Serednikovo: Lermontov's holidays

⏱ 6 h 40 min🚶 2.7 km + 🚌🍽 1📍 5 stops

🐢 A little — under 3 km

Half a day at the estate where Lermontov spent his summers: the paths and bridges of the old park, a tour of the Stolypin house and tea with pastries at the Tea House.

🏛 History and architecture🌳 Parks and nature🚆 Out of town

🗺 Open in Yandex Maps (with transit)

Getting there

🏛 Leningradsky Railway Station

Комсомольская пл., 3

It's worth going on Sat or Sun: only then are house tours run and the café open (October 2026 timetable)

🚌 by bus to Larch Alley in Serednikovo

MCD-3 Lastochka from Leningradsky Station at 09:37 or 09:47 to Firsanovskaya (48 min), then bus No. 40 at 10:50 or 11:28 to the terminus Sanatorium Mtsyri (13 min)

1
🌳 Larch Alley in Serednikovo
г. о. Химки, пос. санатория «Мцыри», усадьба Середниково
An old alley of the estate park; the young Lermontov spent his summer holidays in Serednikovo in 1829–1832.
5 minutes from the bus stop to the gates; park entry is paid (150 ₽), open 10:00 to 20:00
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© karel291 · CC BY 3.0
© karel291 · CC BY 3.0
- The slopes of the ravine in the park are mostly covered with conifers: spruce, pine and larch.
- Senator Vsevolozhsky, who owned the estate in 1775–1796, heaped up a hill seven sazhens high for a gazebo and planted a pine grove on it.
- Here Lermontov experienced his first love, wrote youthful poems and made translations.
- For the poet's centenary, in 1914, an obelisk inscribed “To the singer of sorrow and love” was put up by the house.
- In autumn 1941 a line of Moscow's defence ran by the estate, and traces of earthworks survive in the park.
🚶 on foot
2
🏛 Great White-Stone Bridge in Serednikovo
г. о. Химки, пос. санатория «Мцыри», усадьба Середниково
A white-stone bridge over a ravine in the estate park, between the cascading ponds.
Go down to the cascade ponds — the bridge is best seen from below
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© Domovou · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Domovou · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Three stone arched bridges span the ravine in the park; the biggest is the three-span “Devil's” bridge with elliptical arches.
- Vsevolozhsky dug a new channel for the Goretovka River and turned the old one into ponds.
- A white-stone stair-ramp leads down from the main house to the pond.
🚶 on foot
3
🏛 Church of Metropolitan Alexis in Serednikovo
г. о. Химки, пос. санатория «Мцыри», вл. 1А
The 18th-century estate church of the Stolypins with a bell tower, still active.
A church at the edge of the estate, with a bathing pavilion at a holy spring nearby
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© Domovou · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Building a stone church of Metropolitan Alexis was permitted in 1693 on the petition of Prince Ivan Cherkassky.
- The church was rebuilt in the early 19th century, and the three-tier bell tower appeared in the 1860s.
- In 1941 the bell tower was dismantled so that it would not serve as a landmark for enemy aircraft, but the church continued to operate.
🚶 on foot
4
🖼 Serednikovo Estate: Ceremonial Courtyard and House
г. о. Химки, пос. санатория «Мцыри», вл. 1
🎟 ticket · entry to the grounds is by ticket, the house is by guided tour
The classicist estate of the Stolypins, where Lermontov's grandmother brought him for the holidays; later, under the Firsanovs, Chaliapin and Rachmaninoff visited.
The ceremonial courtyard and the house — only by guided tour on schedule (at weekends usually at 11:30, 13:00, 14:30, 16:00; dates on the website change). Tickets at the ticket office in the administration building 20-30 minutes before the start, cash only
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© Mike1979 Russia · CC BY-SA 3.0
- The ensemble was created by Senator Vsevolod Vsevolozhsky, who owned the estate in 1775–1796; the architect is unknown, and the art historian M. A. Ilyin suggested Ivan Starov.
- The main house with a belvedere is joined by colonnades to four two-storey outbuildings.
- The childhood of the future prime minister Pyotr Stolypin was spent here in the 1860s.
- In 1890 the owner Vera Firsanova commissioned Viktor Shtemberg to paint the Oval Hall's ceiling panel on the theme of Lermontov's “Demon”.
- In August 1919 Lenin rested at the estate, and a sanatorium opened here in 1925.
- In early July 1941 children from Artek were evacuated here.
- “Admiral”, “Poor Nastya”, “Closed School” and “Ugryum-Reka” were filmed at the estate.
🚶 on foot
5
☕️ Tea House Café in Serednikovo
г. о. Химки, пос. санатория «Мцыри», вл. 1 (территория усадьбы)
▮▮▮▯▯
The café is open at weekends only; if you want a proper meal, bring a snack with you
🍴 The only café on the estate grounds, open on Saturday and Sunday. What to order: tea or coffee with pastries.

↩️ Getting back: Bus No. 40 from Mtsyri to Firsanovskaya at 15:01, 15:33, 16:15, 16:55 (15 min), then MCD-3 Lastochka trains to Leningradsky Station every 10-20 min, about 50 min (October 2026 timetable)