Chambers of the Old English Court on the street. Varvarka, d 4a is a completely discreet building, but with an interesting history. This is the very first official representation of a foreign state in our country.
Surozh Merchant
The building was erected in the 15th century. The chambers belonged to Ivan Bobrishchev from Surozh, modern Sudak. In those years, Sudak was a Genoese colony and a center of Mediterranean trading activity. The people of Surozh actively traded on the territory of Moscow. Even on Red Square, one of the shops nearby was called Surozhsky. They traded mainly in precious stones and silks.
Most of the merchants built their own houses in Moscow. Surozhan Ivan Bobrischev was one of these merchants. He built himself a house on one of the busiest streets in Zaryadye at that time - Varvarka. It was located near the center of trade - Red Square.
The chambers of the Old English Court were built according to the traditional design for that time. There is an opinion that Fryazin Aleviz was the architect. This is an Italian master who took part induring the construction of the Red Wall, precisely in the part that is located along the Neglinka River. Fryazin or Milanets, as he was also called in Russia, was invited by Prince Ivan III.
The front of the building faces the river, inside there are ceremonial chambers and outbuildings. Below is a stone basement where food and goods were stored, and above it was the Treasury Chamber, that is, the front hall. A little later, a kitchen and a vestibule were added to the building.
Ivan the Terrible and Elizabeth Tudor
It was during the reign of these two people that trade relations between Russia and England began to emerge.
It all started back in 1553. English ships plied the seas in search of a new route to China and India. We got into the Barents Sea. But, 2 of the three ships could not stand the severe frosts, and everyone died. The remaining ship arrived at the mouth of the Northern Dvina. The captain of the ship was Richard Chancellor, who, upon arrival in Moscow, met with Ivan the Terrible. The king was interested in developing the foreign economy.
The British were received very hospitably, and the king granted the court to foreigners. Now these are the modern Chambers of the Old English Court. This happened in 1555. At the same time, in the same year, a Moscow representative office was opened in England. In Russia, English merchants enjoyed special privileges, and they were allowed to trade duty-free throughout the country.
Foreign merchants planted a garden around the chambers, built a number of outbuildings. Then a mint was built on the territory, where Russian coins were minted.silver coins imported from England. They also brought cloth, gunpowder, pewter and lead with s altpeter. From Russia they exported leather and wood, wax and ropes. Despite close cooperation with England, other countries did not trade with Russia. Many did not even know about this market.
Trade ties also contributed to cultural exchange between countries. Already at the beginning of the 17th century, the first dictionaries for communicating with the British appeared in the Russian Empire. And Londoners learned about Russia from the multi-volume book by Richard Hakluyt.
Khan's army Devlet-Girey
In the spring of 1571, Khan Devlet Giray planned a campaign against Russia in order to obtain a large number of prisoners and booty. Establishing the number of troops is quite difficult. According to some sources, there were from 60 to 120 thousand Tatars. In principle, the Khan did not plan a campaign against Moscow itself, but since Russia was tied up by the Livonian War, there were only a few military units in the capital, which the Tatars found out about.
During the raid, almost the entire city was burned, about 60 thousand people were killed and the same number were taken prisoner. The Chambers of the Old English Court on the street also suffered. Varvarka. After the raid, restoration work was carried out and the premises of the second floor were completed.
Time of Troubles
The period from 1598 (the year of the death of the last of the Rurik dynasty) to 1613 (the date of the election of the tsar from the Romanov dynasty) is conventionally called turmoil. This period is characterized by crises in almost all spheres of human life. The northern neighbor was involved in the policy of the Moscow State -Swedish kingdom. And in 1612 there was a famous battle on the Maiden's field. It was then, on November 4, that Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky and their army stormed Kitay-gorod, thereby freeing the capital from Polish invaders.
During the shelling, the Chambers of the Old English Court were also damaged. At the end of the battle, the building was restored, in particular, its front part. Then they added a stone vestibule and a staircase inside, which connected the attic, basement and front chambers.
Why the old chambers
When the Chambers of the Old English Court were built and transferred to foreign representation, in 1636 the trading company acquired a new building near the Ilyinsky Gate in the White City. This estate was called the New English Compound. Accordingly, the building on Varvarka became Old.
The decline of Russian-English relations
In 1649, King Charles I was executed, which practically broke off relations between Russia and England. All possessions from the British were taken away by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, including the Chambers of the Old English Court. The building immediately got a new owner - the boyar Miloslavsky, a relative of the tsar.
In 1669, the building passed to the Ambassadorial order, and after 7 years there is already a courtyard of the Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod.
Already at the beginning of the 18th century, an arithmetic school was opened in the chambers. The founder of educational institutions is Peter I. Subsequently, the house constantly passes from one to another merchant family.
Reconstruction and opening of the museum
On the initiative of P. Baranovsky, restoration work was carried out in the Chambers of the Old English Court of Moscow for 4 years - from 1968 to 1972. Although before this period it was believed that the building was completely lost, especially against the background of multiple high-rise buildings. During the reconstruction period, later buildings were removed and the northern and western facades were completely restored.
With the support of Queen Elizabeth II, a museum opens within the walls of the Chambers in 1994.
A little later, from 2013 to 2014, large-scale restoration work is underway and in 2016 the doors of the Old English Court Chambers are opened. Photos of expositions and the building itself are already impressive. The exhibits have been restored and the atmosphere of the 16th century has been completely recreated.
Architecture and expositions
The chambers themselves are built from expensive and durable material. Although after such a huge period of time, of course, they could not resist, if not for the reconstruction.
The oldest part of the building is the basement or cellar, which in former times was used for household and household needs. It has low but massive ceilings. And along the perimeter on all the walls there are stoves, that is, places where food and other household items were stored. The basement was used as a shelter, and in the 17th century prisoners were kept here. Now here is an exposition that allows you to understand how people lived in past centuries, what were the conditions for trade relations between Russia and England.
On the top floor there are ceremonial rooms and the most important of them is the Treasury. The ceiling here is made of vaults with formwork, and in the center there is a carved stone rosette. The floor in the room is tiled, black and white, which are arranged in a checkerboard pattern. The main element of the chamber is a stove inlaid with red tiles. It was in this front door that the treasury was kept, and meetings were held with sales agents. Today, the room houses an exhibition en titled "Daily Life in the English Court of the 16th-17th Centuries".
Visitor information
Reviews about the Chambers of the Old English Court are only laudatory. The nearest metro stations are Ploshchad Revolyutsii, Okhotnichiy Dvor and Kitay-gorod. For visits without a guided tour, admission is free. You can also book a tour:
- review;
- "Journey through the Old City";
- "Merchant business" and others.
Chambers are the oldest monument of civil architecture and a unique merchant's house, in the construction and reconstruction of which not only Russian architects, but also Italian and English masters participated.
