Museum-Reserve Shchelykovo
Shchelykovo is a museum reserve in the Kostroma region, many are known as the estate of writer Alexander Ostrovsky. Nowadays, there is a sanatorium, a children's camp and a theater community.
In the 17th century, there was a wasteland in this place until the retired general F. bought the land in the 18th century. M. Kutuzov. Soon the general built his house here, greenhouses, and broke a huge park. But in the 1770s, the house burned to the ground, and the new one was built near the Kueksha River. The river changed its channel, and the house eventually found itself on the island, because of its high humidity, living in it became unbearable. In 1801, the general died, and the heirs could not cope with the farm, and all the lands went to auction, where they were bought in 1847 by the father of the writer A.N. Ostrovsky. By that time, there was a house in the Shchelykovo manor, a large barn, a horse yard, a cellar, and a forge.
For the first time, the writer visited the estate in 1848 and was struck by the beauty of mountains, rivers, forests, an abundance of game. He believed that if the Chelyabinsk estate was near the capital, it would become an endless park that was compared with the nature of Italy and Switzerland. In 1953, the father of the writer dies, and the manor falls into decay under the guidance of the stepmother. In 1867, the writer and his brother bought the estate and began to spend several months here. Shchelykovo became his muse, here he wrote his famous plays of Snow Maiden, Thunderstorm, Loafer, Forest. He considered his works, walking in the meadows or fishing by the river. At first, he was even carried away by agriculture: he ordered new seeds, breeding animals, but profit often covered only expenses. In 1884, the enemies set fire to the barn with the hope that the fire would spread to the house, but this did not happen. Ostrovsky experienced great stress from the fact that someone wished him harm. Subsequently, his hands shook until his death, and his head ached, 2 years later he died and was buried in the neighboring village of Berezhka.
Nowadays, the personal house in Shchelykovo has been turned into a museum of the writer. On the ground floor you can see the things of the writer and his family. In the personal account there is a table on which he wrote, manuscripts, books, photos of friends, actors, relatives. After the death of Ostrovsky, the actors of the Small Theater began to rest here. An important attraction is the Nicole Church in Berezhki, where the family necropolis is located, and the church itself ordered the construction of General F. M. Kutuzov. He made a vow to build a church when he survived a severe storm in the Mediterranean Sea when he sailed with his battalion. The church was consecrated in 1792 after ten years of construction.
