Velikoluksky District: Estate and Museums

• The memorial museum and estate of Sofia Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya is in the village of Polibino, on the former estate of her father, Vasily Vasilyevich Korvin-Krukovsky.
• The estate park retains old oak trees and a lime-tree avenue; the avenue separated the park from the orchard.
• In Borki, the House of Ecology and Nature, opened in 1991, is part of the I. A. Vasilyev Literary and Art Museum.

Visitors to the estate museum are offered two guided tours: “Sofia Kovalevskaya in Polibino” and “The History of the Polibino Estate.” Their titles already indicate different focuses: one tour centers on Sofia Kovalevskaya, while the other explores the history of the estate. This gives you a concrete point of reference when deciding whether you are more interested in the person or the place. Both options are part of the museum visit.

The history of the exhibition itself also has a dated turning point: in August 2026, the main exhibition “Sofia Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya — Life and Fate” was moved from the wing to the main house of the Korvin-Krukovsky family estate.

The park is characterized by more than just individual surviving trees. Old oaks and the lime-tree avenue are part of its landscape; the avenue also had a clear spatial function, separating the park from the orchard. The layout of the estate grounds thus becomes a subject in its own right: the combination of trees and the boundary between the two areas offers a concrete glimpse of how the grounds were designed. If you are interested in historic landscapes, this relationship between the park and orchard is an aspect in its own right, alongside the museum and exhibition history.

The House of Ecology and Nature is part of the I. A. Vasilyev Literary and Art Museum in Borki. Its exhibitions are titled “The Development of Life on Earth,” “Home Region,” “Do No Harm,” and “Homestead.” These titles open up different thematic perspectives: natural history, the local region, an appeal to act responsibly, and the homestead. Together, they give the house a different profile from the memorial museum in Polibino: here, broad environmental and local-history questions sit alongside the theme of the homestead. This lets you distinguish between a museum visit focused on biography and local history and exhibitions about nature and regional themes when planning your trip.

The wider travel destination of Pskov Oblast also includes the churches of the Pskov School of Architecture. These comprise ten religious architectural monuments in the historic city of Pskov and on the banks of the Velikaya River. Their architectural styles and decorative elements date from the 12th century to the beginning of the 17th century. This broader architectural-historical context complements the specific estate and museum themes in Polibino and Borki. The scale is important for understanding how the sites fit together: the churches are part of the wider travel destination of Pskov Oblast, while the estate and museum sites described here are in Velikoluksky District.

Discover more destinations: Berdyuzhskiy rayon, Dedovichsky District, Bezhanitsky District, Pechorskiy rayon, Gdovskiy rayon, Kunyinsky District, Sebezhsky District, Pskovsky District.

Which guided tours are offered at the estate museum?

Visitors can choose between “Sofia Kovalevskaya in Polibino” and “The History of the Polibino Estate.”

What has been preserved in the estate park?

The park retains old oak trees and a lime-tree avenue. The avenue separated it from the orchard.

What themes do the exhibitions in Borki cover?

The titles are “The Development of Life on Earth,” “Home Region,” “Do No Harm,” and “Homestead.”

For the wider travel overview: Pskov Oblast.