Ostrovsky "Schelykovo". State Memorial and Natural Museum-Reserve A.N.
The Shchelykovo Museum-Reserve is a famous place in Russia, which is inextricably linked with the estate of the same name, which previously belonged to the outstanding Russian playwright Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. It is located 120 kilometers from Kostroma in the Ostrovsky district of the Kostroma region, not far from the border with the Ivanovo region. The turn to the estate comes from the road between these regions, along the former Galichsky highway. Located on the picturesque left bank terrace of the Volga, in the floodplain part of the Kueksha River, Shchelykovo is remarkable as a corner of amazing Russian nature and as a place associated with the life and work of the great Russian playwright A.N. Ostrovsky. Its appeal lies in the unique combination of the ensemble of an ancient noble estate with an amazing natural landscape, in the harmony of Christian and folk cultures, as well as in a special theatrical environment.
Shchelykovo - estate of A.N. Ostrovsky
Story Shchelykovo estate Kineshma district of Kostroma province goes back centuries. It was not the Ostrovsky family estate. Its history for a century and a half has been connected with the boyar family of the Kutuzovs, which gave Russia famous statesmen and military figures. The Shchelykovo estate was first mentioned in 1719 in the possession of F.M. Kutuzov, captain of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment.
I.F. Kutuzov began to restore it, but managed to build only a temporary two-story wooden house across the ravine from the previous one, on the mountain. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Kutuzov descendants rebuilt the main manor house: smaller, one-story, wooden, with mezzanines along the northern facade. It was this house that became the shelter of A.N. Ostrovsky and still exists.
The Shchelykovo estate, mortgaged by the descendants of the Kutuzov brothers in the Moscow Board of Guardians, was sold for debts at auction in 1847 and bought by the playwright’s father, N.F. Ostrovsky. By purchasing it, Nikolai Fedorovich thereby returned to live in his native land: a Kostroma by birth, he, living for many years in Moscow, did not lose contact with the Kostroma land. In the spring of 1848, with his family from his second marriage, his wife and four children, he moved to Shchelykovo from Moscow for permanent residence.
Together with them, the young playwright Alexander Nikolaevich visited the estate for the first time. It was that visit that left a deep imprint on his soul, marking the beginning of a long-term attachment to this place. Young A.N. Ostrovsky regularly kept a diary. From it we learn: “This morning we went to inspect places for game. The places are amazing. Game abyss. Shchelykovo did not appear to me yesterday, probably because I had previously built my own Shchelykovo in my imagination. Today I looked at it, the real Shchelykovo is as much better than the imaginary one as nature is better than the dream. The house stands on a high mountain, which to the right and left is dug with such delightful ravines, covered with curly pines and fir trees, that you can’t imagine anything like it...”
From the central alley the road turns to the manor house. Its front yard, the so-called red one, with a round fenced “island” in the middle, was lined with services around the perimeter. Currently they have not survived.
After the death of his father and the purchase of the estate, A.N. Ostrovsky wrote to his friend, actor F.A. Burdin: “My brother and I bought our magnificent Shchelykovo from our stepmother; here is a shelter for me, I will have the opportunity to take up modest farming and finally give up my exhausting dramatic labors, on which I fruitlessly spent the best years of my life ... "
Alexander Nikolaevich takes the farm seriously: he is concerned about both small household chores and large-scale plans for the construction and improvement of the estate.
The estate was served by 22 people: a manager, seven workers, a coachman, a groom, a gardener, two foresters, a cattleman, a cowwoman, and a laundress. There were also house servants: a cook, an assistant cook, a table maid, a footman. The labor of hired seasonal workers was also used, usually during the hottest threshing season.
Having become the owner of the Shchelykovo estate in 1868, A.N. Ostrovsky lived in the estate house for almost two decades in the summer.
Over time, the estate began to be managed only to the extent necessary to satisfy the own needs of its residents, and in fact, Shchelykovo from an agricultural estate turned into a wonderful, but expensive summer dacha, where numerous guests of the playwright came. They came for a day or two, stayed and lived for weeks.
The activities of the hosts and guests were traditional: hunting and fishing, trips to tea parties with a samovar, swimming, picking mushrooms and berries; most often they chose Kharin Meadow and the village of Sergeevo for this. Ostrovsky was an avid fisherman: just by looking at a body of water he could tell what kind of fish was in it. On Kueksha they caught fish with fishing rods, on Sendeg with a spear, on Mera with a seine. Fishing on Mera near the village of Vysokovo turned into a real party. It was good to relax at the estate: communication with pleasant and interesting people, a well-established way of life, and the possibility of privacy.
Willingly working on the terrace, in the park, in the gazebos, the playwright spent most of his working time in his office. In Shchelykovo he worked on nineteen plays. “Late Love” (1873) was created entirely here. “Simplicity is Enough for Every Wise Man” (1868), “There Was Not a Penny, But Suddenly Altyn” (1871), “The Last Sacrifice” (1877), “Dowry” (1878), “Heart” were written almost entirely. not a stone" (1879). The following were also started: “Warm Heart” (1868), “Forest” (1870), “Truth is good, but happiness is better” (1876), “Talents and Admirers” (1881), “Handsome Man” (1882), “Guilty Without Guilt” (1883). The estate also underwent many alterations and translations. A.N. Ostrovsky spoke five foreign languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, some of which he mastered in his mature years. Translated by C. Goldoni, T. Ciconi, P. Giacometti, W. Shakespeare, M. Cervantes. In Shchelykovo, the playwright was compiling a dictionary of the Russian folk language: he recorded rare words, sayings, and popular expressions in his notebook.
In the last years of his stay in Shchelykov, A.N. Ostrovsky worked a lot and intensely. He wrote: “I don’t travel from Moscow to the village and back, but from office to office and I see nature only as I pass.” The intense work caused by the need to prepare a new play for each season in order to provide for the family, and the assumption in 1886 of the post of head of the repertory department of the Moscow Imperial Theaters completely undermined the playwright’s health. On the last day of his life, June 2, 1886, A.N. Ostrovsky also worked: he looked through his prose translation of “Antony and Cleopatra” by William Shakespeare, read the magazine “Russian Thought”, received the day before from St. Petersburg. At eleven o'clock in the morning, Alexander Nikolaevich died in his Shchelykov office from an attack of “angina pectoris” (angina pectoris). He was buried near the estate church of St. Nicholas in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki. M.V. Ostrovskaya outlived her husband by twenty years. Preserving his memory all these years, she left his office intact. In 1897, an elementary school was opened on the estate, built by the playwright’s wife and eldest daughter. Later he was given the name of A.N. Ostrovsky. Children still study at this school.
The Snow Maiden's homeland
The Blue House of the Shchelykovo estate is the residence of the Snow Maiden.
To the west of the main manor house is the Upper Park, created on the basis of a natural forest. Under the Ostrovsky brothers, this corner of the forest, called “Ravines,” turned into a park: benches are installed in the most picturesque places, “turf sofas” are installed on steep slopes, and dirt paths are laid in such a way as not to damage the root system of trees.
On the edge of the slope, on the site where the old Kutuzov manor house used to be located, a two-story gazebo is now being built, which the children of Alexander Nikolayevich nicknamed “Snegurochkina”, since, according to them, it was here that the playwright pondered his “spring fairy tale.”
New traditions are born. The basis of one of them was the official recognition of Shchelykov in 2000 as the “Homeland of the Snow Maiden”, when the Snow Maiden left Shchelykov for the only time to light the main Christmas tree of the country - the Kremlin. The museum-reserve was actively involved in this project, trying to introduce a fairy-tale image into the modern cultural process. The Snow Maiden Mail program is working.
Monument to A.N. Ostrovsky. Sculptor A.P. Timchenko (1973).
Schools in the Ostrovsky district and the city of Zavolzhsk, Ivanovo region, also did not stand aside. The Snow Maiden Competition program has been developed for them. Holding competitions has become a tradition, and now they are held annually. Every year a new competition program is developed. By participating in competitions, children have the opportunity to show their creative abilities. Every year a final celebration is held where the results of the competition are summed up and its participants are awarded. The main participant in this competition is Snegurochka. With the “light hand” of the staff, the museum hosts programs for tourists “Visiting the Berendeys” or “Holiday in the Berendey Sloboda”.
At the same time, the Blue House turns into the “Snow Maiden’s Residence”, where guests are offered the “Meeting with the Snow Maiden” program. The fairy-tale heroine talks about letters and gifts that are sent to her from all over our country. Here she plays and dances together with the guests. The program takes place in a festive atmosphere, where every visitor is an accomplice of what is happening thanks to the game, direct communication with a fabulous New Year's character. The Snow Maiden herself is a great craftswoman and needlewoman. She will teach the guests how to do needlework, and her friend Craftswoman helps her with this. Visitors are happy to participate in these programs because they give the feeling of a holiday that people need so much.
Shchelykovo is perhaps the only cultural monument estate in Russia today, which, despite all the historical upheavals, has preserved its natural path of development as much as possible. After the death of A.N. Ostrovsky, the estate did not suffer desolation - the fate of most other “noble nests” of that time. The playwright’s children, during the period of decline of the nobility, when estates were destroyed, not only supported their father’s house and its traditions, but also rebuilt a new estate nearby.
Today, the Shchelykovo Museum-Reserve is an island of cultural traditions of many generations in natural harmony with the surrounding nature and the special atmosphere that hovers here. His visit will not leave indifferent anyone who comes here at least once - to these blessed places of Kostroma land, alluring with their beauty.
State Memorial and Natural Museum-Reserve of A. N. Ostrovsky "Schelykovo"
Estate plan
1 - Memorial house-estate of A. N. Ostrovsky
2 - Monument to A. N. Ostrovsky
3 - Staircase and lower gazebo
4 - Blue House
5 - Ostrovsky’s two-story gazebo
6 - Literary and Theater Museum
7 - Pond with island
8 - Church and necropolis of the Ostrovskys in Berezhki
9 - Museum of Folk Life "Sobolev House" in Berezhki
10 - Administrative building of the sanatorium
11 - Residential buildings of the sanatorium
12 - Medical building of the "Chalet" sanatorium
13 - Blue key
House-Museum of A. N. Ostrovsky
The house of A. N. Ostrovsky is the heart of the museum-reserve
Monument to A. N. Ostrovsky
It was in this house that A. N. Ostrovsky lived when he came to the estate for the summer. Having visited Shchelykovo for the first time, the playwright speaks with admiration of the house, noting that it is “surprisingly good both on the outside with the originality of the architecture and on the inside with the convenience of the premises.”
Built in a classicist style on a high brick plinth, the wild stone-colored wooden house under a red roof contrasts gracefully with the white columns and balustrades of the terraces. The building is one-story, on the north side of which there is a mezzanine floor, so from the north the house looks like a two-story building. On the northern façade there are two porches and an open terrace between them. On the south there is a covered terrace with two staircases to the park.
On the ground floor there is a suite of rooms housing a memorial exhibition recreating the furnishings of the house in the last years of the playwright’s life. There are many authentic items here, especially valuable among them are the personal belongings of Ostrovsky and his family.
Dining room.
The first room of the enfilade is the dining room. In the old days, Ostrovsky’s family and his many guests gathered here, at a large centipede-shaped dining table near a Tula samovar. Much here reminds us of the cordiality and hospitality of the owners.
There is an antique piano in the cozy living room. Maria Vasilievna, Ostrovsky’s wife, an actress at the Moscow Maly Theater, often sang to his accompaniment. On fine days, friendly conversations were transferred to the southern terrace, from which a marvelous view of the surrounding area opened up. Amateur performances based on plays by A. N. Ostrovsky were sometimes performed here.
Desk of A. N. Ostrovsky
The owner's spacious and bright office creates a feeling of the presence of his creative personality. The playwright worked tirelessly at his desk. He died while working. On the table are books, dictionaries and author's manuscripts. The walls of the office are decorated with wooden openwork frames, skillfully cut by the playwright himself, photographs of Ostrovsky’s relatives and friends, actors and writers.
Maria Vasilievna's room
Next to the office is the room of the playwright's wife. On the walls are photographs of the playwright's wife and their six children. The playwright loved his children extraordinarily, was proud of them, and paid special attention to their upbringing and education. Maria Vasilievna, having left acting, devoted herself entirely to caring for her family and home.
One of the rooms of the house is occupied by a library. The collected books reflect the broad outlook of A. N. Ostrovsky: here are dramaturgy, and the work of contemporary prose writers, and books on folklore, history, agriculture, and periodicals. The library has books and magazines in foreign languages, which the playwright was fluent in.
The mezzanine floor of the house housed children's rooms. Now in two rooms there is an exhibition “The Living Room of A. A. Yablochkina”, where authentic items that belonged to the famous actress of the Maly Theater are presented.
The museum gives the impression of a lived-in, cozy house: wallpaper recreated from original samples from 1847, unpainted floors with homespun paths, white tiled stoves, indoor flowers... Special manor comfort, lovely interior details, the spirit of antiquity - the house leaves no one indifferent, allowing visitors to better understand Ostrovsky's personality and his work.
Memorial Park
Shchelykovo is located on the high left bank of the Kueksha River, indented by numerous picturesque ravines. By tradition, the manor house is surrounded by a park with centuries-old pine trees, birch, spruce and linden alleys, along which the history of its development over more than two centuries is “read”.
The manor park was founded by the first owners of Shchelykov, the Kutuzovs, in the mid-18th century. From that time, only a few corners of the park have been preserved: a pond with an island, a pond-cage and elements of a regular layout on the southern side of the manor house.
Three generations of the Ostrovsky family also contributed to the formation of the estate park. To this day, there are trees planted here by the playwright’s father Nikolai Fedorovich, the writer himself and his brother Mikhail, as well as the children of A. N. Ostrovsky.
Under the Ostrovskys, the landscape park with elements of a regular layout was divided into “Upper” and “Lower”. The lower park was the name given to the area on the southern slope from the manor house. The upper park is located around the manor house, its western part under the Ostrovsky brothers was called “Ovrazhki Park”.
The Ostrovsky brothers constantly took care of the park: they laid dirt paths there, placed benches in the most beautiful places, laid out flower beds, and arranged “turf sofas” on steep slopes. According to the design of the architect S. Elagin from Moscow, gazebos and “humpbacked” bridges were erected. One of the two-story gazebos was called “Snegurochkina” by Ostrovsky’s children: it was here that the writer thought about his famous fairy tale.
Alexander Nikolaevich loved flowers. The manor house was literally buried in greenery; the southern side and terrace were covered with wild grapes. Flower beds surrounded the house on three sides. Plants were selected according to the fashion and taste of the owner of the estate: multi-colored phlox, asters, dahlias, fragrant peonies, lilies, petunias, pansies, nasturtiums. All these views still serve as the frame of the manor house.
Various perspectives and views, delightful panoramic landscapes, which Alexander Nikolaevich admired in the old days, still excite the soul and delight the eye today. A favorite place for Shchelykov’s guests to this day remains the cliff where the Guest House was located during Ostrovsky’s time. The magnificent, multifaceted view of the water meadow, the floodplain of the winding Kueksha River and the pond with the island that opens from here is the main decoration of the park.
The plantings of the park and the natural forests surrounding it organically merge into a single ensemble, giving special attractiveness and picturesqueness to the Shlykovsky landscapes. The singing of birds, the bustle of curious squirrels, the aromas of flowers in summer, pristine snow, the frosty lace of sleeping birches, the snow caps of pines and spruces in winter, as in the time of A. N. Ostrovsky, continue to delight the guests of Shchelykov.
St. Nicholas Church
The Church of St. Nicholas in Berezhki, built in 1792 by the owner of the Shchelykovo estate, leader of the Kostroma nobility F. M. Kutuzov, is a monument of federal significance.
There is a legend about the history of the construction of this temple. During the Russian-Turkish War, in which F. M. Kutuzov took part, commanding a battalion as part of the Mediterranean expedition of Count A. G. Orlov-Chesmensky, during a sea passage near the Greek islands, a terrible storm hit the ship. Kutuzov offered a fervent prayer for salvation and vowed to build a stone church in his estate on the site of a wooden church dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of sailors. His vow was fulfilled.
The construction of the temple was carried out by the talented Kostroma architect Stepan Andreevich Vorotilov. This wonderful temple, admiring its proportions, severity and harmony of forms, was built over the course of 10 years.
The appearance of St. Nicholas Church does not have the excessive pomp characteristic of urban architecture. The exterior of the temple and its interior combine several artistic styles: from Baroque to Classicism. The temple naturally and beautifully fits into the surrounding landscape.
The temple has two floors: the lower one is winter, the upper one is summer. The summer temple is distinguished by its splendor of decoration: a carved iconostasis in the Baroque and Rococo styles with sculptural and floral-plant compositions and icons made in a Western style, painting of a light drum and walls, double-light windows. The Winter Church is more laconic: chamber-like, without wall painting, with icons made in Orthodox traditions. It was here in 1886 that Father Anthony of Kherson, the rector of the temple, held the funeral service for the playwright Ostrovsky, who died in his Shchelykov estate.
A brick fence with eastern and western gates was erected around the church graveyard. Near the temple, on its southern side, behind a low wrought-iron fence, there is the Ostrovsky family grave. Buried here are the playwright himself, his father Nikolai Fedorovich, his wife Maria Vasilievna and daughter Maria Alexandrovna Chatelain.
Ethnographic Museum "Sobolev House"
The village of Nikolo-Berezhki has been directly connected with the Ostrovsky family for several generations. The road to it from the estate passes through a deep picturesque ravine with wooden stairs and a bridge.
A. N. Ostrovsky often visited Nikolo-Berezhki. He became attached to this quiet and secluded village not only because his father was buried here. The writer's deep interest in folk culture and language is known. Alexander Nikolaevich communicated with the villagers cordially and naturally, making good acquaintances and friends among them. Ivan Viktorovich Sobolev, a wonderful cabinetmaker, was such a friend.
I. V. Sobolev, from former serfs, became a skilled craftsman, independently learning the carpentry craft. After 1861, he settled in Nikolo-Berezhki, placing a hut at a distance from the houses of the church clergy. Situated on the outskirts, the house is the first to greet passersby, effectively starting the prospect of a short street with centuries-old birch trees and a white church. The house itself - an ordinary peasant house, with a gable wooden roof, simple white carved frames of small windows - naturally fits into the surrounding landscape.
Sobolev often visited the Ostrovskys, made furniture according to their orders, repaired it, and even taught Ostrovsky carpentry.
Currently, the ethnographic exhibition “Life and Traditions of Our Ancestors” is located in Sobolev’s house, which presents trades, crafts, life and traditions of peasants of the 19th century, characteristic of our area. Many of the objects on display were collected during ethnographic expeditions that took place over several decades.
After visiting this small cozy museum, you can learn a lot about folk life, drink tea with a collection of medicinal herbs, and take part in traditional rituals and holidays.
Blue House
At the beginning of the 20th century, a new estate appeared in Shchelykovo, which was uncharacteristic of the Russian estate culture of that time. Built by the daughter of the playwright M.A. Ostrovskaya-Chatelain, the estate became another attraction of Shchelykov, and over time it turned into a rare monument of estate culture and landscape construction of this period.
The center of the new estate is the Blue House, built in 1903 from a dismantled guest house according to Maria Alexandrovna’s own design. Two-story, log, not sheathed either inside or outside, with figured platbands on the windows and the same balustrades on terraces, balconies and porches, the house is made in the Art Nouveau style. Subsequently, the house was painted blue and its decorations were white.
After the revolution, fate spared these “promised places.” A significant role in this was played by the position of A. N. Ostrovsky’s son-in-law M. A. Chatelain (one of the authors of the GOELRO plan). Shchelykovo was transferred to the People's Commissariat of Education for the purpose of organizing a museum.
The further fate of the estate for many decades has been connected with the Maly Theater and the Union of Theater Workers of Russia. Since 1928, famous actors came here every year: Vera Pashennaya, Varvara Ryzhova, Evdokia Turchaninova, actors from the Sadovsky dynasty, Mikhail Tsarev, Sergei Yursky, Nikita Podgorny and many others.
In 2001, the Blue House was restored. It opened a cultural and educational center with a video room, a literary and musical lounge, a wonderful library with a cozy reading room. The museum's ticket office is also located here. Excursions around the museum begin from the Blue House, and in winter the residence and workshop of the Snow Maiden are open here.
Literary and Theater Museum
In the year of the 150th anniversary of the birth of A. N. Ostrovsky, in 1973, a literary and theater museum was opened. The purpose of its creation is the need to acquaint visitors with the creative heritage of the playwright. Over the 40 years of the museum’s existence, it has seen dozens of displays and exhibitions. Currently there are two exhibitions.
The exhibition “Ostrovsky Theater” introduces visitors to the personality of the playwright in its development, the realities of contemporary life, and his environment. Here are the writer's personal belongings, household items, picturesque portraits of Ostrovsky's contemporaries, and 19th-century magazines where his works were first published.
The stage history of A. N. Ostrovsky’s works is represented by lifetime productions and productions of the 20th century. Visitors can see the works of theater artists: sketches of costumes and scenery, models for performances. An important place in the exhibition is occupied by the plays that Ostrovsky worked on in Shchelykovo, and the masterpieces of his literary work: “The Thunderstorm”, “Dowry”.
The exhibition “The Fairytale World of the Snow Maiden” reveals the role of A. N. Ostrovsky’s play in the formation of everyone’s favorite New Year’s character.
The playwright's fairy tale about the Snow Maiden, the young daughter of Frost, is inextricably linked with Shchelykov's realities. Mighty nature, colorful peasants, festive festivities, folk tales, songs and legends directly influenced the plan of A. N. Ostrovsky.
The stage fate of “The Snow Maiden” was not easy. Its staging turned out to be too complex for a dramatic scene. The production by K. S. Stanislavsky in 1900 is considered the most famous. The play inspired composers. The music for “The Snow Maiden” was written by P. I. Tchaikovsky and N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov.
The fairy tale also appealed to filmmakers. In the 50s, a cartoon by director and artist I. P. Ivanov-Vano was released, in 1968, director P. P. Kadochnikov made a full-length feature film, in 2006, artist-director M. V. Kurchevskaya created another cartoon about the Snow Maiden . At the exhibition you can see photographs, set sketches and models for these films.
In addition to permanent exhibitions, the Literary and Theater Museum organizes temporary exhibitions on various topics, including exhibitions of outstanding cultural and artistic figures who come to Shchelykovo on vacation.
All year round, visitors can feel like the Snow Maiden or Frost by taking pictures in character costumes at the specially created installation “Winter Shchelykovo”.
Museum funds
The museum collection of the Shchelykovo Museum-Reserve consists of ten collections. Acquisition is carried out in the following areas:
Life and work of A. N. Ostrovsky;
The playwright's family and his descendants;
A. N. Ostrovsky’s environment (literary, theatrical, friendly);
The embodiment of the playwright’s works on stage and in film;
The existence of the creative heritage of A. N. Ostrovsky in the cultural process;
The life of artists and cultural figures associated with Shchelykov;
History and existence of the Shchelykovo estate;
Local history and ethnography.
Paintings, graphics and sculpture are combined into the “Fine Arts” collection. The special values of the collection are the lifetime iconography of the playwright, icons of the 17th - 19th centuries, paintings by B. M. Kustodiev, I. M. Pryanishnikov, V. E. Makovsky, scenography by leading theater artists for performances based on the plays of A. N. Ostrovsky.
Products of applied art, everyday life and ethnography are divided into three museum collections: “Applied Art”, “Fabrics and Costumes”, “Ethnography”. These collections include: furniture, noble and bourgeois utensils and dishes, figurines made of various materials, jewelry, accessories, secular costumes, church vestments, tools and items of traditional peasant life in the Kostroma province of the mid-19th - early 20th centuries. Of particular value in the collections are items that belonged to the playwright’s family and actors who performed roles in performances based on the plays of A. N. Ostrovsky.
The “Numismatics” collection, in addition to coins, includes items of bonistics, faleristics and postage stamps. The coins and banknotes date back to the 18th - early 20th centuries.
Documents and rare books are divided into four museum collections: “Manuscripts, Documents”, “Rare Book”, “Photographs”, “Audio-Video”. Handwritten documents, books, magazines, newspapers, audio and video recordings are valuable, first of all, for their information content. The information they contain documents events in personal and public life. The main fund of the museum includes documents related to the life and work of the playwright and his circle.
The “Programs, Posters” collection brings together printed materials: programs, posters, booklets, invitations and theater tickets for performances based on the plays of A. N. Ostrovsky. The most valuable and rare of them were produced during the playwright’s lifetime. The earliest posters date back to 1855.
A significant part of the museum collection consists of gifts. We hope that the museum’s collections will continue to be replenished with new items and delight our visitors who love the work of A. N. Ostrovsky.
Address: 157925 Kostroma region, Ostrovsky district, settlement Shchelykovo
Website http: //www.museumschelykovo.ru/
Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky first visited Shchelykovo at the age of 25. Then, in May 1848, the estate belonged to Ostrovsky’s father, and the writer himself came here to spend his vacation and was fascinated by the estate. An enthusiastic entry appears in the playwright’s diary: “What rivers, what mountains, what forests!... If this district were near Moscow or St. Petersburg, it would have long ago turned into an endless park, it would have been compared with the best places in Switzerland and Italy.”
Ostrovsky endlessly likes everything: nature, the animals and fish found here in abundance, the local residents, about whom he speaks of “my beloved fellow countrymen,” and the beautiful, comfortable house. Over time, the writer’s feeling of admiration for this region did not disappear; moreover, it grew into deep affection.
A.N. Ostrovsky becomes a frequent guest of Shchelykov, and in
In 1868, after the death of his father, together with his brother Mikhail, he bought the estate from his stepmother E.A. Ostrovsky. This is how he speaks about it in a letter to a friend: “My brother and I bought... our magnificent Shchelykovo; here is my shelter..." Since then
the writer regularly comes here with his family and lives in Shchelykov three to five months a year.
Being strapped for money, Ostrovsky hopes
improve your financial situation by taking up housekeeping. He seriously takes on new things for himself: he repairs buildings, builds an oil mill, acquires
agricultural machinery, buys seeds, breeds purebred livestock…. In an effort to master a new area of knowledge, the playwright reads publications about agriculture: “Agricultural Newspaper”, “Rural Improvement”, etc.
However, the estate was never able to provide much income. Only the garden and vegetable garden brought joy to the writer. Vegetables, berries, greenhouse artichokes, watermelons and melons grown on the estate were a good help for the large Ostrovsky family. The harvest from his own garden also served as a treat for numerous guests of the estate. Having somewhat lost interest in agriculture, the playwright entrusts his wife Maria Vasilievna to take care of the estate and
to the manager.
Life on the estate was good for the writer. Here he regained his strength and improved his health. So, Ostrovsky wrote: “I came here in a very unenviable position... Now, thanks to the good air, and most importantly, the bath, I feel fresher.” While vacationing in Shchelykovo, the playwright loved to walk around the surrounding area, hunt, pick mushrooms and berries, and, of course, fish. Fishing was Ostrovsky’s passion: fishing in the Kueksha River, spear fishing in Sendeg, and sometimes, as part of a large company, using a seine on Mera. The writer knew all the intricacies of fishing and almost always returned home with a catch. Ostrovsky also rested at the carpenter’s workbench: he sawed out thin openwork frames with a jigsaw, made boxes, made knives for cutting papers...
Guests were given a whole house to stay in, which was called a “guest house.” This small wooden house with a mezzanine was built for Ostrovsky’s brother Mikhail Nikolaevich, co-owner of the estate. However, his brother rarely visited Shchelykov, and guests were accommodated in his house. There was also a library and a carpentry workshop.
While living in Shchelykovo, Ostrovsky actively participated in the public life of Kineshma district. He was an honorary justice of the peace and a member of the Kineshma district zemstvo assembly. The writer did his work so diligently and well that he was elected by the local nobles to the post of district leader. Ostrovsky refused
take this honorary post due to employment.
Coming here in the first years, Alexander Nikolaevich spent one or two months resting, and then started working. However, gradually his work began to take more and more time. In his letter, the playwright says: “I do not travel from Moscow to the village and back, but from office to office and I see nature only as I pass.”
Shchelykov's nature served as a source of inspiration for him, and communication with people made it possible to find plots and images for plays and enriched their language. The playwright spoke with residents
surrounding villages and hamlets, walked at peasant holidays, listened carefully to living folk speech, and popular expressions, proverbs, sayings and rare words -
wrote it down.
It is known that Ostrovsky worked in Shchelykovo on 19
works. The entire play “Late Love” (1873) was created here. “Simplicity is Enough for Every Wise Man” (1868), “There Was Not a Penny, But Suddenly Altyn” (1871), “The Last Sacrifice” (1877), “Dowry” (1878), were almost completely written. "The Heart Is Not a Stone" (1879). Work began on the plays “Warm Heart” (1868), “Forest” (1870), “Truth is good, but happiness is better” (1876), “Talents and Admirers” (1881), "Handsome Man" (1882), "Without Guilt
guilty" (1883).
The hard work completely undermined the writer’s health. June 2, 1886 at eleven o'clock in the morning Ostrovsky's heart
could not stand it: he died at his desk from an attack of angina pectoris (as angina pectoris was called in the old days). On the last day of his life, the writer was translating Shakespeare’s tragedy “Antony and Cleopatra” and reading the magazine “Russian Thought”.
Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was buried not far from his beloved estate, in the graveyard of the Church of St. Nicholas in Berezhki.
Tsvetaev Museum— As for the Feodosia period of Anastasia Tsvetaeva’s life, it should be noted that it was extremely fruitful. Anastasia Ivanovna is an excellent memoirist, publicist, and reviewer. In Feodosia she began writing fairy tales. Unfortunately, only three of Anastasia’s tales have survived; the rest were lost during the arrest.
Ostrovsky and Shchelykovo (emphasis on the “o”) are almost the same as, for example, Pushkin and Mikhailovskoye. And not at all because both writers spent a lot of time on their estates, but because the estates, far from Moscow and its “worldly noise,” served as a source of inspiration, poetry, truthful images and precise phrases.
Interactive map:
Shchelykovo was not the Ostrovsky family estate: it was owned by the Kutuzov family, and only in 1847 the estate was bought by the writer’s father, a native of Kostroma. After his death, Alexander Nikolaevich tried to actively engage in farming in order to have a constant income, but these attempts were in vain, which cannot be said about literary work: in Shchelykovo, the playwright successfully worked on 19 plays, and it was on stage that many of them were staged for the first time.
However, everything in the estate is conducive to collaboration with the muse - and first of all, the natural landscapes on the banks of the small river Kuekshi, discreet, but very subtle. It is not surprising that it was Shchelykovo that, already in Soviet times, was chosen to house the Maly Theater Holiday House, which was later transformed into a sanatorium for the Union of Theater Workers (this is how the holiday house located next to the estate is officially called now).
The modest but elegant main house (today the Ostrovsky House Museum), surrounded by a park with cozy benches, bridges and gazebos, harmoniously blends into the natural beauty. On the territory of the estate there is also the Literary and Theater Museum in a modern building and the Blue House, which belonged to the daughter of the playwright. Today it serves as the residence of the Snow Maiden (Santa Claus’s assistant also has a residence permit in Kostroma, where she has her own).
The memory of Ostrovsky is also preserved in the nearby village of Nikolo-Berezhki: here, in the graveyard of the St. Nicholas Church, the playwright himself, his father, wife and daughter are buried. And in the House of Ivan Sobolev, a serf cabinetmaker who made furniture for the estate, an ethnographic museum has been opened.
Useful:
You can view the exhibitions either independently or with a guided tour (guided tours are offered for groups of 3 or more people); Please specify the subject and cost. You can get to Shchelykovo by car from Kostroma through the village of Ostrovskoye or by bus Kostroma - Kineshma or Kostroma - Ostrovskoye (in the second case, in Ostrovskoye you will have to change to a bus to Kineshma). There is a road from Ivanovo: by car through Kineshma or by bus Ivanovo - Kineshma, then Kineshma - Ostrovskoye. Distances to Shchelykovo: from Kostroma 120 km, from Ostrovsky 30 km, from Kineshma 37 km, from Ivanovo 130 km.
Address: Russia, Kostroma region, Ostrovsky district, p/o Shchelykovo
First visit of A.N. Ostrovsky: 1848
Main attractions: house-museum of A.N. Ostrovsky, monument to A.N. Ostrovsky, Literary and Theater Museum, Blue House (Snegurochka's residence)
Coordinates: 57°36"17.4"N 42°10"12.6"E
Located in the Kostroma region, the Shchelykovo estate became famous as the place where the family of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky lived for many years. The writer loved the endless expanses of Shchelykovo, the ravine banks of the small river Kueksha, mighty forests, local peasants and, of course, his home and the picturesque park surrounding it. Nowadays, the memory of the playwright and the traditions of the Ostrovsky Theater is preserved in the museum-reserve created in the estate.
History of the estate of A. N. Ostrovsky Shchelykovo
Initially, the lands on which the estate now stands were called the Shalykovo wasteland, and since the 17th century they were owned by the Kutuzovs. In the 70s of the 18th century, the house built by the Kutuzovs burned down in a fire, and they did not restore it. Construction of a new estate by F.M. Kutuzov organized it in another place.
Monument to A.N. Ostrovsky on the territory of the Shchelykovo estate
Half a century passed and the estate buildings were purchased at auction by the father of the writer Ostrovsky, Nikolai Fedorovich. At that time, the territory contained an old house and three small outbuildings where servants lived. In addition, there were many auxiliary buildings: a stone forge and stable, a barn and several cellars, sheds and a bathhouse.
Nikolai Fedorovich with his second wife and children moved to the Kostroma estate in 1848. His eldest son, Alexander, really liked the place. Sharing his impressions of his first visit to the estate in his diary, he wrote that the real Shchelykovo was better than imagined, and the local nature in reality turned out to be better than dreamed. True, while his father was alive, Alexander came to the estate only twice, as their relationship was tense.
After the death of Nikolai Ostrovsky, his second wife sold the estate to Alexander and his brother Mikhail, and the writer’s wife Maria Alexandrovna took over the house. In material terms, the acquisition did not live up to Ostrovsky's hopes. The estate did not generate any income at all, but, on the contrary, required more and more cash injections from the family. However, the Ostrovskys did not lose heart. In his free time from his main work, the playwright enjoyed gardening, ordering high-quality seeds, buying horses, agricultural implements and breeding cattle.
View of the southern facade of the building with a covered terrace
Their large and cozy house was constantly visited by guests - colleagues of Alexander Nikolaevich, famous writers, actors and artists. And the Ostrovsky family received them with pleasure, organizing literary and musical evenings.
In addition, the playwright worked actively. Of the 47 plays he wrote, about half were created directly in Shchelykovo. Ostrovsky died at work, while in his writing office.
After the revolutionary events of 1917, no one initially cared about preserving the Ostrovskys’ legacy. The buildings of the estate housed local Soviet authorities, and later a colony for street children.
Maly Theater actors from Moscow stood up for Ostrovsky's theatrical heritage. Thanks to their petitions, the estate was given over to the writer’s memorial museum, and the first exhibition, located in only three rooms, was opened to visitors in 1936. Today, a large museum-reserve has been created on the estate. In addition, sanatorium buildings were built here.
View from the southern facade of the building to the stairs leading to the lower gazebo
Walk through the museum complex
Nowadays, the Kostroma estate has the status of a museum-reserve, which includes a whole complex of memorial and natural objects. The central part of the estate is the writer’s house. The decor, interiors, furniture and personal belongings of the writer - all the museum staff tried to preserve exactly as it was under Ostrovsky himself. The house of the writer's family is very cozy, lived-in and has a unique spirit of antiquity. The unpainted floors are covered with homespun runners, the window sills are decorated with flowers, and the rooms have white tiled stoves. Some of the most valuable exhibits are considered to be lifetime editions of the writer’s works, as well as paintings by artists Konstantin Makovsky and Boris Kustodiev.
In the spacious living room there is a piano, which the writer’s wife, actress of the Moscow Maly Theater in Moscow, Maria Vasilievna, loved to play. She left her profession early and took up daily care of her family and home improvement. The playwright's manuscripts, as well as books and dictionaries that he used in his work, are laid out on the desk. And on the mezzanine floor there are rooms for the Ostrovsky children.
View of the house-museum of A.N. Ostrovsky
The house tour takes about two hours. Here you can see many old photographs depicting Ostrovsky himself, his wife, children and friends of the playwright’s family. There is a fee for guests to take photographs in this part of the museum. In addition, if you wish, you can take a photograph in the house in noble clothes, in the interiors of the writer’s family’s dining room.
In addition to the memorial, since 1973 an interesting literary and theatrical museum has been opened in Shchelykovo, which introduces theatrical productions based on the plays of the great Russian playwright. In its halls you can see theatrical costumes, preserved scenery and models, sketches of artists and magazines in which the writer’s works were published. a separate part of the exhibition is dedicated to how the famous fairy tale about the Snow Maiden was created.
The third museum of the estate complex is the house-museum of Ivan Viktorovich Sobolev, a close friend of the playwright and an excellent master of wood carving. All the carved furniture in the manor house is the work of his hands. This skilled craftsman even taught Ostrovsky himself the basics of carpentry. Sobolev's log hut is an ethnographic part of the estate's exposition, which tells about the traditions of peasant life and crafts that were common in these places in the 19th century.
Literary and Theater Museum
The elegant two-story building, built at the beginning of the last century by order of the writer’s daughter, Marie Chatelain, is called the Blue House. This building has been perfectly preserved to this day. It houses museum ticket offices, as well as an educational center and library. In winter, the residence of the fairy-tale Snow Maiden opens here.
On the territory of the reserve there is a functioning St. Nicholas Church, which appeared at the end of the 18th century. The project of the slender church was prepared by the famous architect from Kostroma Stepan Andreevich Vorotilov. The talented architect managed to combine several architectural traditions in the rural church - from Baroque to Classicism. Services are held on the upper floor of the church in the summer months, and on the lower floor in the winter. It was in this church that the writer’s funeral was held in 1886. Ostrovsky, his wife and their daughter Maria Alexandrovna are buried next to the church, in a cemetery fenced with a brick fence.
It’s not for nothing that Shchelykovo is called a nature reserve. The landscape memorial park that exists here is beautiful, and walking through it is a pleasure! Three generations of the Ostrovsky family were involved in planning and maintaining green spaces.
Blue House, Snow Maiden's residence in winter
The territory is cut by numerous ravines and is divided into two parts - Upper and Lower parks, in which pine, birch, linden and spruce trees grow. Picturesque bridges are laid across the park's ravines, and beautiful flower beds are laid out in various places. The two-story wooden gazebo was called “Snegurochka” by the writer’s children, because it was in it that he thought about his famous fairy tale.
There are special programs for children in the reserve. These are meetings with the Snow Maiden, traditional folk games, tea parties and fortune telling. Master craftsmen conduct special classes for guests of the estate and teach them how to make amulets dolls. And twice a year the museum-reserve invites everyone to big holidays. In mid-June, Ostrovsky's memorial day is celebrated here, and in September the Shchelykov Readings are held.
