The Kuskovo estate is one of the most beautiful noble residences in Russia. Beautiful Kuskovo Estate Kuskovo what's interesting

Address: Russia, Moscow, Yunosti street (Ryazansky Prospekt metro station)
Main attractions: Palace, Italian house, Dutch house, Grotto Pavilion, Hermitage Pavilion, Large stone greenhouse, Church of the All-Merciful Savior
Coordinates: 55°44"10.7"N 37°48"30.9"E
Object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation

History of the estate

The first information about the estate is found in chronicles of the 16th century. The ancient estate, occupying more than 30 hectares of land, was located in the east of Moscow and belonged to one of the richest noble families in Russia - the Sheremetevs. At the beginning of the 17th century, apart from the boyar's courtyard and a wooden church, there was nothing else on the estate.

General view of the estate

Its heyday dates back to the 18th century, when the owner of the estate was Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev. He turned an ordinary courtyard into a luxurious architectural ensemble consisting of a palace, a park area and ponds. The owner organized lavish receptions at the estate, which sometimes attracted tens of thousands of guests.

Pavilions and elegant gazebos appeared for entertainment events held in the courtyard. In addition, the buildings of a greenhouse, a menagerie, a hunting lodge and a cabinet of curiosities were built. After the revolutionary events of 1917, the estate was nationalized, and two years later it became the State Museum, which was subsequently combined with the collection of the Museum of Ceramics.

Manor Palace

The estate territory is divided into three parts: the dammed area with the Menagerie, the English park “Guy” and the strict French park. The best preserved part of the estate is that located in its center.

The main place here is given to the palace or Great House, which was erected by order of the owner of the estate in the traditions of early classicism. The construction work was led by the architect Karl Blank, and they were carried out from 1769 to 1775. The palace building was built of wood, which was later plastered and painted with soft pink paint.

Church of the All-Merciful Savior with bell tower

The decoration of the façade was a portico with a colonnade. The one in the center bore the monogram of the Sheremetev family - the letters “PS” were located under the count’s crown. The porticos were decorated with carvings on the sides. The palace had two floors. The lower floor was occupied by wine cellars and utility rooms, and on the upper floor the owner held receptions. You could get into the palace building via the main staircase.

Pavilion "Grotto"

There was an Italian House for meeting guests or small receptions. It was built in the middle of the 18th century under the leadership of Yuri Ivanovich Kologrivov.

On the shore of the pond, an elegant Dutch house has survived to this day. It appeared earlier than other estate buildings. The unusual name was chosen by the owner of Kuskovo - Sheremetev, as a memory of the love of Tsar Peter I for Holland. The house was surrounded by a garden with tulips, and it looked very festive and attractive.

Pavilion "Greenhouse"

Another unusual structure is the baroque pavilion “Grotto”, personifying the elements of water and stone. It was built according to the design of Ivan Petrovich Argunov for 6 years, starting in 1755. The walls of the pavilion are decorated with limestone tuff and multi-colored glass.

For those who wanted privacy, there was the Hermitage pavilion, made in the traditions of early classicism. Here guests could have a private conversation and even have lunch, since special mechanisms raised the dining table into the Hermitage hall, located on the top floor.

Italian house

In the east of the park area there is an “Aviary” - a large round wooden cage designed for unusual birds. Dances and concerts were held in the central part of the Orangerie pavilion. It was connected by glass passages to other, smaller pavilions. To satisfy spiritual needs, the Church of the All-Merciful Savior stood on the Sheremetev estate.

Dutch house

Interior decoration of manor buildings

The original interiors have been preserved to this day in the palace - marble fireplaces, mirrors of unusual shapes, paintings, parquet, stucco, etc. The furniture in the halls is decorated with carvings and gilding, and the walls are covered with silk upholstery. The creation of interiors was carried out by Russian serfs and free craftsmen, as well as foreign furniture makers and masters of decorative and applied arts.

Swiss house

The porcelain collection of the Sheremetev family is exhibited in the Dutch House. These are mainly vases and tableware. Here you can also see beautiful paintings. The first floor of the house is decorated with unusual panels made of colored marble and antique sculptures.

The Grotto pavilion is divided into three parts - northern and southern rooms, and a central hall. On its walls hang landscapes depicting the sea and decorated with shells. In the pavilion you can see porcelain items made in the shape of various sea creatures. The central hall of the “Grotto” is painted like marble.

Hermitage Pavilion

Design of manor parks

There are many sculptures installed in the austere French park. This is the only example of a garden preserved in Moscow from the 18th century. The regular park contains small ponds, along the banks of which the main estate pavilions stand. The picturesque English park "Guy" did not have so many buildings. Here was only the House of Solitude, where the count’s family lived. The premises of the menagerie were located on the site of Zaprudny Park.

Aviary for birds

Modern life of an ancient noble residence

Today, the estate houses two large museum collections. This is the Kuskovo estate museum of the 18th century and the only ceramics museum in the whole country. The best examples of glass and ceramic products created by masters from different eras are collected here. The museum doors are open to visitors from May to September. The old estate is especially attractive in the summer, when all the park sculptures are open for inspection.

Historical reference:
Kuskovo, Moscow district (now within Moscow), from the 16th century. and until 1917 belonged to the Sheremetevs.
One of the most famous representatives of this family was the boyar (from 1682), field marshal general (from 1701) B. P. Sheremetev. His merits in the military and public fields were appreciated by Peter I: in 1706 he became the first Russian count (F.A. Golovin and A.D. Menshikov were counts of the Roman Empire) and received 2,400 peasant households.
The founder of the count branch of the Sheremetevs was distinguished by his ease of use, generosity and generosity towards the poor. After the death of the field marshal, all his estates, including Kuskovo, were received by gr. Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev (1713-1788). Marriage in 1743 to Varvara Alekseevna Cherkasskaya (1714-1767), the only heiress of the Chancellor Prince. A. M. Cherkassky, made P. B. Sheremetev the richest man in Russia: the number of serfs reached 160 thousand people.
Perovo, Ostankino, Veshnyaki and other villages joined the Sheremetevs' possessions near Moscow. However, Kuskovo became the main estate of P.B. and V.A. Sheremetev near Moscow, on the construction of which they spent huge amounts of money.
The location of the buildings of the architectural complex developed mainly by the mid-1750s.
The ensemble included a wooden palace, a park with 17 ponds, numerous fountains, waterfalls, grottoes, drawbridges, park structures: “Italian” and “Dutch” houses, “Grotto”, “Greenhouse”, etc.
The pride of Kuskov was a huge theater, which surpassed the Moscow one in wealth and was the first among the other serf theaters. Kuskovo was famous for its magnificent holidays, which attracted up to 50 thousand walking visitors, not counting invited guests with tickets, the number of which exceeded 2 thousand people. The celebrations organized by the owners in honor of the arrival of noble guests were particularly pompous. Empress Catherine II visited here more than once; in 1775 she came with the Austrian Emperor Joseph, and in 1787, during the celebration of the 25th anniversary of her reign, with the entire court and retinue.
The brilliant era of Kuskov did not end with the death of his organizer. At gr. Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev (1751-1809), a great connoisseur of music and art, the theater in Kuskovo flourished even more than under his father.
In subsequent years, the estate belonged to his son Dmitry Nikolaevich (1803-1871), then the grandson of Count. Sergei Dmitrievich Sheremetev (1844-1918).
After the October Revolution of 1917, the Kuskovo estate of the Counts Sheremetevs was nationalized. In accordance with the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of October 23, 1918, the State Museum-Estate "Kuskovo" was created, which was open to the public from May 1, 1919. This decision of the Soviet government made it possible to preserve intact the unique estate complex with monuments of architecture and landscape art, as well as extensive art, library and archival funds.

Toponymy:
Kuskovo is an architectural and artistic ensemble of the 18th century. in the east of Moscow.
Brief description of interesting objects located on the territory:
The palace is the main building in the country pleasure estate of Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev in Kuskovo. The “Big House,” as the Palace was called in the 18th century, was built in 1769-1775 under the leadership of the Moscow architect Karl Blank and was intended for the ceremonial reception of guests in the summer.
The Dutch House is the earliest surviving entertainment pavilion of the Kuskovo estate. It was built in 1749 in memory of the era of Peter I and his passion for Holland. This “architectural souvenir” was the first to greet guests entering Kuskovo across the drawbridge. During the heyday of the estate, it was the center of a small ensemble on the shore of the bay-pond
Of the numerous “undertakings” of the brilliant Kuskov of the 18th century, only the architectural ensemble of the Italian Pond has been preserved with the greatest completeness. It was built in 1754-1755 under the leadership of Yu.I. Kologrivova. The Italian house served as a palace for “small receptions.” In the southwestern part of the Kuskovo regular park there is the Hermitage pavilion. It was built in 1765-67, under the “supervision” of Karl Ivanovich Blank, a famous Moscow architect. The peculiarity of this building is the close interweaving of several styles. The smooth, rounded shapes of the facades are superimposed on a strict, precise order system of classicism, which, however, also contains baroque features, for example, alabaster busts of Roman Caesars located in special niches under the cornice.
Over time and in the events of history, its decorative decoration, carving details, wall panels, and mirrors were almost completely lost. Only the typesetting parquet in the round offices, as well as fragments of the ceiling painting on the second floor, have survived to this day.
Front and hothouse greenhouses were an indispensable element in Russian gardening ensembles of the 2nd half of the 18th century. Exotic heat-loving plants were kept and grown in them. In summer, plants were displayed in tubs in the open air, decorating the park's stalls and alleys. Their crowns were cut in the form of geometric shapes, ships, human figures and fantastic animals, which harmoniously combined with the architectural and sculptural decoration of the park.
The Air Theater is a rare example of the synthesis of architectural, park and stage art. Similar theaters spread in Russia in rich Russian estates of the 18th century, along with terraces and grottoes. It consisted of an amphitheater for spectators and a stage area. The stage, located on an artificial hill 1.5 m high, surrounded by birch bosquets, inside of which strawberries and wild strawberries were grown, was decorated along the edges with a high wall of trimmed barberries. Six pairs of wings were made up of a spruce trellis, the maintenance of which was difficult, but justified by its excellent acoustics. The top of the stage was covered with a grass carpet, and during theatrical performances - with a wooden flooring. The turf amphitheater, consisting of three semicircular benches with a passage in the center, was designed for 80-100 spectators.
Interesting facts related to the history and modernity of the territory:
Currently, the State Museum of Ceramics and the Kuskovo Estate of the 18th Century is one of the largest Moscow museums, possessing historically established collections of a high artistic level. The total art, library and archival collection of the museum currently amounts to more than 50 thousand items.
The harmonious symbiosis of the architectural and park ensemble and various art collections is ensured by both traditional museum activities - storage, exhibition, study and popularization of historical monuments, and the revival of theatrical, entertainment, concert, and festival forms within the framework of the museum's estate culture.
With the onset of the summer season, the Kuskovo estate opens its state rooms not only for tourists, but also for lovers of classical music. The museum hosts already traditional concerts and festivals, where the best Russian and foreign performers consider it an honor to perform.
There is a special charm in such concerts - the audience is surrounded not only by live classical music, but also by music frozen in the beauty of architectural monuments and a regular French park. In 1932, the Moscow Porcelain Museum with the richest nationalized collections of Russian, Western, Eastern porcelain, ceramics and glass by famous patrons A.V. Morozov, L.K. Zubalov, D.I. Shchukin and others was located on the territory of the museum. their official unification took place under the name “State Museum of Ceramics and “Kuskovo Estate of the 18th Century”. In subsequent years, the museum's collections were completed by acquiring antiques, works of contemporary ceramic artists and glassmakers, as well as exhibits donated by the owners.
Area and length of the territory:
Forest park with an area of ​​310.6 hectares.

Kuskovo- a unique estate, one of a kind. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that Kuskovo is an example of the earliest rich estate of a noble nobleman that has come down to us, and in the fact that Kuskovo has been owned by the same family without interruption since the 16th century. and until the October Revolution of 1917. This last circumstance is unusual for Russia, where real estate very often changes hands. And the last thing that makes Kuskovo so unique is its preservation. The estate, especially its central core, has reached us without significant changes since its formation (although it must be said that in the 18th century Kuskovo was significantly richer than it is now; for example, the landscape park with many pavilions disappeared). It was not even an estate in the full sense of the word - it was intended only for receptions and entertainment, and was called “the summer pleasure house of Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev.”

Kuskovo is entirely the work of human hands, and nature did not help here; on the contrary, it hindered the creation of this masterpiece. Among the flat, flat and dull terrain, covered with sparse forest, and even swampy, a wonderful vision appeared as if by magic: a wide pond, a canal, a palace, a skillfully planned garden, an equally skillfully arranged landscape park, many intricate pavilions... Thousands of serf slaves were driven from the surrounding villages for heavy excavation and construction work, and talented architects and gardeners took part in the design.
Kuskovo was first mentioned at the end of the 16th century: “Behind the boyar Ivan Vasilyevich Sheremetev...”. It is known from the scribe books of 1623/1624 that in the Sheremetev “ancient” estate there was already a wooden church with two chapels - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. Frol and Lavra, and in the village the scribes noted “the boyar’s courtyard, and the animal’s courtyard, business people live” (that’s how free servants were called personally. - Author). After I.V. Sheremetev, Kuskovo was owned by his son Fedor, who went over to the side of the impostor False Dmitry I, for which he was granted a boyar status, and later he was part of the “seven boyars” (the governing body of the state of seven boyars - F. I. Sheremetev, I. N. Romanov, A. V. Trubetskoy, F. I. Mstislavsky, I. M. Vorotynsky, B. M. Lykov, A. V. Golitsyn) stood for inviting the Polish prince Vladislav to the Russian throne.
When the issue of succession to the throne was being decided, as they say, it was he, Fyodor Sheremetev, who said: “... let’s choose Misha Romanov, he is still young and stupid,” which characteristic may have predetermined the choice of the new dynasty.
From Fyodor Ivanovich Sheremetev, Kuskovo passed for almost a hundred years from one representative of this family to another, until Vladimir Petrovich Sheremetev in 1715 sold it for 200 rubles to his brother, the famous associate of Peter the Great Boris Petrovich Sheremetev, whose heirs transformed Kuskovo. He became famous for his many victories, but especially in the Northern War, during which, after one of the battles, he received the rank of field marshal (the third in Russia), and after the pacification of the uprising in Astrakhan he was granted the first Russian count. Near Poltava, Sheremetev commanded the center of the Russian army and largely contributed to the victory over Charles XII. Sheremetev possessed great family wealth; during the war in Livonia, he, in the words of Tsar Peter, “was a glorious steward,” and for his service they gave him many estates with peasants (for example, after the Battle of Poltava, Sheremetev became the owner of the Yukhotsk volost with 12 thousand peasants ), but he spent his entire life in campaigns, battles, diplomatic negotiations and was unlikely to be in many of them, including Kuskovo.
The field marshal died four years after the purchase of Kuskov and the flourishing of the estate is associated primarily with his son Pyotr Borisovich. He did not become famous on the battlefield or in the civil service, although he achieved well-known degrees: under Elizabeth Petrovna he received the rank of general-in-chief, and Peter III made him chief chamberlain, which is why the only fruit of his official activity was entitled: “Charter on positions and advantages of chief chamberlain."
In 1743, P. B. Sheremetev married the only heiress of Chancellor A. M. Cherkassky. Her father wanted to marry her to the diplomat and poet Antioch Cantemir, the son of the Moldavian ruler. Why this marriage did not take place is unknown; there is an assumption that Antiochus did not want to connect his life with a fabulously rich, spoiled and not very strict secular beauty. It is possible that this is what Cantemir’s seventh satire, written in 1739, describes:

Sylvia rarely covers her round breasts,
A sweet laugh flatters everyone,
the eyeglass blinks,
He turns white, blushes, and wears about twenty flies.
Sylvia easily gives what no one asks for,
Afraid of an annoying answer in refusal? --
This is how my mother was in her summer.

Thirty-year-old Varvara Cherkasskaya, owner of 80 thousand serfs and untold wealth, married Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev (two years younger than her), and thus he became the owner of the largest fortune in Russia.
The rich man P.B. Sheremetev, as a prudent owner, carefully monitored numerous estates, even went into the smallest details of farming - he even once noticed that “three trout did not appear” in the brought batch of fish. However, if necessary, he also incurred enormous expenses, royally receiving Catherine II. Here are the impressions of one of the guests then: “...I happened to see a magnificent holiday that was given to the Empress by Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev in his village of Kuskovo. What surprised me most of all was the plateau that was placed in front of the empress at dinner. It represented a cornucopia on a dais, all made of pure gold, and on the dais was the empress’s monogram made of rather large diamonds.”
Almost everything that exists in Kuskovo owes its appearance to Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev, and the very idea of ​​building a luxurious estate near Moscow here may have arisen because Sheremetev wanted to have it not far from the palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna near Moscow in the village of Perovo. Yuri Ivanovich Kologrivov, a friend and adviser to P.B. Sheremetev, a man with an interesting and largely unexplored biography, was directly involved in the planning and arrangement of the Kuskovo estate. Peter the Great knew him well, on whose instructions Kologrivov acquired many works of art abroad, and, in particular, the famous Tauride Venus. From about the 1740s. Kologrivov lives here with Sheremetev. In his orders there are instructions: “do as Yuri Ivanovich says.” He was a European-educated man, unusually energetic, who may have designed many of the early (he died in Kuskovo in 1755) local buildings - in particular, the Italian and Dutch houses, the Air Theater and some pavilions.
In 1750--1754. the old mansions were rebuilt, but subsequently - in 1774, a new palace was built in their place: on a high stone floor, with utility rooms, there was a high wooden floor with an enfilade of state rooms, including a large state hall. The center of the palace is highlighted by a far protruding portico, to which gentle ramps lead. In the field of the pediment - tympanum - the coat of arms of the Sheremetev family is visible with the motto: “Deus conservat omnia” (God preserves everything). It is interesting to note that the coat of arms of the Sheremetevs is similar to the coat of arms depicted on Danzig coins of the 15th and 16th centuries, and according to the genealogical legend, they descended from a certain Kambila from those places.
There is information that the author of the palace project was the French architect Charles de Vally, but the construction was directly supervised either by serfs or hired Russian architects, and in particular by F. S. Argunov and K. I. Blank, although nothing was done in Kuskovo without consultation with Peter Borisovich, who had the final word.
Next to the palace, or, as it was called in the 18th century. The large house, on its right side, stands the oldest building in Kuskovo, built in 1737-1739. - the church in the name of the Origin of the honest trees of the life-giving cross of the Lord. This complex and somewhat strange name is given to an Orthodox holiday that came to us from Byzantium, when a piece of the cross was carried around the city to protect against illness (the origin is an incorrect translation of the word carrying, passing). People call this holiday “the first Savior” or “Honey Savior”. In Kuskovo the church is unusual, richly decorated with sculptures so unusual in Orthodox architecture - once even its dome was crowned with a statue. The bell tower is later - the end of the 18th century. In 1991, services were resumed in the temple. Somewhat behind it there is a one-story outbuilding (1757), where food was prepared away from the count's apartments and delivered through the gallery to the main house.
The Kuskovo park is especially significant - a typical regular “French” park, bounded by a canal with water and a rampart in front of it (earth from under the pond was used to fill the rampart), where straight paths form a regular geometric pattern that divides it into several parts. In each of them, the crossing of paths forms a center, marked either by a statue or a garden pavilion (for example, the “Hermitage” closes the vistas of the eight alleys of the park). On the main axis of the park - from the main house to the greenhouse - there is an obelisk from 1787. and a column with a statue of the goddess of wisdom, patroness of the arts, sciences and crafts, Minerva, erected in 1776. There are many sculptures in the park, including “Scamander”, “Apollo”, “Africa”, etc.
In the summer, along the alleys of the park, southern trees were exhibited, trimmed in the form of different figures: “clipped by 2 men, 2 bacchus, 2 sitting dogs, 2 lying dogs, 2 goose dogs, 2 hens...” - these are lines from the “Register available in the village of Kuskovo trees" 1761
The main alley leads to the Great Stone Orangery, built in 1761-1763. It was intended not only for growing exotic plants, but also for concerts - the central volume, highlighted by a dome, was a concert hall. The greenhouse contained rare laurel trees that were 300 years old. They disappeared already at the end of the 19th century. from neglect. To the right of the main alley there is an “Aviary” for birds (a relatively recent reconstruction), even further - the place where the Air Theater was located, that is, an open theater, and closer to the main house - the Italian House, where, perhaps, there was a small museum, Menazheriya - five elegant houses where birds were kept, and next to a small pond - a Grotto, a garden pavilion built by 1771, decorated with figures of fish, Mediterranean shells and stones (the model for it was Rastrelli's grotto in Tsarskoe Selo) .
To the left of the main alley is one of the most remarkable Kuskovo baroque monuments - the Hermitage of 1765-1767, intended for friendly meetings. Downstairs, a table was set for 16 people, which was raised to the second floor by a special lifting machine, so that it was possible to do without servants, and the guests went up there on a small sofa. The central hall is surrounded by four small halls called “offices”.
Closer to the entrance to the estate, as if on a separate plot, a corner of Holland is reproduced - a red brick house from 1749. with steep roofs, a stepped gable, frequent sash windows and a pond in front. In a small garden nearby, plants beloved in Holland were grown. And the inside of the house was also stylized - decorated with colored tiles, decorated with paintings specially purchased in Holland.
Not far from the main house is the latest building on the estate - a picturesque wooden Swiss house or "chalet", built in 1860.
The most important part of the Kuskovo ensemble is a huge pond with an island and a canal, at the entrance to which torches burned on high columns. Battles took place on the pond, fireworks burned, sailing ships sailed, including a six-gun yacht on sails - among the Sheremetev servants there were also special rowers.
To the left of the canal, on 40 dessiatinas, with a circumference of more than three miles, there was a menagerie, where 12 wolves, 120 American and 20 German deer and hares were kept “as many as possible.” The menagerie had a hunting house in the Gothic style: “in the middle there is a tower, and on the sides there are rooms for hunters to live in, and inside there are departments and special courtyards for keeping dogs.” From the pond to the church in the village of Vishnyakovo (Veshnyaki) there was a canal, continuing with an alley of trees planted in two rows.
To the north of the regular one there was a landscape park, the so-called “English”, built in the late 1780s, which, in contrast to the “French” one, should have the appearance of a completely natural one, although considerable work was put into its creation: selected plants were planted in certain places according to the color and shape of the trees, alleys were cut in order to open the best view, etc. This park also had many different ideas - here is the “Philosophical House”, lined with birch bark and branches, and a gazebo with the inscription “Find tranquility here ”, and “Temple of Silence”, and “Haystack”, lined with planks, lined with hay and covered with reeds, and “Lion’s Cave” with the figure of a lion and the inscription “Not rampant, but insurmountable” (according to the 1812 inventory it was written: “the cave collapsed , and the lion is all broken"), and "Chaumière" (in French hut. - Author), upholstered with birch bark, and the gazebo "A refuge for good people", and "Turkish kiosk". There was also a one-story summer “house of solitude” in which P. B. Sheremetev died on September 30, 1788.
The estate was open to the public and upon entry there were rules for visitors. The owner himself insisted on “allowing walkers into the garden on the days assigned by me, and making sure that they walk peacefully and don’t break or tear anything in the garden, don’t start outrages, quarrels and fights...”.
In 1803, the poet A.F. Voeikov wrote about Kuskov:

The village of Kuskovo, where the big boyar lived,
Who loved ancient Russian hospitality,
There are national holidays and, according to labor, peace.

Kuskovo festivities were very popular in Moscow: sometimes up to 25 thousand people visited the estate on one day. Karamzin testified: “It happened, every Resurrection, from May to August, the Kuskovskaya road was the street of a crowded city, and the carriage jumped the carriage. Music thundered in the Gardens, people crowded in the alleys, and a Venetian gondola with multi-colored flags rode along the quiet waters of a large lake (this is how the vast Kuskovsky Pond can be called). A performance for the nobles, various amusements for the people and amusing fires for everyone made up the weekly holiday of Moscow.”

Palace of the luxurious Noble,
Moscow's beloved Vertograd,
Where a day was more precious than life
Among the countless joys,
Than a year in another beautiful country!
New delights all the time
They changed there like clouds;
Kuskovo was a spare place for everyone, -
Ask for at least bird milk;
Wherever you stretch five fingers,
You will find pleasures everywhere,

The famous poet I.M. Dolgorukov wrote.

But this lasted only until the beginning of the 19th century. The heir of P.B. Sheremetev, Nikolai Petrovich, is most interested in the theatrical Ostankino, where many different objects are exported, and Kuskovo gradually withers away, and after his death in 1809, it falls under the control of guardians who did not really care about it. In 1812 In Kuskovo there is a building of the French Marshal Ney and much in the estate is deteriorating and being destroyed (according to the inventory, things worth 632 thousand rubles were missing). A contemporary who visited Kuskovo in 1822 noted “the tarnished appearance of all objects: flying gilding, blackened ceilings decorated with coats of arms and stars, faded tapestries and damasks.”

The magic theater broke down,
crests don’t give operas in it,
Parasha's voice stopped
The princes do not clap her hands, -
The sounds of the tender breast fell silent,
And Croesus the younger died in boredom. --
Oh, time, the fierce enemy of everything,
Doesn't like to spare anything

As noted by I.M. Dolgorukov.

Only P.B. Sheremetev’s grandson Dmitry Nikolaevich puts Kuskovo in order. The only son of a love marriage between Nikolai Sheremetev and Parasha Kovaleva, a complete orphan from the age of six, he later became a military man, participated in the suppression of the Decembrist rebellion, fought in the Polish campaign of 1831, but soon retired and devoted himself to charity, doing a lot of work at the Hospice House . He died in 1871 in Kuskovo, suddenly, sitting down on a sofa in the palace office. His heir was his son Sergei, who was born in 1844 and did not see what the communists did to his Russia - he died in 1918. Sergei Dmitrievich Sheremetev, the author of numerous historical and genealogical works, was the chairman of the Archaeographic Commission and a long-term trustee of the Hospice House.
In the second half of the 19th century. Kuskovo also attracted many Muscovites. Newspaper "Russian Vedomosti" June 8, 1874 reported that “on the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, festivities opened in the village of Kuskovo, the estate of Count Sheremetev. There were a lot of people who wanted to visit Kuskovo, they say up to 11 thousand.” “Needless to say,” the correspondent continues, “there was a terrible crush at the station of the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod railway; It would also be superfluous to add that it was cleverly used by commercial people, that many of the passengers came home, some without a watch, some without a wallet, and some ladies even without burnouses” (that was the name of the cape on women's outerwear. - Author).
In 1932, the porcelain museum was moved to Kuskovo, created on the basis of the private collections of L.K. Zubalov and A.V. Morozov, and significantly expanded subsequently - now it is the only museum of art glass, faience and porcelain in Russia, numbering about 30 thousand items. These include unique porcelain sets, beautiful Venetian glass and much more. It is interesting that the museum stores, but, unfortunately, does not exhibit the magnificent ceramic work of William Walcott, a famous architect at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the author of the Moscow Metropol and many buildings in the Art Nouveau style. According to experts, he surpassed Mikhail Vrubel in his ceramic works.

The flourishing of the estate is associated with the name of Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev. In the 1750-1770s in Kuskovo with the participation of Yu.I. Kologrivov, an estate appeared with a palace, “pleasure activities”, a large park and ponds. This is completely the creation of the hands of serfs - thousands of peasants from surrounding villages were driven to these swampy places to build the estate.

In 1774, according to the design of Karl Blanc (there is a version that the architect was Charles de Wailly), a palace was built in Kuskovo next to the temple in the name of the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. Its layout corresponds to the fashionable enfilade arrangement of rooms. A white stone staircase and gentle ramps with sphinxes lead to the main entrance - descents for carriages to enter. On the pediment is the Sheremetev coat of arms with the phrase “God protects everything.” And, indeed, the palace was preserved, despite the fact that in 1812 Marshal Ney’s corps stopped there.

The Kuskovo estate was intended for lavish receptions and entertainment. For this purpose, pavilions and gazebos, a greenhouse and a cabinet of curiosities, a menagerie and a hunting lodge in the Gothic style were built.

The palace in Kuskovo is framed by a French regular park with ponds and marble sculpture. Its straight paths form a regular geometric pattern. At the intersection of the paths there is either a statue or a pavilion. And on the main axis of the park there is an obelisk from 1787 and a column with a statue of the goddess Minerva, patroness of the arts, sciences and crafts.

North of the regular park in Kuskovo there was a landscape English park with many attractions. Among them were the Philosophical House, the Temple of Silence, the Indian Hut, the Haystack, the Lion's Cave, the Chaumière (hut in French), and the retreat house where P.B. died. Sheremetev. To create this park, a lot of effort also had to be made: trees selected in color and shape were planted in certain places, and alleys were cut.

The Italian house in Kuskovo served as a palace for “small receptions”. At the same time, the pavilion’s interior reflected the characteristic 18th-century interest in collecting “rarities” and rare works of art. This gave the small palace the character of a museum.

The Dutch house in Kuskovo was built in 1749 in memory of the era of Peter I. This “architectural souvenir” greeted guests. He was the center of the ensemble on the shore of a pond with carps that swam to feed at the ringing of the bell. The Dutch house immediately drew you into a world of fantasy: windows with frequent, “thirty-two glass” sashes, “urban development” with a “Pillar” gazebo, a pond similar to a Dutch canal, a tiny garden with tulips and hyacinths, a vegetable garden with asparagus and cabbage - all this was supposed to evoke associations with Holland.

During the heyday of Kuskovo, the Hermitage Pavilion was intended only for the owner’s friends who wanted privacy during the ball. The second floor could only be reached using a mechanical elevator. The ground floor was intended for servants, and drinks and snacks were served upstairs using a lifting mechanism. Any of the sixteen plates on the table could be lowered and raised separately. Guests wrote the name of the desired dish on the boards under each plate and rang a bell - the plate was lowered to the first floor, the servants passed the order to the cooks, and then sent it back.

In 1755-1761, a Grotto designed by F. Argunov appeared in Kuskovo. The stone pavilion in the Baroque style is lavishly decorated with sculptures and lion masks above the windows. This is the only pavilion in Russia that has preserved its unique “grotto” decoration from the 18th century.

There were other entertainments - the Alley of Games, the Carousel, the “amusing flotilla”, the estate “museums”, the library. The estate also included service and outbuildings: Kennel and Stable yards, Menageries for keeping waterfowl, American greenhouses for growing exotic plants and fruits, which also served as a concert hall, Aviary for birds, and kitchens.

Palace of the luxurious nobleman,
Moscow's favorite helicopter,
Where a day was more precious than life
Among countless joys,
Than a year in another beautiful country!
Do you know the fate of the unfortunate?..
New delights all the time
They changed there like clouds;
Kuskovo was a spare place for everyone, -
Just ask for bird's milk:
Wherever you stretch five fingers,
You will find pleasantries everywhere.

But the son of Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev was more interested in the theatrical Ostankin. And Kuskovo, which he abandoned, began to decay. Although the Sheremetevs did not abandon the estate, and it continued to attract the public, Kuskovo lost its former greatness.

In 1919, the estate received the status of a State Museum, and in 1938 it merged with the only ceramics museum in Russia, the basis of which 30,000-strong collection was the personal collection of porcelain by A.V. Morozova.

The estate is now open for inspection. The aerial theater is also being revived, with a clearing serving as the stage and fir trellises serving as the backstage.

They say that......no money was spared on the Kuskovsky Theater. It was built by the French architect Charles de Wailly. The three tiers of boxes and the proscenium were decorated luxuriously. Sheremetev's performances were performed free of charge on Thursdays and Sundays. All of Moscow flocked to see them. Because of this, the then owner of the Moscow private theater Medox filed a complaint against Sheremetev that he was taking spectators away from him.
...when choosing a location for the Kuskovo estate, proximity to the summer residence of Empress Elizabeth in Perovo played a role.

Kuskovo in photographs from different years:

The Russian capital is a city with a rich cultural and historical heritage. In Moscow, despite life's ups and downs, many unique corners have been preserved. Russian estates, built by titled families, allow history buffs to plunge into the depths of bygone eras.

The estate of Count Sheremetyev near Moscow, which has the status of a “European pearl,” has been converted into a museum. It is recognized as a unique, magnificent example of summer residences of the nobility.

Location of Kuskovo

The family estate with a huge architectural and artistic ensemble is spread out over a picturesque piece of the historical town of Veshnyaki. Once there was the ancient village of Kuskovo, transferred by A. A. Pushkin to the boyar V. A. Sheremetyev. Vasily Andreevich laid the foundation for the luxurious estate and became its first known owner.

Origins of the estate

The history of the Sheremetyev estate in Kuskovo from the 18th century to this day is inextricably linked with one noble family - representatives of the Sheremetyev family. In 1715, the estate became the property of Count Boris Petrovich Sheremetyev. He bought it from his brother, Vladimir.

From this moment the serious development of Kuskovo begins. The Sheremetyev estate acquires the status of the permanent residence of a noble family. Its interior is filled with family heirlooms. By order of the field marshal, a place is found in the halls for a collection of rare weapons and a collection of portraits of Russian tsars and statesmen.

The heyday of the estate

His son, the enlightened nobleman Pyotr Borisovich, organizes entertainment. Under his rule, the estate became a widely known summer residence, where lavish receptions, crowded theatrical celebrations and festivities were held.

For more than half a century, Pyotr Borisovich has been working to create a brilliant ensemble in the manner of royal country residences. He involved famous architects and painters, and talented serf craftsmen in the development of the estate.

Kuskovo is equipped with exquisite elements of estate architecture, a French park, and a cascade of ponds. With magnificent examples of garden art serving as superb backdrops, the Sheremetyev estate becomes an impressive open-air theatrical venue.

Grand theatrical celebrations are held here, dedicated to the owners’ birthdays, as well as important state and church dates. All representatives of Moscow's secular society strive to get here. During especially ceremonial receptions, the Sheremetyev estate warmly welcomed up to 30,000 guests.

Theater in Kuskovo

The aerial theater is the main feature of the estate. His fame went far beyond the boundaries of the count's residence. Hired singers, musicians and dancers are a small part of it. The core of the cast is local peasants trained in theatrical acting by foreign masters.

Parasha Kovaleva, who appeared in programs under the stage name (Praskovya Zhemchugova), is recognized as an outstanding actress of the Sheremetyevo Theater. Catherine II, who visited the estate more than once, admired the actors’ ability to skillfully play. She particularly singled out P. Zhemchugova’s performance. One day, the actress received a diamond ring as a gift from the empress.

Decline of the noble residence

The Sheremetyevs' love for the family nest was great. The grandson of Peter Borisovich, Sergei Dmitrievich, the last owner of the luxurious residence, made considerable efforts to preserve the estate created by his ancestors.

They saved Kuskovo from ruin. The Sheremetyev estate with the cultural values ​​accumulated in it was scrupulously described by Sergei Dmitrievich before the official transfer to the Soviet government. He purposefully turned the estate into a museum.

Thanks to Sergei Dmitrievich, the architectural and park ensemble with the richest collections collected by the owners was destined to become a major center of Russian culture and education. In 1918, the Sheremetyev estate was recognized as a historical monument and converted into a museum.

Versailles near Moscow

Since the owners intended to hold lavish social receptions and pompous celebrations here, the estate was ennobled with residential and hunting lodges, park pavilions, and menageries. They even built a cabinet of curiosities in it and created a small flotilla of ships on the ponds.

The architectural and park complex managed to preserve over 20 unique monuments of Russian architecture, surrounded by magnificent elements of the garden landscape. The estate museum includes a palace, houses with elements of Italian, Dutch and Swiss architecture, pavilions, greenhouses, churches and other buildings of the boyar and serf courtyards.

Kuskovo is called Versailles near Moscow. The Sheremetyev estate, the photo of which demonstrates how beautiful it is, rightfully deserves such a high title. There is a ceramics museum in the old estate. It houses the world's largest collection of ceramic and glass items. The exhibitions present objects created by masters in different parts of the world, from antiquity to the present day.

Sheremetyevsky Palace

The magnificent palace is the compositional center of the Baroque-Rocaille complex in Kuskovo. The Sheremetyev estate is decorated with a huge French park, where ponds with graceful gazebos and marble sculptures sparkle with mirrored saucers.

The two-story palace follows a fashionable layout in the 18th century. It has an enfilade arrangement of rooms. The doors of the premises are on the same axis, the halls open sequentially, one after the other. The palace halls were intended for ceremonial receptions of guests. Wine cellars and utility rooms found a place in the basement of the so-called Big House.

Guest houses

The names of the houses are no coincidence in Kuskovo. The Sheremetyev estate combined buildings of different styles, invented by Dutch, Italian and Swiss architects. The most recent building - a wooden Swiss house, decorated with elegant "wooden lace", the first floor is painted "brick". This allows the original chalet to echo the Dutch pavilion.

The two-story pavilion, built in 1749, is called The building is the personification of the era of Peter I. Its functional purpose is clearly delineated. The first floor is occupied by a kitchen, and on the second there is a beautiful living room.

Since 1755, “small” receptions have been organized in the Italian House, which is one of the federal architectural monuments. In the palace-pavilion, the splendor of the rooms, devoid of a solemn enfilade, is emphasized by a variety of architectural and decorative decoration.

The halls for small receptions are decorated with oak panels, gilded carvings, inlaid parquet and, thanks to the exquisite luxury of miniature decor, the interiors of the Italian House are charming.

Pavilions

The owners of the residence and people close to them rested in the Hermitage pavilion. The grotto is recognized as a unique pavilion. Its interior, decorated with shells, is striking. It is made of stone in a luxurious Baroque style.

Having become a museum, the estate of Count Sheremetyev continues to live. Kuskovo preserves the ancient traditions of Russian estates. Guests are still received here and concerts, exhibitions, excursions, festivals and celebrations are organized for them.