Anton Chekhov was born and raised in Taganrog, a picturesque port town on the Azov Sea, but when he turned 19 he left it to study in Medical University in Moscow. He visited it later on various occasions, but never returned to live there again. In the 19th century, Taganrog was a vibrant merchant town with large Greek, Italian and Jewish disporas, whose inhabitants later became the prototypes for Chekhov's characters. No doubt, Taganrog was a good example of Chekhov's provincial 'town N'.
However, the people of Taganrog meticulously preserve every object or building linked to their famous fellow townsman. The street he was born in now bears his name, as well as the library, the Taganrog university, and the theatre. The houses where Chekhov was born and the house where his family moved later on were turned into museums, as was the school where he studied.The green-roofed house where Chekhov was born is indeed tiny. There're only three small rooms and a kitchen. Chekhov's father was a merchant so when he became richer the family moved to the upper floor of his red-bricked shop selling 'Tea, Sugar, Coffee and Other Colonial Wares'. It seems like the house was spared by time. Old uneven stairs lead to an old and heavy wooden door surrounded by the original 19th-century signboards. The shop is still there, with its dusty shelves and faded boxes once full of fragrant tea and coffee. There's a modern tea shop in one corner, and a museum in the rest of the rooms. Go upstairs to see the living room where guests were invited and the family played piano and sang. There's a nursery where you can still see original toys which once belonged to little Anton. Ask the museum attendant to play his clockwork lantern, it's still working!
The school young Anton Chekhov attended was then known as the Taganrog Gymnasium, it was not only the best school in town but also the oldest school in the South of Russia. Today, the Gymnasium houses another museum dedicated mostly to Chekhov's school years and methods of school education in the 19th century. There're also a few rooms dedicated to his later life in Moscow and Crimea, his work and his characters. The museum has an impressive collection of Chekhov's books in dozens of languages, dresses and original screenplays of Chekhov's dramas.
Today, many streets in the centre of Taganrog boast comical statues of Chekhov's characters. It's hard to talk about anything in Taganrog without mentioning Anton Pavlovich. Local library (named after Chekhov of course) was once frequented by a student called Anton Chekhov. He never forgot how he enjoyed his times there, and up until his death he sent to the Taganrog library parcels with foreign books from European countries. The books are still there, and you can actually see and read them if you wish (just brink your ID along to sign up). Those books, mostly French, are kept in the reading room of the Foreign Language Section of the Chekhov Public Library on 56 Grecheskaya St. This branch of the library is located in a building that once belonged to Ippolit Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky's brother, who was also a good friend of Chekhov.
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