Description of the attraction
The house-museum of A. F. Mozhaisky is a two-story wooden house, barely visible in the thick of trees. The history of this house is closely connected with the name of Mozhaisky Alexander Fedorovich - a famous design engineer who worked and lived here from 1861 to 1868. The estate went to Alexander Fedorovich as a dowry after his wife Lyubov Dmitrieva, the daughter of the local court adviser Kuzmin D. I. Mozhaisky's wife was considered a very educated and interesting woman, whom many noble men wooed, but she preferred to choose Alexander Fedorovich.
Now, in the house of a famous engineer, you can see the atmosphere that was during his lifetime, when he created and brought to life more and more new projects. The museum presents the exposition "The life and work of A. Mozhaisky - an aircraft engineer of the Vologda province", located in five halls, which occupies the entire second floor and provides an opportunity to learn about the great Russian man and his fate.
In the living room you can see furniture that belonged to the Mozhaisky family, although in 1918 it was sold at an auction. The new owners knew whose things were, and tried to protect them, and later decided to transfer the furniture to the museum. There is a grand piano that Lyubochka loved to play; her dress, in which she walked through the rooms of the house. Numerous documents and photographs will tell a lot of new and interesting things from the life of the Mozhaisky family. The walls are decorated with silhouette drawings of the cousin of Alexander Fedorovich's wife, Elizaveta Boehm, which create and emphasize an incredibly cozy, family atmosphere in the house.
The office of Alexander Mozhaisky keeps the atmosphere that prevailed here many years ago: the same desk and drawings of aeronautical vehicles on it. There are photographs of the designer's grandchildren, Lyuba and Dima. In another room there are documents that accurately reflect all the social activities of the famous aircraft designer, as well as his participation in the peasant reform. The fourth hall presents the Petersburg period of Mozhaisky's life: then he was seriously concerned with the idea of flying in the air. There are also two models of "air shells", which were so called in the past. Presented and precise drawings of the master and all the necessary documents for their inventions.
The last room presents the world of Alexander Fedorovich's sea travel and the world of the East. The famous engineer himself painted the foreign landscapes he saw. There are also gifts that were brought from an expedition to Japan - to this country he went on the famous frigate "Diana" on duty. The sailors spent about nine months on the sea voyage and managed to survive the wreck, build a new ship called "Kheda", and also make friends with the Japanese they met. It is in this room that you can learn in detail about the adventures of Mozhaisky; in addition, you can watch a film called "Difficult Friendship" here. The famous engineer was so attracted by the sea because twelve generations of the Mozhaiskys family studied in St. Petersburg in the Naval Cadet Corps - therefore, Alexander Fedorovich was no exception from his family and literally applied his valuable knowledge in practice.
If you visit the first floor of the museum, you can learn in detail about the worthy successors of the great work of Mozhaisky: pilots, designers, cosmonauts, which the Vologda region is proud of. This section is presented in the excursion "Vologda residents' contribution to the development of astronautics and aviation". You will be able to watch the documentary "Storming the Space".
Walking through the cozy museum halls, you can find a lot of new and interesting things. This applies to the models of aircraft and spaceships of Sergei Ilyushin, the remains of military aircraft, not only Russian, but also German, which were shot down on the territory of the Vologda region during the Great Patriotic War, as well as the personal belongings of the famous cosmonaut Belyaev. The photographs and maps show the history of the Vologda aviation; there are also photo expositions dedicated to the life of Sergei Ilyushin and Pavel Belyaev. This kind of air, sea and space walks await all visitors to the A. F. Mozhaisky.
