The Alexander Pushkin phenomenon is widely known not only in Russia but all over the world since his literary genius is universally recognized. If one considers himself a Pushkin admirer, to understand the nature of his talent he should necessarily visit Pushkin patrimony and the places where he created his most famous prose and poetry – Trigorskoye, Mikhaylovskoye, and Petrovskoye.

There are several ways to get there from Moscow: by train (Moscow – St. Petersburg), and then by tour bus, or you can drive there in your own by car: the distance is about 700 km. In first case all excursions and the guide will be provided by the agency. This is good because you won’t have to look for them, and it's bad because you can’t change them if you don’t like them. Yet traveling privately makes you independent of all agencies and schedules, you can stop wherever you like and spend as much time admiring the sights as you want. If you decide to travel alone you will always find a guide at the ticket office, and he will tell you the whole story of the museum and the place at low cost and with all emotion you can expect from a person so sincerely devoted to our national genius.

The famous Mikhaylovskoye is located in Pskov Region, one of the ancient Russian regions with its own history, legends, and original monasteries. Pushkin was exiled there by order of Nikolay I. Many think that owing to that exile we have the masterpieces of Russian literature such as Boris Godunov, The marvelous moment, rural chapters of Eugene Onegin, poem The village (considered to be politically oriented, against the slavery), and other important poems. Your route to Mikhaylovskoye manor leads through a vast reserve park. While making your way through the park and passing a fantastic river Sorot you come to understand where the inspiration had been born.

Do make a point of climbing the Savkino Gorka hill (an ancient settlement site) to breathe the air of poetry and to indulge in the magnificent view. The entire walk will take about 30 minutes on foot; cars are not allowed to drive there. The silent wood and crispy clean air make you forget all inconvenience potentially caused by walking.

The stone you will see on your way to the manor has a poetic engraving on it. In the manor a guide will lead you through 6 rooms telling you the story of the manor and the story of Pushkin exile skillfully blending them with Pushkin poems, seeming to know the story of every single object in the house, every single piece of furniture there.

Unfortunately, most of them are renewed or even reconstructed as well as the manor itself but the original atmosphere created by museum curators makes you neglect this fact.

They say if you are unwilling to leave and wish to stay longer then you’ve sure managed to understand Alexander Pushkin’s love for this place. And then … who knows? Inspired by the atmosphere of Mikhaylovskoye, you might start writing poetry yourself.
 

Zhenya Zvereva