The Feodor Chaliapin Estate Museum houses candles with white satin ribbons and artificial flowers, the treasured heirloom of the Chaliapin family. They were held by the newlyweds, Feodor Chaliapin and the Italian prima ballerina Iole Tornaghi, on their wedding day, August 10, 1898. The couple got married at the Church of Our Lady of Kazan in the Gagino village near Sergiyev Posad.

Chaliapin described the wedding day as follows,

Feodor Chaliapin and Iole Tornaghi met on tour in Nizhny Novgorod.

Among the Italians who came to Nizhny Novgorod was the spectacular prima ballerina Iole Tornaghi. Soon, she noticed that she was constantly running into a tall, handsome, blue-eyed and blond-haired man. Chaliapin literally followed her everywhere. When Iole fell ill, he rushed over to her with a pot of chicken broth, assuring her that it was the best medicine for any illness. Iole gave in to the romantic advances of the young singer.

The wedding took place at the Putyatino Estate owned by the famous singer Tatyana Lyubatovich, a soloist of the Moscow Private Opera. The bride was given away by Savva Mamontov who had brought the two together. Mamontov and Tornaghi were both present at the rehearsal of “Eugene Onegin” where Chaliapin changed one of his lines, singing “Onegin, I swear on my sword, I love Tornaghi madly”. The famous entrepreneur explained to Iole who did not understand a word of Russian, that Chaliapin had declared his love for her.