The village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow was once the patrimony of the Russian tsars. Now this place is the territory of the State Architectural Reserve. On a huge area of almost four hundred hectares, there are suburban monasteries and churches, as well as palaces: the house of Peter the Great, transported here from Arkhangelsk, and, in fact, the mansions of Russian tsars - Alexei Mikhailovich, nicknamed the Quietest, and Fedor Alekseevich. Most of the reserve is a park and nature untouched by man: ravines, forest. In the southeastern part, it goes to the embankment of the Moscow River. So you can sail to the Tsar's palace in Kolomenskoye on a pleasure boat. It is good to look here during folk festivals at Christmas or Maslenitsa. Then theatrical performances, sleigh rides and other amusements take place in Kolomenskoye. There are also several ancient churches on the territory of the reserve. But in this article, we will focus on the palace of Russian tsars.
A bit of history
Russian princes loved Kolomenskoye. The palace stood in this place in the fourteenth century. Therefore, the neighborhoodthe villages were decorated with churches of "metropolitan scale". For example, Vasily III erected in 1532 the tent temple of the Ascension. Lived in Kolomenskoye and Ivan the Terrible. Chronicles report that here, in his palace, he celebrated his name day. But this place was especially fond of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. He ordered to expand the mansions, in fact, to build a new palace on the old site. On September 17, 1640, the tsar celebrated a housewarming party with the boyars. The heir, Alexei Mikhailovich, also fell in love with this place. An avid hunter, he repeatedly visited this country residence. Upon accession to the throne, he started new construction.
Kolomenskoye: the palace of Alexei Mikhailovich
Even in 1649-1650, as well as in 1657, the tsar added new premises to the old ones - on the occasion of the birth of children. But it wasn't all that. The tsar wanted to create an integral ensemble, and not a system of huts connected by passages. In 1667, the first stone was laid for the construction of what later contemporaries would call "the eighth wonder of the world." It should be noted that ordinary people built the palace of Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye - carpenters Semyon Petrov and Ivan Mikhailov. A year later, the decoration of wooden walls, windows and facades with skillful carvings began. In the spring of 1669, decoration materials (gold leaf and paints) were ordered from abroad, and the master himself, Bogdan S altanov, an Armenian from Persia. The icon painter Simeon Ushakov supervised the finishing work. The painting of ceilings and walls, the gilding of the tents lasted about two years. Finally, in 1673, the master of the Armory, PeterVysotsky installed a clock on the gate tower and arranged the mechanics of roaring lions.
Fyodor Alekseevich's perestroika
After the death of the Quiet One, the new tsar took up Kolomenskoye. The palace was rebuilt again. Fedor Alekseevich ordered the construction of a new refectory, which was connected to the tsar's private chambers by a gallery. This canteen was built by the serf boyar Sheremetyev Semyon Dementyev. The Gilded Gates were also erected, which, in the absence of the tsar in Kolomenskoye, were hung with cloth so as not to fade. Repairs were made to the roaring lions at the throne, the exterior decorations and the interior. The restoration was completed in the spring of 1682. For about two more years, work was underway to repair outbuildings, decorate roofs and paint rooms. As a result of the rebellion of the archers, barracks for personal protection were erected - a total of sixteen huts. In 1685, the entrance gate was strengthened with English tin and iron, and a new clock was installed.
The era of Peter the Great and Kolomenskoye
The palace, with the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg, began to gradually fall into decay. Wood is not a very durable material. The subsequent empresses also did not pay enough attention to this country residence. Anna Ioannovna, however, ordered to keep her "in good care", but she did not deign to allocate funds for this. In the autumn of 1762, Catherine II visited Kolomenskoye. She ordered a repair estimate. The document was presented in 1764. But instead of reconstruction, the empress ordered the construction ofa new palace on the site of the collapsed outbuildings. In May 1767, Catherine was informed that stairs and roofs had begun to collapse in the old mansions. Then the empress ordered to dismantle the palace of Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye, and clean the place. The exact date of destruction is unknown. Karamzin in "Poor Liza" (1792) mentions the village of Kolomenskoye with a high palace. In place of the wooden choirs, a four-story building was erected in the style of classicism. But even it was destroyed a century later.
Kolomenskoye Museum
Restoration of the historical site began with the initiative of the famous restorer P. Baranovsky. In 1923, he proposed to arrange an open-air museum on the territory of the former estate of the Russian tsars, dedicated to the wooden architecture of Russia. This explains the presence of the house of Peter I in Kolomenskoye. In it, the reformer tsar lived on Markov Island for about two months, personally supervising the construction of the defensive fortress of Arkhangelsk. Baranovsky restored the interior of the house, the Mokhovaya Tower of the Sumy Ostrog, the gates of the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery, the Church of St. George the Victorious and other monuments of wooden architecture. Gradually, other buildings began to be reconstructed, which were already directly related to Kolomenskoye: the Vodovzvodnaya tower, the Fryazhsky cellar and the church of St. George with a bell tower. And in 1990, the idea came up to recreate the summer palace of Alexei Mikhailovich.
Reconstruction
Although the royal mansions of the seventeenth centurywere completely wiped off the face of the earth, leaving a lot of lithographs and drawings, which depict in detail the interiors and exterior decoration of this "eighth wonder of the world". In addition, the drawings of the builders of the royal chambers themselves have been preserved. Since centuries-old oaks and lindens had already grown on the site of the palace, it was decided to reconstruct the building in another place, nearby, in the village of Dyakovskoye. The construction was completed in 2010. The wooden palace of Alexei Mikhailovich was replaced by a reinforced concrete structure lined with logs. Despite the fact that she changed her original orientation to the cardinal points, tourists can see the chambers of the king and empress, the chambers of the prince and princesses. A special impression is left by the main dining room, to which covered galleries lead from different wings of the palace.
Museum: opening hours, prices
Despite the fact that the whole palace was built in the first years of our century, an excursion to Kolomenskoye will not disappoint anyone. After all, all the interiors were recreated with extreme care, completely copying the preserved drawings and drawings. The chambers are equipped with unique lamps, mica windows and furniture. In twenty-four interiors of the palace, the personal life and officialdom of the Russian sovereigns of the pre-Petrine era appear before the eyes of tourists.
Entrance to the park is free. But for exhibitions - for a fee. If you come to Kolomenskoye for the whole day, it is better to purchase a single ticket - it costs 400 rubles and gives you the right to visit various premises. The exposition is open every day except Monday. Entrance to the palace costs 250 rubles.
