Museum-Reserve Shchelykovo
Shchelykovo is a museum-reserve in the Kostroma region, known to many as the estate of the writer Alexander Ostrovsky. Nowadays, there is a sanatorium, a children's camp and a community of theater-goers.
In the 17th century, there was a wasteland in this place, until retired General F. M. Kutuzov bought the land in the 18th century. Soon the general built his house here, greenhouses, and laid out a huge park. But in the 1770s, the house burned down, and a new one was built next to the Kuekshi River. The river changed its course, and the house ended up on an island, because of the high humidity, it became unbearable to live in it. In 1801, the general died, and the heirs could not manage the farm, and all the lands went to auction, where they were bought by the father of the writer A.N. Ostrovsky in 1847. By that time, the Shchelykovo estate had a house, a large barn, a stable yard, cellars, and a blacksmith shop.
The writer first visited the estate in 1848 and was amazed by the beauty of the mountains, river, forests, and abundance of game. He believed that if the Shchelykovo estate was near the capital, it would become an endless park that was compared to the nature of Italy and Switzerland. In 1953, the writer's father died, and the estate fell into disrepair under the guidance of his stepmother. In 1867, the writer and his brother bought the estate and began to spend several months here. Shchelykovo became his muse, and here he wrote his famous plays The Snow Maiden, The Storm, the Penniless, and the Forest. He thought about his works while walking in the meadows or fishing by the river. At first, he even became interested in agriculture: he ordered new seeds and breeding animals, but the profit often covered only expenses. In 1884, the enemy set fire to the barn with the hope that the fire would spread to the house, but this did not happen. Ostrovsky was under a lot of stress from someone wishing him harm. Subsequently, his hands were shaking and his head hurt until his death, 2 years later he died and was buried in the neighboring village of Berezhki.
Nowadays, the household house in Shchelykovo has been turned into a museum of the writer. On the ground floor you can see the belongings of the writer and his family. In his personal office there is a table on which he wrote, manuscripts, books, photos of friends, actors, relatives. After Ostrovsky's death, the actors of the Maly Theater began to rest here. An important landmark is St. Nicholas Church in Berezhki, where the family necropolis is located, and the church itself was ordered to be built by General F. M. Kutuzov. He made a vow to build a church when he survived a severe storm in the Mediterranean Sea while sailing with his battalion. The church was consecrated in 1792 after ten years of construction.
