Melikhovo Estate

Chekhov bought Melikhovo in 1892 and lived here until 1899, and the seven years cover most of what he is now read for. He also worked as a doctor throughout - unpaid, treating peasants from the surrounding villages, running a district practice through a cholera epidemic, and building three schools with his own money. He planted trees, kept the garden, and wrote in a small wooden outbuilding put up in 1894, where The Seagull was written; he liked it enough to call it his little house. The main house is preserved with the family's furniture, and the school he built at Melikhovo is part of the museum, along with the surgery. A theatre works on the estate now, staging his plays in the grounds in summer. He left in 1899 for Yalta because of his tuberculosis, and the estate was neglected until it became a museum in 1940.

What to look for

• The writing outbuilding - the small wooden house of 1894 where The Seagull was written.
• The surgery - the room where he saw peasant patients without charge.
• The school - one of three he paid to build in the district, kept as part of the museum.
• The garden - trees and beds he planted himself, still laid out.

When to go

May to September for the grounds and the summer theatre. Two to three hours. Closed Mondays.

Practical notes

Interiors are entered on guided visits, usually Russian only. Getting there without a car means a train plus a bus. The estate is small and can be seen quickly. Summer theatre performances are ticketed separately and sell out.

Nearby

Chekhov town is the transport point; Moscow is about an hour and a half away.