State Budgetary Cultural Institution of the Nizhny Novgorod Region — State Literary-Memorial and Natural Museum-Reserve of A.S. Pushkin "Boldino"

About museum

The State Literary-Memorial and Natural Museum-Reserve of A.S. Pushkin 'Boldino' is one of the most famous Pushkin sites in Russia. In the old village of Bolshoye Boldino in the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate stands the poet's family estate — a cultural monument of federal significance. Of all the properties of the Pushkin family, only the Boldino estate was not destroyed during revolutions and wars. The original manor house where the poet stayed when visiting Boldino has been preserved. Pushkin visited the Boldino estate in 1830, 1833 and 1834 and in total spent only about five months there, but wrote almost half of his best works — more than 60 pieces. These include the 'Little Tragedies' and the 'Tales of Belkin', 'The Bronze Horseman' and 'The Queen of Spades', the final chapters of 'Eugene Onegin' and almost all of his fairy tales. On the grounds of the Pushkin family estate the wing (the estate office) and outbuildings have been restored, as well as the manor park with old ponds and trees dating from Pushkin's time. The entire estate complex was recreated based on archival documents and archaeological excavation data. The stone Church of the Assumption has been restored; it was built by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin's grandfather and was consecrated in the year of the future poet's birth. At the site of the first Boldino church of the 17th century a memorial chapel to Archangel Michael has been erected. In the restored houses of the clergy next to the estate a children's museum of Pushkin's fairy tales has been opened. In the vicinity of Boldino, in six deep ravines, lies the picturesque Luchinnik grove, which is also part of the museum complex. According to tradition, it was the poet's favorite place for walks. The memorial complex also includes the estate in the village of Lvovka, located 9 km from Boldino. From the time of its last owner, the poet's son A.A. Pushkin, the house, the avenues of the manor park, the parish school and the partially preserved wooden Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky have survived. In the school building a classroom setting has been recreated showing how peasant children studied, and an exhibition on the history of the restoration of the Lvovka Pushkin estate has been arranged. In the master's house a museum of literary characters based on Pushkin's 'Tales of Belkin' has been opened. The Boldino museum-reserve also includes the A.S. Pushkin Museum in Nizhny Novgorod, which was opened in 1999 on the site of merchant Dmitry Deulin's inn, where the great poet stayed on 2 and 3 September 1833. The Nizhny Novgorod branch presents an exhibition dedicated to the poet's stay in Nizhny Novgorod. The Boldino museum-reserve conducts active guided-tour, scientific and educational activities. Today hundreds of thousands of visitors and tourists from around the world come to Bolshoye Boldino. It is pleasant there at any time of year. There are no industrial enterprises within a 100 km radius, which has helped preserve the protected nature and the remarkable microclimate.