The Kolomenskoye. The palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye

Moscow suburb of Kolomenskoye was once the patrimony of Russian tsars. Now this place is the territory of the State Architectural Reserve. On a huge area of almost four hundred hectares are located 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 Tishaishim, and Fyodor Alekseevich. The most part of the reserve is a park and untouched nature: ravines, forest. In the south-eastern part, it goes to the embankment of the Moskva River. So you can sail to the palace of the Tsar in Kolomenskoye on a pleasure boat. It is good to look here during the festivities for Christmas or Shrovetide. Then in Kolomenskoye there are theatrical performances, sledding and other amusements. There are several ancient churches on the territory of the reserve. But in this article we will focus specifically on the palace of Russian tsars.

A bit of history

Russian princes loved Kolomna. The palace stood in this place in the fourteenth century. Therefore, the neighborhood of the village was decorated with churches of "capital scale". For example, Basil III built in 1532 the tent temple of the Ascension. Lived in Kolomna and Ivan the Terrible. Chronicles report that here, in his palace, he celebrated the name day. But this place was especially fond of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. He ordered to expand the mansion, in fact, to build a new palace in the old place. September 17, 1640 the king celebrated with the boyars housewarming. This place fell in love with the heir, Alexei Mikhailovich. An inveterate hunter, he repeatedly visited this country residence. Upon accession to the throne, he started a new construction.

Kolomenskoye: the palace of Alexei Mikhailovich

As far back as 1649-1650, and also in 1657, the tsar attached new premises to the old ones - on the occasion of the birth of children. But it was all wrong. The tsar wanted to create a complete ensemble, and not a system of huts connected by transitions. In 1667, the first stone was laid in the construction of what later contemporaries called the "eighth wonder of the world." It should be noted that the palace of Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye was built by ordinary people - carpenters Semyon Petrov and Ivan Mikhailov. A year later, the finishing of wooden walls, windows and facades with elaborate carving began. In the spring of 1669, materials for finishing (gold leaf and paints) were sent from abroad, and the master himself was an Armenian from Persia Bogdan Saltanov. Supervised finishing works icon painter Simeon Ushakov. The painting of ceilings and walls, gilding of tents lasted about two years. Finally, in 1673 the master of the Armory Chamber, Peter Vysotsky, installed a clock on the gate tower and arranged a mechanic of snarling lions.

Restructuring of Fyodor Alekseevich

After the death of Tishaish, the new tsar took up Kolomenskoye. The palace was again rebuilt. Fyodor Alekseevich ordered the construction of a new refectory, which was connected with the personal chambers of the Tsar by the gallery. This dining room was built by serf boyar Sheremetyev Semen Dementiev. There were also erected the "Golden Gate", which in the absence of the Tsar in Kolomenskoye were hung with a cloth so that they would not fade. Repair of roaring lions at the throne, external decorations and interior was carried out. Restoration was completed in the spring of 1682. Another two years have been working on repairing the outbuildings, decorating the roofs and painting the premises. Due to the rebellion of the archers, barracks were built for personal protection - only sixteen bays. In 1685, the entrance gates were reinforced with English tin and iron, new watches were erected.

The Epoch of Peter the Great and Kolomna

The palace, with the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg, gradually began to decline. Wood is not very resistant material. The subsequent Empresses also did not pay enough attention to this country residence. Anna Ioannovna, however, ordered her to be kept "in good charity", but she did not deign to allocate funds for this. In the autumn of 1762 Catherine II visited Kolomenskoye. She ordered an estimate of the repair. The document was presented in 1764. But the empress instead of the reconstruction ordered to build a new palace on the site of the collapsed economic outbuildings. In May 1767, Catherine was informed that stairs and roofs began to crumble in the old mansions. Then the empress ordered to dismantle the palace of Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye, and the place - to clean. The exact date of destruction is unknown. Karamzin in "Poor Liza" (1792) mentions the village of Kolomenskoye with a high palace. On the site of the wooden chorus built a four-story building in the style of classicism. But even after a century it was destroyed.

The Kolomenskoye Museum

Restoration of the historic site began with the initiative of the famous restorer P. Baranovsky. He suggested in 1923 to arrange on the territory of the former estate of the Russian Tsars an open-air museum dedicated to the wooden architecture of Russia. That explains the presence of Peter the Great in Kolomna. In it, the Reforming Tsar lived on the island of Markov for about two months, personally following the construction of the defensive fortress of Arkhangelsk. Baranovsky restored the interior of the house, the Mokhovaya Tower of Sumy Ostrog, the gates of the St. Nicholas-Korelsky Monastery, the Church of St. George the Victorious and other memorials of wooden architecture. Gradually began to reconstruct and other buildings related directly to Kolomenskoye: Vodovzvodnuyu tower, Fryazhsky cellar and the church of St. George with the bell tower. And in 1990 there was an idea to recreate the summer palace of Alexei Mikhailovich.

Reconstruction

Although the royal mansions of the seventeenth century were completely erased from the face of the earth, there remained a lot of lithographs and drawings, which detail the interiors and exterior decoration of this "eighth wonder of the world." In addition, the drawings of the builders of the royal chambers have been preserved . As the age-old oaks and lindens have already grown on the site of the palace, it was decided to reconstruct the building in another place, nearby, in the village of Dyakovskoe. The erection 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 the initial orientation to the sides of the world, tourists can see the chambers of the king and empress, the chambers of the prince and princesses. A special impression is left of the grand dining room, in which the covered galleries lead from different wings of the palace.

Museum: opening hours, cost

Despite the fact that the whole palace was built in the first years of this century, an excursion to Kolomenskoye will not disappoint anyone. After all, all the interiors were recreated with extreme care, completely copying the remaining drawings drawings. The chambers are equipped with unique lamps, mica windows and furniture. In twenty-four interiors of the palace before the eyes of tourists appear personal life and official Russian princes of the pre-Petrine era. The entrance to the park is free. But for exhibitions - for a fee. If you came to Kolomenskoye for a whole day, it is better to buy a single ticket - it costs 400 rubles and gives you the right to visit various premises. The exposition works daily, except Monday. The entrance to the palace costs 250 rubles.