Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana. Leo Tolstoy's life at the estate

The Yasnaya Polyana estate, which belonged to the great Russian writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, is located in Tula region, near the town of Shchekino. Today it is a museum-reserve that receives tourists from all over the world.

The writer has repeatedly admitted that this place helped him a lot in his work. The museum has preserved the original furnishings of the house and the nature around it in its original form, the very one that helped Lev Nikolaevich create masterpieces of Russian literature.

Prices in the Yasnaya Polyana Museum-Reserve in 2019

Entrance to the estate is possible without the involvement of guides:

• RUB 100 for adults;
• RUB 50 for students and retirees;
• children under 16 years old - free.

The prices for the excursion depend on the sites of the museum you want to visit and on the category of the visitor. Schoolchildren, students and retirees belong to the privileged category of visitors.

For an excursion to foreign language 1500 rubles required additionally. You can find a free day and buy tickets in advance on the official website of the Yasnaya Polyana Museum.

History

The first mention of "Yasnaya Polyana" is found in documents of 1652, then it was a small settlement. The settlement began to belong to the Tolstoy family in 1763, when it was bought by the great-grandfather of Lev Nikolaevich, Prince Sergei Fedorovich Volkonsky. Later, her son Nikolai Sergeevich inherited it, who gave this place the appearance of a large estate.

The Tolstoy family lived here with five children, including the youngest, Leo. He lost his parents early and the division of the estates took place in 1847. Yasnaya Polyana passed to Lev Nikolaevich, who at that time was 19 years old, but he began to live there only in the late 1850s.

The writer married Sophia Andreevna Bers in 1862, and the estate began to transform from a woman's hand. The wife created home comfort and beautiful flower gardens around the house, and Lev Nikolayevich was busy with the gardens and forests around. The latter occupy an area of ​​over 250 hectares.

In October 1910, Lev Nikolaevich left Yasnaya Polyana, and died in November. After his death, the estate remained with his wife Sofya Andreevna. Tolstaya tried to preserve the inviolability of her husband's things and the furnishings of the house; many items were signed by her. She assisted researchers dealing with the biography of Lev Nikolaevich.

In 1919, the People's Commissariat took the estate under the protection, and in 1921 it was nationalized and declared a museum, all things of which have "exceptional cultural and historical value and are national treasure are under the protection of the state. " By order of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, a cultural and educational center began to be created on the estate.

In 1941, there was a threat of occupation and things from the house had to be evacuated. And for good reason. "Yasnaya Polyana" was occupied for 47 days, and was set on fire during the retreat. The fire was extinguished, but the house was badly damaged, but was restored in 1942. Immediately after the end of the war historical values returned to the estate.

After the separation of Yasnaya Polyana from the rest of Tolstoy's museums, a serious restoration of the estate began. In the 50s, all buildings of the site were reconstructed based on photographs and stories of residents. For each object, employees made passports with an accurate description and location, which helped to preserve original view dwellings of Lev Nikolaevich.

In 1994, the great-grandson of the writer Vladimir Tolstoy became the director. From that moment on, the Tolstoy family began to come here from all over the world every 2 years. New educational programs, exhibitions and excursions began to be implemented. The place began to be visited by foreigners, including writers and other figures of the world art.

In 2012, Vladimir Tolstoy was appointed advisers to the president on culture and art, and Ekaterina Tolstaya was appointed director of the estate.

sights

The house-museum has preserved the atmosphere familiar to the great writer. Safe and sound in the office of Lev Nikolaevich there is a table on which he finished more than one work. Even his books are partially preserved, but touching them is strictly prohibited.

One of the buildings is the house of Prince Volkonsky, the writer's grandfather. Mine appearance the estate acquired just thanks to him. Lev Nikolaevich greatly appreciated the taste of his grandfather.

One of the two outbuildings has survived, which housed a school for village children, opened by Lev Nikolaevich. Later, it played the role of a living room, and today exhibitions are organized here.

The estate also has a stable with 30 thoroughbred horses. A sports club is open here " Yasnaya Polyana". Sightseers conduct horseback riding and carriage rides, and in winter time- on a sleigh.

There is a birch alley on the site, planted in 1965. Previously, it was spruce, but this is the handiwork of Sofya Andreevna, while Tolstoy preferred birch. On the left side of "Prešpekt" there is a large pond with a bathhouse, and on the right - 3 small ponds with a bathing pool.

Lev Nikolaevich was buried not far from the estate, in the forest. Tourists are invited to visit his grave. Truth large monument you will not see here, the writer asked to be buried very modestly. This is just a small mound without flowers and a cross.

Excursion programs

I honestly admit that the literary nests of the Russian classics make me sad, but Yasnaya Polyana turned my attitude towards "village" estates upside down. We drove up to the main entrance of the L.N. Tolstoy with the famous turrets already in the evening. the ticket offices have already closed. When they found two treasured banknotes, we were simply beside ourselves with happiness ...

Working hours: Tue-Fri 9: 30-15: 30; Sat, Sun 9: 30-16: 30

Entrance to the territory of the reserve is carried out daily at entrance tickets... We arrived at the estate after 17.00, when the ticket office was already closed. There was only one opportunity to buy a ticket through an electronic terminal, which uses ONLY 100 RUBLES (!) To pay for a note in denomination. NO CHANGE (For the convenience of visitors). Having traveled such a long way from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana, it was a shame to turn around with nothing. Having searched all the pockets, backpacks, bags and the glove compartment in the car, we nevertheless found two cherished hundreds, the daughter - a schoolgirl - went for free. Just in case, when going to Yasnaya Polyana, take some small money with you.

• From November 1 to March 31, entrance is from 9.00 to 17.00, you can stay on the territory until 18.00
• From April 1 to October 31, the entrance is from 9.00 to 20.00, on the territory you can stay until 21.00
• Visiting memorial buildings - from 10.00 to 15.30
• From April 1 to October 31, Saturday and Sunday, visiting memorial buildings from 10.00 to 16.30
• Guided tours - from 9.30 to 15.30
• From May 8 to October 31 on Saturday and Sunday excursions from 9.30 to 16.30

Please note that on days of increased excursion demand (weekends, holidays), the sale of tickets for excursions may be completed before the deadline due to the increased excursion flow.

How to get there?

By car

1. Via Tula (bypass from the south).
   Move along the M2 "Crimea" highway towards Belgorod. At the traffic light in front of the Kaluga - Tula junction, turn left and move towards Tula (the Metro shopping center will be located on the right side). Go along the Kaluzhskoe highway to Lenin Avenue and turn right towards Yasnaya Polyana and Shchekino. After the bridge over the Voronka river, you need to move along the Tula-Shchekino highway and turn right at the Yasnaya Polyana Museum-Estate signpost and drive to the parking lot.
2. Through Tula (through Oktyabrskaya st.)
   Move along the M2 "Crimea" highway towards Belgorod. Ten kilometers from Tula, at the Tula - Belgorod fork (on the right - an inoperative traffic police post), turn right and without turning off move along the Moskovskoye Highway, which turns into Oktyabrskaya Street. From Oktyabrskaya drive through the city in a southerly direction, following the Yasnaya Polyana signs.

Under its own power

1. By train
   From the Kursk railway station in Moscow to Tula by electric train. From the Moscow railway station in Tula to Yasnaya Polyana trolleybus No. 5 to the stop. "Pedagogical Institute", then by buses No. 114, 117, 280 to the stop. "Yasnaya Polyana" or "School". Then 10 minutes walk to the entry towers.
2. By bus or minibus through Tula: From Moscow from the metro stations Tsaritsyno, Domodedovskaya, Prazhskaya, Ul. Academician Yangel "to the stop" Ul. Mosin "in Tula. From Tula to Yasnaya Polyana can be reached by buses No. 114, 117, 280 from the stop. "St. Mosin "to the stop. "Yasnaya Polyana" or "Shkolnaya", then 10 minutes walk to the entry towers.

Description of the estate of L.N. Tolstoy

Immediately behind the security gate, another world begins ... or so it seemed to me ... Perhaps I perceived everything so sharply, because of the impending thunderstorm - it was both alarming and joyful, the desire to see the estate as soon as possible before the rain covered us (we prudently forgot in the car), literally spurred on.

So, we rushed past a picturesque pond with yellow water lilies, along a light birch alley-enfilade deep into the territory (how, probably, it is elegant and solemn on a sunny fine day). Having passed almost the entire alley, we turned left towards the Volkonsky House and the stable building. Out on open space were amazed by the "wide open" landscape. A whitewashed, extended house with "wings" at the ends and an elevated central part under a triangular pediment dominated this panorama. The clouds were gathering, their powerful blue-black clubs kept us in constant tension. Suddenly the sky "split", and for a moment the sun peeped out from behind the clouds, illuminating the old mansion and gilding the surroundings ... It was a magnificent picture, an invaluable gift to the photographer!

We were in a hurry to capture not only the architectural components of the Tolstoy estate, but also the grave of the writer. The signs did not quite sensibly direct us to the latter, it was not clear how long it would take to walk, and given the current circumstances, I wanted to know for sure if we would be able to get to the edge of the “Old Order” forest before the downpour fell on us ... that this journey lasted an incredibly long time. Walking through the gloomy forest, weaving its branches low above the road, it seems to prepare for a meeting with the eternal, tunes in the right mood ... Bends, turns, branches towards smaller paths and stitches are confusing ... but soon a small shady glade opened with neat velvet-clipped grass and a green mound ... And we, and everyone who walked in parallel with us, including noisy Chinese tourists, suddenly stopped rooted to the spot and fell silent ... only the wind continued to hum ominously, bend the crowns, sprinkle with torn foliage and drizzle ... It flashed through my head: “This is where this great person"How modest, but beautiful is his last refuge, although there is not even a gravestone ..."

1. I.E. Repin, L.N. Tolstoy and S.A. Fat at the table, 1907-1911
2. L.O. Pasternak, L.N. Tolstoy with his family, 1902-1903
3. V.P. Baturin. House of L.N. Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana, 1911
4. VC. Byalynitsky-Birulya. View of the village and the Yasnaya Polyana estate, 1928

On the way back to the residential part of the estate, the wind died down a little and large raindrops fell through the green canopy of the forest, we almost ran to Tolstoy's house, hoping to hide from the bad weather ... Every moment spent here was so piercing and memorable that even now, when I write these lines, clearly see everything that happened and relive it again ...

How mysterious and wonderful it is in Yasnaya Polyana during the rain, there is no feeling that you are in a museum ... Here is the kingdom of nature, carefully preserved and replenished; it literally envelops you, enchants, captivates. Luxurious park, delicately complemented by magnificent creations of flora - now apparently my affection for long years…

Here is the house of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, with a carved terrace, with a balcony over which stretches a faded linen marquise, wet from the rain. Paths lined with shrubs and phloxes, which are in no way inferior in height, are scattered around the house, absolutely marvelous flower beds are broken ... The air is pleasantly fresh and cool, the chirping of birds was heard again, a huge amount of clouds gradually dispersed, acquiring innocent fluffiness and whiteness ... The park was already lit up with evening light and began to plunge into darkness ... There are almost no visitors. Drenched, but satisfied, he returns to the front entrance ... We have not left yet, and I already know that I will come back here again ...

Plans for the Yasnaya Polyana estate

PLAN OF THE MUSEUM-ESTATE YASNAYA POLYANA (CENTRAL PART)

1. Entrance gate;
2. Tower - gazebo;
3. Bathhouse;
4. Greenhouse;
5. Stable;
6. Volkonsky House;
7. Kucherskaya hut;
8. Zhitnya;
9. Riga;
10. Wing of the Kuzminskys;
11. Blue Pavilion;
12. House of L.N. Tolstoy;
13. The grave of L.N. Tolstoy;

PLAN OF THE MUSEUM-ESTATE YASNAYA POLYANA (FULL, LARGE RESOLUTION 1200 × 1187)

Archival photos

Archival photos from the site https://russiainphoto.ru

1. Leo Tolstoy with his family. From left to right: Misha, Leo Tolstoy, Leo, Andrey, Tatiana, Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya, Maria. Foreground is Vanechka and Alexandra. Photo of 1892
2. Lev and Sophia Tolstoy in a group with relatives and Albert Shkarvan in Yasnaya Polyana park. From left to right: Albert Albertovich Shkarvan, Andrey Lvovich Tolstoy, Maria Lvovna Tolstaya, Nikolai Leonidovich Obolensky (son of Tolstoy's niece Elizabeth Valerianovna Obolenskaya, since June 2, 1897 - husband of Maria Lvovna Tolstoy), Dora Fedorovna Tolstaya (wife of Lev Lvovich Tolstoy), Tolstoy, Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya, Sergei Lvovich Tolstoy, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy and Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya. Photo of 1896
3. Leo and Sophia Tolstoy on their 34th wedding anniversary. Photo September 23, 1896
4. Lev Tolstoy. Photo July 28 — August 2, 1897
5. Leo Tolstoy with his family under the "tree of the poor." Standing: Nikolai Leonidovich Obolensky (son of Tolstoy's niece Elizaveta Valerianovna Obolenskaya, since June 2, 1897 - husband of Maria Lvovna Tolstoy), Sofia Nikolaevna Tolstaya (daughter-in-law of Leo Tolstoy, since 1888 the wife of his son Ilya) and Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya. From left to right sitting: grandchildren Anna and Mikhail Ilyich Tolstoy, Maria Lvovna Obolenskaya (daughter), Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya with her grandson Andrei Ilyich Tolstoy, Tatyana Lvovna Sukhotina with Volodya (Ilyich) in her arms, Varvara Valerianovna Nagornova (niece of Leo eldest daughter his sisters Maria Nikolaevna Tolstoy), Olga Konstantinovna Tolstaya (wife of Andrei Lvovich Tolstoy), Andrei Lvovich Tolstoy with Ilya Ilyich Tolstoy (grandson of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy). Photo September 23, 1899
6. Lev Nikolaevich and Sofya Andreevna Tolstoy, Vladimir Stasov and Ilya Gintsburg. Photo from 1900
7. Leo Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky. Photo October 8, 1900
8. Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana on the upper balcony. Photo of 1901
9. Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana. Photo August 28, 1903
10. Leo Tolstoy on the terrace of the Yasnaya Polyana house. Photo May 1903
11. Leo Tolstoy with his family on his 75th birthday. From left to right are: Ilya, Lev, Alexandra and Sergei Tolstoy; sitting: Mikhail, Tatiana, Sofya Andreevna and Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, Andrey. Photo of 1903
12. Portrait of Leo Tolstoy. Photo of 1905
13. Leo Tolstoy with his sister Maria Nikolaevna in Yasnaya Polyana. Photo July 1908
14. Leo Tolstoy with his grandchildren Vanya and Tanya Tolstoy near their house in Yasnaya Polyana. Almost every day Lev Nikolaevich was waited under the “tree of the poor” or at the porch of the house “beggars and unemployed passers-by to ask for alms or“ read books ”, or peasants from the surrounding villages for financial help, or litigating men and women for legal advice , or all sorts of city people from Tula, from Moscow, with similar goals, or, finally, people eager to talk with him about intangible, spiritual issues "(according to the recollections of the secretary Valentin Fedorovich Bulgakov). Photo of 1908
15. Leo Tolstoy and the peasants in Yasnaya Polyana. Photo of 1908
16. Leo Tolstoy and Vladimir Chertkov in the office of the Yasnaya Polyana house. Photo of 1909
17. Leo and Sophia Tolstoy. Photo of 1884
18. The interior of a room in the Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate in Yasnaya Polyana. Photo of the 1960s.
19. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Photo of 1891

From scientific sources: "Yasnaya Polyana" - L.N. Tolstoy

Material from the official website of the museum Museum-estate Yasnaya Polyana

In the very center middle Russia with its discreet, but surprisingly touching nature, the Yasnaya Polyana estate is located - the same modest, but beautiful and majestic in its simplicity. Born and lived in Yasnaya Polyana most his life Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Here his own world began, here the world of his works and heroes was born. It was here that his only beloved home was, the nest of his family and clan.

Once these lands were borderlands. Northern forests were replaced by forest-steppe - Wild Field; from there, waves of nomadic invasions rolled towards the Russian borders. In the 16th century, to protect the Moscow lands, they began to construct notches in the local forests. Near-cut settlements appeared, and one of them was the village of Yasnaya Polyana. It was first mentioned in documents from 1652.

The first owner of Yasnaya Polyana was the notch voivode Grigory Ivanovich Kartsev, who was mentioned in the boyar book for 1628. Subsequently, his numerous descendants also owned various estates on the territory of Yasnaya Polyana and its environs.

Part of Yasnaya Polyana in 1763 was acquired by Prince Sergei Fedorovich Volkonsky, Leo Tolstoy's great-grandfather on the mother's side. Subsequently, the estate was inherited by his son, Nikolai Sergeevich. It was he who played a decisive role in the fate of the Yasnaya Polyana estate. Becoming its main builder and buying up the scattered parts of Yasnaya Polyana from the previous owners, he created a large estate here, to which we are accustomed to refer the name "Yasnaya Polyana".

Through the efforts of the prince, parks, gardens, picturesque alleys, ponds, a rich greenhouse appeared in the estate, an architectural ensemble was created that included a large manor house and two outbuildings. One of Volkonsky's favorite walks was the Kliny park adjacent to the greenhouse. XVIII century, before his arrival in Yasnaya Polyana. At the time of Tolstoy's grandfather, music sounded in Kliny - a small serf orchestra played for the prince.

There is an assumption that Kliny is only part of a larger old park that once covered the entire top of the hill, where Prince Volkonsky later built a large house with outbuildings. While construction was underway, the prince and his daughter lived in a house, which later received the name Volkonsky houses... The exact time of its construction is unknown. But, probably, it was not built by Prince Volkonsky, but appeared earlier. But be that as it may, Volkonsky House- the oldest stone building on the territory of Yasnaya Polyana.

Already under the prince, estate workshops were located in the Volkonsky House, a stone stable was built opposite the house (it has survived to this day); the residential part of the estate, according to the prince's plan, was to be located away from household services.

During the life of the prince, the construction of a new architectural ensemble was not completed. He managed to build two elegant wings and the lower floor of a large manor house. The prince died in 1821. His daughter Maria Nikolaevna remained the owner of the huge estate. A year after her father's death, she married Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy.

Immediately after the wedding, the Tolstoys settled in Yasnaya Polyana. Nikolai Ilyich completed a large house, in which his family settled in 1824, and increased his land holdings. He bought out his family estate Nikolskoye-Vyazemskoye, taken into custody for debts, acquired the rich estate of Pirogovo and reliably secured the future of his children. Maria Nikolaevna seemed to be living in a slightly different world, she was more interested in spiritual life.

Extremely religious, she probably saw her family as a gift from God, as she was thirty-one years old when she got married and happily devoted herself entirely to her husband and children. The Tolstoy family had five children: sons Nikolai, Sergey, Dmitry and Lev, daughter Maria. Happy life the family ended a few months after the birth of the youngest daughter - in 1830 Maria Nikolaevna died.

At this time, her youngest son Leo was not even two years old. Tolstoy did not remember his mother, only vague memories of her lived in his soul, but he idolized his mother. According to him, she always remained a "holy ideal" for him. And years after her death, Tolstoy especially loved and carefully preserved those corners of the Yasnaya Polyana estate that reminded him of his mother - Lower (English) park, a gazebo-tower in it, a greenhouse.

The childhood of Lev Nikolaevich in the estate is a spacious and cozy father's house, a large patriarchal family, noisy games with his brothers. In the large house there was a nursery, a classroom, a waiting room, a piano, a sofa, a large living room, and a small living room — supposedly about forty rooms in total. The family's life was measured and unhurried, in strict accordance with traditions.

When Tolstoy was nine years old, his father died, and the aunt who lived with them, the sister of Nikolai Ilyich Alexander Ilinichna Osten-Saken, became the guardian of the children, and after her death in 1841, another aunt, Pelageya Ilyinichna Yushkova. She took her nephews to Kazan, where she lived with her husband. Tolstoy returned to Yasnaya Polyana - already the owner - only in 1847, leaving his studies at Kazan University.

In 1847, there was a division of the parental estates between the Tolstoy brothers. “According to custom, as the youngest in the family, I was given the estate where they lived - Yasnaya Polyana,” writes Lev Nikolaevich. He immediately decides to drastically change his life and settle in his village. Like the hero of the story "The Morning of the Landowner" Dmitry Nekhlyudov, nineteen-year-old Tolstoy with all his heart strives to "devote himself to life in the countryside" because he feels that he was "born for her."
But already the first ventures are disappointing. Everything turns out not as he expected, and the peasants are distrustful of the young master's undertakings. Disappointed in the desire to do good, he goes to military service.

Until 1857, Tolstoy was not in the estate, but the economy was progressing little by little, and brother Dmitry Nikolayevich wrote to him about Yasnaya: “... on my way to Moscow in May, I ... drove up to the outbuilding, and from there ... I walked around the garden and the exhibition, where everything was excellent at that time. color, and this gave me such pleasure that I drove all the way to Moscow with a pleasant impression. On the way back, I also stopped at Yasnoe; ... I ate pears, of which you now have an abundance. "

In the absence of the owner, the appearance of the central part of the estate changed dramatically: a large Yasnaya Polyana house was sold for delivery, and the majestic architectural ensemble planned by Prince Volkonsky lost its integrity. At this time, Tolstoy urgently needed money to publish the "Military Leaflet" - a magazine for soldiers, which he conceived with a group of officers who served with him in the Crimea. The publication was banned, the money was sold for trifles, and the house, transported 40 miles from Yasnaya Polyana to the village of Dolgoe, stood there until 1913 and was dismantled due to dilapidation. At the construction site, only a stone from its foundation remained, on which the inscription was subsequently engraved: "Here stood the house in which Leo Tolstoy was born." In December 1897, Tolstoy wrote in his diary: “On the 4th I went to Dolgoye. A very touching impression of the collapsed house. A swarm of memories. " The big Yasnaya Polyana house was resurrected by the writer on the pages of the trilogy "Childhood", "Boyhood", "Youth".

In the late 1850s, Tolstoy retired and returned to Yasnaya, although he did not live there permanently, spending a lot of time in St. Petersburg and Moscow. He settled in one of the outbuildings, which eventually became a home for him and his family - he lived there for more than 50 years. Together with him in new house old furniture, books, great-grandfather's mirrors of the 18th century, family portraits were moved. It is this house that is known today as the Leo Tolstoy House-Museum.

At this time, Russia entered new era- the unhurried life of the estate became a thing of the past. Tolstoy undertook two trips abroad, the impressions of which also influenced the course of life in Yasnaya Polyana, transforming into new ideas and projects of the owner of the estate, who was creative in any business.

Returning to Russia, he eagerly set about transformations in Yasnaya. One of his most wonderful undertakings was a school for peasant children, opened in 1859 in an outbuilding (the Tolstoys called it "another house", and later - Wing of the Kuzminskys... It was absolutely new school based on the principles of freedom and creativity.

On September 23, 1862, Lev Nikolaevich married the daughter of a Moscow gof-physician, Sofya Andreevna Bers. The life of the young for the most part took place in Yasnaya Polyana, where at first it was not easy for the young countess to get used to it. Gradually, she managed to become a real mistress of the estate, and soon female hand began to be felt here in everything: the house became cozier and more comfortable, elegant flower beds appeared around it.

Lev Nikolaevich also paid more and more attention to the farm. He expanded his grandfather's Apple orchard... Gradually, the area of ​​the Yasnaya Polyana gardens quadrupled and exceeded 40 hectares. In total, five gardens were planted in Yasnaya Polyana: Red, Young and Old, as well as gardens at the Volkonsky House and at the Big Pond.

Every spring the Tolstoys admired the extraordinary beauty of the blossoming gardens. “Apple trees bloom unusually,” wrote Sofya Andreevna in her diary. - Something magical, crazy about their bloom. I've never seen anything like it. You look out the window into the garden and every time you will be amazed by this airy, white cloud of flowers in the air, with a pink tint in some places and with a fresh green background in the distance. "
The gardens provided a steady income for the estate. They were always rented out to tenants for a price of two to five thousand per year, and some of the apples were kept for themselves under the terms of the contract.

The forest plantations of Tolstoy turned out to be even more ambitious. Before him, the Yasnaya Polyana forests were areas of the old forest. Their old names have survived to this day: Chepyzh, Stary Zakaz, Arkovsky Verkh. Tolstoy's forestry activities significantly expanded the forests of Yasnaya Polyana; the newly appeared forests not only adorned the estate, but also brought undoubted practical benefits: they fixed the sprawling slopes of numerous ravines. In addition, the land in the Yasnaya Polyana area was very poor, and it was more profitable to plant forests here. In total, forest plantations in Yasnaya Polyana occupy a huge area - 254 hectares.

Horses played an important role in Tolstoy's life. In Yasnaya Polyana, as in any estate, there were always horses, both workers and visiting ones. In the early 70s, Tolstoy bought up land near Samara and, as his eldest son Sergei Lvovich writes, he wanted to breed "steppe horses and sheep" there. Tolstoy even wanted to breed his own breed, crossing purebred English riding with swift steppe horses. The plant grew to 4,000 heads, but in the years of famine the horses began to fall, and, according to S. L. Tolstoy, "in the 80s this business somehow melted away unnoticed." And in Yasnaya Polyana there were horses brought from Samara, the descendants of which lived in the last years of Tolstoy. In 1897, Bashkirs came from the Samara province to Yasnaya, who milked the mares and made kumis here.

Since the 1860s, the Tolstoy house in Yasnaya Polyana began to change: from now on it grew up with his family. During the years of marriage, the Tolstoy had 13 children. Five of them died in early childhood, eight survived to adulthood - sons Sergey, Ilya, Lev, Andrey, Mikhail and daughters Tatyana, Maria and Alexandra. To the central part of the house - several rooms, located in a suite - in different years extensions were added.

In 1881 the Tolstoy bought a house in Moscow. The older children grew up, they had to continue their education, the daughters had to leave. Now the family spent winters in Moscow. However, the city weighed on the writer, he needed a "bath village life". In the spring he strove to return to Yasnaya Polyana as soon as possible, where he could breathe and work so well. In recent years, Tolstoy no longer moved to Moscow for the winter, preferring the peace and solitude of Yasnaya.
By that time, the Yasnaya Polyana estate no longer belonged to Lev Nikolaevich. Back in 1892, in accordance with his views, he renounced property and divided everything that he owned between the heirs. Yasnaya Polyana received Sofya Andreevna and a very small younger son Vanechka, who later died of scarlet fever (in 1895, at the age of seven).

In the last years of Tolstoy's life, the atmosphere of the house changed; family discord darkened the lives of its inhabitants. On October 28, 1910, Lev Nikolaevich left Yasnaya Polyana forever. On November 9, 1910, he was buried at the edge of a ravine in the Old Zakaz forest.

June 10 marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the State Museum-Estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana".

Yasnaya Polyana is the family estate of the Russian writer Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Here he was born and spent most of his life. The estate is located in the Shchekino district of the Tula region (14 km to southwest from Tula).

The Tolstoys believed that Yasnaya Polyana got its name from the wide sunny valley that opens when you turn to the estate from the driveway, and possibly along the nearby Yasenka river.

The history of the estate goes back several centuries. V XVI-XVII centuries one of the notches (Malinovaya) of the Moscow state, which defended Russia from the raids of nomads, passed through the Yasnaya Polyana forests. In the 16th century, the village of Yasnaya Polyana was one of the fortifications on this site - "prison" - and was located not far from the Malinovye Vorota fortress.

In 1627, for loyal service to the tsar, boyar Grigory Kartsev and his son Stepan were granted land in the Solovskoye (later Krapivensky) district. The boyar also owned the village of Yasnaya Polyana, in which he founded his estate. In 1763, Leo Tolstoy's great-grandfather, Prince Sergei Fedorovich Volkonsky, bought Yasnaya Polyana in the name of his wife. In addition to him, the land in Yasnaya Polyana was owned by five more landowners, their parts were bought out later. After the death of Sergei Volkonsky in 1784, the estate passed to his son Nikolai Volkonsky, who fundamentally changed its appearance during the radical reconstruction.

From Prince Nikolai Volkonsky, Yasnaya Polyana passed to his only daughter, the mother of Leo Tolstoy, Maria Nikolaevna. The writer's father, Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, completed a 32-room Empire building here, enlarged the garden and household services.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born in Yasnaya Polyana on September 9 (August 28, O.S.), 1828, and he lived here for over 50 years. In 1847, the Yasnaya Polyana estate became the property of Leo Tolstoy under the act of division of property between the brothers.

In 1986, the Yasnaya Polyana Museum received the status of the State Memorial and Natural Reserve, in 1993 the status of a cultural object especially important value... In 1994, a descendant of Leo Tolstoy, Vladimir Ilyich Tolstoy, was appointed director of the museum.

State Memorial and nature reserve"Museum of Leo Tolstoy's estate" Yasnaya Polyana "for recent times significantly expanded the scope of the usual museum activities, expanded both territorial and professional and departmental boundaries. Today the museum estate "Yasnaya Polyana" is a complex system objects, a network of branches that define various forms of interaction between the museum and society.

It includes:

Museum-estate of L.N. Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana", which includes the Leo Tolstoy House Museum, the Kuzminsky House, the Volkonsky House, outbuildings, stables, etc. on the territory of the reserve, the total area of ​​which is 412 hectares;

Scientific and cultural center in Tula, which includes a publishing house, a tourism department, a souvenir and bookstores, art gallery;

Tourist and hotel complex "Yasnaya Polyana", which includes a hotel, an administrative building and buildings intended for storage of funds, a center of folk crafts and pottery workshops, etc.

Cafe "Preshpect";

Kindergarten "Ant Brotherhood" in the village of Yasnaya Polyana;

Cultural Center in the village of Yasnaya Polyana;

Industrial and motor transport base;

Museum of Local Lore and Complex historic buildings in with. Nettle;

Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy in the village. Nikolskoe-Vyazemskoe;

Memorial house of M. N. Tolstoy in the village. Small Pirogovo;

Memorial house of PI Tolstoy in the village of Pokrovskoe;

Manor and park ensemble in the village. Big Pirogovo;

Museum and tourist complex at the railway station Kozlova Zaseka.

But the Yasnaya Polyana estate itself remains the same as Tolstoy knew and loved. Memorial landscapes of the estate (gardens, parks, ponds planted by Tolstoy forests), as well as buildings late XVIII - early XIX centuries, are maintained in their unchanged historical form.

The main memorial buildings of the estate:

Volkonsky House - the oldest stone building in Yasnaya Polyana; under Leo Tolstoy it had an economic purpose, today it is administrative building museum; the house also has an exhibition hall;

House of L.N. Tolstoy, in which Tolstoy lived for over 50 years and wrote most of his works; preserved as of 1910 ( Last year life of the writer);

Wing of the Kuzminskys, the building of Tolstoy's Yasnaya Polyana school, later - a guest house; now it houses temporary exhibitions;

Memorial stable, which today contains about 30 horses, as well as a variety of outbuildings.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources.