Yasnaya Polyana… I was looking forward to meeting her with trepidation. It’s just that, oddly enough, Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” is one of my three favorite books (I can add Andrey Pechersky’s “In the Woods” and “On the Mountains” to this list, and four books by James Harriot). Of course, other favorite books appear from time to time, but this “trinity” is time-tested. Periodically, I take them out of the closet and reread them, although I no longer just know the plot, but I can quote.
Therefore, I have a special attitude towards Lev Nikolayevich. Probably for this reason I never stopped by Yasnaya Polyana on the way. And now, finally, I see her. But as they say, man proposes, but God disposes.
Yasnaya Polyana was to be the biggest disappointment of the Tula trip.
We go to the checkout.
And here is the first disappointment. They explained to us that if we want a tour, either wait for 10 more people (judging by the number of people around, these are two more people, the wait could drag on for an indefinite time), or pay 3,750 rubles, which is even for four (considering that three from the same family) too much.
To be honest, this approach to individuals in our museums has always “killed” me: the feeling that you must definitely go with a tour, and if not, then there is no tour, because an individual very often costs “sky-high” money and is not a fact, that you can get it done. At the same time, this is more a rule of our museums than an exception to it. For me, it’s better to set a specific time for excursions than to conduct such “educational” work.
But there is nothing to do, we just take tickets, we go for a walk. Fortunately, there is a son who already went with the class to Yasnaya Polyana, but, as it turned out later, very little was left in his head after this trip (although, remembering myself already at the institute, I can say the same about myself: on such trips communication comes first, and everything else is just “decoration”).
Let's go for a walk in the park. If you put your hand on your heart, an ordinary Central Russian park, if there weren’t Tolstoy’s name here, I wouldn’t go a second time for sure, everything is too simple. This is not Konstantinovo, where I agree to go not for Yesenin, but simply for stunning views. But the park still has its own charm.
Gradually we approach the bath. It is closed, so we look inside the "holes". I encountered such “closeness” of objects everywhere in Yasnaya Polyana. Very disappointing.
But living creatures "do not close."
Bullfinches.
Squirrel.
Children, they are children of cats too.
We found a greenhouse, went in, wandered around. As it turned out, we were lucky - after us, some woman closed the gate, so the “closeness” continued.
And lemons grow in such greenhouses.
Farewell look at the garden.
And we gradually approached Tolstoy's house.
Near the house there are several wooden buildings.
Well, the entrance to the museum is located behind the gate.
I have never seen such museum shoe covers.
The true owners of the estate.
It was also impossible to shoot inside the house. So that's the only photo.
What I liked about this part of the museum was the drawings with the heroes of War and Peace. It is interesting to guess: here is Natasha Rostova, this is Pierre, and this is Maria Bolkonskaya. For the rest, well, somehow. Then the path lay not Tolstoy's grave.
On the way we saw Riga,
And here is such a "beautiful".
Tolstoy's grave. Simple, good, without monuments, as the writer wanted. That's the way it should be... without pomp.
We went back through the coachman's house. Vitya and Lyovka decided to look inside through the windows, so they were sent, in the truest sense of the word.
Corral with horses.
General impression of Yasnaya Polyana
The estate itself is huge, relatively well-groomed. But for the rest ... It reminds me of all of "Koshchei over gold": it's closed there, don't go there, don't look here. And there is no spirit of that time. And the most offensive thing is that there is a name, and tourists, and the richest legacy from Tolstoy's works. Well, make something out of this so that my son, when he comes home, demands the writer's book.
After all, there is! It is not difficult to dress the caretakers and museum staff in the costumes of this era. Make a historic atelier, contact area with horses and animals. Beat the same “War and Peace”, make “meetings” with the heroes at least on weekends. I am generally silent about the military topic.
Tolstoy is a school. It is not difficult to make a class, lessons, give ink to pee. After all, the costs are not very large, but what a delight it will be. And so ... the old, soviet museum. And if I can still be satisfied, then our children, brought up on the Internet and 3D, alas, do not really like to walk on such. Some understand this, the same Darwinovsky in Moscow, and some live the old fashioned way, on the name, and this makes me sad ...
I thought that we would spend a day in Yasnaya Polyana, but here it was two hours. So let's go to Kozlova Zaseka, a branch of the Tolstoy Museum.
Kozlova Zaseka
Branch of the museum-estate of Tolstoy Yasnaya Polyana- is already more modern, and I liked it much more. There we at least felt some spirit of the times.
Kozlova Zaseka- the current station, made antique. There is also a small museum here. This station is closely connected with the name of Tolstoy: it was here that letters were sent for him, and his body was also brought here.
Among the cultural institutions of Russia that store and exhibit valuable objects and documents for display, there is a small museum and railway station complex "Kozlova Zaseka". The address of the station is simple: the city of Tula, Leo Tolstoy street. The closest stop on the way to the Yasnaya Polyana estate was opened in 1868. Its construction is connected with the construction of the Moscow-Kursk branch of the railway (currently the Tula branch of the Moscow railway). The station is classified as active.
Proud cast iron
It so happened that the fate of the inconspicuous stop was closely associated with the name of the great Russian writer, author of the novels "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina", "Resurrection" and others, because he was born, lived and worked in Yasnaya Polyana. The achievement of civilization once made significant adjustments to the usual course of life of the family nest (recall that initially the estate belonged to the Kartsev family, then Volkonsky and Tolstoy).
Lev Nikolaevich and his household members often visited Kozlova Zasek: they received mail there, used telephone services. In November 1910, the station, gray as if from grief, met the coffin with the body of its famous regular. The sad cargo arrived from Astapovo, where Tolstoy overtook his last hour.
There is evidence that when the writer first saw the “proud iron pot”, he was confused. A slight fright at the sight of a puffing giant steam locomotive quickly passed: the “mirror of the Russian revolution”, as you know, was also a reflection of everything progressive, including in the field of technology. The route Yasnaya Polyana - Kozlova Zasek became familiar to him. The lover of wandering quite easily mastered rail transport and actively used it.
Where did the name come from
On his last trip to his daughter Tatyana in Kochety, 82-year-old Tolstoy also went by train. It was August. Outside the window, at first slowly, and then faster and faster, familiar trees with the first redheads in lush foliage floated away, others “ran” towards them: “Farewell, Kozlova Zasek!” It is unlikely that Lev Nikolayevich thought that this farewell was forever. During the tour, they also talk about his farewell "date" with the station.
Tourists are interested in the guides: why is the old half-station called so and not otherwise? The roots of the name go back to the fifteenth century. These places represented the outskirts of the Moscow principality, which had to be protected from enemy raids. For this, notches were created.
The construction of an important component of the defensive structures looked like this: large trees fell, their branches were cut off so that they were bristling stakes. The enemy could not immediately overcome such a barrier, which gave the defenders the opportunity to gather strength. Kozlova, the local barrier was named after the voivode Danila Kozlov. Apparently, he was a great brave man, since he was honored by the people.
Reconstruction outside the noisy crowd
From 1928 to 2001, the Kozlova Zasek station was called Yasnaya Polyana, then the historical name was returned to it. Tolstoy and many of his countrymen called the stop briefly and sincerely: Kozlovka. Today, that noisy "abyss of the people" that Lev Nikolayevich once wrote about, as a rule, is not observed either in the waiting room or on the platform.
And before, only he and his huge family, numbering thirteen souls of children, could book a whole carriage. One can imagine how the Fats whiled away the time before the arrival of the train, sitting on wooden benches in the waiting room. The younger ones certainly mastered small areas to the maximum: they looked into all corners, rose on their toes to look at the cashier in the window.
After the reconstruction of 2001, carried out at the initiative of the management of the Moscow Railway, the seats, as of old, invite passengers to sit down for a minute or several hours. It is very entertaining even for modern adults to look into the luminous unusual window of the cash register. As part of the cognitive voyage, it is interesting to visit the office of the head of the station, Kozlov Zasek.
old and new
On the leader's table covered with green cloth, an old one flaunts. How many messages were beaten off on it? Post office, call center - all this is like in Tolstoy's times: forget about your cell phone, go into the booth and call your relatives or friends. Many visitors admit that they really like the interactive journey into the past. Kozlova Zaseka is a museum to which all ages are submissive.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, namely in 1902, the station complex was replenished with a luggage compartment, a wooden platform was built, an intermediate (island) platform. At the same time, a toilet, a cellar, and a railway house were built. All this is kept today in a neat well-groomed condition, so that it is not a shame to show it to your own, to bring foreign guests.
For reference: since 2001, Kozlova Zaseka has been a branch of Yasnaya Polyana (Shchekinsky District, Tula Region).
During the reconstruction of the beginning of the third millennium, 1910 was taken as the basis: they used the preserved information about the appearance of the building, its interior decoration, and the appearance of the adjacent territory. Based on the fact that the station is operational, it was not possible to avoid modern "inclusions" (antennas, cables, etc.). But visitors are not distracted by trifles, focusing on the main thing.
Will the route be restored?
The station lived an active life for a long time: long-distance trains flew past, in the summer numerous summer residents became active users of the railway. But times have changed. Those who visited Kozlovaya Zasek in 2016 heard from the guides that the Moscow-Yasnaya Polyana train was canceled, despite the fact that it was in demand by passengers. Museum workers hope that the route will be restored. After all, it leads to a wonderful historical corner.
Yes... Once upon a time, many famous people came from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana to see Leo Tolstoy. For example, the artist Ilya Repin. He became friends with the novelist back in 1880, when he unexpectedly rushed into his studio. Since that time, the author of the paintings "Barge haulers on the Volga", "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan" and others almost every year visited the great writer in his family estate, created a whole gallery of portraits of a friend.
The estate was also visited by Ivan Shishkin, no less revered by connoisseurs of art, and other eminent guests. All of them got off at the Kozlova Zasek (Tula) station. The Tolstoy couple happily met them, escorted them to Yasnaya Polyana, which was only a few kilometers away. And this is only a small part of the historical information.
Small but interesting museum
Many visitors highly appreciate the merits of the museum and railway station complex, note the harmonious combination of history and modernity. At the same time, the museum itself is a small room with an interesting exposition. The exhibition is called Leo Tolstoy's Railway. What did the cast iron look like? How did the travelers dress? What was hand luggage?
You can learn about all this and much more by arriving at the station with an inscription in Old Slavonic: “Kozlova Zaseka”. A desk where one could draw a couple of lines with a pen, old, embroidered ladies' and strict men's travel raincoats, gloves, a huge suitcase, a fascinating photo essay - all this allows you to plunge into the atmosphere of bygone years.
There is such a service as a photo in ancient attire. So, when leaving, people are happy to take away a piece of Kozlovka as a keepsake. You can pose at the bust of Leo Tolstoy, on the porch, at the flower bed, on a bench with forged openwork legs - the choice is up to the tourists, who were beckoned by the seemingly simple Kozlov Zasek stop. "How to get to it?" - the question is relevant today. But more on that below.
Everything is like under Tolstoy
There is an opinion that it is unfashionable to keep the past today. However, most of those who visited the museum express their gratitude to all those who in our difficult times were able to harmoniously combine modernity and history. The station-museum "Kozlova Zaseka" is an example of a complex, each meter of which contributes to a good image.
Everything is thought out and weighed to the smallest detail. Surely it was easier to build some metal or plastic fences on the platform. But under Tolstoy they were not. Therefore, there are squat fences, wooden, strong in appearance and in fact. It is possible that Lev Nikolayevich himself tied the horse to such.
The poster warning about the need to be careful while on the platform is also in retro style: the unlucky gentleman in the top hat is about to get into a dangerous situation. And what is the call: “Gentlemen, take care of life!” Many admit: they immediately want to become more disciplined and attentive.
Summer is better than winter
Kozlova Zasek - this is the point that is worth visiting for everyone who is tired of secular parties and fuss. The newlyweds love to be photographed against the backdrop of the museum and railway station complex. Wedding photographers most often choose an old well, the station building itself, a monument to the writer “for color”. In general, Kozlova Zasek is famous and attractive (although this happens too: sometimes thick, sometimes empty).
Almost all guests willingly visit the souvenir shop, buffet, stroll around the territory. In summer it is more crowded. In winter, as some say, "beauty is not enough." As for the time of flowering and fruiting, everyone agrees: the air is wonderful, it smells of fragrant apples, the smell of petunias is everywhere. Citizens especially appreciate this luxury.
We're off to Kozlovka!
Electric trains to Kozlova Zaseka are a thing of the past. It is pointless to recall how until recently people traveled on the Tula-Kozlova Zasek route on a luxury electric train. It departed from Kurskaya station in Moscow, but was canceled, it is believed, due to insufficient passenger traffic.
Now, experts advise using the fixed-route taxi No. 218, which departs from the Moscow railway station. Just do not forget to warn the driver that you are before Kozlovka, as drivers often turn around before reaching Zaseka, and you, bypassing the target, will find yourself at the final stop in the village of Skuratovo (Western). From there, it is a bit far to go to the station and you can mix up the stitches-tracks. Have a good trip!
Kozlova Zasek is a railway station belonging to the Tula branch of the Moscow Railway and located on the southern border of Tula. The name "Kozlova Zaseka" appeared in the 14th century - at that time this place was located on the south side of the Moscow principality. This area was a so-called notch, which served to protect against the constant raids of enemies. The second part of the name "Kozlova" was named after a local governor named Ivan Kozlov.
In the 1860s, the construction of the famous railway began. The opening of the Moscow-Kursk railway took place in 1868. At the same time, the station was opened, located closer than others to Yasnaya Polyana - Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy lived and worked here. Thus a new name was formed - "Kozlova Zaseka". There was a small station building here; it housed the head of the station, as well as his assistant, a passenger hall, a post office and a ticket office. The heating of the station was stove.
In 1902, a wooden platform, a luggage compartment, a platform in the form of an island, a cellar, a toilet, and a railway house were built at the Kozlova Zasek station. Mail addressed to the writer arrived here, and here he made phone calls. It is important to note that the trips of Tolstoy, as well as his large family to Moscow, were carried out precisely through the Kozlov Zasek station. The last time Lev Nikolaevich set off from this station was in the summer of 1910 to an estate called Kochety, which belonged to his eldest daughter, Tatyana Lvovna. From this area, Lev Nikolayevich left for the southern lands in November 1910, but on the way he suddenly fell ill and died at one of the stations near Astapovo, due to which not only good, but also tragic events were associated with the station. A funeral train with the body of the late Leo Tolstoy arrived in these lands.
At this station, long-distance trains stopped, which were heading south, and during the warm season, suburban trains also ran here. Korolenko, Repin, Strakhov, Shishkin and some other people from Yasnaya Polyana came to this area. There was a time when the Tolstoy family came to the station to meet guests.
On the centenary of the great Russian writer, in 1928, the station began to be called Yasnaya Polyana, but in 2001 the historical name was returned to it. At this time, with the support of the management of the railway in Moscow, global restoration work took place, and an exhibition called “Tolstoy’s Railway” was opened. The measures taken allowed the complex to return to its true historical appearance.
Today, the museum and railway station complex, which is called "Kozlova Zaseka", includes the railway station area itself, equipped with a railway platform, a souvenir shop, an exhibition dedicated to Leo Tolstoy, and a parking lot. The exhibition featured items dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, which allowed all visitors to see exactly what the working station was like in its time. There is an opportunity to carefully examine the train models of past years, old photographs, numerous travel items represented by a cane, briefcases and other common items. Of particular interest to visitors is the telephone and telegraph of that time.
The duration of any tour is from 45 minutes to 1 hour. It is possible to rent a travel suit dating back to the end of the 19th century - the beginning of the 20th century. It is important that photography and video filming is not prohibited on the territory of the exhibition, and besides, they are free of charge.
To date, the Kozlova Zasek station is visited by a large number of tourists.
She was stopped due to a hacker attack
For the sake of a five-minute walk on the cable car along the route Sparrow Hills - Luzhniki, the MK correspondent had to stand in line for an hour and a half. It is not surprising - the townspeople immediately rushed to master the novelty, since until December 27, travel on the cable car was made free. And everything would be fine, but not everyone is as lucky as MK. Shortly after our walk, the road, which began work on November 26, on Monday, was closed.
A long snake line stretches along Kosygin Street. People who want to ride the newly opened cable car come here - the day before there was information that the lower station near the Luzhniki stadium was not working. On Wednesday, November 28, however, everything changed.
— Ride? Go out to where the tail is. It moves fast, in ten minutes you will go! the police officer on duty replies cheerfully. And he adds, as a decisive argument: - In the same place, eight people fit in a booth, and do you know how many booths?
- How much?
- Well ... A lot of booths, a lot! - he turns the discussion off and throws a strange remark into space: - The main thing is that the landing at Luzhniki does not go wrong.
Well, let's time it.
True, it soon becomes clear that the ten minutes indicated by a policeman are either a skillful deception, or his very strange perception of time. For at least the first 20 minutes, the queue doesn't seem to move at all. Meanwhile, it's cold. And it's windy. And you won't go anywhere to warm up.
- Yes, we will stand for three hours. I read it on the Internet yesterday,” a girl in a pink hat standing in front of me confidently says to her friend. Young, cheerful, as can be understood from the conversation - a student of Moscow State University. She's here every day! Will ride again, and more than once, when there will be no queue. Why suffer?
- Girls, what else do they write? Is it worth it? I cautiously try to strike up a conversation. The answer is incredibly simple:
— Yes, the devil knows! Photos seem to be nothing like that ... Well, for now it's free, you can ride.
Would all these people decide to stand in line if they had to pay the notorious 400 rubles at the entrance? The question is probably rhetorical. But it's free - they're worth it. And they stand with small children, and pensioners ...
- Oh, I should have taken brandy! an older gentleman behind me voices what everyone seems to be thinking.
The achievement of civilization on Kosygin Street is visible only one thing - the blue booths of dry closets. It seems that no one has counted them, in contrast to similar amenities near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which were placed along the line to the relics of St. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky quite recently, in September.
And in the rest, I must say, the religious queue was organized in an uncommonly better way. Why is there not, for example, a bus where one could warm oneself? Thermoses with hot tea? Businessmen, in the end, who would sell expensive coffee and tea - and they would definitely be bought. But no. We just stand there.
An hour has passed. Fingers froze. Legs too. The head hurts from the cold. And I'm not the only one - the enthusiasm of those standing nearby also seems to have noticeably subsided.
- Just like my Masha, she always whines too! - an elderly lady in boots of fashionable Marsala color upsets her companion. - Well, why whine? Everyone is cold, everyone is cold. But still they are worth it.
Good morals, you can't argue. Probably, it would have been appropriate that way thirty years ago, in line for something vital. Or at least in the queue for impressions - in the city, where you suddenly ended up for only a couple of days, and it is not known whether you will get there again. But in line for a five-minute flight over the Moscow River?
Passing by now and then ask: how much are you already standing? Forty minutes? Hour? One and a half?! Well, you must!
And they look at us ... well, not exactly as crazy, but as strange - that's for sure. Here the law enforcement officers add fuel to the fire:
— Keep in mind that landing at Luzhniki is obligatory. If you want to go back up, you will need to stand in the same queue there, - the policeman explains.
The queue is hysterically neighing. Obviously, no one wants to ride back and forth - like a doctor from The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia - even for free.
Right next to the pavilion-station, everything is simple and clear: they launch 8 people at a time - exactly how many fit in one booth. At the entrance, be sure to attach a social card of a Muscovite or Troika for reporting. But really free.
We get into the cabins. The people rejoice, mobile phones are at the ready. Is that just something to shoot? Probably, in the summer, when there will be lush greenery of the reserve below, and blue sky around, it will be beautiful. Now what? Except perhaps the Luzhniki circle against the background of a grayish-brown Moscow November. And the river.
All pleasure - for five minutes (however, they honestly warned about this). However, the event took more than an hour and a half: at 11.50 we got in line and only at 13.30 left the station below.
And at 15.00 the cable car broke down, which was promptly reported by the remaining Muscovites in the queue in social networks.
“Today at 14:00, the computer servers of the Moscow cable car were subjected to an unauthorized cyberattack. Employees, having discovered this, suspended the movement of the road, after which they promptly dropped off all passengers at their destination stations in order to ensure maximum safety for passengers. Unfortunately, we are forced to stop the transportation of passengers, ”the press service of the cable car quotes the media. Further schedule of work is promised to be announced on the website.
Station "Kozlova Zaseka" (Tula region, Russia) - exposition, working hours, address, phone numbers, official website.
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"Kozlova Zaseka" is not only a full-fledged railway junction that receives suburban, passenger and freight trains, but more recently it has also become a museum. Of course, it is hardly worth going here on purpose (getting acquainted with the exposition and the surrounding area will take no more than half an hour), but as part of the tour to Yasnaya Polyana, it is worth seeing the small station as Leo Tolstoy saw it. Moreover, "Kozlova Zaseka" played an important role in the life of the great writer. Here he received mail, from here he called his friends by phone, here from the Astapovo station a train with the body of Lev Nikolaevich arrived in November 1910.
What to watch
In 2001, large-scale work began on the territory of the old station, as a result of which historians and builders returned the appearance to the station corresponding to archival photographs and documents of the early 20th century. Today "Kozlova Zaseka", as well as 150 years ago, fulfills its transport role. And visiting the museum has recently been an obligatory part of excursion programs in Tolstoy's places.
The toponym Kozlova Zasek has been known since the 14th century. At that time, notches (trees felled by rows of peaks towards the enemy) protected the Tula villages from enemy raids. And the Kozlova notch is named after the boyar Ivan Kozlov. In 1868 a new railway station received the same name. She wore it until 1928, when, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Tolstoy's birth, she became Yasnaya Polyana.
On the main station building there is an inscription in the pre-revolutionary style with the letter "yat" in the middle. Other station buildings: a cellar, a buffet, luggage are also signed in the old manner with "er" at the end. On the other side of the station there is a well (albeit not a real one). Graceful lanterns and a clock with Roman numerals are installed on the platform.
Near the entrance to the main building of the station there is a bust of Tolstoy, on the pedestal of which his quote is carved: "We are all passengers in this life."
The interior of the station is designed in a classic style: neat wooden benches, an openwork mirror, box office bay windows. "Kozlova Zaseka", although it stands on the main branch of the Moscow Railway, trains rarely take. Also in the station building there is a small exhibition "Railway of Leo Tolstoy". It presents old bags, a cane, photographs and a few other things from the beginning of the 20th century. There are small souvenir and book stalls.
Practical information
Address: Tula region, Yasnaya Polyana ("Kozlova Zasek"). Web site .
From the Moscow railway station in Tula to the "Kozlovaya Zaseka" can be reached by taxi No. 30 and 35.
Opening hours: Wednesday-Sunday: 9:00-16:30, Monday-Tuesday - days off. Entrance: 30 RUB, excursion - 100 RUB, rent of historical costumes for photos: 100 RUB. Prices on the page are for October 2018.
