In Pugachev, one of the attractions is house No. 229 on Karl Marx Street, where Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev lived with his family from January to November 1918. The Memorial House-Museum of V.I. Chapayev was opened on February 23, 1939. The museum houses numerous documents that tell about the Civil War, the legendary path of the 25th Chapayev Division during the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars, as well as the revolutionary activities of V.I. Chapayev and his comrades. Finding the museum in Pugachev is not difficult: from the train station, you need to go out onto Toporkovskaya Street, named after one of Chapayev's comrades, walk to Karl Marx Street, cross the river Bolshoy Irgiz, and turn slightly to the left. The museum is located in the second house from the corner on the opposite side, with a bust of Vasily Ivanovich on a high pedestal at the entrance. The house is wooden, one-story, built in 1902. Initially, a clerk lived there, and later some institution was located there. The museum has six small rooms, five of which are used for exhibitions, while the sixth, the kitchen, is used as a utility room. In the largest room, the hall, there is now a model of the monument to V.I. Chapayev, installed in Samara, made of plaster by sculptor M.G. Manizer. The monument depicts Chapayev on a horse with a saber drawn, in front of advancing Red Army soldiers. During Chapayev's lifetime, there was a table with a green cloth and a map of military operations in the hall. Around the table were chairs, and opposite, between the windows, stood a dressing table. In the corner to the right of it was a two-door cabinet with shelves below. From the hall, a door led to the bedroom, which had a bed, a table, and two chairs. By the time of the museum's opening, Chapayev's wife, Pelageya Yefimovna, donated a tablecloth, a valance, and pillowcases. The bedroom also contains authentic items of the house owner: a papakha, a burka, an elk horn, and a telephone. On the carpet by the bed hangs a replica saber, while the real weapon of Vasily Ivanovich is exhibited in the Armed Forces Museum in Moscow. From the corridor, you can enter the children's rooms. In the girls' bedroom lived two adopted daughters of Chapayev, Vera and Olympiada, and his biological daughter from his first marriage, Klavdiya. The room had two beds and a nightstand. In the boys' bedroom, Alexander and Arkadiy, there was one bed and a nightstand. Now these rooms house exhibits. The fifth room, the dining room, had a dining table and chairs, and a shelf for dishes was hung on the wall. The kitchen had a Russian stove, which is no longer there, along with a table and chairs. The museum also keeps authentic items from the Chapayev family: a soup pot, a mirror, a knitted tablecloth, and a glass holder. The museum's exhibition is divided into sections. The first is dedicated to V.I. Chapayev's childhood. Here is a metric extract of his birth on February 9, 1887, photographs of his parents, Ivan Grigorievich and Ekaterina Semyonovna. Under glass is a model of the house in the village of Budayki in the Cheboksary district, where Vasily was born, alongside a drawing by artist Spiridonov titled 'Village Budayki.' The next section is dedicated to the city of Balakovo in the Saratov region, where Chapayev spent his youth. Here is a model of the house where the Chapayev family lived. It is known that his father and little Vasily were engaged in carpentry, building izbas. The museum exhibits Chapayev's carpentry tools: a two-handed plane, a chisel, and a square. The section 'Imperialist War' tells that in 1908 Vasily Ivanovich served in the army but returned home to Balakovo due to an eye illness. In 1914, he was called back to the Austro-German front, where for his courage and bravery he was awarded four St. George's crosses, two gold and two silver, as well as a medal 'For Bravery.' In a drawing by artist Ilyin, the moment of handing the party card to V.I. Chapayev is depicted. Nearby is a drawing by the same author showing Chapayev being elected commander of the 138th reserve infantry regiment. The museum holds a copy of the protocol from December 13, 1917, regarding this appointment. Another drawing by Ilyin depicts V.I. Chapayev speaking at the 3rd district peasant congress. An application filled out by Chapayev upon joining the Bolshevik party is displayed, along with a photograph of the first Red Guards unit formed by him in the spring of 1918. Under glass are books that Chapayev read: 'The New Life of Napoleon I' by Professor V. Leonov and 'The History of Count Suvorov, Rymniksky' by N.A. Polevoy. The hall features photographs of commanders and commissars of the 25th Chapayev Division: D.A. Furmanov, I.M. Plyasunkov, I.V. Toporkov, F.K. Potapov, P.A. Surov, Dmitry Minenkov, and others, as well as photographs of the banks of the Ural River, the site of V.I. Chapayev's death. The museum exhibits P.A. Surov's tablet and the cavalry whip of S.L. Sasorov. Here is the Red Banner of the communist detachment led by Kapustyan, who died defending Pugachev from White Cossacks. The 25th Chapayev Division fought during the Great Patriotic War, achieving many feats. The museum presents an exhibition that tells about the combat path of the division, photographs and personal belongings of its soldiers and commanders, as well as participants in the Great Patriotic War.