Station "Idance"

Not long ago a new section appeared in the Bogoroditsk Palace-Museum and Park. It takes half an hour to reach it from the Palace. The section is located in the building of the railway station Zhdanka. The Museum exhibition at the railway station is the result of cooperation between the Tula Department of Moscow Railway and Bogoroditsk Palace-Museum. Zhdanka is already the 6th reconstructed station of Tula Oblast (after stations Yasnaya Polyana, Skuratovo, Tarusskaya, Chern’ and Efremov). These major works were implemented according to the programme of the JSC Russian Railways, the aim of which is “the renewal, repair and conditioning of the railway stations associated with prominent Russian people and located in close proximity to historical places”. The opening of the Station-Museum in Bogoroditsk was dedicated by railroaders to the 175th anniversary of Russian Railways. As a result, another tourist attraction appeared in the city – the Station of the 3rd Minister. This history begins in 1845, when the Bogoroditsk estate was inherited by the great-grandson of Empress Catherine II, count Alexey Pavlovich Bobrinsky. A statesman, he began his service in the Foreign Ministry, then joined the Ministry of Railways, and in 1872 Alexey Pavlovich was at the head of it and became the 3rd minister in succession in this institution. From all his achievements during his tenure as minister the only one is of great importance for inhabitants of Bogoroditsk: he made use of petitions of several cities of Tula Governorate and proposed changes to the general layout of railways. As a result of his actions, in 1874 a railway line of Ryazhsk-Vyaz’ma Railway was built from the station Khrushchevo (renamed Uzlovaya 3 years later) through Bogoroditsk in the direction of Efremov and Yelets. Planning renewal of the Bogoroditsk railway station, railroaders decided to pay tribute to the 3rd minister. The Museum exhibition, established on a place of the former waiting room, tells the history of railways, the Bogoroditsk station, and about the role of 3 representatives of the counts Bobrinsky in these histories. The railway station Zhdanka is included in the Bogoroditsk tour circuit. It begins in the Palace-Museum. Finishing the circuit, the tourists come to the Station of the 3rd Minister. Here, on the station square, there is much space for tourist buses. The tour here starts in the square decorated in landscape style according to the special project. To the left of the railway station building there is a bust-monument to the honorary citizen, the 3rd Minister of Railways count Alexey Pavlovich Bobrinsky (the author is a sculptor from Tula Arnold Ivanovich Chernopyatov; inhabitants of Bogoroditsk know him as the creator of the monument to Andrei Timofeevich Bolotov in the Bogoroditsk Park). The square, in which the monument is located, is decorated in formal (English) style. In the evening, both squares are highlighted. Here you can buy a diploma with entry on the Register Then the tourists visit the railway station building. In the waiting room, electronic means of information, modern materials for interior finishing and stylizing of the waiting room of the end of the 19th century are mixed together: carved benches with the name of the station on their backs, drapes on the windows, palm trees in floor vases. The history of the city is reflected on the walls. At the entrance of the exhibition hall there is a museum souvenir shop. The exhibition is roughly divided into 2 parts. The excursion begins near the largest exhibit item – the model of the station. On it, the station Bogoroditsk (it was called so during the first 30 years of its existence) is illustrated on the scale of 1:100. In the wall cases there are locomotive models, in the horizontal ones – exhibit items from various periods: documents, photographs, items of uniforms of the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries, railway items of the 2nd half of the 20th century. The archive materials and illustrations reflect actions of the counts Bobrinsky, who went down in history of railways. The creation of the first Russian railway is associated with the name of count Alexey Alexeevich, a senior son of the family progenitor, a grandson of Catherine II, a famous sugar manufacturer, a representative of Petersburg-Smelyanski branch. His son, Vladimir Alexeevich, was the Minister of Railways in 1869-1871. After his resignation, his cousin, count Alexey Pavlovich, was appointed as the Minister. The second half of the exhibition hall is occupied by the improvised interior of the Minister’s office. Both counts Bobrinsky, the 2nd and the 3rd Ministers, served under ruling of emperor Alexander II, were his aides-de-camp. The bureau, sofa, armchair, bookcase and longcase clock are replicas made according to samples of the end of the 19th century. All other exhibit items are originals of the 1870-80es. The imitation of the fireplace, created for the opening of the exhibition, is also related with the 19th century: the encaustic tiles are original. Besides a traditional excursion, the visitors can order a theatrical one (during the warmer months because it is held on the whole territory of the station). For children and students the staff of the Section give museum lessons and interactive activities.