Yasnaya Polyana - Grave of Leo Tolstoy

Grave of Leo Tolstoy

Long before he died Tolstoy announced the place where he wanted to be buried; in a small clearing called "the place of the green wand", next to a long ravine in a part of the old forest called the Forest of the Old Order (Старый Заказ, Stariy Zakaz) because cutting trees there had been forbidden since the time of his grandfather, and many trees there were over a hundred years old. The name 'place of the green wand' had been given by Tolstoy's older brother Nikolai, who said that the person who found the magic wand there would never die or be ill. He and his brother frequently sat in the darkness in the clearing and talked.

  • Tolstoy in the park in May 1908. taken by Prokudin-Gorsky, this was the first color photo portrait made in Russia

  • Tolstoy's simple bedroom, as it was when he left the house for the last time in 1910

  • Large pond where Tolstoy bathed in summer and went ice-skating in winter

Read more about this topic:  Yasnaya Polyana

Famous quotes containing the words leo tolstoy, grave of, grave, leo and/or tolstoy:

    Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source.
    Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)

    A noble company gathered to develop a society that would create harmony, love, and usefulness. Now I sit on the grave of great hopes.... I look back to see a light that went out from it—small, but bright and pure and true.
    Rebecca Buffum Spring (1811–1911)

    Romeo. Courage, man, the hurt cannot be much.
    Mercutio. No, ‘tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door, but ‘tis enough, ‘twill serve. Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    It is better to be looked over than overlooked.
    Mae West, U.S. actor, screenwriter, and Leo McCarey. Ruby Carter (Mae West)

    Hypocrisy in anything whatever may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognizes it, and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it may be disguised.
    —Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)