The noble estate of Ostafyevo is 10 kilometers south of Moscow. In 19 century it belonged to the Vyazemsky princes. Now it houses the State Museum-Estate «Russian Parnassus» and for many years the estate was also considered the Pushkin Museum.
In 1792 Ostafyevo was bought by Prince Andrey Vyazemsky after the birth of his son Pyotr. Pyotr Vyazemsky, the only heir to the state, received an excellent education and eventually became a famous literary critic, historian, co-founder and first chairman of the Russian Historical Society, a member of the Academy of Sciences. Besides, he was also a poet, as well as a close friend of A. S. Pushkin.
Many famous writers of those times visited Pyotr Vyazemsky in Ostafyevo: Griboyedov, Gogol, Turgenev, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Davydov, Mickiewicz. Karamzin lived here for many years, and Pushkin, a close friend of Peter Vyazemsky, has been there many times. There Griboyedov read «The Mischief of Being Clever» and Pushkin read the last, just written, chapters of «Eugene Onegin». It is just for this reason the estate was given the name «Russian Parnas».
In 1898 Ostafyevo was sold to Prince Sergey Sheremetev who turned it into a museum. This saved the estate from ruin in Soviet times. State-rooms are on the ground floor and living rooms are on the first floor. The main room in the center of the house is the Oval Study. There are studies of all members of the Vyazemsky family, personal libraries in the house. The study of Karamzin is on the first floor. For 12 year he wrote there 8 volumes of his «History of the Russian State».
The big manor house was built in the style of Russian classicism. The colonnade diverges from the house in both directions, and the outbuildings adjoin it. Oaks were planted on the sides of the house in Pushkin times. A lake is to the right of the house. And a large park is behind the house.
