Shalyapin’s Dacha
Chaliapin’s Dacha is a literary and music museum in Kislovodsk, preserving the memory of the world-famous singer’s stay in the area of Caucasian Mineral Waters. The museum was established in 1983 and occupies a beautiful building erected at the beginning of the last century. Chaliapin’s dacha serves as one of the cultural centers of the city and is very popular among Kislovodsk residents and tourists. The intricately decorated mansion looks like a fairy-tale house. It stands surrounded by centuries-old pine and fir trees near the Kislovodsk railway station, and invariably attracts the attention of passers-by.
Video: Chaliapin’s Dacha
Highlights
The halls of the memorial museum display collections of old books. Here you can see rare photographs with views of old Kislovodsk and its suburbs. In addition, visitors can listen to recordings of songs and opera arias performed by the singer. In the second building of Chaliapin’s Dacha there is a museum exposition about the history of Russian emigration and an exhibition about the writer A. Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn.
.The museum often holds concerts, children’s music festivals, song evenings and literary salons. From year to year, the best performers from all over the world come to the resort town to take part in the popular “Chaliapin Seasons.”
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History of the museum
The house, which now houses the museum, was erected in 1903 in the Art Nouveau style, popular at the beginning of the last century, under the direction of the famous architect E. B. Khodjaev. Its first owner was the wife of a rich merchant from Pyatigorsk – Pelageya Ushakova, who rented out rooms to all those who came to Kislovodsk on vacation. In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, the resort mansion with land and all the surrounding buildings bought General G. N. Abrezov.
.The singer first came to the resort town on tour in 1899 and was completely enchanted by the picturesque foothills of the Caucasus. In 1917 he rented a summer cottage for himself and members of his family – his wife Maria Valentinovna Petzold and two young daughters Marfa and Marina. During his vacation at the resort Chaliapin visited composer Sergei Prokofiev, theater director Konstantin Stanislavsky and pianist Vasily Safonov. After the departure of the singer, the name “Chaliapin’s Dacha” stuck to the house.
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After the advent of Soviet power, the mansion, as well as all private buildings of the resort town, became state property. At first it housed a hostel, then in the mansion worked various city organizations, and it was used for their needs sanatorium named after Semashko. Semashko sanatorium.
.Information for visitors
The doors of the museum “Chaliapin’s Dacha” are open to guests any day from 10.00 to 13.00 and from 14.00 to 18.00. The box office is open until 17.00. Tickets for adults cost 100 rubles. Children under 16 can visit the museum for free. Visiting the museum expositions with a guide for adults costs 200 rubles, and for persons under 16 years of age, 100 rubles.
.How to get there
The building of the literary and music museum “Chaliapin’s Dacha” is located in the historical center of the city, in house No. 1, on the street that bears the singer’s name. The mansion is located at the intersection with Semashko Street, just 150 meters from the Kislovodsk railway station.
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