The Hermitage Garden (see photo below) is a monument of landscape art. It is located in the very center of Moscow. Residents of the capital highly appreciate this island of green nature, located among noisy yards and polluted streets. Here young mothers walk with prams, lovers meet and couples take a promenade.
Have you chosen Hermitage Park as your place of rest? How to get to it? It should be borne in mind that it is located near Karetny Ryad Street and Chekhovskaya and Pushkinskaya metro stations.
History of Appearance
The Hermitage Park was the first pleasure garden in Moscow. It was opened in 1830. In those ancient times, the garden was located not at its current location, but at Bozhedomka. The Hermitage Park offered its visitors coffee houses and gazebos, pavilions and a theater. He reached the peak of his popularity in those years when he was owned by the famous entrepreneur M. V. Lentovsky.
In the past, he was an actor at the Maly Theatre. Boating, water fireworks, parades of military bands and other entertainment events were organized in the garden. Not only all residents of Moscow came to rest in the Hermitage Park, but also those who visitedthe capital of foreigners.
After Lentovsky went bankrupt, this place gradually fell into disrepair. Somewhat later, the territory of the garden was built up with houses.
The Hermitage Park received its second birth in 1894, when the Moscow merchant Ya. V. Shchukin bought the estate, located in Karetny Ryad. Literally in a year, the neglected area turned into a blooming garden. Flower beds were laid out on the wasteland, paths were laid and shrubs and trees were planted. A theater building also appeared in the garden.
Cultural Events
On May 26, 1896, a significant event took place in the Hermitage Park. On this day, a public film session of the Lumiere Brothers took place here. Two years later, a theater was opened in the park, the leaders of which were V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and K. S. Stanislavsky. On 1898-26-10, the premiere of a performance staged by them called "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich" took place. On the same stage, the Moscow Public Art Theater played such plays as "Uncle Vanya" and "The Seagull" by A. P. Chekhov.
Many celebrities performed at the Hermitage Park Theatre. Among them are F. I. Chaliapin and S. V. Rachmaninov, Anna Pavlova and Sarah Bernhardt, Ernesto Rossi and others.
The Hermitage is the garden in which Shchukin built a summer building, the Mirror Theatre. In the future, it was planned to erect a new building. It was supposed to be a winter theater designed for a thousand spectators. However, the First World War prevented the implementation of plans.
Years of Soviet power
After the 1917 revolution, the Hermitage Park wasnationalized. Somewhat later, during the New Economic Policy period, it was rented out privately.
In 1924, the building located in the Hermitage park was given to the theater of the Moscow City Council of Trade Unions. It was later renamed the Moscow City Council Theatre.
War period
During the years of Soviet power, the Hermitage Park was also one of the most popular places where residents of the capital could relax. In the autumn of 1941 it was closed. The work of the park resumed in April next year. In 1943 performances were staged here. For this, the artists returned from evacuation to Moscow. The theater building was not heated. However, this did not stop either the audience or the artists.
Post-war period
In the summer of 1945, the Hermitage Garden was reconstructed. In 1948, a summer concert hall was built on the territory of the park. Performances by K. I. Shulzhenko, A. I. Raikin, L. I. Ruslanova. Here one could listen to the orchestra of L. O. Utesova.
In the fifties and sixties of the last century, Muscovites came to the Hermitage Garden to play chess, read, just take a walk and listen to the performances of their favorite artists. A summer-type cinema was opened in the park in 1953. It immediately became a popular place for Muscovites and guests of the capital. A large number of people came to see the paintings displayed in the open air.
The statistics show the popularity of the Hermitage park-garden. So, in 1957, this green corner in the capital was visited by 1.5 million people. On the stage of the parkR. Kartsev and V. S. Vysotsky, foreign theater and musical groups. The Mirror Theater of the Hermitage Garden was chosen as the location where the shooting of the first game “What? Where? When? . In 1980, the cinema was transferred to the Miniatures Theater, headed by A. I. Raikin.
Modern garden life
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Hermitage Park experienced a time of desolation. Fortunately, it has already passed. In 1991, the New Opera Theater was opened for park guests. The theaters "Hermitage" and "Sphere" work here. By the 850th anniversary of Moscow, the park was reconstructed. Restoration work has affected many historical buildings.
The Hermitage Garden is currently a wonderful place to relax. During the day, young mothers with their babies love to walk here. Schoolchildren sometimes come running from neighboring yards. On warm summer days, non-professional dancers studying the art of classical dance perform directly on the garden paths or on the open stage.
With the onset of evening, the Hermitage Park becomes a venue for various events. In the summer, these are presentations and exhibitions, concerts of stars from abroad, as well as an international jazz festival. In winter, a large skating rink operates in the park.
There is a nightclub and a tea culture club in the garden, as well as several restaurants.
New Opera Theater
In the 21st century, the Hermitage Park experienced a great upheaval. There was a fire on its premises. As a result, a part of the historic building, which was rented to the club, was destroyed by fire."Diaghilev". Otherwise, a prosperous life continues in the garden; as before, it remains one of the most favorite places of Muscovites. Here you can spend the whole free day with pleasure. At first, just take a walk, admire the flower exhibition or dance with non-professional dancers in the summer open area, and a little later, have lunch, visit a restaurant, and go see the play.
Today, there are three operating theaters in the Hermitage Garden. One of them - "New Opera" - is open in a rebuilt building. Previously, the Mirror Theater was located here. In 1997, a new building was built for the New Opera.
The theater gained popularity immediately after opening. Thousands of spectators aspired to get into it to listen to classical works in innovative productions. The most famous of them are "Eugene Onegin", "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "La Traviata" and others. Performances by the first artistic director of the theatre, Yevgeny Kolobov, are still sold out.
Know and love the theater far beyond the Russian capital. In recent years, he has received several very prestigious awards. Their list includes the diploma "Star of the Week", established by the German newspaper "Abendzeitung", the Russian opera award "Casta Diva" and others. In addition, the theater became a member of the European Opera Society "Opera Europa".
The Hermitage
This is another garden theater. Founded by Mikhail Levitin, it has existed for more than a decade. The Hermitage is valuable for theatergoers because it hosts plays created by writers of the 1920s.years.
Among them are Nikolai Oleinikov and Yuri Olesha, Isaac Babel and Alexander Vvedensky. Recently, performances by Latin American authors have been shown on the stage of this theater.
Sphere
This small, but at the same time unusual and very interesting theater in the Hermitage Park is designed for the mass audience. It was created in 1981. Its openness is attractive to the public, because spectators in a small room, in the middle of which the stage is located, often become participants in ongoing performances.
Tea Club
Moscow Hermitage Park offers its visitors an unusual pastime. There is a unique club in the garden, which presents a whole collection of Chinese elite varieties of tea, as well as exquisite utensils for tea ceremonies.
You can also get acquainted with specialized literature in this club. Visitors to the establishment take off their shoes and outerwear, sitting right on the soft carpets in small cozy rooms. Only after that, the tea ceremony begins, which is held under the guidance of specialists who give new knowledge about the usual drink.
Walking in the garden
Green corner in the very center of Moscow - the Hermitage Park - welcomes its visitors with a cozy and well-groomed territory. Fountains work here in summer. Poplars and oaks, maples and lindens grow throughout the park. Paths with benches installed along them are laid out between the trees. Pleasing to the eye planted bushes of roses, lilacs andhoneysuckle.
In 2000, two sculptures appeared in the alleys of the park. One of them was donated by the Paris City Hall. This is a bust of Victor Hugo. Its author is L. Markest. The second sculpture is a gift from the Italian government. This is the figure of Dante Alighieri. Author - R. Piras. In 2004, after restoration, the first electric lantern in Moscow, which was made in 1880 at the Ekaterininsky factory, was lit again in the garden.
