The Ostankino estate is a country residence of the “Russian Krez. Count H Palace of Arts
Address: Russia, Moscow, 1st Ostankinskaya street, 5
Date of construction: 1798
Main attractions: temple Life-Giving Trinity, Front yard, Palace, Park
Coordinates: 55°49"29.8"N 37°36"53.1"E
An object cultural heritage Russian Federation
The formation of the architectural complex "Ostankino" took place over 4 centuries. The first mentions of it as the village of Ostashkino are found in historical annals XVI century(1558). The owner of this area in the northern part of Moscow was then Shchelkalov Vasily, who built a wooden Trinity Church on the territory of his estate. With the onset of the Time of Troubles, the village was devastated, and the church was burned.
The Ostankino estate from a bird's eye view
Subsequently, the estate passed into the possession of Ivan Borisovich Cherkassky, at whose direction the building of the shrine was rebuilt. Work on its construction was carried out for 2 years - from 1625 to 1627. But this temple burned down over time, and its place was taken by a 5-domed red brick church, finished with white carved stone and decorated with polychrome tiles. Here she stands to this day. Inside the temple there is a carved 9-tiered iconostasis, 2 tiers of which have been preserved since the construction of the building, and the rest were added already in the 18th century.
The Ostankino estate with a large manor house, a garden and an unusual temple was so good that the Empress Anna Ivanovna herself granted its territory in 1730. In 1732, another empress, Elizaveta Petrovna, came here 4 times. The wedding ceremony of Varvara Cherkasskaya (the owner's daughter) with Count Peter Borisovich Sheremetev also took place here. With the death of the owner of Cherkassky, the estate passed into the possession of the Sheremetevs and remained their property from 1743 to 1917.
View of the estate from the opposite side of the Ostankino pond
In 1767, by decision of Sheremetev P.B. the church building was supplemented with a bell tower, but the most serious changes associated with the arrangement of the estate took place under Nikolai Petrovich, another member of the Sheremetev family. He started building a palace and laying out a park. With the death of Nikolai Petrovich, the estate found a new owner - in 1809, his 6-year-old son Dmitry became the owner, so over the next few years the palace was far from social life.
The beginning of the 30s of the 19th century marked the onset of a new period for the estate - its park turns into a favorite place for festivities for Muscovites, regardless of their estates. And from the 2nd half of the same century, the palace comes to life again and is in the center of attention. From the end of the 19th century, the estate turned into a good source of income for the owners - they built summer cottages here and rented them out for recreation.
In 1917, the owner of the estate Sheremetev Alexander Dmitrievich left Russia, and the entire Ostankino complex became the property of the state - the Commission for the Protection of Art and Antiquity of the Moscow Council took care of it.
Ostankino Estate Palace
Description of the palace of the Ostankino complex
The best architects of that time worked on the development of the palace project: Starov, Camporesi and Brenna. Construction work was carried out for 6 years (1792 - 1798) by Mironov and Argunov, Sheremetev's fortress architects. The result of their work was a wooden palace with plastered walls, which at first glance seem to be made of stone. The facade, painted in pale pink, had the unusual name "the color of a nymph at dawn." Due to the tenderness of the color and whiteness of the columns, the entire structure conveyed an extraordinary feeling of cleanliness. In general, the palace building became the embodiment of the Classicism style. The decoration of its main facade is a six-column Corinthian portico, standing on a ledge of the lower floor. And the decoration of the facade facing the park area is a 10-column loggia of the Ionic order. On the outer walls of the palace there are bas-reliefs - the work of the famous sculptors Zamaraev and Gordeev. main part palace is considered theater Hall, which through closed galleries is connected to the Egyptian and Italian pavilions.
Church of the Life-Giving Trinity
The interior decoration of the manor palace is striking in its simplicity and elegance. Most of decor is made of wood, but it imitates a variety of expensive materials. When decorating the halls, only gilded carvings were used. The carver Spol was responsible for all the carvings. In the Italian pavilion, the carved decor is unusual and beautiful - the patterned parquet in it is laid from the rarest woods, and its walls are upholstered in velvet and satin fabric. In all the main halls there is gilded furniture made by Russian and European craftsmen in the 18th - early XIX centuries. All types of decorations and lamps were once made especially for the palace of the Ostankino estate.
In the palace of the ancient Ostankino complex there is a collection of portraits - these are works famous masters XVIII - XIX centuries, and unique paintings by artists whose names remain unknown. Once upon a time, 30 authentic antique statues, but, unfortunately, most of the ancient sculptures were lost for various reasons. And today, visitors to the palace can see only five of them. Among the porcelain products there are items that were part of the collection of the Cherkassky family. All these are ancient products from Chinese and Japanese porcelain. The collection of fans, collected by the collector Vishnevsky F.E., also attracts the eye of visitors.
Manor park overlooking the Milovzor pavilion and decorative sculptures
Theater of the Ostankino estate - a place of entertainment for Muscovites
In the 18th century, going to the theater was considered a fashionable event. Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev was also fond of theatrical art. Wanting to turn his palace into the Pantheon of Arts, he opened his own theater. The basis for the first production was Kozlovsky's opera The Capture of Ishmael or Zelmir and Smelon. The theater troupe consisted of a couple of hundred actors, musicians and singers, and their repertoire consisted of operas, comedies and ballets. On the stage of the Ostankino Theater in Moscow, the audience saw performances of works by Russian and foreign composers.
In the theater premises, Count Sheremetev liked to arrange holidays in honor of noble persons arriving at the estate. In these cases, the performances were attended by the most talented actors. The theater star of that time was the serf actress and singer Praskovya Zhemchugova. A holiday was also held in honor of the arrival of Alexander I, but it was already the last. At the beginning of the 19th century, the owners of the estate dissolved the theater and left the palace. To date, the theater hall has retained its "ballroom" appearance, and everyone still sounds the same chamber orchestras and staging of old operas are embodied. It is difficult to call it spacious, because no more than 250 people can admire the theatrical skills of the actors here, but it is the best in the entire capital in terms of acoustics. good acoustics here it is achieved due to the form in which the hall is built - it looks like a horseshoe. The color scheme of the theater hall is represented by blue and pink tones.
Memorial to the Volunteers of the 13th and 6th divisions of the people's militia who defended Moscow in the park of the estate
Ostankino Manor Park
Simultaneously with construction work for the construction of the palace, work was also carried out to lay out the garden. Sheremetev himself planned to surround the palace with a regular park, laid out in french style. Later he also created a landscape park. However, the first, regular park, formed the basis of the Pleasure Garden, which had a parterre, a cedar grove, a “Private Garden”, and an artificial hill. The pleasure garden was adjacent to the palace building. Part of the cedar grove, located closer to the estate, was called the Surplus Garden, but later it was turned into an English park. All work on its creation was entrusted to the gardener - a real Englishman. Lindens and oaks, maples and hazel, viburnum and honeysuckle successfully took root in the garden. The park area was supplemented by 5 artificial ponds. According to the idea of the owner, the Sculpture Park was placed along Botanicheskaya Street. In addition to flower beds, statues and arbors with columns, there are open gallery and stage.
Residence formation Manor Ostankino refers to XVIII century. It is one of the former country residences of the Sheremetevs. In 1740, Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev began the construction of the Kuskovo estate, which he decorated until his death. At the same time, he developed a new property - the Ostankino estate. Pyotr Sheremetev laid out a park here and made a hall for balls and receptions. But the real heyday of the Ostankino estate came during the ownership of the estate of his heir - Nikolai Petrovich. After returning from a trip to Europe, the young count became interested in becoming a home professional theater. Teachers were hired for actors and dancers, scores and sketches of scenery were brought from Paris. The Kuskovo estate was too small for large-scale productions, and the count decided to reconstruct the Ostankino estate.
The expansion project was assigned to the Italian Francesco Camporesi. He combined in it a theater, side pavilions and living quarters. The pavilions were named Italian and Egyptian.
The reconstructed manor was built not of stone, but of wood. Even then, the count thought that he needed a “mobile” theater so that at any moment he could make a “voxal” or dance hall- transform the space as you wish. Only the tree helped to solve such issues: it made it easy to change the project depending on the task. For example, if a collapsible floor is placed above the stalls, both halls become one large space for dancing.
The count turned out to be picky: he constantly changed the project, forcing people to disassemble and reassemble everything. The theater opened in 1875 - with a premiere and fireworks. On stage was the musical drama "Zelmira and Smelon, or the Capture of Ishmael." The choice of this particular drama is not accidental - Russia's victory over Turkey was celebrated.
After the premiere, it became clear that the theater needed to be completed, rooms for rehearsals and spacious rooms for guests were needed. And again, the architects set to work - they added ceremonial halls, created two galleries - in the Picture Room they placed the personal collection of the count's paintings. In April 1797, the count hastily completed the theater: he was counting on an imperial reception, but the emperor only examined the palace, and did not drink tea.
The troupe of the theater was huge, the stage names of the actors sounded like the names of precious stones - Granatov, Zhemchugova. 170 people staged dramas, comedies, operas and ballets on the theater stage. In 1797, the Count signed the freedom of his serf artist Polina Zhemchugova and already in 1801 secretly married her.
This year singing career Zhemchugova collapsed. The count lost all interest in the theater, disbanded the troupe, degrading the actors into maids, laundresses, porters. Only 14 people and an orchestra remained from the theater. The count is openly married to Zhemchugova - now without hiding from anyone. Already in 1803 former actress dies at the birth of his son, the count loses interest in life and dies in 1809.
In 1856, Alexander II spent a week in Ostankino, managing to completely change the theater: he ordered a winter garden to be created in its place, the engine room to be removed and floors to be laid. By the way - it was after his visit that the main manor house became known as a palace.
In 1861, after the serf reform, the lands of the estate began to be given over to dachas. After the revolution of 1917, the estate was nationalized and already in 1919 received the first visitors.
Now it's amazing place for inspection, which closes if the air humidity is more than 80%. This is because the homestead is made of wood and is sensitive to weather changes. Wooden structures are covered with a reinforced mesh, on which a layer of marble chips is applied in a special way. The resulting surface is painted with patterns of amazing beauty, the interiors are furnished with unique furniture and magnificent lamps. Currently, the estate is undergoing restoration work, not all rooms are open to visitors, but even by those that are available, one can judge the beauty and luxury of the rooms.
An old cedar grove grows on the estate. If you look closely at the green grid on the facade of one of the buildings, you can see the coat of arms of the Sheremetevs.
Foundation and formation of the estate
The first mention of the village dates back to 1558, but the history of the estate begins in 1584. This year's keeper state seal- clerk Vasily Shchelkalov, who at that time owned the village of Ostankino, is building a boyar house in it, planting a grove and laying a wooden church. The buildings created by Shchelkalov were destroyed in Time of Troubles, only the pond he created has survived to this day.
Manor "Ostankino", 18th century. photo: Ghirlandajo , Public DomainThe estate, the boyar house and the Trinity Church are restored by Prince Cherkassky, who was granted Ostankino by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in 1601. Since 1642, the nephew of Prince Yakov, who inherited the land, has been equipping hunting grounds in Ostankino, and his son, Mikhail Yakovlevich, instead of the dilapidated wooden church erects a stone one, and orders to plant a cedar grove. By the beginning of the 18th century, the estate became one of the most beautiful in the Moscow region. In 1743, the granddaughter of Mikhail Yakovlevich, Princess Varvara Alekseevna, only daughter Chancellor Russian Empire, Prince Alexei Mikhailovich Cherkassky, one of the richest brides in Moscow, marries Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev, the Ostankino estate is part of the dowry.
, public domain Since Pyotr Borisovich lived in his family estate in Kuskovo, Ostankino was mainly used for household purposes. Despite this, on his instructions, a park was laid out, greenhouses and greenhouses were built, and the house was partially rebuilt.
Creation of the palace-theater
In 1788, after the death of his father, the estate was inherited by his son Nikolai Petrovich.
unknown , Public Domain XVIII-XIX centuries
The ensemble took shape over several centuries and was finally formed under Count N.P. Sheremetev at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. Having visited in the 1830s. in Ostankino, A. S. Pushkin noted: “Horn music does not rattle in the groves of Ostankino and Svirlovo (Sviblovo) ... Buns and colored lanterns do not illuminate the English paths, now overgrown with grass, but once planted with myrtle and orange trees, numbering hundreds of years of its existence. The manor's house is decrepit...” However, the interiors of the palace have almost completely preserved their decor and decoration. One of the main attractions is the artistic type-setting parquet. The original appearance gives the halls an abundance of carved gilded wood. Chandeliers, furniture and other decorations are in their original places. The Ostankino Palace is practically the only theatrical building of the 18th century in Russia that has preserved the stage, auditorium, dressing rooms and part of the engine room mechanisms.
Shakko, CC BY-SA 3.0 Museum-Estate Ostankino
From 1918 - state museum, where you can now see the original interiors of the 18th century, hear the music of that time and operas from the repertoire of the Sheremetev Theater.
The master plan of the estate park, which was called the Dzerzhinsky Park of Culture and Leisure, was developed by the architect V. I. Dolganov together with Yu. S. Grinevitsky.
The architectural ensemble of the estate
Church of the Holy Trinity
Lodo27, GNU 1.2 The Temple of the Life-Giving Trinity in Ostankino is one of the oldest buildings preserved in the estate. In September 1678, according to the petition of Prince Mikhail Cherkassky, Patriarch Ioakov blessed the construction of a stone church to replace the dilapidated wooden one. The construction of the temple was carried out from 1678 to 1683 according to the project of the fortress architect Pavel Sidorovich Potekhin, a little away from the old church, so as not to affect the cemetery around it.
front yard
Vladimir OKC , Public Domain A park
Arbor "Milovzor" on the artificial hill Parnassus in the park of the Ostankino estate. The original gazebo was built in 1795. The next one was built in the late 1920s. 19th century The modern gazebo was recreated in 2003. Surprisingly, the wooden building of the palace of Count Sheremetev has survived to this day, but restoration work has been underway in it since the middle of the last century. Soviet architects tried to bring the interiors in line with the original version of the late 8th century, while retaining the so-called "control windows" of later layers. In the process, rotten wooden structures were replaced, lost fragments of decor were restored, new parquet was partially laid. According to some forecasts published in the media, the museum will open to visitors in 2017-2018. But these dates do not quite correspond to the real state of affairs, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev belonged to a noble family and had a considerable fortune, but not all aristocrats left a long memory of themselves in history. Count Sheremetev was the director of the Moscow Noble Bank, served in the Senate departments, however public service he was never attracted. He devoted his life and his aspirations to creating the best theater troupe in Russia at that time.
The Sheremetevs had a home theater even before the construction of the Ostankino ensemble, performances were staged in the Kuskovo estate. The repertoire of the serf troupe created by Count Nikolai Petrovich included about a hundred operas, ballets and comedies, and the Count preferred the genre comic opera to the music of French, Italian and Russian composers, and the roles were played by serf artists. Returning from a long European trip, Nikolai Sheremetev decided to build a palace of arts. In 1788, he inherited the Ostankino land from his father and soon set about implementing an ambitious plan. By that time, a church already stood in Ostankino and a garden was laid out, which was called Pleasure.
Construction began on the project of the architect Francesco Camporesi, but Sheremetev did not stop at the original version and attracted fresh creative forces in the person of Giacomo Quarenghi and a team of Russian architects - Starov, Mironov, Dikushin. To improve acoustics, the palace was conceived of wood, not stone. The theater itself was located in the main building, which was connected by passages to two pavilions - Egyptian and Italian. The serf architect Pavel Argunov, who studied under Bazhenov and was familiar with St. Petersburg palace architecture, became one of the project leaders and worked on the layout of the theater hall, and the serf mechanic Fyodor Pryakhin made mechanisms for transforming auditorium into the ballroom and other stage machinery. Yard people of the Sheremetevs turned out to be talented decorators.
July 22, 1795 on new stage the premiere of the lyrical drama "Zelmira and Smelon, or the Capture of Ishmael" took place. The success was so obvious that new halls were needed to accommodate theater guests and for rehearsals of the troupe, which consisted of 170 people - actors, musicians, decorators. The redevelopment was led by Pavel Argunov. And two years later, splendor was urgently added to the palace interiors - Count Sheremetev was preparing to meet Emperor Paul I. The sovereign walked around the palace with his retinue, but quickly left, which pretty much disappointed the owner.
Serf theaters were not uncommon at the end of the 8th century, Apraksin, Vorontsov, Pashkov, Gagarina, Golitsyn, Durasov created their own troupes in Moscow, the fashion spread to St. Petersburg and other cities. But, unlike many landlord theatres, Sheremetevsky was rich not only in scenery and wardrobes (according to the inventory of property - 194 scenery and almost a hundred chests with clothes and props), but talented people. This is director Vasily Voroblevsky, composer Stepan Degtyarev, violin maker Ivan Batov, actors Pyotr Petrov, Andrey Novikov, Grigory Kakhanovsky, Andrey Chukhnov, Ivan Krivosheev, singers Maria Cherkasova, Arina Kalmykova, dancer Tatyana Shlykova.
The young daughter of the blacksmith Praskovya Kovalev performed at the Sheremetev Theater as opera soloist under the pseudonym Zhemchugova. The owner of a beautiful voice and acting talent became the favorite of the count, who signed her freedom, and in 1801 secretly married. Alas, this was already the sunset of a bright love story - Nikolai Sheremetev, due to his illness and St. Petersburg service, could not seriously engage in theater, and his wife lost her voice and soon died of consumption. Sheremetev was not a philanthropist, his theatrical stars did not receive freedom, but again became lackeys and laundresses. However, following the will of Praskovya Zhemchugova, he donated part of his fortune to the poor and began the construction of the Hospice House.
In 1809, Count Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev died and the estate passed into the possession of his heirs. In the 19th century, a lot changed here, in 1812 French troops quartered in the palace, theatrical scenery and costumes were lost, dilapidated buildings were later demolished, and the theater lost its stage and became a winter garden. The last noticeable changes took place in 1856, when the palace became the temporary residence of Emperor Alexander II. By the way, the Rotunda was restored as of 1856, when it housed the office of Alexander II. After October revolution the palace was nationalized Soviet power and opened to visitors as the Museum of Serf Art.
At the same time, until recently, there was no comprehensive restoration plan, and the unique building began to fall into disrepair. Correspondents of the "Russian Blogger" got acquainted with the current state of the palace halls and made sure how difficult the task is for the restorers. The museum was closed to visitors several years ago, but exhibition activity continues at other venues, for example, sculptures are exhibited at the Opera House in Tsaritsyno. A significant part of the museum exhibits is stored in the palace premises, where work is not being carried out yet, the chandeliers are wrapped in cellophane, the parquet is covered with felt runners. The theater hall is unrecognizable - its space is filled with metal structures, on which the craftsmen will have to work. In most halls, work is frozen pending approval project documentation, transferred to the FAU "Glavgosexpertiza of Russia".
As information becomes available, the official website of the Ostankino Estate Museum will be updated, where sections on past and upcoming stages of restoration work have been created: http://ostankino-museum.ru/
Some of the nuances of what is happening were commented on by art historian Gennady Viktorovich Vdovin, who has been working at the Ostankino Estate Museum for more than 30 years, and since 1993 has been holding the position of director.
"Russian Blogger": There are ominous urban legends about Ostankino...
Every monument lives on myths, and the Ostankino myth is quite stable. During the construction of the palace, Nikolai Petrovich surrounded the construction site with secrecy, surrounded it with a two-meter fence with a guard, with the capture of spies. This was done in order to repeat the Peter and Paul myth, the birth of St. Petersburg overnight from nothing, the curtain swings open - and here is the magic thing. And this myth continues to develop until now. At Orlov's in "Altista Danilov" the neighborhood is inhabited by all sorts of evil spirits, at Pelevin, at Lukyanenko. We take it easy.
Couldn't Sheremetev have invited professional actors?
The serf artists were not peasants from the plow, not plowmen, not milkmaids, but those who can be called serf intelligentsia. Sheremetev created a professional troupe and did not spare money for this. To create such a troupe from Moscow theater artists it was hardly possible, it meant entering into competition with the sovereign.
Why did Count Sheremetev consider the palace unfinished?
On the one hand, in a testamentary letter to his son, Nikolai Sheremetev writes about a monument for centuries, although wooden, on a small foundation, on the other hand, he considers it unfinished, as evidenced by the plans for expanding the palace to the north, which are preserved in our archive, in the collection of architectural charts.
The palace survived several wars almost without loss…
It is a pity that the surviving mechanisms of the theater do not have enough costumes and decorations that burned down in a barn under the French in 1812. And after the revolution, the Sheremetevs showed wisdom, they understood that the power of the Bolsheviks for a long time and voluntarily gave up Kuskovo and Ostankino. By the way, there are also a lot of interesting things in the vicinity, for example, the tram line came to Ostankino in late XIX century. And so there was a village with cows, ducks, pigs ...
At what stage is the restoration project approval process?
Expertise is a process of co-creation, it is necessary to answer the questions of experts, clean up the tails, come up with ideas. We hope that by the end of summer - beginning of autumn this process will be completed and a competition for the production of works can be announced. Currently, priority emergency response work is underway, something that cannot be done without so that the monument does not collapse - some constructive reinforcements, work with facade sculpture, work with monumental painting, mainly with plafonds.
The head of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage, Alexander Kibovsky, mentioned some experiments that have no place in Ostankino ...
Ostankino is a summer, entertaining, unheated palace, but there is a great desire to put it into year-round use for happy workers. We have a number of strong arguments against this. For more than two hundred years, the monument lived in exactly this mode, and no one can calculate the consequences of the transfer to another mode. If it is minus 20 outside, and plus 20 in the building, it is clear what will happen to this wooden, cardboard, paper, papier-machine house Naf-Nafa. It will just crumble.
Will the restoration bring the palace back to 1795?
We are not tempted to return the interiors rebuilt in the 19th century to the time the palace was created. A ninety-year-old matron cannot look like an eighteen-year-old youth. Everything that happens to the monument is its life and its destiny, and no false braids and false teeth are absolutely useless. One must be able to wear gray hair and other shortcomings.
What changes will take place in the Amusement Park?
By the decision of the Government of Moscow, five hectares were attached to the territory of the Amusement Park, on which it is planned to restore the services destroyed in the middle of the 19th century, the horse yard, greenhouses. And if you use the spaces below them, you will solve problems with storage, restoration workshops, and areas for working with visitors - lecture and exhibition halls. Now there is a catastrophic lack of space. With the transfer of the temple to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, we lost a hectare of land on which it was planned to restore three outbuildings, there used to be a manager's house, a theater dressing room. We have lost this resource, let it be on the conscience of the then monument protection authorities.
In one of the interviews, I read about the "conservation" of the appearance of the palace. This means that the museum will become exclusively scientific center where tourists will not be allowed?
It was about something completely different. We do not have an exact idea of how the theatrical machinery operated, so we do not plan to bring it into an operating state so that everything moves and spins, but with the help of modern technologies it is possible to show a computer three-dimensional reconstruction, as, in the opinion modern researchers, it all happened. And in the museum after its opening, as before, long queues of visitors will line up.
Does Russia lack qualified restorers?
The national school of restoration is still preserved, I do not feel that there are not enough masters. We are used to rushing, but here the story is such that nine women, even holding hands tightly, will not give birth to a child in a month. For example, until the structures are strengthened, parquet workers will not come, until decorators do the work, painters will not come. This is a technological chain.
Museum-Estate of Count Sheremetyev
Fragment of the fence of the estate of Count Sheremetyev in Ostankino
fence fragment
Ostankino is a unique architectural and artistic monument associated with the history of Russian and European theatrical art. The architectural complex of the estate took shape over four centuries.
Boyar estate with a pond (XVI century), the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity (XVII century), manor house and oak forest becomes at the end of the 18th century a palace-pack ensemble, the front summer residence of Count N.P. Sheremetev.
In 1743, the village of Ostashkovo was given as a dowry to the daughter of Prince Cherkassky Varvara, who married the son of Count Sheremetyev, a noble nobleman, an associate of Peter I. Thus, Ostankino passed into the possession of the Sheremetyev Counts.
in the park of the museum-estate
rotunda
Izvestia of the end of the century says that at that time in Ostankino there was "a pleasure house and a regular garden with ponds." However, in 1789 Count N.P. Sheremetiev, a great connoisseur and admirer of art, especially theatrical, is planning to rebuild the mansion in such a way as to accommodate not only palace premises, but also a theater hall. As a result of the restructuring, it turned out to be more of a museum than a residential estate. And the count himself was extraordinarily proud of his creation and considered it "the greatest, worthy of surprise."
And the reason for that was love. The love of Count N.P. Sheremetyev for his serf actress Praskovya Kovaleva-Zhemchugova.
His feelings for Parasha were so strong that the count neglected secular conventions and secretly married her. So, in order to save his wife from the memories of her humble origin and humiliating past, the count decided to build a palace-theater on the other side of Moscow, where her talent could be revealed in all its splendor.
Count Sheremetiev
decoration fragment
The Ostankino Palace was built from Siberian pine with exterior plaster and interior decoration (1792-1798) in the style of Russian classicism... The two-story theater is located in the center of the palace and is surrounded by a system of ceremonial halls. A kind of theatrical version of classicism was used in the design of the ceremonial halls. The facades of symmetrically located different-sized volumes of the palace are decorated with colonnades of the Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan orders.
Ceiling of the Sheremetyevo Theatre. Performances are staged in the theater to this day, there are so-called Sheremetyevo holidays.
Hall of the Sheremetev Palace
The most famous sculpture from the Sheremetev collection in Ostankino: "Fighting Roosters" by Canova. When you walk around it, you wonder why you don’t hear the crowing of a rooster, because there are three of them at once!
So far in interior decoration The original parquet, some chandeliers, and the ceiling of the Sheremetyev Palace have been preserved. There was a wonderful prefabricated gilded furniture, tall mirrors, drawings of the estate, a collection of paintings. The decoration itself also resembled a theater, the interior of the palace was dedicated to its composition...
Before you is a piece of the Sheremetev Theater, the building of which was located right in the palace. It was the theater that made the glory of Ostankino! It was equipped with last word techniques: the columns rose and moved apart, the ceiling changed, there were all sorts of devices for transmitting the sound of thunder, rain ... The upper tier of the theater is in the picture. From there, the serfs watched the action taking place on the stage of the theater ...
The decor of the plastered walls consists of plaster bas-reliefs on mythological themes, the wall niches are "enlivened" by sculptural images of heroes ancient mythology associated with the cult of Dionysus and Apollo. The two-storey theater is located in the center of the palace and is surrounded by a system of ceremonial halls... Fabrics, gilding and woodcarving, paper painting were used in the interior decoration.
Despite all the classicism of its forms, the Ostankino Palace is distinguished by extraordinary elegance and luxury. Yes, and no wonder, because he could not help but reflect the spirit of abundance and pretentiousness that dominated architecture and art throughout the 18th century. The count himself meticulously delved into the smallest details of the construction of his offspring. He often consulted and argued with his architects. As a result, Ostankino does not look like the creation of a single master, but on the other hand, it wonderfully reflects the era and that understanding of beauty,
which united all the masters of the late 18th century.
