The Lermontov State Museum and Reserve of Tarkhany (the Museum, for short) is a unique historical and cultural monument of national importance in Russia.
The great poet Mikhail Lermontov spent here a half of his life. He received indelible impressions from this environment of a nobleman's estate, from this variety of peasant life, from exposure to richness of the mother tongue and to nature. It is here that lay the sources of his view of life, of his attitude and of many of his creations. It is also here that rest the poet's ashes.
Tarkhany entered the poet's life as the dearest and kindest thing, as the most precious part of the great Russia that he loved so much, ardently and tenderly. "Dear places are all around," wrote Lermontov a year before his death, coming to his beloved Tarkhany in his dreams.
The Museum (then called the Lermontov State Museum) was opened in 1939 in the Lermontovo Village (called the Tarkhany Village until February of 1917), in the estate of the poet's grandmother Yelizaveta Arsenyeva (born Stolypina).
In 1969, the Museum was transformed into the Lermontov State Museum-Reserve of Tarkhany.
In 1997, by decree of the President of Russia the Museum was included into the State Register of the Highly Valuable Objects of the Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Russian Federation.
The Museum occupies an area of around 187 ha (462 acres).
The holdings of the Museum contain 29,000 items, with the main holding containing 14,500 items.
The "gold holding" of the Museum consists of objects that belonged to the great poet: a painting by Lermontov, The Caucasian View, by the Sioni Village; his drawings, china inkwell, bronze signet, travel casket, cigarette case, pipe, and album; as well as a family icon of the Stolypins, state handkerchiefs of Lermontov's mother and grandmother, armchairs, a chest of drawers from the lord's house, etc.
The Museum possesses editions of works by Lermontov, published during his life time as well after his death; and original illustrations to the editions by many outstanding painters (Mikhail Vrubel, Konstantin Korovin, Ilya Repin and others).
The Museum is the richest repository of original and rare objects of the 18th and 19th century estates of Russia's landed nobility: furniture, dishes, paintings, objects of decorative and applied art, sculptures, a remarkable collection of books by Russian and foreign authors that were of interest to Lermontov.
At the same time, the Museum is a beautiful sample of garden and park art of the Russian estate. The Museum provides unique riches of nature: parks featuring avenues, terraced slopes, cascades of picturesque ponds; fruit gardens, groves, etc.
From the very moment of its opening, the Museum has become the largest Russia's research and education centre specialised on Lermontov studies. The Museum hosts research conferences; their proceedings as well as research works by museum employees are published in a research outlet.
The Museum is constantly improving forms of work with visitors: it organises theatricalised tours, literary and music evenings, folk festivals, congratulatory events, quizzes, Knowledge-Day (start of a school year) events for current secondary school students and Farewell-Bell events for new high-school graduates, theatricalised performances (called The Charm of the Days Gone By) containing elements of the balls of Lermontov's time, etc. At the Museum, local crafts such as weaving, basket weaving, pottery and knitting have been revived; the Museum hosts master classes of folk crafts.
Since 1971, the Museum has hosted the All-Russia Lermontov Festivals, which have been attended by many famous poets, writers and other people related to literature such as Vladimir Soloukhin, Sergey Baruzdin, Viktor Bokov, Andrey Dementyev, Rimma Kazakova, Valentin Rasputin, Sergey Mikhalkov, Yury Bondarev, Larisa Vasilyeva, Irakly Andronnikov, Boris Mozhayev, Sergey Zalygin, Nikolay Dorizo, Valentin Berestov, Anatoly Aleksin, Yegor Isayev, Mikhail Nozhkin, Fazil Iskander, Anatoly Pristavkin, Iosif Kabzon and others.
The program of the festivals always includes demonstrations of the revived crafts; markets that sell objects made by craftsmen; demonstrations of the process of making pots, bast shoes, baskets, laces, etc. This promotes development of crafts.
Folk open-air celebrations are an integral part of the festivals. Many visitors take part in performances organised by folk companies.
What is the most remarkable about the festival is that thousands of people can hear the living poetry of Lermontov peformed by the best Russia's actors. Here, at the holy land of Tarkhany, it is perceived in a special way, sounds more rich and vivid.
The State Polytechnic Museum (the Museum, for short) by the National Technical University of Ukraine "Kiev Polytechnic Institute" (the NTUU "KPI", for short) was established by the order of the Ministry of Education of Ukraine No. 191 dated 29th June, 1995 in pursuant to the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 360 dated 29th May, 1995 ...