Pushkinskiye Gory

                                               Mikhailovskoye Reserve: A place where poetry meets nature

 The State Museum-Reserve of A. S. Pushkin “Mikhailovskoye” is located in Pskov Region is a unique fusion of history, poetry and incredible natural beauty. The museum was founded in 1922 on the site of the poet’s destroyed ancestral estate, and was carefully recreated by 1937.  The museum had to be rebuilt once again according to drawings and photographs after the terrible destruction of the Great Patriotic War.

Exile to Mikhailovskoye: Alexander Sergeevich’s Creative Freedom

  Sometimes fate presents unexpected gifts. For Alexander Sergeevich, such a “gift” was the exile to his mother’s ancestral estate, Mikhailovskoye. The estate was granted by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna to Pushkin’s great-grandfather, Abram Hannibal, in 1742. Sent here for free-thinking in 1824, the poet was very upset.  His parents were in the manor at the time, very scared and unhappy with their son’s exile.   It was only when everyone had left that he gradually regained his mental balance, felt the charm of the local nature again, and began to write. Pushkin found here not imprisonment, but unprecedented creative freedom. It was Mikhailovsky’s landscapes that became his main collaborators.

Rural life and creativity: nature inspired Pushkin.

   Imagine: silence, peace, and only Pushkin with his thoughts and a piece of paper.     The young Pushkin was fascinated by “rural life, the Russian bathhouse, strawberries, ” actively communicated with peasants, studied their way of life, listened to the fairy tales of his nanny Arina Rodionovna. It was here that the plots of his famous fairy tales in verse were born.  He read a lot, and his neighbors at the Trekhgorskoye estate (which belonged to Praskovya Alexandrovna Osipova—Wulf) had an excellent library.  A special place in the poet’s life was occupied by his meetings with the Pskov Archbishop Evgeny Kazantsev. Pushkin studied ancient chronicles, observed the life of monks in Svyatogorsk Monastery — all this is reflected in his work.  

Created masterpieces: Pushkin’s works written in Mikhailovsky

In total, about a hundred works of the poet were created in Mikhailovsky: the tragedy “Boris Godunov”, the central chapters of the novel “Eugene Onegin”, the poem “Count Nulin”, the poem “Gypsies” was completed, “little tragedies” were conceived, such poems as “The Village”, “The Prophet”, “I remember a wonderful moment” were written.”, “I visited again” and many others.      Two years at Mikhailovsky turned a talented lyceum student into a genius of Russian literature. And the landscapes around us were mute witnesses and active participants in this transformation.

  The Heritage of Nature: How landscapes became the poet’s co-authors

  It is difficult to put into words the feeling when you stand on the same hill or look at the same lake as Alexander Sergeevich almost two centuries ago.  For the first time in my life, I saw a flock of swans fly over the river at dawn, purring. It’s an incredible feeling and a beauty that touches the soul. I think this atmosphere of peace and grandeur fueled the poet’s work.

…Вновь я посетил…  

  …Вновь я посетил
Тот уголок земли, где я провел
Изгнанником два года незаметных.
Уж десять лет ушло с тех пор — и много
Переменилось в жизни для меня,
И сам, покорный общему закону,
Переменился я — но здесь опять
Минувшее меня объемлет живо,
И, кажется, вечор еще бродил
Я в этих рощах.
Вот опальный домик,
Где жил я с бедной нянею моей.
Уже старушки нет — уж за стеною
Не слышу я шагов ее тяжелых,
Ни кропотливого ее дозора

  Вот холм лесистый, над которым часто
Я сиживал недвижим — и глядел
На озеро, воспоминая с грустью
Иные берега, иные волны…
Меж нив златых и пажитей зеленых
Оно синея стелется широко;
Через его неведомые воды
Плывет рыбак и тянет за собою
Убогий невод. По брегам отлогим
Рассеяны деревни — там за ними
Скривилась мельница, насилу крылья

Ворочая при ветре…  

1835 год.       А. С. Пушкин