The nineteenth century is rich in distinguished names, writers - poets, writers, playwrights, worked especially fruitfully at that time. One of the most important figures of that time in the field of literary art is Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. His legacy is, firstly, enormous - he wrote as many as 47 plays, and secondly, it is of great importance for the development of Russian literature: he was one of the first to write truthfully, as he sees. The social and everyday problems of that time did not slip away from him, all of them were dressed in a bright language form, colorful and realistic images. Ostrovsky was not afraid to write in a new way and about the new. It is for this reason that his work was so controversially evaluated by contemporaries. Over the years, the importance of the playwright’s contribution to Russian and world literary classics is obvious.
In the works of A. N. Ostrovsky mainly come from a merchant environment, the action of the plays also occurs either in the provincial town on Mother Volga or in the native writer Zamoskvorechye. Ostrovsky’s work is determined by the environment in which he grew up himself. His plays would not be so truthful, the characters of the heroes would not be reflected so fully if the playwright did not know the mores and customs of the merchants, if from childhood he had not encountered the life that is depicted in his works.
Therefore, it is not enough to study the dramas and comedies of the author, you need to get acquainted with his biography, ask how and where the writer lived. And to truly immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the writer’s life, you can visit the museum, which is dedicated to him. A particularly vivid memory will be a visit to the house-museum of this or that famous person, because his spirit is preserved there.
Ostrovsky House Museum on Ordynka
If you want to not only study the biography of the writer, but also to experience the atmosphere in which he lived and worked, then the journey through Ostrovsky’s life should begin with this museum. In the Ostrovsky House-Museum, located on Malaya Ordynka, the writer was born and spent his first years of his life. This place can rightly be called the cradle of the writer.
House with a story
The A.N. Ostrovsky House-Museum in Moscow has a long and interesting history. It was built long before the birth of the writer and is a monument of architecture of the seventeenth century, this fact alone makes it a wonderful place worthy of the attention of tourists, because there are not many buildings of that time.
But back to A. N. Ostrovsky. It was in this house that the writer was born on March 31 (according to the new style - April 12) in 1823. Here he lived with his parents for the first three years, until 1826.
In addition to the Ostrovsky family, the house was owned by its official owner, Deacon Nikifor Maximov, who probably served in the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Goliki, at which the house was built. Unfortunately, the temple has not survived to our days - it was destroyed in 1931. Now on the site of the church is a bust of A. N. Ostrovsky.
The birth of the museum
In the house itself after the advent of Soviet power, communal apartments were located. And only in 1984 it was decided to create a memorial museum dedicated to the famous former tenant here. Not only historians and culturologists took part in the formation of the exposition, but also ordinary indifferent residents of the surrounding quarters: Muscovites brought household items: candlesticks, samovars; clothes in order to create the color of the merchant era of Moscow in the mid-nineteenth century.
Now the Ostrovsky House-Museum is one of the branches of the A. Bakhrushin State Central Theater Museum.
Museum exposition
A two-story wooden house is located in the then merchant Zamoskvorechye. The situation at home of the writer’s time is almost completely preserved. On the ground floor of the building there is a dining room, an office of Ostrovsky Sr., a bedroom. Here you feel as if you were transported in time to the distant nineteenth century - in one of the rooms lies on the table "Index of the Laws of the Russian Empire for the Merchants", as if someone had left it here without quite reading it; and on the shelves flaunt books from the era when the Ostrovsky family lived here.
Climbing the carved wooden stairs of the Ostrovsky House-Museum (photo below), you are transported to the old merchant capital. Views of the golden-domed Moscow are depicted in paintings that are hung on the walls, thereby turning the living room, where the writer himself once read aloud his plays, into a cozy art gallery. Here you can see portraits of the playwright's friends.
When is the premiere?
In addition to the personal belongings of the writer and household items of the nineteenth century, the museum also presents models of the most successful productions of plays by A.N. Ostrovsky of authorship of no less famous personalities: Vsevolod Mayorhold, Konstantin Stanislavsky. There are also portraits of Lyubov Kositskaya, Vera Komissarzhevskaya, who shone on stage in images from Ostrovsky's dramaturgy.
Program selection
“Don’t get in your sled” is the name of one of A.N. Ostrovsky’s plays. Visitors do not even have to think about something that may not suit them, because everyone can choose the program that suits him. In the House-Museum of Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky they arrange evenings of ancient or classical music, and literary collections, where, of course, they read Ostrovsky. But in the writer's native places you can take a walk as part of a walking tour "From Ordynka to Volkhonka."
Museum Schedule
You can visit the Ostrovsky House-Museum in Zamoskvorechye on any day of the week, except Monday, from eleven in the morning to eight in the evening. At the same time, every last Friday of the month is allotted by the museum employees for the sanitary day. Visitors should remember that the ticket office closes half an hour before the museum stops working - that is, at seven hours and thirty minutes.
Ticket prices
To view the permanent exhibition of the Ostrovsky house-museum in Moscow, you need to buy a ticket worth three hundred rubles. For pensioners, students, and minor visitors, upon presentation of an appropriate document confirming the social status of a person, a discount of 50 percent applies.
If you want to listen to a specialist’s story, you can order a tour for which you will need to pay extra.
Ostrovsky House Museum in Shchelykovo
The writer himself called this place nothing more than his haven, compared it with the resorts of Italy and Switzerland. And if not everyone can get to the latter, then visiting the Ostrovsky House Museum will not be difficult. It is located in the Kostroma region in a picturesque place. You can get there by bus from Kostroma or Kineshma, in the Ivanovo region.
Someone who lives in a small tower?
Indeed, the Ostrovsky House Museum is very reminiscent of the Old Russian tower. The red elegant roof of the mansion is visible from afar; on the way to the house, slender white columns delight the spacious terraces. The wide porch as if invites to rise and go inside. After all, it is there that the main treasure of the museum.
Like the Ostrovsky House-Museum in Moscow, the authenticity of the situation is preserved in the Shchelykovsky mansion. Museum workers sought to create the effect of the great writer’s presence, which they did well: on the walls there are portraits of any children and Ostrovsky’s wife, as if the playwright himself had hung them, on the desk in the office are manuscripts and books, as if left for a moment by Ostrovsky who was distracted from work.
The whole world is a theater ... About actors
On the top floor there were previously children's rooms, now the museum workers have arranged an exhibition "The Alexandra Alexandrovna Yablochkina's Drawing Room" there. Here you will see the personal belongings of the actress of the Moscow Maly Theater, her photographs in different images.
How are Yablochkina and Ostrovsky connected, and why are the exhibition dedicated to this artist allocated as many as two rooms in the House-Museum of the writer? The fact is that the girl was very successful in productions based on the works of A. N. Ostrovsky. The repertoire of Yablochkina turned out to be as many as twenty-three images from the plays of the playwright: she played Verochka from "The Jokers", Glafira from "Wolves and Sheep", Lydia from "Mad Money" ....
Life of the House of A. N. Ostrovsky
This is the name of the diary of the museum, it records all the events that are somehow connected with the estate. The idea of creating a diary belongs to Stella Nikolaevna Enchinova. And for decades, under the close supervision of several generations of museum directors, a manuscript has been kept in the manuscript since 1988. The diary reflects a variety of events and situations: from changing heating pipes to visiting the museum as honored guests (in 2003, the descendants of Ostrovsky himself, now living in France, came here). The sketches from the life of nature surrounding the estate are also curious: here a little fox came to feed at the writer's house, and here we read how a cat and kittens settled down under the porch of the mansion.
It is interesting and fascinating to read about the life of the House of A. N. Ostrovsky, because it does not contain dry facts, but colorful, emotional notes, sketches.
Museum working hours
Alexander Ostrovsky’s House Museum is not the only museum on the estate’s territory; it is included in the whole complex “The State Memorial and Natural Museum-Reserve of A. Ostrovsky“ Shchelykovo. ”This reserve is represented by the Literary and Theater Museum, whose doors are open from nine in the morning 5-45 pm The ethnographic museum "Sobolev House" has the same work schedule.
There is a small Nikolskaya church on the territory of the museum complex, it is also open from nine in the morning until fifteen to six in the evening, when visiting the temple, it is worth remembering that during the services there are no excursions. The A. N. Ostrovsky House-Museum itself can be visited on the same schedule.
There is also a cultural and educational center located in the wonderful Blue House - a monument of architecture of the nineteenth century.
The reserve's museums operate daily, except on Mondays.
How much is?
Ticket prices vary depending on which excursion you want to visit. So, a two-hour inspection of the Ostrovsky House-Museum and the manor park will cost you 150 rubles (for children under sixteen admission is free). A ticket, which includes excursion services, costs more - 350 rubles for adult visitors and 200 for children under sixteen years of age. But visiting the exposition "Living Room Yablochkina", which is located in the Ostrovsky Museum, is completely free, however, again, the museum employee will have to pay extra for the story: each visitor to the group will have to pay 100 rubles to the museum cashier.
Want to take photos as a keepsake? This service costs 50 rubles. The museum also offers visitors photographing in noble suits - for 100 rubles you are guaranteed a reincarnation as a young lady or sir of the nineteenth century.
33 pleasures ...
Are you afraid not to have time to visit all the museums, to see all the expositions, to get acquainted with the history of the place and its nature (it, by the way, is amazing here - it is not surprising that Ostrovsky chose this particular corner for arranging the estate)? You can stay in the sanatorium of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation "Shchelykovo", which is located in the reserve. Who knows, maybe inspiration will visit you too, and you, like Ostrovsky, will start writing outstanding works of literature?