Aseev Estate (Tambov): history, discovery and address

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Aseev's estate (Tambov) is one of the most remarkable places in the city. The building has several names: "Aseevsky Palace", "house of the merchant Aseev" and "Aseev's estate". As the name already implies, once (the end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century) this building belonged to a we althy Russian manufacturer Mikhail Vasilyevich Aseev.

Uniqueness

Aseev's estate in Tambov, despite the blows of time, proudly preserves its dignified appearance. This building is unique both as a monument of architecture and as a historical place. Styles such as eclecticism, classicism, baroque and modern are harmoniously combined here. All elements are graceful and proportionate, making the palace look beautiful and light.

Aseev's estate (Tambov) is located in a quiet and cozy area of the city. The windows of the building offer a wonderful view of the calm expanse of the bay and the river distances. The manufacturer's house was considered the best and most extraordinary building erected in the city in the 20th century. Its exterior decoration is very diverse: here are semicircular window openings in the Renaissance style, andstylized capitals, and openwork parapet lattices, and a huge skylight with crystal hexagonal cells on the roof.

Aseev's Estate (Tambov)

The history of the estate begins in the first half of the 20th century, when it was acquired by a we althy Russian merchant Mikhail Aseev. Then in 1905 the building underwent a thorough renovation. The capital architect Kekushev and the Tambov specialist Fedorovsky worked on the project. In 1906, when the construction was coming to an end, the area around the estate was landscaped, the artist Shevchenko's workshop was built at the owner's expense, and three streets adjacent to the estate were paved: Embankment, Komendantskaya and Soldatskaya.

The merchant Aseev Mikhail Vasilyevich was a we althy man. He owned worsted and cloth factories in all industrial cities of the Tambov province. The main part of the products manufactured at the factories was used for the needs of the tsarist army. So, more than 50% of all soldiers wore overcoats made from cloth produced at the Aseev factory. In 1916, Emperor Nicholas II granted the merchant a title of nobility for his labors and services to the state.

Hard years

By 1918, Aseev's estate in Tambov was a large building with a laundry, a house for servants, a stable, a barn for carriages and its own power plant building. However, with the advent of Soviet power, everything changed. In the course of a widespread campaign to nationalize the property of the “rich and bourgeois”, all the factories of the merchant Aseev passed into the possession ofstates. The merchant's family (wife and seven children) decided to leave the hostile state against them.

In early May 1918, the Aseev estate (Tambov) was requisitioned, and by order of the authorities, a summer colony for minors was located there. In November of the same year, a detachment of soldiers lodged on the estate, and at the beginning of winter the Tambov University building (agronomy department) was housed.

In 1931, the building was taken over by the resort organization, and a sanatorium for people with cardiological problems was equipped here. In this position, the estate stood for more than seventy years. In the basement of the building there were mineral baths and treatment rooms of the sanatorium, which negatively affected the state of the estate. The old roof completely leaked over time, but the Soviet authorities did not carry out any repairs or reconstruction.

Unexpected offer

After the Aseev family went abroad, not much was heard about them. So, in 1921, it became known that the leader of the white emigrants was none other than Aseev. From this it can be seen that the Russian merchant had great popularity and authority among the émigré revolutionary milieu. However, nothing more was heard about the Aseev family.

But in the eighties of the XX century, during perestroika, the regional committee of the party received an interesting proposal from a mysterious multimillionaire from Canada. He stated that he wanted to renovate the mansion at his own expense,belonged to his grandfather before the revolution. And this estate is Aseev's estate (Tambov). Restoration of the building at that moment was necessary as air. Aseev's grandson offered a large sum of money for reconstruction, but put forward a necessary condition: after the repair, the building was to house a museum dedicated to his grandfather and Tambov in the early 20th century. However, the Soviet authorities did not accept such a generous gift from the Canadian businessman, and the main pearl of the city continued to collapse.

Restoration

Restoration of the estate, built more than a century ago, began only in 2009. Until that moment, the city authorities had long defended the architectural monument from the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Rosplacement", which put the estate up for auction and was going to lease it for twenty years. More than 400 million rubles were spent on the repair of the monument. The main part of the funds comes from the federal budget.

To date, the historical style, appearance of the estate, as well as the functional purpose of all rooms are fully preserved. The roof, balconies, facades were repaired, the foundation was strengthened, marble platforms, stairs, artistic parquet and painting were restored.

Restoration has undergone not only the building itself, but also the area around it. According to the project, a park will be located on the estate. So far, only one fountain has been erected. But this is only the beginning. The park will feature 18 fountains modeled after Peterhof.

According to the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky, will becomeAseev's estate (Tambov) is the pearl of the black earth of Russia.

Opening

And that day has come. On September 27, 2014, after the restoration, the Aseev estate (Tambov) was opened. The address and time of the ceremony were posted in all print and electronic media so that as many citizens as possible would come to the celebration. The guests of honor at the grand opening were the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation and the director of the Peterhof Museum, which today is located in the building of the merchant Aseev. The ceremony was attended by both the first people of the Tambov region and happy townspeople.

After the solemn cutting of the ribbon, congratulatory speeches and the exchange of gifts, the owner, the manufacturer Aseev, arrived in the courtyard of the estate. Not by himself, of course, but by an actor from the local drama theater. He told the guests the history of his estate and invited them on a tour.

What to see

Of course, the first thing you need to pay attention to is the restored main building - this is the Aseev estate (Tambov). The photo on the left was taken after restoration. To date, specialists have managed to preserve the real antique furniture that has been in the house since the time of its first owners.

The first floor of the estate is occupied by the rooms of the manufacturer Aseev. Visitors will undoubtedly be interested in household items from the beginning of the 20th century. Anyone can enter the pantry, living room, master's office and other rooms. On the second floor there is an exhibition from the head museum "Peterhof". It is dedicated to Anatoly Shemansky, a native of Tambov, who lived in the 1920s and 1930s and wrote books aboutpalaces and parks of the Russian Empire.

A separate pride of the estate is its park. It was founded between 1905 and 1907. Trees grow here: lindens, pines, oaks, elms, as well as exotic balsam poplars, silver and blue spruces. Fountains murmur in the shade of the trees, and the smell of honeysuckle and poppy roses spreads. The highlight of the park is a long-lived pedunculate oak. According to scientists, its age is about 500 years. The oak has been declared a natural monument and protected by law.

Facts and speculations

Like any historical place, Aseev's estate is surrounded by legends and fictions, as well as irrefutable facts and evidence. Here are some of them:

There is an opinion that once on the site where the estate now stands, there was the dwelling of commandant Buldakov, who died under mysterious circumstances.
According to the Memorial Society, there are burials from the times of Bolshevik repressions on the territory of the manor park.
In tsarist times, the places adjacent to the park area of the estate were popularly called the wolf's hollow. It was said that in the forest more often a gang of bandits was operating, who killed and robbed travelers. And the ghosts of these unfortunates still roam around the park.
Leaving in a hurry from Tambov, the merchant Aseev hid countless treasures on the territory of his estate, which he was unable to take with him abroad.
In addition to the estate, the Aseevs had another estate in Tambov - the Arzhenka estate in Rasskazovo.

Visitor information

Aseev's estate(Tambov). Address: st. Gogol, d. 1.

The museum is open as follows: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday - from 10.00 to 18.00; Thursday - from 13.00 to 21.00; Monday is a day off.

Tickets are purchased at the box office located in the basement of the building. There is also a wardrobe. The ticket price for an adult is 150 rubles. Children, schoolchildren, students and cadets are en titled to a 50% discount.