“My Retreat”: Estate House of Countess A. A. Orlova-Chesmenskaya

The house of A. A. Orlova-Chesmenskaya reopened to visitors after restoration in 2017–2021. An exhibition covering the estate’s 200-year history introduces the best-known members of the Orlov family and major state and military events in which they played prominent roles. Anna Alekseyevna repeatedly called her Novgorod estate a “peaceful, dear retreat” in letters and later signed letters from Novgorod simply “Retreat”, giving the house its poetic name. The exhibition includes copies of historical documents and images from leading Russian museums, family portraits, the paraman and desk seal of Archimandrite Photius, a chalice donated to the Yuryev Monastery, a unique sideboard bearing the Orlov coat of arms, and Russian estate furniture from the first half of the 19th century. A restored icon, “The Bogolyubskaya Mother of God with the Moscow Kremlin”, is also displayed. One section explains the restoration of museum objects, while the final section presents the results of the recent large-scale restoration of the house. Under the Accessible Environment program, two tactile installations for blind and visually impaired visitors represent the rigging of an 18th-century sailing warship and a furniture restorer’s table, both labeled in Braille.