State Literary and Memorial Museum-Reserve of A.P. Chekhov "Melikhovo"

About museum

The Moscow-region estate Melikhovo, located 80 km from Moscow, is closely associated with the name of the great Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. He acquired Melikhovo in 1892. During the seven years Chekhov lived in Melikhovo he built three model schools, worked as a physician—treating patients free of charge, helped zemstvo teachers, collected funds for fire victims and the hungry, and took part in building roads and the post office.

Chekhov wrote more than 40 works that have entered the golden fund of Russian and world literature. The Melikhovo museum-reserve carefully preserves the memory of Chekhov—the writer, physician and public figure. Passing through the park and garden, where cherries and apple trees bloom in spring, you will find the writer's house. It preserves objects, each of which is a small story about life, fate, joys and worries of the Chekhov family. Next to the house is a wing-kitchen; the exhibition presents Russian domestic life of the late 19th–early 20th centuries. In the depths of the garden hides a cozy wing. It was here in 1895 that Anton Pavlovich wrote the play "The Seagull".

One of the new exhibitions is the outpatient clinic, which shows the work of zemstvo doctors at the end of the 19th century. Anton Pavlovich liked to give names to every corner of his estate: "Naive Yard"—Chekhov's name for the farmyard and outbuildings; the vegetable garden "South of France", where the Chekhovs grew rare plants; the pond "Aquarium"; the "Alley of Love", where, according to legend, heartfelt wishes come true.