Pereslavl Museum-Reserve is located in the Yaroslavl region. It was founded in the middle of the 18th century in the buildings of the former monastery. The article sets out the history of the Pereslavl-Zalessky Museum-Reserve, and also tells about the monuments that are on its territory.
Goritsky monastery
In the XIV century, a monastery was built on the territory of the modern Pereslavl Museum-Reserve. There is little historical information about him. It is known that in the Middle Ages he owned the villages of Voskresenskoye, Ermolovo, Kruzhkovo, Ilyinskoye and others. In the twenties of the XVIII century, a fire occurred in which the archive burned. In the fifteenth century, for thirty years, Saint Daniel, the founder of the Holy Trinity Monastery, served in this monastery. There is no other information about this temple. In 1744, it was closed and converted into the estate of the then bishop. Forty years later, the estate was closed.
For many decades, the former monastery was in poor condition. The vast territory was overgrown with grass, was covered with piles of garbage. Among the objects that are part of the Pereslavl Museum-Reserve, only the gate, the southern fence and the Church of All Saints belong to the 17th century. However, the temple underwent a complete reconstruction and lost its original appearance.
Museum foundation
Collection of collections for the Pereslavl Museum-Reserve began a few months before its opening, which took place in 1919.
In the 20s, the museum brought art values that were once found in estates and monasteries. During this period, everything that belonged to the temples was nationalized. A few years after the revolution, the museum also received a collection of paintings confiscated from the merchant Sveshnikov. The opening date of the museum is May 28. The art gallery, local history and art departments were housed in the building of the former theological school, which was located on the territory of the simplified monastery. This educational institution was closed under Catherine II.
The reserve in Soviet times
In the early thirties, the local history movement ceased to fit into the official ideology. The relevant departments in the museum-reserve were closed. Many local historians were sent to exile. An employee of the Pereslavl Museum-Reserve M. Smirnov did not escape this fate.
The museum center over the years has performed political and educational functions. A new director was appointed, who had previously worked as an ordinary worker at the Krasnoye Ekho factory and had no knowledge either in history or in local history. In one of the reports on the work of the museum, he called this complex, which previously included valuable works of art, "the forge of proletarian art." What the director meant by this phrase is unknown, but for many years the museum, like other institutions in the Soviet Union, was an instrument of ideological propaganda.
The heyday of the Pereslavl-Zalessky Museum-Reserve in the Soviet period fell on the fifties. Traveling exhibitions were organized in the clubs and libraries of the city, which exhibited exclusively Soviet art that were stored in the reserve. During these years, the museum’s collection has been replenished with new exhibits that fully meet the spirit of the times.
For some time, a photo exhibition operated on the territory of the Pereslavl-Zalessky State Museum. In addition, a series of postcards was issued, intended primarily for visitors to the city. The photographs depicted picturesque Pereslavl landscapes, ancient monuments of architecture.
On the territory of the reserve today is a huge apple orchard. The museum staff laid it in the fifties. This event, of course, pursued not only aesthetic goals. Quite rare frost-resistant varieties of pears and apples grew here. Each year, museum staff collected several hundred kilograms of fruit.
After the war, a new hall was opened in the museum-reserve, dedicated to the participants of the Second World War. Portraits of Budyonny, Stalin, Vasilevsky, Konev were placed on the walls. However, they did not hang here for long. A year after the opening of the hall dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, the museum-reserve received as a gift a collection of paintings by one of the local artists. The number of excursions increased every year. And in 1957, the widow of Mikhail Prishvin gave the reserve personal belongings of the writer.
What does the Pereslavl-Zalessky Reserve look like today? What are the reviews for this unique museum area?
"Silver pantry"
The museum has many interesting exhibitions. Among the exhibits it is worth calling the "Silver Pantry", which contains a large number of works of Russian decorative and applied art. Here you can see jewelry made in the sixteenth century. They were saved by a miracle in the twenties of the last century. The exposition "Silver Pantry" was opened in the late eighties. And twenty years later, the collection was supplemented by the works of Moscow goldsmiths and silver coins. The entrance fee to this department of the museum is 100 rubles.
"A wreath of estates"
This exposition is dedicated to museum staff, thanks to which many collections were preserved in the early twenties. Here are kept both family portraits and household items that were exported from nearby estates almost 100 years ago. Most of the collection was preserved thanks to the first museum workers - Smirnov and Elkhovsky. The price in this room is also 100 rubles.
"Old Russian painting"
This collection includes paintings created in the 15-19th centuries. It is worth emphasizing once again that most of the cultural monuments that visitors to the museum can see today have been preserved thanks to a small number of enthusiasts, professional art historians and amateurs who saved valuable exhibits at their own peril and risk at the beginning of the 1920s.
Pereslavl-Zalessky in ancient times was the center of icon painting. Many masters worked here, whose few works, fortunately, have survived to the present day. They painted icons not only for churches located in this city, but also for Moscow monasteries. The exposition "Old Russian Painting" includes works created by Fedot Protopopov, as well as representatives of the iconographic dynasty of Kazarinov. Entrance - 160 rubles.
"Russian painting of the 18-20th centuries"
The foundation of this collection was laid in the middle of the XIX century. Basically, it consists of paintings owned by the merchant Sveshnikov. Namely, the paintings of Shishkin, Kamenev, Dubovsky, Polenov. According to reviews of the Pereslavl-Zalessky Museum-Reserve, this exposition is one of the most interesting. Moreover, visitors claim that not only paintings by famous artists are worthy of attention, but also works related to the provincial portrait genre, created in the 18-19th centuries. The cost of entry to this room is 160 rubles.
Branches
Today there are more than eighty exhibits. Exhibitions dedicated to icon painting, wooden sculpture, Russian painting are open. The address of the Pereslavl Museum-Reserve: Museum Lane, house 4. One of the exhibition halls is located on Rostovskaya Street, at 10. The museum includes the Transfiguration Cathedral, the Ganshin Museum-Estate, the Botik Peter I Museum-Estate, and the art gallery Kardovsky.
Transfiguration Cathedral
Among the white-stone monuments, this temple is the oldest in the northeastern part of Russia. The wall thickness is about one meter. The appearance of this one-domed temple is quite restrained, strict. The history of the Transfiguration Cathedral begins in the middle of the XII century. Then it was painted with frescoes. Probably had a more festive look. But during the restoration carried out in the 90s of the 19th century, the frescoes were removed and laid in a box. There they were stored for many years in complete disarray.
From a historical point of view, this cathedral is quite interesting. And not only because it is one of the oldest white-stone temples. Many princes were baptized here, including Alexander Nevsky, who, as you know, was born in Pereslavl.
Boat of Peter I
According to one version, this museum is the oldest in Russia. It is a branch of the Pereslavl Museum-Reserve and is located in the village of Veskovo. At the end of the XVII century, Peter I laid the foundation for the shipyard on the territory of the future museum. Rooks were built here for swimming on Lake Pleshcheyev. The opening of the flotilla was accompanied by a grand celebration. This event was the first step towards creating a fleet. Ships, unfortunately, did not survive. The only boat made by the king himself has survived to this day.
Ganshin Museum-Estate
Here once there was a manor of representatives of the merchant family known in Pereslavl. But the construction became famous thanks to Vladimir Lenin, who created his next opus here. In 1894, the future revolutionary here reflected on the fate of the proletariat. And sixty years later, employees of one of the local factories installed a commemorative plaque on the estate. In the early nineties, like other museums, the estate was closed. Serious restoration work was required, which was not included in the plans of local authorities. Museum exhibits have been preserved thanks to a small number of enthusiasts.
Reviews about the Pereslavl Museum-Reserve, as well as about the city in which it is located, are enthusiastic. It is located only 140 km from the Russian capital. Pereslavl, rich in historical architectural sights, is visited with pleasure by Muscovites, residents of other cities, and foreign tourists. The main advantage of these places is an amazing combination of ancient temples with picturesque landscapes.
