Staritsky District: Manor House Culture and a Ravine Landscape

Different themes shape a trip through Staritsky District: the Pushkin Museum in the manor house in Bernovo, the history of the town of Staritsa, and landscapes such as the Verkhnekaloshchinsky Ravine. In Konoplino, a historic estate is linked to the writer Ivan Lazhechnikov. So if you want to combine culture and nature, you’ll find a range of distinct points of interest here rather than just one kind of excursion destination.

Bernovo: Pushkin Museum and Manor House History

The Pushkin Museum in Bernovo opened on June 6, 1971, in the manor house of the Wulf family. The house is a monument to the classical period of Russian manor house culture. The estate complex includes a house and a park that retain their 18th-century layout. In Bernovo, visitors can therefore explore both the history of the estate and the museum’s collections.

One of the museum’s exhibition rooms displays paintings by Lyudmila Yuga, a People’s Artist of the Russian Federation. Also on display is the “Medallic Pushkiniana” from the collection of the Tver State United Museum. The “Varvara Bubnova. Palette of Life” hall is devoted to the artistic career of I. P. Wulf’s great-granddaughter, the great-granddaughter of the first owner of the house in Bernovo. The museum thus offers several perspectives: the manor house as a testament to the classical period, the memory of Pushkin, and the artists whose work is featured in the exhibition rooms.

The Pushkin Ring route also passes through Staritsa and Bernovo, among other places; its itinerary lists the Pushkin Museum in Bernovo as a stop.

Staritsa and Konoplino: Town Life and Literature

At the Staritsa Local History Museum, visitors can learn more about local stone-carving, blacksmithing and pottery crafts. The exhibits also include objects from traditional folk life. One room is devoted to life in Staritsa from the 19th to the early 20th century; other exhibition sections cover the nobility of Staritsa. The themes range from crafts and everyday life to the town’s social structure.

The exhibition also covers the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century and Iov, the first Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, who was born in Staritsa. The town’s history is presented on several scales: as a way of life across longer periods, and through individual people and events. These museum themes set it apart from Konoplino’s literary history.

In 1835, the Konoplino estate became the property of historical novelist I. I. Lazhechnikov. He wrote the novel “The Heretic” at the estate.

Ravine, Volga Slope and Church in Baykovo

The Verkhnekaloshchinsky Ravine is about 1.5 kilometers long. It reaches a depth of up to 20 meters and is 60 to 100 meters wide in its middle section. A stream flows along the bottom. A path leads from the village to springs at the bottom of the ravine. If you plan to take this path, check access conditions in advance.

Urochishche Buchel offers a different kind of landscape, on the slope of the high left bank of the Volga. There are small limestone outcrops there, 300 meters long and about 100 meters wide. The slope is covered with deciduous forest, including lime trees, oaks, elms and other species. Buchel is considered a recreation area for local residents. In the ravine, the stream and the deeply incised terrain take center stage, while Buchel is defined by its combination of limestone outcrops, the Volga slope and deciduous woodland.

The Church of the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God in Baykovo also adds to the district’s historical attractions. It was fully built and consecrated, along with its bell tower, by 1777. The date provides context for the building’s construction and consecration without saying anything about current visitor access.

Choose the Focus of Your Trip

Discover more travel destinations: Andreapolsky District, Rzhevsky District, Konakovo District, Ostashkovsky District, Vesyegonsky District, Maksatikhinsky District, Torzhoksky District, Zapadnodvinsky District.

Go to the main travel overview: Tver Oblast.