Khotynets Arboretum

"On December 3, 2024, the Amchanochka Volunteer Group, which supports soldiers in the SVO, gave a wonderful tour of the I.S. Turgenev Museum-Reserve in Spasskoye-Lutovinovo.
To say we enjoyed the tour would be an understatement! It was a wonderful tour! We thought we knew a lot about Spasskoye and Turgenev, as we were his fellow countrymen. But we listened as if we were hearing them for the first time!
We sensed how deeply the museum staff truly valued what they were saying. They are the true guardians of the history of this unique reserve and the bearers of its rich traditions, cultural, and natural treasures. No modern information storage methods can replace the special atmosphere of connection that immerses people within the walls of the Turgenev House and the estate's famous park. We couldn't help but recall the words of a great fellow countryman: "When you come to Spasskoye, bow for me to the house, the garden, my young oak tree, bow to my homeland..." And we bowed...
"Amchanochka" sincerely thanks the administration of the Spasskoye-Lutovinovo Museum-Reserve: Director Sergei Afanasyevich Stupin and Deputy Director Tatyana Alexandrovna Basova, as well as Yuri Ivanovich Zuev and Victoria Eduardovna Gubanova, for providing our group with the opportunity to visit the ancestral estate of I.S. Turgenev.
I would also like to note that the tour, led by museum staff Alexey Gennadyevich Merkulov and Elena Leonidovna Selivanova, was a wonderful opportunity to experience the literary sacredness of the Mtsensk region. With such professionals, the time flew by, and we learned so much new and interesting. We wish the museum staff good health, prosperity, new creative victories, and success in this important and worthy endeavor!"

Светлана

"A wonderful place, first of all, it is a large, well-kept old park. But, probably, the only original exhibit of the museum is the famous Turgenev oak. The estate itself burned down and was rebuilt. According to the guide, only the outbuilding remained. The estate is painted in bright colors. Turgenev visited the estate rarely, he preferred Paris. The museum itself is in good European-style repair, there are several authentic pieces of furniture of the Turgenev family. Is it forbidden to take pictures inside the museum?! Although there is nothing much to take. The Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior is very beautiful. Be sure to visit it."

Antonius

"Spasskoye-Lutovinovo... How can you not write stories here!? Peace, tranquility, centuries-old trees, an oak tree planted by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, Savina's pond... If you are lucky enough to visit the estate, order a comprehensive excursion, it lasts a little more than two hours, costs pennies (380 or 500 rubles, depending on the exposition). Better in the summer, a walk in the park takes up the main part of the excursion and be sure to take a ride with a cab through the park, it costs only 150 rubles!!!. Unfortunately, the house-estate is closed for two years for restoration, but this does not spoil the overall picture. Be sure to walk through the village, at the other end of it there is a chapel, the history of which will be told to you by the guide in the estate itself, if you ask him about it. Well, and... "a pipe to my young man, bow to the homeland..." three to five hours will be enough to visit the estate, there is no hotel in Spasskoye, no restaurants either, 10 km away is the ancient city of Mtsensk on the Zusha River, there you can have a bite to eat before returning home and... stops at Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana, which is on the way to Moscow."

Igor Usmanov