Abstract. The present limits of the upper part of the nuclear map are very close to stability while the unexplored area of heavy neutron-rich nuclides along the neutron closed shell N = 126 below 208 Pb is extremely important for nuclear astrophysics investigations and, in particular, for the understanding of the r-process of astrophysical nucleosynthesis. This area of the nuclear map can be reached neither in fusion-fission reactions nor in fragmentation processes widely used nowadays for the production of exotic nuclei. A new way was recently proposed for the production of these nuclei via low-energy multi-nucleon transfer reactions. The estimated yields of neutron-rich nuclei are found to be significantly high in such reactions and several tens of new nuclides can be produced, for example, in the near-barrier collision of 136 Xe with 208 Pb. A new setup is proposed to produce and study heavy neutron-rich nuclei located along the neutron closed shell N=126.