Description of the attraction
Not far from St. Petersburg, in the picturesque town of Vsevolozhsk, there is a museum-estate "Priyutino", which was owned by the president of the Academy of Arts, director of the Public Library Alexei Nikolaevich Olenin. The special historical and architectural value of the estate lies in the fact that it is one of the few country estates of the early 19th century that have come down to us.
In the central building of the estate there is an exhibition dedicated to the life and everyday life of the inhabitants of the estate, the events that took place here, tells about the people who visited the house. The historical setting of the living room, bedrooms, study and dining room has been recreated here. Among the exhibits are documents telling about the owners of the estate, personal belongings, sketches, books with autographs.
The walls of A. N. Olenin, the rooms of his wife Elizaveta Markovna, the living room is decorated with magnificent works of outstanding artists who were friends of this house: Orest Kiprensky, Alexander and Karl Bryullov, Fyodor Tolstoy, Alexander Orlovsky.
At the beginning of the 19th century, close friends of A. N. Olenin: artists, poets, writers, who were jokingly called the "Olenin's circle". There was a special way of life, which was later called "estate culture" - without salon claims, a friendly home atmosphere in the communication of guests and hosts, a joint pastime associated with intellectual pursuits. M. Glinka, A. Pushkin, O. Kiprensky, A. Griboyedov, P. Vyazemsky, V. Zhukovsky, K. Bryullov, A. Mitskevich came here to communicate with people who were close in spirit. One of the most beloved guests of the estate K. N. Batyushkov captured in the poem "Message to Turgenev" the image of welcoming meetings and always hospitable hosts: Elizaveta Markovna and Alexei Nikolaevich.
I. A. Krylov, who had been at the estate for almost 30 years, at times lived with the Olenins for a long time. It was here that the plots of his fables "The Carpenter", "Divers", "The Peasant and the Sheep" were born.
The critic, poet, translator N. I. Gnedich, who wrote one of his brightest creations in Priyutino - the Fishermen idyll.
Theatrical performances were very frequent in the Olenins' house, in which both the owners and guests took part. Both comic plays and dramatic works were performed on the improvised stage.
The children of Alexei and Elizaveta Olenin, becoming adults, also glorified their surname in the field of serving art. Pyotr Olenin became a painter, and the name of Anna's daughter in history turned out to be associated with the name of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who, after graduating from the Tsarsko-rural lyceum, spent a long time at the Olenins' estate, completely immersed in theatrical and literary life. The poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" at one time remained unrecognized by many of Pushkin's contemporaries, however, being read in Priyutino, it received full approval from the "reindeer circle". It is no coincidence that the first edition of this work was carried out by N. Gnedich, and the design project was made by A. N. Olenin.
The link forced A. Pushkin to leave the city on the Neva. For more than seven years he was away from his friends in Priyut. Returning from exile in 1828, the poet appeared in Priyutino at the earliest opportunity. Here he saw Anna Olenina, with whom he fell in love at first sight. Feelings prompted the poet to create a lyric cycle, which included "Do not sing, beauty, with me …", "You and you", "Premonition", "Her eyes", "Lush city, poor city …". In the album of Anna Pushkin wrote the famous lines "I loved you".
Priyutinsky park with lakes and ponds is also interesting. Old oaks grow here, under the shade of which the eminent guests of the estate strolled. As before, on the site of a young oak tree that had dried up in the year of the death of the owner, which was planted by Nikolai Olenin, who died in the Battle of Borodino, there is a stone that was once installed by the father in memory of his son. Nowadays people come here to honor the fallen heroes of the war of 1812. In the park there is a dairy, completely restored in the form of a Roman pantheon, and a smithy by the pond. Now the restoration of the lost buildings continues: the guest wing, the master's bath, greenhouses.
