The article focuses on the traces of the Crimean resort myth in Chekhov’s works produced before 1888, when he first travelled to Crimea: Live Goods [Zhivoy tovar], A Tripping Tongue [Dlinniy yazyk], Excellent People [Khoroshie lyudi], An Actor’s End [Aktyorskaya gibel], and On March. On April. On May. On June and July. On August [O marte. Ob aprele. O maye. Ob iyune i iyule. Ob avguste]. The resort myth emerges in the late 1800s, and mainly through Chekhov’s works. This agrees with the findings of the scholars M. Stroganov and S. Kurianov, who argue that holidaying in Crimea is in fact Chekhov’s ‘gift’ to Russian intelligentsia, with the writer promoting the resort. Analysis of Chekhov’s earlier short stories in particular suggests that even before his visit to the peninsula, Chekhov relied on the Crimean mythologemes of the expensive holiday, expensive resort, and Crimean landscape. Chekhov also depicts Crimea as a place of solitude, as opposed to the hustle and bustle of the metropolis.

The article infers the basis for such assumptions: they were largely instigated by the writer’s conversations with the painter I. Levitan, who enthused about the place after his own trip there, as well as the latter’s numerous studies. The article also traces the changes in Chekhov’s perception of Crimea, citing his letters written before and after his first trip to the peninsula.