It’s hard for me to talk about such places: I don’t like the standard “look to the left, look to the right, here we have a table, and here we have a chair.” But I don’t know how to tell it differently here, so let me better tell you why you should go here at all, to this quiet corner of old Moscow. The quietest. Wow, the word just came to mind, probably because it has long been associated with the mention of the Romanov surname. And I know that Alexey Mikhailovich was not so quiet, and his descendants are still quite violent, but it took root once and lives in the mind... Well, it came and came, not in vain, in general, because it will be discussed about the museum “Chamber of the Romanov Boyars” on Varvarka.

Do you know what question bloggers were asked at the very first moment of meeting museum workers: “How did you hear about the museum”? Do you know why? Yes, because the main contingent of visitors are foreigners, for whom it is almost mandatory item programs for getting to know Moscow, and schoolchildren who are taken here for organized by school excursions. Our brother, an ordinary Muscovite and Russian, is not such a frequent guest here. So I, having known about the museum for ten years now, kept putting it off and putting it off... What I was losing and why it was worth going there is the topic of this post.

1. There are not many places in Moscow where you can touch time with your hands. The capital was burning, being rebuilt, sovereigns and “sovereigns” were rolling across it like a roller, crushing it to suit themselves and their ideas of beauty. No, no, I won’t pretend that the “Chambers...” have been preserved in their original form, and it’s impossible to believe, but part of this building: its basement and white-stone basement are the real 15-16th century.
Those who managed to visit the Archaeological Museum of Moscow while he was briefly alive, and who were interested there - welcome to the basement, you will like the preserved piece of the excavation, the original remains of the furnace (the reconstruction was made based on them), the found objects of past centuries...

Perhaps you will like not so much the museum contents of the basement - original chests showing the goods that were stored in the basements, weapons, Romanov's two-tailed ensign...

... how much is the fact of being in such an ancient place, the opportunity to step on stones and stairs, where five centuries ago completely different feet walked...

Find out that in past centuries the house was not heated with the help of chimneys, that the heat from the stoves went through pipes, which have now only been replaced with modern ones. Make sure that the brownie is still fed and cajoled as before. Yes, yes, there is a bowl with treats under the stove, and not at all for cats)

2. Listen to the history of the Romanov boyar family, the history of the emergence and revival of the museum. True, for this it is worth going on a tour, and not just running through the halls, where information sheets give only a cursory idea of ​​the premises and their purpose.


By using " innovative technologies"The museum is trying to triple its exhibition space)

The Big Stone Bridge is unrecognizable)


Look at numerous images of the Romanov coat of arms, decipher the monograms on the wallpaper and wall paintings, try on the height of the doors and find out why the lintels were so low.

3. Not in the popular print palace in Kolomenskoye, but in historical interiors and originals to get acquainted with the refectory and find out what the most valuable thing the boyars boasted among themselves when the hunt came to compare their wealth with their pipizki.

Look around the boyar's office and library.

To understand that with more or less decent erudition, you know and have seen far from everything - genuine wallpaper made of pigskin for me, for example, became an absolute discovery, and the history of their discovery did not leave me indifferent.


Take a look into the room of boyar sons of the age that preceded their entry into military service, and this is only a few years after 10 years. Maybe it was in vain that in Soviet schools we were taught about the boyars as if they were fools?

Imagine what life was like when these windows were made of mica and not glass...

4. Try on a woman’s prison life, richly decorated, but so... Pearls, all sorts of ladies’ things, obligatory handicrafts, rare going outside the walls of the house and raising children - today we girls would run away from such wealth like the devil from incense. And also fattening the girls to " commodity weight"at the grooms' fair. Teremnaya... prison... is it not for nothing that there is such consonance?

Watch a video about how they reconstructed and tried on a boyar dress of Chinese silk, watch it on TV, which is “in the frame of an antique mirror”)

To be honest, I don't like museums. When you come somewhere, you always want to see the present of the city and its inhabitants. They will give a more vivid and clear picture than a century-old table or ladle. But this does not mean that we should forget our history and culture. There are museums where you should go at least once - where the history of our country was written. In many countries, similar places are a source of pride for citizens. Things are a little different here.
The post is not overloaded with facts, names and dates. I tried to mention only the most interesting things. In the end - what you liked and what you didn’t.

1. I hope someday Varvarka will become beautiful. It’s not very comfortable to walk here yet, and the roads are not cleared. A building resembling a tower is the Museum of the "Chambers of the Romanov Boyars"

2. They can also be recognized by their unusual griffin with a sword on the roof. This is the mysterious coat of arms of the Romanov family, about which a little later

3. "Chambers" is a rather old museum. It was founded by Alexander II in the second half of the 19th century. After the revolution, it became unfashionable to talk about the Romanovs, and the museum became “boyar life.” After the fall of the Soviets, they began to talk more about the dynasty here again

5. The Romanov estate was one of the richest and largest in Moscow. This is how it was depicted on maps around the time of the late Ivan the Terrible

6. And this is how it is presented on the layout

7. Fragments of stoves and log houses were discovered on the territory of the Romanov estate. Fearing fires, the stoves were taken out of the house into the yard

9. Quite a rare portrait of Mikhail Romanov. More often he was depicted at an older age. He had to become king at the age of 16

10. We go to the basement, which remains from the early buildings of the estate of the 16th-17th centuries.

11. In such places they hid the most valuable things that the owner of the estate owned - treasury, armor, personal belongings

12. This is the ensign (flag) of Nikita Ivanovich Romanov, the last boyar from this family, who served in the second half of the 17th century under his relative, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The griffin depicted on the ensign is the coat of arms of the Romanovs. Its origin is still unknown.
According to one version, Tsar Alexei’s great-grandfather, Nikita Romanovich, took it as a personal emblem after the capture of one of the western cities under Ivan the Terrible. Griffins are also found on some other personal belongings of the Romanovs. Later they would forget about the griffin and only in the mid-19th century would it be adopted as the coat of arms of the ruling family

13. There is a small military exhibition here in the basement

14. The masonry has been preserved from the 16th-17th centuries

16. And again the griffin. The early Romanovs had it yellow, but in the 19th century it turned red. Most likely this is due to the fact that they restored the coat of arms based on scant information from the past and had to come up with something on the fly

17. The chambers were divided into male and female halves. The most beautiful room ended up in the men's room. Feasts and meetings took place here. The painting of the vaults miraculously did not perish during Soviet times. There was an order to destroy it, but the restorers came up with a brilliant thing - to hide everything under a layer of tissue paper and whitewash it. And so they did. At the same time the walls were painted Blue colour. Can you imagine how sad everything looked? In the late 1980s, the room was restored to its original appearance.

18. This year, when the 400th anniversary of the dynasty was celebrated, the exhibition was replenished with some items. Financial support The descendants of the Romanovs also contributed to the museum

19. Boyar's office

20. The owner did not allow anyone into the women’s quarters. Children were raised here, girls spun yarn and did handicrafts. The future Tsar Mikhail grew up in approximately this environment.

21. Operating weaving mill

22. Chest with textbooks for boyar sons

23. Globes were ordered from Europe. This is a copy of the Venetian one. Europe and Africa were already well explored in the 17th century

25. Boyars were also accustomed to one of the most fashionable recreational activities of that time - falconry - from childhood. We went hunting far outside the city, into deep forests. To this day, one of the Moscow districts is called Sokolniki

And now about the sad thing. I liked everything except the behavior of our guide, Galina Konstantinovna Shchutskaya. She seemed very annoyed that we came with cameras. A couple of times she said: “You take a lot of photographs instead of listening to me!” Then she went on the attack, hoping in this way to leave everyone as losers: “I said it once, I won’t repeat it. If you listened, it’s your problem.” And this person supposedly wants us to have something in our memory! And then at some conferences they will talk about how little people know about history and don’t go to museums.

This happens not only here; because of this, many people do not go to museums. Over 10 years of active travel, I learned of a dozen similar cases. And they are all in Russia. Even in Ukraine, not to mention Europe, museums treat people completely differently.
Personally, I also came to take pictures. Don’t listen to every sneeze of the Romanov boyars. By the way, the story she tells is not very interesting. Who these bloggers are probably doesn’t know or understand that the pictures are needed for the report, which everyone came here to do voluntarily and for thanks. Only in order to awaken readers’ extra interest in such places. He doesn’t understand that filming takes time and sometimes several takes.

Before the tour, she advertised her books for half an hour. I'm interested in history, but this advertisement took up a lot of the time I came to spend at the museum. Because of all this, the excursion turned out to be very slow, since another group was following us. There is not much time left to consider. She simply stole it. To be fair, I will say that I did buy her book about the Romanovs. Yes, interesting job. But the bitterness remained.

And further. I’m not one of those who like freebies and I personally don’t need to get anything from the museum, but they could give me something for visiting. They knew about our arrival in advance. I say again, I didn’t go for a gift, but that would just be a rule of good manners.

Pros: polite caretakers and a woman-wardrobe. Shoe covers are offered to everyone at the entrance. good quality, which cannot be said about many establishments.

The museum hosts various activities for children different ages- performances, stories about the first Romanovs, Russian weapons, the life of ancient Moscow. Holidays are also celebrated ( New Year, Christmastide, Maslenitsa, Easter). People talk about traditions, put on performances, and take part in rituals.

According to museum workers, there are a lot of people who want to attend such events. Appointments must be made in advance. For example, To get to the New Year, you will have to sign up in April.

Prices: 200 rubles - adults, 70 rubles - students and pensioners. The rooms in the wards are small, the groups of visitors are small.

Thanks to Alexander Usoltsev

It received its name in the 16th century. And today this place is in the center of Moscow.

Museum under open air

The complex includes ancient chambers, a cathedral with gilded domes, churches, a battlemented fortress wall - eleven buildings of various purposes and styles from the 16th-18th centuries.

This is a huge open-air museum of ancient Russian architecture. Previously, next to it there was a huge building of the Rossiya Hotel. In the neighboring area, among the buildings of old and new Moscow, on Varvarka Street, building 10, there is a unique architectural building, crowned with a high hipped roof a three-story building, each floor of which decreases in size as it rises in height. These are the Chambers of the 16th-17th centuries, a branch of the “Chambers in Zaryadye”.

Ludvig14, CC BY-SA 3.0

There are several churches on the territory of the complex, although there were even more of them before the revolution. Among them are the one after which the street was named, the cathedral of the Znamensky Monastery, the churches of St. Maximus the Blessed and St. George on Pskov Hill, as well as the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist with a chapel in honor of Clement, Pope of Rome, on Varvarskaya Square. Also located here are probably the oldest surviving buildings in the city - and the Chambers of the Romanov Boyars. The architectural ensemble is completed by a battlemented fortress.

The chambers are divided into two halves - male and female. On the ground floor, the men's half, the interiors are presented: “Dining Chamber”, “Boyar’s Office”, “Library”, “Elder Sons’ Room”. On the second floor, women's half, "Seni", "Boyaryna's Room", "Svetlitsa". The basements contain storage rooms. The interiors of the ancient Chambers convey the originality of Russian life and culture of the 17th century. The interiors and furnishings of the rooms are made up mainly of authentic objects of the 17th century: tiled stoves, silver and enamel-painted dishes, sewing, women's jewelry, chests, boxes, furniture, beautiful paintings on the walls.

Story

The white stone building of the chambers was once part of a vast city courtyard. According to scientists, the time of foundation of the estate dates back to end of the XVI century - it is already indicated in the foreground of Moscow in 1597. According to legend, here, on July 12, 1596, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the founder of the new royal dynasty, was born.

Pavel Shekhtman, Public Domain

The estate itself, from the 16th century, belonged to his grandfather - Nikita Romanovich Zakharyev-Yuryev, the son of the same Roman Yuryevich, who gave rise to the dynasty of Russian Tsars Romanov, brother of Anastasia Romanova, who became the wife of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, grandfather of the first reigning Romanov - Mikhail Fedorovich . The building itself, unfortunately, has not reached us in its original form. But the deep white stone basement, built in the 16th century, has been preserved. The Chambers themselves at one time belonged to the monastery courtyard, and were subsequently repeatedly subjected to fire and looting.

During the reign of Boris Godunov, the Romanovs, as the most likely contenders for the Russian throne, fell into disgrace. In 1599, Fyodor Nikitich was imprisoned and then forcibly tonsured a monk under the name of Philaret. Since that time, the Chambers have remained ownerless. And, despite the fact that Filaret Nikitich was with the impostors in Moscow, but not for a long time and, being a monk, did not live in his own house.

The estate was once extensive, and occupied a prominent place in the topography of Moscow in the 16th century... It was even specially noted on the city plan of 1613... In the corner of the estate there was then another building - “Chambers in the upper cellars”; it was probably one of the auxiliary buildings of the estate, which arose gradually in connection with the growth of family household needs. The main living quarters of the Romanov boyar family were the more extensive “Chambers in the Lower Cellars,” which stood in the center of the estate.

On May 3, 1626, in Moscow, there was a fire that devastated the city. The raging fire did not spare the Sovereign's Court either. After the fire it was expanded. The revival of the court began only after the election of Mikhail Fedorovich to the Russian throne. The new Sovereign was housed in the royal chambers in the Kremlin, why home became known as "Old sovereign's court, which is on the Varvarsky sacrum or at Varvara Mountain.” By this time, at the Znamenskaya Church in the sovereign’s courtyard, there was already Archpriest Jacob with two priests and a third chapel and other clergy. The royal chambers themselves were hardly occupied by anyone.

On September 24, 1631, after the death of his mother, nun Marfa Ivanovna, Mikhail Fedorovich signed the royal decree on the founding of the Znamensky Monastery, and with a charter dated November 1, 1631, he endowed the monastery with the former royal populated estates and lands that were behind it, as well as the Chambers themselves , together with the entire estate - the “Old Sovereign's Courtyard”, which became an integral part of the monastery. The monastery, on white stone basements, built two floors of brick - the basement and the first residential floor with heavy vaulted ceilings. In addition to the two buildings that directly comprised the Romanov chambers, wooden cells and a hospital were also built. The entire area of ​​the monastery was partially surrounded by a lattice fence, but mostly by a palisade.

During the fire of 1668, the Znamensky Monastery was severely damaged, about which a report and petition was submitted to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The Chambers themselves were also badly damaged, and in 1674 they were dismantled to create a “cellar vault” (basement). On the site of the preserved white stone foundation of the 16th century. master Melety Alekseev “and his comrades” built new Chambers with a porch in stone - the current first and second floors of the museum branch. In 1675–1679, the rebuilt building served as cells for monks. And in 1679–1752. - “state cells” (monastery administration), which were considered the first place in the monastery after the temples of God, since the monastic administration was located in them and jewelry was kept.

In 1680, Tsar Fedor Alekseevich (grandson of Mikhail Fedorovich), after his wedding to Agafya Grushetskaya (July 28, 1680), began building new wooden mansions, both for himself and for his wife, Agafya Grushetskaya, and for his sisters, larger and lesser princesses. His mansions were placed near the tower, near the western wall of the Resurrection Terem Church; Natalya Kirillovna’s mansion was also moved here.

In 1737, the monastery and chambers were again subjected to fire. In the first half of the 18th century, the state cells, from the chambers, were transferred to another place, and the Georgian Metropolitan Athanasius, along with his staff, lived in the chambers. He lived in them for ten years, from 1752 to 1762, which is why the chambers were called bishops' chambers. From 1752 to 1856, the building was rented out to different persons.

V. Timm, Public Domain

Already in 1857, the building began to bear the status of a historical monument. This was served by the appearance in the middle of the 19th century. interest in ancient monuments, including this building, as directly related to the Romanov family.

Emperor Alexander II established the House of the Romanov Boyars Museum on his ancestral estate, one of the first museums in Moscow. The chambers were purchased from the monastery, cleared of later deposits, carefully measured and restored. The ensemble project was developed by the court architect F. F. Richter, who used historical analogues in his work. The idea of ​​the founders of the museum was that it was supposed to recreate the everyday environment of the ancestors of the Russian Tsar.

The restoration was carried out in 1857-1858. The completely lost upper one was built on wooden floor in the form of a mansion with a high roof, a porch was added. Rich tiled stoves were installed in the rooms, parquet was laid, and the walls were covered with expensive brocade with royal monograms. This upholstery has been partially preserved today. The rooms also contained silver and enamels-painted dishes, sewing, women's jewelry, chests, boxes, furniture, and the walls were decorated with beautiful paintings. And, although the building was built as part of a monastery, a legend composed in the 1850s by court circles began to call it the birthplace of Tsar Mikhail Romanov.

Living spaces

The living quarters were small rooms with heavy vaulted ceilings, and were intended for men. In addition to the common “refectory”, where the family dined and received guests, there is a “boyar’s office” and a “room for the eldest sons” with an extensive library and “ teaching aids": astrolabe, telescope, geographical maps.

Terem

Women were assigned to the upper wooden floor, which was called the tower. Here, on the contrary, there are large and spacious rooms, illuminated by many windows. The brightest of the rooms - the light room - was intended for doing handicrafts.

In the women's quarter there was also a large number of books, mirrors, various feminine accessories: boxes and caskets for blush, whitewash and surmil, earrings, rings, fans, as well as materials for all kinds of handicrafts. The boyar's daughter worked on the spinning wheel or hoop along with her maids.

In those days, a girl was ashamed to get married without learning to sew, spin and embroider. The bride had to make her dowry with her own hands. Only after getting married did the noblewoman become the full-fledged mistress of the house. And, although she was not privy to her husband’s trade or government affairs, she was household often had a decisive vote.

After the revolution

After the revolution of 1917, the “Museum of Old Russian Life”, or “Museum of Boyar Life”, was opened in the museum, preserving authentic objects from long ago. The museum has been partially rebuilt. Since 1932 it has been a branch of the State Historical Museum.

On the territory of the museum they discovered a unique wooden structure- three crowns of a log house, columns supporting its base, fragments of Russian stove masonry, as well as a necropolis of the 16th century.

The most interesting and important find is the industrial complex late XV-XVII centuries with two simultaneously working kilns - a pottery workshop. Clay toys, fragments of dishes, tiles - about 500 items in total - were discovered near the forges.

unknown, Public Domain

The branch building consists of three parts, divided into different historical segments:

• boyar's storeroom of the 16th century,
• monastic cells of the 17th century.
• and the museum superstructure of the 19th century.

Chambers

Chambers retained classic type Russian hut, consisting of a “cage” (living space) and a “podklet” (utility room). They were built, as is typical for most Russian houses of the 17th century, in the form of the letter “G”.

On the outside, the walls have decorative decoration from the 17th century, window frames, cornices, and semi-columns at the corners.

Inside the tower there are small rooms, low, vaulted ceilings, thick walls, doors, windows and stoves with rounded tops. Two rooms in the basement and four rooms on the second floor of the building are decorated in the interiors of a boyar's house characteristic of that time. The decoration of the rooms consists mainly of original objects from the 17th century.

Dining room

The boyar dining room is the largest of the rooms, with windows facing the street. Varvarka. This is the room where the family gathered for dinner. Feasts were held here, sometimes of an official nature, and guests were received.

In the very corner there is a table, the order of seats at which was observed according to the custom of “localism” - the distribution of official positions on the basis of birth: the most noble guests sat near the owner, the less noble - at the opposite end of the table. Next to the table is a small table with a kumgan (washbasin) and a bowl (tub) - accessories for washing hands during the feast.

Shakko, CC BY-SA 4.0

The spacious dining room has five armchairs, which were rare in a Russian house in the 17th century. There are many traditional benches along the walls and table. The shops will show off different types and the size of wooden caskets, upholstered with slotted iron, with lids elegantly painted on the inside. There is a stand against the wall, which looks like a slide with ledges, on which tableware is placed.

Also in the dining room are exhibited foreign things, indicating the development of trade relations between Russia and the East and West. Among them are a Swedish chandelier, Turkish velvet shelves, a German engraving, a framed portrait of boyar T. Streshnev (at that time portraits were just coming into use and only a small circle of the nobility could afford them), a cabinet with mica doors, a figured pediment, and decorated painted in the form of large tulips, lower doors.

Cabinet

The room adjacent to the dining room is decorated as a boyar's office. Its windows face the courtyard. The room presents the everyday atmosphere of household chores and served for the leisure of the head of the house. Under the icon there is a desk with writing materials. Near the table there is an armchair, a bench and two chairs. Also in the room there is a chest-terem with leather-bound books, a Dutch globe made in Amsterdam in 1642, and a portrait of a Russian diplomat of the 17th century. and Duma clerk I.T. Gramotin and the painting “The Siege of Smolensk by Polish-Lithuanian troops in 1610.” Two walls of the room are upholstered with cloth and two more with gilded Flanders leather, which in those days was considered especially exquisite decoration. Near the entrance door there is a stove made of green glazed tiles, with relief images of historical subjects, fairy tales and everyday scenes (“Alexander the Great”, “The Nightingale the Robber”, “Fighters Are Fighting” and others).

Sleeping closets

The passage to the other half of the house, consisting of two rooms, passes through the landing of the stairs. First from staircase the room is decorated in the form of a vestibule, which served in boyar houses both as “sleeping closets” and as storage places for the necessary Everyday life of things. Around the room on benches there are caskets, boxes and boxes containing lace and fabrics. In the wall niches there are kokoshniks (women's hats) and a drum with bobbins and splinters. From here, from the entryway, there is an entrance to the women's room, a small room with windows on three sides. This arrangement of the women's room, behind the vestibule, in an isolated part of the house, best conveys characteristics women's life in the 17th century

Women's room

The only entertainment for a woman of that time (unless, of course, she could read) was sewing, which filled her leisure time. Accordingly, the main furnishings of the interior of the room are items related to sewing: a hoop containing samples of ornamental sewing, a chest containing sewing, and on the wall there is an embroidered shroud with the image of Christ in the tomb (Shroud). In addition, the room contains a mirror with doors, “boxes” and a casket for fabrics and jewelry, wide bench, covered with velvet, there is a headrest on it - a casket with a beveled top, which at night was placed at the head of the bed, under the pillow.

Basement

Further, from the living rooms, into the basement of the 16th century, which once belonged to the boyar Nikita Romanovich, leads internal staircase. In the basement there are chests for money and valuables, fabrics, clothes and shoes, iron lights, and dishes. In addition, there are items that remind you of military service boyar, who was obliged to show up to war with his weapons and on his horse - cold and firearms, armor and horse harness.

Restoration of the XXI century

The coat of arms of the Romanovs - with the image of a griffin - was located on the facade of the museum above front door northern façade from Varvarki Street.

“In Soviet times, the niche was filled up, the griffin was removed and further fate this monument is not known. During restoration work 1984-1991 the niche has been revealed. Its purpose was discovered as a result of work in the archives. We found a number of little-known projects by F. F. Richter and a photograph from 1913, which depicts Emperor Nicholas II against the backdrop of the northern façade of the chambers, with a griffin clearly visible above the entrance.”

Shakko, CC BY-SA 4.0

In 2008, the descendants of F. F. Richter - the Chernov-Richter family and Paul Edward Kulikovsky, a descendant of the sister of Nicholas II, financially helped to reconstruct these two reliefs depicting heraldic griffins on the facades of the building.

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Where did the Romanovs live?

Small Imperial, Mramorny, Nikolaevsky, Anichkov - we go for a walk along the central streets of St. Petersburg and remember the palaces in which representatives of the royal family lived.

Palace Embankment, 26

Let's start our walk from Palace Embankment. A few hundred meters east of the Winter Palace is the palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, son of Alexander II. Previously, the building, built in 1870, was called the “small imperial courtyard.” Here, all the interiors have been preserved almost in their original form, reminiscent of one of the main centers of social life in St. Petersburg at the end of the 19th century. Once upon a time, the walls of the palace were decorated with many famous paintings: for example, “Barge Haulers on the Volga” by Ilya Repin hung on the wall of the former billiard room. On the doors and panels there are still monograms with the letter “B” - “Vladimir”.

In 1920, the palace became the House of Scientists, and today the building houses one of the main scientific centers cities. The palace is open to tourists.

Palace Embankment, 18

A little further on Dvortsovaya Embankment you can see the majestic gray Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace. It was erected in 1862 by the famous architect Andrei Stackenschneider for the wedding of the son of Nicholas I, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich. The new palace, for the reconstruction of which neighboring houses were purchased, incorporated the Baroque and Rococo styles, elements of the Renaissance and the architecture of the times Louis XIV. Before October revolution There was a church on the top floor of the main facade.

Today the palace houses institutions Russian Academy Sci.

Millionnaya Street, 5/1

Even further on the embankment is the Marble Palace, the family nest of the Konstantinovichs - the son of Nicholas I, Constantine, and his descendants. It was built in 1785 by the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi. The palace became the first building in St. Petersburg to be lined natural stone. On turn of the 19th century and the 20th century he lived here with his family Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, famous for his poetic works, in the pre-revolutionary years - his eldest son John. The second son, Gabriel, wrote his memoirs “In the Marble Palace” while in exile.

In 1992, the building was transferred to the Russian Museum.

Admiralteyskaya embankment, 8

Palace of Mikhail Mikhailovich. Architect Maximilian Messmacher. 1885–1891. Photo: Valentina Kachalova / photobank “Lori”

Not far from the Winter Palace on Admiralteyskaya Embankment you can see a building in the neo-Renaissance style. It once belonged to Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich, the grandson of Nicholas I. Construction began on it when the Grand Duke decided to get married - his chosen one was the granddaughter of Alexander Pushkin, Sofia Merenberg. Emperor Alexander III did not give consent to the marriage, and the marriage was recognized as morganatic: Mikhail Mikhailovich’s wife did not become a member of the imperial family. The Grand Duke was forced to leave the country without living in the new palace.

Today the palace is rented out to financial companies.

Truda Square, 4

If we walk from the Mikhail Mikhailovich Palace to the Annunciation Bridge and turn left, on Labor Square we will see another brainchild of the architect Stackenschneider - the Nicholas Palace. The son of Nicholas I, Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder, lived in it until 1894. During the years of his life, the building also housed a house church; everyone was allowed to attend services here. In 1895 - after the death of the owner - a women's institute named after Grand Duchess Xenia, sister of Nicholas II, was opened in the palace. Girls were trained to be accountants, housekeepers, and seamstresses.

Today, the building, known in the USSR as the Palace of Labor, hosts excursions, lectures and folk concerts.

English Embankment, 68

Let's return to the embankment and go west. Halfway to the New Admiralty Canal is the palace of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, son of Alexander II. In 1887, he bought it from the daughter of the late Baron Stieglitz, a famous banker and philanthropist, whose name is given to the Academy of Arts and Industry he founded. The Grand Duke lived in the palace until his death - he was shot in 1918.

The palace of Pavel Alexandrovich was empty for a long time. In 2011, the building was transferred to St. Petersburg University.

Moika River Embankment, 106

On the right side of the Moika River, opposite the island of New Holland, is the palace of Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna. She was married to the founder of the Russian Air Force, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, grandson of Nicholas I. They were given the palace as a wedding gift in 1894. During the First World War Grand Duchess opened a hospital here.

Today the palace houses the Academy physical culture named after Lesgaft.

Nevsky Prospekt, 39

We exit onto Nevsky Prospekt and move in the direction of the Fontanka River. Here, near the embankment, the Anichkov Palace is located. It was named after the Anichkov Bridge in honor of the ancient family of pillar nobles, the Anichkovs. The palace, erected under Elizaveta Petrovna, is the oldest building on Nevsky Prospekt. Architects Mikhail Zemtsov and Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Later, Empress Catherine II donated the building to Grigory Potemkin. On behalf of the new owner, architect Giacomo Quarenghi gave Anichkov a more austere, closer to modern look.

Starting from Nicholas I, mainly the heirs to the throne lived in the palace. When Alexander II ascended the throne, the widow of Nicholas I, Alexandra Feodorovna, lived here. After the death of the emperor Alexandra III The Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna settled in the Anichkov Palace. Nicholas II also grew up here. He did not like the Winter Palace and spent most of his time, already as emperor, in the Anichkov Palace.

Today it houses the Palace of Youth Creativity. The building is also open to tourists.

Nevsky Prospekt, 41

On the other side of the Fontanka is the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace - the last one built on Nevsky in the 19th century a private house and another brainchild of Stackenschneider. IN late XIX century, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich bought it, and in 1911 the palace passed to his nephew, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich. In 1917, while in exile for participating in the murder of Grigory Rasputin, he sold the palace. And later he emigrated and took the money from the sale of the palace abroad, thanks to which he lived comfortably for a long time.

Since 2003, the building has belonged to the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation; concerts and creative evenings are held there. On some days there are excursions through the halls of the palace.

Petrovskaya embankment, 2

And while walking near Peter’s house on Petrovskaya embankment, you should not miss the white majestic building in the neoclassical style. This is the palace of the grandson of Nicholas I, Nikolai Nikolaevich the Younger, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all land and naval forces Russian Empire in the early years of the First World War. Today, the palace, which became the last grand ducal building until 1917, houses the Representative Office of the President Russian Federation in the Northwestern Federal District.

The white-stone chambers of the Romanov boyars in the Zaryadye district, on present-day Varvarka Street, 8-10, were once part of the buildings of a large city courtyard. According to researchers, the estate complex began to take shape at the end of the 15th century, and already in 1597 it was noted in the foreground of the city of Moscow.

According to legend, it was here in July 1596 that Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the founder of a new royal dynasty, was born. The building itself has not been preserved in its original form, but the current building stands on a deep basement, lined with white stone and was built, in all likelihood, back in the 16th century.

Photo 1. Chambers of the Romanov boyars in Moscow along Varvarka (Zaryadye) streets

photographs of the early 20th century

During the reign of Boris Godunov, representatives of the Romanov family, as obvious contenders for the Russian crown, were persecuted. Thus, Fyodor Nikitich, the father of the future autocrat Mikhail Fedorovich, was thrown into dungeons in 1599, and then completely tonsured as a monk. During that period, local Chambers were left unattended.

As mentioned above, the estates occupied a decent territory, which was already recorded on the plan of the Mother See of 1613. The main residential building for the Romanov boyars was the “Chambers in the Lower Cellars,” which were located in the center of the estate and were more extensive than the existing ones.

In 1626, on May 3, another fire broke out in Moscow, in which the Romanov chambers on Varvarka were also damaged. Their revival began already during the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich. He himself then lived in the Kremlin royal chambers, and this property was already called “The Old Sovereign’s Court, on the Varvarsky Sacrum or at Varvara Mountain.”

Over time, the Romanovs reclaimed the chambers of the Znamenskaya monastery and subsequently the buildings were reconstructed more than once.

In 1859, the chambers were purchased from the monastery for 20 thousand rubles and, by order of Alexander II, the “House of the Romanov Boyars” was opened here - which became one of the first museums of the Russian Empire. It is interesting that the monastic leadership wanted to transfer ownership free of charge to the secular authorities, but the emperor still ordered that they be given a monetary reward.

The design of the future ensemble was assigned to the court architect Fyodor Fedorovich Richter. The main task was the recreation of the everyday surroundings of the ancestors of the first Russian autocrat from the Romanov family.

As a result of the work it was restored top floor, raising it from wood and giving it the appearance of a mansion with a high roof (in the era of the first Romanovs, stone chambers were raised only to the level of 2 floors, and if necessary, the third level was built only from wood). The structure was crowned with a weather vane in the likeness of a griffin, the heraldic symbol of the Romanov family.

During the same period, the front porch was completed, and during interior spaces They installed richly decorated tiled stoves, covered the walls with brocade with royal monograms, and laid parquet.

Although only cages of basements remained from the original chambers of the Romanov boyars, and the building itself was erected and rebuilt during the years when the monastery was located here, the courtiers came up with a beautiful legend that it was these walls that were the first to see the future Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, who was born here.

The history of the Romanov chambers on Varvarka after the revolution

After 1917, the museum in the chambers of the Romanov boyars on Varvarka, 8-10 was closed, but already in 1923, having determined the architectural and historical value of the object, the “Museum of Boyar Life” was opened within these walls.

During restoration work carried out in Soviet times, on the territory museum complex They found unique wooden artifacts - three crowns of an ancient log house, part of a stove masonry, as well as a necropolis of the 16th century. But the discovery of a pottery workshop with two kilns that once stood there was of particular interest.

Today the Romanov Chambers are a branch. All available 3 floors are open to the public, containing: on the first level – stone and brick basements; on the second, located level with the Varvarka level, visitors can see the refectory, the boyars' library and office; on the third level there is a female half with a room. It is worth noting that the decoration of the premises was recreated using authentic items from the seventeenth century.