Zaokskiy District: Dvoryaninovo, Rudnev and the landscape

The Dvoryaninovo estate museum gives the story of Andrei Timofeyevich Bolotov a tangible setting: he lived and worked in the village, and his father had the estate built in 1738. In Savino, the museum is dedicated to Rudnev, the commander of the cruiser “Varyag.” The landscape of the Vasily Polenov Museum Reserve, with its surrounding forests and meadows, offers a different focus. The estate’s history, museum collections and landscape provide distinct themes for planning your trip.

Dvoryaninovo: Bolotov and the Estate

Bolotov was a scientist, writer, encyclopedist and philosopher, as well as a founder of Russian agricultural science. The Dvoryaninovo estate included the “Aptekarskiy gorod,” a large garden with vegetable plots where he cultivated plant specimens. The garden adds a tangible aspect of his work to his biography: alongside Bolotov’s life in the village, the history of the estate also reflects his work with plants.

The estate museum’s collection comprises more than 2,000 exhibits, including everyday objects belonging to the nobility from the 18th and 19th centuries. It also preserves objects from Bolotov’s time, furniture and household items, a library of more than 600 volumes, and original letters written by the scientist in the mid-to-late 18th century. The collection thus brings together material evidence and written records: furniture and everyday objects sit alongside books and letters from Bolotov’s era.

An interactive model of the estate shows the main house, other buildings and park avenues. While individual collection items offer a glimpse of objects and written records, the model depicts the layout of the grounds and their buildings and avenues. Exhibits may change; if this particular model is important to you, check before your visit whether it is on display in this form.

The Rudnev Museum in Savino

The museum of Vsevolod Fyodorovich Rudnev, commander of the cruiser “Varyag,” is located in the village of Savino and is dedicated to Rudnev. It opened on February 9, 2004. The opening took place in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Chemulpo in Korea during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. The crews of the “Varyag” and the gunboat “Koreets” took part in the battle. The museum’s dedication and opening date connect it to Rudnev and a specific chapter of naval history.

Route Program and Landscape

The two-day route program “A. T. Bolotov, V. F. Rudnev” includes visits to the A. T. Bolotov Dvoryaninovo estate museum and the V. F. Rudnev Museum. A visit to the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Savino is also planned. The program thus links the two museum themes named after these figures with a church stop in Savino. If you would like to follow this route, check that the program is currently available before making specific travel plans.

Together with the surrounding forests and meadows, the Vasily Polenov Museum Reserve forms a natural and historical-cultural landscape that has changed little. This landscape focus differs from the museum themes centered on individuals and collections: here, the emphasis is on the connection between nature and cultural history, and on the surrounding landscape.

Cultural Themes in Tula Oblast

Tula Oblast also offers its own historical and cultural themes. At the Tula Antiquities Museum, the exhibition “A Tale of the Battle of Kulikovo” focuses on the Battle of Kulikovo Field. In interactive areas, visitors can weave a piece of chain mail, try on armor and learn how to read chronicle miniatures. Another exhibition, “Secrets of Tula’s Craftspeople,” features a pottery workshop, a blacksmith’s workshop and household items from the 17th to the 19th century. The history of the battle and traditional crafts thus broaden the range of themes in Tula Oblast, while remaining separate from the collections in Dvoryaninovo and the Rudnev Museum in Savino.

Discover more destinations: Pakhomovo, Shchekinskiy rayon, Aleksinskiy rayon, Novomoskovskiy rayon, Teplo-Ogarevskiy rayon, Leninskiy rayon, Shchyokinsky District, Leninsky District.

For the regional travel overview: Tula Oblast.