov home in War and Peace. A statue of Tolstoy stands in the courtyard. Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) set part of his satire of Soviet life, The Master and Margarita, here.