The VoR presents another feature on Russia’s most attractive tourist destinations. Today we are heading for the old village of Konstantinovo in the Ryazan region.
This land was the birthplace of the famous Russian poet Sergey Yesenin. The village sits on the right bank of the Oka River. This is where Yesenin spent his childhood.
In 1910, a two-storey house where the poet lived was destroyed in a fire and his parents built a new one - a big peasant house overlooking the Cathedral of Kazan Icon of Our Lady. The poet’s mother stayed in the house until 1955 and after that it was converted into a library, says Olga Anikina, who is a member of staff at Yesenin's museum-estate.
"On October 3, 1965, the day of the poet's 70th anniversary, a branch of the Ryazan local history museum was opened at Yesenin’s house. His sisters were still alive and helped reconstruct his home environment and told the stories of various objects. For example, there is a dining table at the museum which was brought by Yesenin's father from Moscow and which the family used to dine at. Sergey also used it for doing his homework and later for writing. An oil lamp was lit for the whole night when the poet worked. Also on display are Yesenin's mother’s clothes - a blouse, a coat, a scarf. Another interesting exhibit is a small wooden chest."
At 13, Yesenin was sent to Spas-Klepiki village to study and took the chest with him. Later he took it to Moscow. Afterwards, the poet brought it back home where it was well kept by this mother.
A small kitchen has a samovar (a metal container for boiling water) which Yesenin’s mother Tatyana got as a dowry. It was always on the dining table waiting for guests.
Yesenin’s house is not just about displaying the objects which once surrounded the poet - it’s about providing an insight into his world and a special atmosphere of his home. It tells a lot about the poet himself and his family.
"This special atmosphere of a peasant house shows the way peasants used to live, it portrays their joys, sorrows and worries. When one enters the house he can feel the presence of an ordinary peasant boy."
The village also has a unique museum dedicated to Yesenin’s poemAnna Snegina. In 1916, when Yesenin had his first book published, he was invited by a well-educated poetry-lover Lidia Kashina, who owned an estate in Konstantinovo. By that time, Yesenin was already famous, his poems were well-known in St.Petersburg, and he had met Alexander Blok and other prominent poets of the time.
Back to the estate in 1918, Yesenin found that it had been confiscated by the Bolsheviks. Later, when he moved abroad, he wrote Anna Snegina, a poem which described the most important events which occurred in Russia in the early 20th century. One of the prototypes of the poem's main character was Lidia Kashina and now her estate is also a museum.
NARRAROT: Today’s Konstantinovo looks like an ideal village with pretty houses, perfect infrastructure and a nice waterfront restaurant. Traditionally, the restaurant is closed on Mondays, but almost always, the staff opens it for visitors as an exception.
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