Lenin's hideout sold at auction

The deserted shores were an ideal hiding place for Lenin

When Vladimir Lenin came to the Gulf of Finland as a hunted fugitive in the summer of 1917, he could not have imagined that 85 years later the deserted shores would be prime capitalist real estate.

The place where Lenin sheltered in a hayloft north of St Petersburg, after his enemies in the Provisional Government had put a price on his head, has been sold at auction, Russian TV reports.

By an irony of fate, private property has begun its triumphant march from Lenin's old hideout.

Russian TV

Plots of state land at Razliv are have been going for $8,000 per 100 square metres - a price beyond all but Russia's new business elite.

The small homes of local people are now overshadowed by luxury villas, and access to the lakeside is restricted.

"This is such a nice place. We often went for a walk there. Now we can't approach the lake at all," one woman told reporters.

Failed insurrection

Lenin fled to Razliv in July 1917 after a failed insurrection in St Petersburg set off a nationwide hunt for the Bolshevik leaders.

Lenin shaved his beard and wore a wig to disguise himself

The Provisional Government claimed Lenin was a German spy, and the Bolshevik party was forced underground.

Razliv's deserted shores proved to be an ideal hiding place. Lenin's Soviet biographers described the deserted lakeside as a tranquil spot.

"This was a remote, desolate place. A small clearing, a kind of green arbour was made in the thick bushes and here two tree stumps served as table and chair," wrote one.

Lenin's colleagues were guided to the spot by a trusted comrade for secret discussions. The revolutionary leader himself was also protected by an elaborate disguise.

Despite the danger, Lenin worked feverishly.

The State and Revolution, considered by many historians to be one his most important works, was written during this period in hiding.

Land privatisation

The Russian state today has moved a long way from Lenin's ideas of workers' control.

Property sales in Razliv are being supervised by the St Petersburg Property Fund, a state-run trust in charge of the city authorities' land privatisation scheme.

City authorities made 31 million roubles from the Razliv auction, and are keen to repeat the experiment.

With property prices booming, residents will have to get used to high walls and locked gates, the TV said.

"By an irony of fate, private property has begun its triumphant march from Lenin's old hideout."