Korolyov: Manor, Museums and Space Exploration

Korolyov brings together a constructivist urban history, literary memorial sites, space exploration and the historic Kostino Manor. The manor is in the Kostino part of the science city, near Bolshevo railway station, and has a linden park and a pond. Its varied themes offer different ways to shape your stay: architecture and urban history, literature or space exploration.

Kostino Manor: Park and Museum Buildings

The “Usadba Kostino” department comprises an orangery with an exhibition on the Bolshevo Labour Commune, a guest house and a gardener’s house. The manor’s guest house is now a Lenin memorial museum and a cultural heritage site of federal significance. Its official name is “The House Where Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Lived and Worked in 1921–1922.” The gardener’s house is used as an exhibition hall. Alongside its linden park and pond, the manor therefore includes several exhibition venues covering different themes.

The “Usadba Kostino” Museum is open to visitors Wednesday through Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Check visiting hours before you travel. If you are interested in the history of the estate, you can explore its rooms and exhibitions while learning about the buildings’ distinctive use as museums.

Literary Memorials and Urban History

The “Museums of the Science City of Korolyov” museum association comprises two literary house museums: the homes of M. I. Tsvetaeva and S. N. Durylin. It also includes the “Usadba Kostino” department and two departments devoted to more recent city history. S. N. Durylin’s memorial collection includes personal belongings, photographs, documents, books, everyday objects and furniture. The house museum’s exhibition also includes a collection of memorial items belonging to the artist M. V. Nesterov.

The pre-war period is also one of the city’s themes. An exhibition covers the transformation of the dacha settlement of Podlipki into the city of Kaliningrad. The M. I. Kalinin Plant No. 8 and the Central Artillery Design Bureau (TsAKB) were located there; both developed and produced various artillery systems. Korolyov was built up during the Constructivist era. A walk through the city gives you a sense of the pre-war period and complements the exhibitions with an urban perspective.

Space Exploration and Memorial Events

At the “Energia” Rocket and Space Corporation Museum, the described visitor experiences include viewing the interior of a scale model of the “Mir” space station’s base module and going aboard the world’s first crewed orbital space station, “Salyut.” Check the current visitor arrangements before your visit. The museum also contains a reconstruction of the study of S. P. Korolyov, chief designer of rocket and space systems. He lived in Korolyov from 1946 to 1958.

The Marina Tsvetaeva Memorial House Museum in Bolshevo opened in 1992 and reopened to visitors in 2013 after restoration and the building’s complete conversion into a museum. The museum is associated with annual events: the Tsvetaeva Bonfire takes place on June 19 in Marina Tsvetaeva Square. On the last Saturday in July, Bolshevo hosts a musical event for Marina’s name day; “A Candle in the Garden” is held on the poet’s memorial day, August 31. Check the details if you are planning your trip around a specific event date.

To choose a hotel, first decide which themes you want to shape your stay: the manor and literary memorials, the city’s Constructivist history or space exploration. If you are travelling specifically for one of the events, take its date into account when planning.

Discover more destinations: Nakhabino, Voronino, Batyushkovo, Lechishchevo, Belyanaya Gora, Zhivotino, Novopokrov, Zaraysk.