Khvoshchevatka draws attention to a tangible testament to village life: the Museum of Village Life and History, «Gostepriimnyy dom babushki Marii», is dedicated to preserving a memorial house from the early 20th century, together with its farmstead. The house, courtyard, and history of a farming family that has lived in the village for a long time are all at the heart of the museum.
A House and the History of a Farming Family
The residential house dates from the early 20th century. The Parfenovykh farming family, long established in Khvoshchevatka, lived on the farmstead for more than a hundred years. The exhibit therefore connects the architectural history of the house with the life of a particular family and with the old village life that the museum is dedicated to preserving. The time references apply to different things: the early 20th century refers to the house, while the more than one hundred years describes how long the family lived there. Visitors interested in rural homes and family history will find a clearly defined focus here.
Described Tours, Programs, and Songs
The museum’s weekend tour offering included excursions to places of interest in Khvoshchevatka and the surrounding area. The described offering thus included both tours outside the museum and interactive programs. «Po vodu» and «Po drova» were grouped under the shared title «Zhizn derevenskogo podvorya». For children, the programs «Zhili-byli» and «Ladushki u babushki» were part of the museum’s offering.
The described visitor experience also included Russian songs sung for guests by Mariya Konstantinovna’s granddaughters together with their friends. The granddaughters were soloists in the folk ensemble «Starinushka». The tours, themed programs, and songs offer different ways to experience the place: excursions led to places of interest in Khvoshchevatka and the surrounding area, while the programs and songs explored village life in the museum setting.
More to Explore in the Wider Destination of Voronezh Oblast
The wider destination of Voronezh Oblast offers additional cultural and nature-related points of interest. The territory of the Khopyor Nature Reserve extends across the Novokhopersky, Povorinsky, and Gribanovsky administrative districts. In the reserve’s natural history museum, two halls showcase wildlife and its habitats. The animals covered include beavers, Russian desmans, aquatic and birds of prey, as well as wild boar, elk, fallow deer, and red deer. A large relief map of the reserve complements the exhibits. Check the natural history museum’s visitor arrangements before travelling.
The Khopyor Nature Reserve in Voronezh Oblast offers a hiking excursion and a cycling tour with clearly different distances. The «Legendy Khopra» hiking excursion is five kilometres long and takes three hours; it is closed during the spring flood. The «Tur de Khopyor» cycling tour covers 26 kilometres and takes four hours. The difference in distance is therefore 21 kilometres, and the difference in duration is one hour. When planning, also take into account the seasonal closure of the hiking excursion.
The «Divnogorye» Museum-Reserve in Voronezh Oblast is known for its chalk landscapes, unusual chalk cliffs on steep slopes, and large, ridge-like chalk ravines. Divnogorsky Canyon is about one kilometre long and up to 200 metres wide. The reserve also includes six religious caves and cave complexes carved into the chalk massif on the right bank of the Tikhaya Sosna and Don rivers, extending for about 8.5 kilometres. Other historical features there include Stone Age settlement sites and the ruins of the medieval Mayatskaya Fortress. The Stone Age is recreated at the «Paleoliticheskiye masterskiye», where workshops on making stone tools are also held.
Another cultural and historical highlight in Voronezh Oblast is the «Kostenki» Museum-Reserve. Its Archaeology Museum building completely covers a Stone Age settlement site. The museum-reserve also includes 25 protected zones with about 60 Upper Paleolithic sites. These examples have different emphases: Khvoshchevatka centres on a memorial house and the history of a farming family; regional themes range from natural history and chalk landscapes to Stone Age archaeology.
Discover more destinations: Sergeevka, Panino, Khitrovka, Solnechnyy, Saburovka, Polyana, Borisoglebsk, Boguchar
Back to the wider travel guide: Voronezh Oblast.
