«Domik Kashirina» ("Kashirin's Little House") — a museum of the childhood of Alexei Maximovich Gorky, opened on January 1, 1938, in the historic house of Nizhny Novgorod townsman Vasily Vasilyevich Kashirin at Postal Descent, 21. The building is a federal-level landmark of history and culture and forms part of the Gorky State Museum.[1]
History of the House
V. V. Kashirin — the writer's grandfather, foreman of the dyers' guild and a member of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma — relocated to Nizhny Novgorod from Balakhna and in 1852 purchased a house from the townspeople Mozharov on the slope descending from Ilyinskaya Street. No documentary records of the building's construction have survived. The house is a single-story log structure, clad in planking and left unpainted, with five rooms: a kitchen, the grandfather's room, the grandmother's room, the room of Mikhail (the Kashirins' eldest son), and a podklet' — a lower working room. It was in this podklet' that little Alyosha Peshkov lived with his mother, who had come from Astrakhan, from August 1871 through the spring of 1872.[1][2]
Significance and Exhibition
The Kashirin House is associated with Gorky's childhood years (1871–1872) and served as the main setting of his autobiographical novella Childhood, which the museum itself describes as "a distinctive encyclopedia of Russian characters and national ways of life."[1] The museum offers several themed guided tours: "Alyosha Peshkov in the Petty-Bourgeois Kashirin Family," "Daily Life and Customs of Nizhny Novgorod Townspeople," and "The Novella Childhood — An Eternal Russian Book"; the museum's holdings include a collection of editions of the novella in various languages.[1] The estate's courtyard retains its outbuildings — a dye workshop, a barn, and a carriage house; the museum altogether holds 154 items that belonged to the Kashirin-Peshkov family, including an icon of the "Tikhvin Mother of God" and a wooden spoon from the mid-nineteenth century.[2]
In 1956, the museum's administration decided to erect a monument to the writer in the courtyard. Following a competition, the project of sculptor A. V. Kikin was selected; in 1957, a sculptural composition entitled "Alyosha Peshkov," depicting Gorky as a child, was unveiled in the courtyard Fedorovsky Embankment.
Hours and Address
The museum is located at Postal Descent, 21 — on one of the historic descents from Ilyinskaya Street Rozhdestvenskaya. It is open on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 09:00 to 17:00 (ticket offices close at 16:30); Tuesdays and Wednesdays are days off. In September 2026, the children's cultural and educational center "PROmasterstvo" opened on the museum's premises — the hundredth such center in Russia, established with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture under the national project "Family"; more than 3.4 million rubles from the federal budget were allocated for its creation. The center offers classes in painting, graphics, sculpture, and decorative and applied arts in a museum environment — surrounded by authentic exhibits; interactive panels and systems, tablets, and interactive chess sets were acquired for its equipment, and zones for relaxation, group classes, and intellectual games were designated, with provisions also made for working with children with disabilities — tactile and music classes.[3] The adult ticket price is 300 rubles, a concession ticket is 200 rubles; children under 7 are admitted free of charge.[1]
The holdings of the Maxim Gorky State Museum, which includes the "Kashirin House," contained 120,000 unique objects as of 2026; in addition to its traditional exhibition, the museum is introducing 3D modeling, interactive, and audiovisual formats.[3]
Children's Center "PROmasterstvo"
On September 9, 2026, the children's cultural and educational center "PROmasterstvo" opened on the museum's premises, established with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture under the national project "Family." It became the hundredth center of its kind in the country.[3][5]
At the center, children and teenagers are introduced to painting, graphics, sculpture, and decorative and applied arts; classes are held in a museum environment, among authentic exhibits. A separate program is designed for young children: first skills in reading, counting, and drawing.[5][8]
Sources
- museumgorkogo.ru — Kashirin's House — State Museum of A. M. Gorky
- gorkiy-lit.ru — Museum of A. M. Gorky's Childhood "Kashirin's House" (Nizhny Novgorod)
- Vremya N — In September 2026, a children's cultural and educational center "PROmasterstvo" opened at the museum — the hundredth such center in Russia, established with the support of the Mi (archive)
- Newsroom24 — The children's center "PROmasterstvo" has opened at Kashirin's House — the first such center in a museum. The space is equipped with modern digital equipment and allows (archive)
- GIPERNN — The "PROmasterstvo" center offers children and teenagers classes in painting, graphic arts, sculpture, and decorative and applied arts; for the youngest visitors, activities are organized (archive)
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — A children's cultural and educational center has opened at Kashirin's House