Tverskoy Boulevard. Tverskoy Boulevard House of actress M.N.

Tverskoy Boulevard always inexplicably attracts me and pulls me to be here with or without reason. Maybe this irresistible attraction is hidden in the very name of the boulevard and the collective unconscious of the Russian people who lived here and walked along the boulevard encourages us all to touch our national origins, to learn something important, albeit unconsciously, but still to recognize and accept into ourselves. Or maybe you just want to be in the heart of Moscow and become one with it, to feel what it’s like... In general, Tverskoy Boulevard called me to its place and on this autumn day, which was already ending, the twilight began to thicken, the late autumn sun had just village and only its fading glow remained in the sky. The boulevard looked deserted, deserted and distant. But in this autumn silence and stopped time, Tverskoy seemed to be waiting and wanted to say something and hear something in response... This post will be just a sketch of the autumn Tverskoy Boulevard, preparing for winter, about to freeze in its long winter and unsteady dream...

I didn’t set any specific goals for myself to shoot anything specific - the angles would only be those that for some reason I wanted to shoot. We will walk from Tverskaya to Nikitsky Gate. At the same time, I will talk a little about those historical objects that will catch my eye...

02.

Tverskoy is currently hosting three photo exhibitions. This one, in particular, is about the “Baikal Trophy 2015” - an expedition that started on Russia Day on June 12 in Bratsk and finished in Irkutsk on June 28, 2015.
03.


04.

Rimsky-Korsakov estate, Tverskoy Boulevard, 26. In this place was the northern part of the city estate of I.N. Rimsky-Korsakov - one of the favorites of Catherine II. There were 6 buildings in total. After the war, the prince decided to rebuild his estates and for this purpose the famous architect Osip Bove was invited. The buildings were not demolished and were organically identified as the centers of an extensive architectural façade composition. According to contemporaries, the Rimsky-Korsakov house was considered one of the most beautiful buildings in Moscow.
05.


06.


07.

New building of the Moscow Art Theater, Tverskoy Boulevard, 22. Previously, the Kologrivovs’ house was located here, purchased in 1819 for the Moscow Chief of Police, then (in the middle of the 19th century) became the property of the police (later the mayor). In this house, during a reception, Moscow mayor P.P. was killed. Shuvalov.
09.


10.

The second street photo exhibition is “City. Renewal” and is interesting from the point of view of how architecture in the city changes, under certain and specific conditions, in particular how Moscow and its previously abandoned territories and industrial zones change.
11.


12.

Here is a monument to the poet Sergei Yesenin, erected on Tverskoy Boulevard in 1995. In the foreground are the buildings at 17 Tverskoy Boulevard (left) - an apartment building with outbuildings (1879, architect S.S. Eibushits) and 19 Tverskoy Boulevard (right) - an apartment building (1870s, architect A. A Martynov). The outstanding Russian surgeon N.V. lived in this house from the late 1880s. Sklifosovsky.
13.

To the right of the Moscow Art Theater is the residential building of the Russian Housing Society of Education workers “First Step” (1928-1931, engineer N.S. Zhukov; 1941) at Tverskoy Boulevard, 20.
14.

Mansion P.P. Smirnova is located at Tverskoy Boulevard, 18. It was reconstructed in 1901-1905 according to the design of the architect F.O. Shekhtel. It is one of the key monuments of Moscow Art Nouveau and one of the most famous buildings of this architect.
15.


16.

The Smirnov mansion is rightfully considered one of Shekhtel’s best works. Pyotr Smirnov organized concerts and charity auctions here. Considering the fact that Tverskoy Boulevard remained the only boulevard in the city throughout the 19th century, the mansion has always remained the center of attention of Moscow public life...
17.


18.


19.


20.

Tverskoy Boulevard, 15, building 5. This is the outbuilding of the city estate that once stood here (1810, 1886, architect V.I. Myasnikov) - the so-called “Mikhoels House”. Built in 1810, rebuilt in 1886. Actor and artistic director of the GOSET theater Solomon Mikhoels lived here, as well as writer-translator Vsevolod Ivanov. Yesenin and Tyshler were here. This example of post-fire Moscow (1812), like the entire estate, was owned by the Kirikov family from the end of the nineteenth century until the October Revolution.
21.


22.

I couldn’t find anything about the history of this building at 14 Tverskoy Boulevard, building 4, where the East-West Hotel is now located... except that it was built in the Russian style)
23.

This nice building at 14 Tverskoy Boulevard, building 1 is identified by reference books as the “administrative building of the ITAR-TASS agency”, but here is the Tverskoy Boulevard-14 business center, where you can now still rent an office on the sixth floor and attic)
24.

The building was built in 1997-1998. architect D.M. Deev and, in fact, is a new thing.
25.

This is probably the brightest building on Tverskoy right now, which is why I wanted to post a photo of it in the title photo of this material. Just opposite this building grows the so-called “Pushkin Oak”, fenced with a low chain. He is more than two hundred and thirty years old, older than Tverskoy Boulevard itself and once grew up near the city rampart. Gilyarovsky especially welcomed him)
26.


27.

This is the house of the famous Russian actress Maria Ermolova at 11 Tverskoy Boulevard. A museum named after her is now located here. Ermolova lived here from 1889 to 1928. The estate is based on two buildings, one is the main house, located along the red line of the boulevard (building 1), and an outbuilding, on the left, facing the street (building 2).
28.

Apartment building N.P. Lamanova (1908, architect N.G. Lazarev).
29.

Tverskoy Boulevard, 9. The apartment building of the famous Moscow homeowner, merchant Ivan Mikhailovich Korovin, was built here. The house was built according to the design of the architect Ivan Gavrilovich Kondratenko. He received the order for this building in 1906.
30.

To the left of the Ermolova House is a rather curious house on Tverskoy at number seven. Known as the "Romanov House" or "Romanovka" - a house of furnished rooms where students of the Conservatory and the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture lived. Composer V.S. Kalinnikov rented an apartment here, and N.A. visited him. Rimsky-Korsakov, M.A. Vrubel, K.A. Korovin, F.I. Chaliapin.
31.
The main part of the building dates back to the 18th century. As of 1753, it was owned by the collegiate adviser S.E. Molchanov. Subsequently, the estate passed to Privy Councilor N.N. Saltykov, who gave it to his daughter, who married Prince Ya.I. Lobanov-Rostovsky. At the beginning of the 19th century, the house was owned by the Minister of Internal Affairs D.I. Lobanov-Rostovsky. After the fire of 1812, the house was bought and rebuilt in the Empire style by historian D.N. Bantysh-Kamensky.Since 1824, the estate was owned by P.B. Ogarev. His son, poet and thinker N.P. spent his childhood and youth in the house. Ogareva.
35.

Well, and in conclusion - Nikitsky Gate Square. Evening and autumn twilight...
36.

Well, that's probably all. Although there is no snow and it’s dry, everyone and everything has been expecting it for a long time and have come to terms with the inevitable passing of summer and golden autumn...

Sources: Wikipedia - Tverskoy Boulevard

The Boulevard Ring was founded on the site of the White City wall, which was finally destroyed by 1780. The last major reconstruction of the ring was carried out after the Great Patriotic War, in 1947: shrubs and trees were planted, benches and a cast-iron fence were installed.

Tverskoy is the longest boulevard in Moscow, its length is 872 meters. Tverskoy Boulevard begins at Nikitsky Gate Square, from which houses are numbered, and reaches Pushkinskaya Square. On the left from the boulevard you can exit onto Bolshaya Bronnaya Street, Bogoslovsky and Sytinsky lanes. The structure of Tverskoy Boulevard is as follows: it consists of two alleys - the main and the shady side.

The history of Tverskoy Boulevard is very long and rather controversial. Its first name was simply Boulevard; the official date of its foundation is considered to be 1796. Then the boulevard was named Tverskoy after the name of the street that adjoins it. The construction of the boulevard was a promising undertaking; it was even included in the Projected Plan of Moscow in 1775. The wall of the White City, on the site of which the boulevard was subsequently founded, was demolished back in 1782, and the boulevard was laid in the summer of 1796. The construction work was headed by the architect S. Karin, who was involved in both the project and the construction work itself. The first trees planted on Tverskoy Boulevard were birches; unfortunately, they did not take root, so linden trees had to be planted. Then maples, elms, oaks, Pennsylvania ash, and conifers, including blue spruce and thuja, appeared on Tverskoy Boulevard. Soon Tverskoy Boulevard became one of the favorite walking places of the Moscow nobility. There was a large number of entertainments here: fountains worked, bridges were installed, gazebos made of greenery, even busts of famous people along the main alley. During promenade hours, all passages along the boulevard, even Strastnaya Square, were crowded with carriages of walking public.

The leading architectural style of Tverskoy Boulevard at that time was classicism. It should be noted that the representative nature of the development has largely been preserved to the present day. Tverskoy Boulevard has been sung repeatedly in both prose and poetry. One of these satirical poets was Prince Volkonsky, who was even arrested for a month for his so-called tabloid poems. In addition, Tverskoy Boulevard is mentioned in the poems of A.S. Pushkin, novels by L.N. Tolstoy, stories by A.P. Chekhov, books of other writers.
The fire that struck Moscow in 1812 did not leave its mark on Tverskoy Boulevard. Most of the buildings on both sides were destroyed. The French soldiers, having cut down all the green spaces on the boulevard, made it their place of deployment, setting up a camp here. Gradually, the boulevard was restored, additional trees were planted, benches were installed, bridges and fountains were installed.

At the end of 1880, using money collected by subscription, a monument to A.S. appeared on Tverskoy Boulevard. Pushkin. At the opening of the monument, speeches were made by Dostoevsky and Turgenev, and the foot of the monument was literally covered with laurel wreaths. Subsequently, the monument was moved to Pushkinskaya Square. In the Nicholas era, mulberry trees were planted on the boulevard, giving foliage late. Nicholas I, walking along Tverskoy Boulevard, noticed sticks sticking out that looked like mulberry trees. The emperor quickly responded to such a reaction by clearing the boulevard of mulberry trees.

In the 80s of the 19th century, a horse tram line was laid along Tverskoy Boulevard, which was later replaced by a tram. As for the architecture of the late 19th century, at that time the boulevard continued to be actively developed; apartment buildings made in the eclectic and modernist styles appeared here. Tverskoy Boulevard suffered a lot during the fierce battles of 1917. The clash between the Bolsheviks and the Junkers led to numerous destructions. At the end of the boulevard, a house burned down, on the site of which a monument to K.A. was erected in 1923. Timiryazev.

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the fact that book markets were held on Tverskoy Boulevard, which became a good tradition. Architect V.I. Dolganov initiated the reconstruction of Tverskoy Boulevard, which took place in 1946. Then young seedlings were planted and new benches appeared. The pride of the boulevard was the cast-iron fence, created according to the design of the architect G.I. Lutsky. In 1976, a park appeared on Tverskoy Boulevard; it was laid out on the site of an entire block of houses that was demolished. It was here, near the square on Tverskoy Boulevard, that the first McDonald's restaurant in Moscow was opened.

Based on materials from "Lesson in Moscow"

• Tverskoy Boulevard

  The Boulevard Ring was founded on the site of the White City wall, which was finally destroyed by 1780. The last major reconstruction of the ring was carried out after the Great Patriotic War, in 1947: shrubs and trees were planted, benches and a cast-iron fence were installed.

  Along Novopushkinsky Square we go down to the intersection of Sytinsky Lane and Bolshaya Bronnaya Street

• Saltykov Estate

  Plot No. 27 in the 18th century. occupied by the vast estate of Saltykov, it overlooked Bolshaya Bronnaya, Sytinsky Lane and the passage of Tverskoy Boulevard. The buildings stood along the entire perimeter of the site, many of them survived the fire of 1812, when many residential and utility buildings on the odd side of the boulevard disappeared.

  Along Sytinsky Lane we go out to the odd side of Tverskoy Boulevard and head to house No. 25

• Herzen House

  In this house, in the corner room of the second floor, on March 25, 1812, Alexander Ivanovich Herzen, the illegitimate son of a Moscow gentleman, landowner Ivan Alekseevich Yakovlev and Henrietta Wilhelmina Louise Haag from Stuttgart, was born and lived until September 1812. Subsequently, as an adult, Herzen came here to visit his cousin, Alexei Alexandrovich Yakovlev.

  We go to the neighboring house No. 23

• Residential house, XVIII-XIX centuries. (Chamber Theater)

  Since Catherine's times, house No. 23 has been decorating Tverskoy Boulevard. Significantly rebuilt, having changed many owners, the main house of the city estate today is occupied by the Drama Theater named after. A.S. Pushkin. The theater building is distinguished by a modest and laconic facade: the first floor is rusticated, the two upper floors, separated from the first by an extended canopy, are decorated in the same constructivist style. At the level of the third floor there is an inscription “Moscow Drama Theater named after. A.S. Pushkin."

  We continue to move along the odd side of the boulevard, cross Bogoslovsky Lane and stop at house No. 19

• House of K.M. Svyatopolk-Mirsky

  Residential building No. 19 stands on the corner of the boulevard and Bogoslovsky Lane. On the Khotev map of 1852, this is a complex square structure with an intricate courtyard, belonging to the merchant Anisya Yakovleva. In the second half of the 19th century. ownership is registered in the name of Cleopatra Mikhailovna Svyatopolk-Mirskaya. A photograph of 1896, dedicated to the coronation festivities of Nicholas I, has been preserved; it shows a rich two-story house on a semi-basement, with a beveled corner and rusticated walls, by the architect A.A. Martynov.

  We go back a little, along the passage we find ourselves on the alley of Tverskoy Boulevard and approach the monument to Yesenin

• One of the last monuments erected on Tverskoy Boulevard was the monument to S.A. Yesenin, opened in 1995 on the centenary of the poet’s birth.

  We return to the odd side, approach house No. 17, enter the courtyard through the gate in the arch

We return to the street and go to house No. 13

• House of Golokhvastovs

  The site of house No. 13 on Tverskoy Boulevard belonged to the Golokhvastov family in the 19th century. A.I. recalled Pavel Ivanovich Golokhvastov. Herzen in the novel “The Past and Thoughts”. A relative and friend of the Herzen family, Golokhvastov saved them from the fire of 1812, inviting them to his estate: “Come to me, my house is stone, it stands deep in the yard, the walls are solid.” The old house was described as a beautiful building with a facade decorated with a magnificent four-column portico; there were outbuildings on the sides of the site, but the fire did not spare the old stone building. The house had to be restored.

  We walk a few meters and look at the small mansion at number 11

• House of actress M.N. Ermolova

  The address “Tverskoy Boulevard, 11” is known throughout Moscow as the address of the great Russian actress Maria Ermolova. A museum in her memory has been created in the building. The actress lived in this house from 1889-1928. The rooms remember the sound of her steps. V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, K.S. Stanislavsky, F.I. Chaliapin came here. A. Lensky and A. Yuzhin visited the actress.

  We continue moving along the street and approach house No. 9

• Apartment building I.M. Korovina

  House 9 on Tverskoy Boulevard stands out from the general row of houses on the odd side. A tall apartment building, towering above the trees, at the same time does not look like a bulky, massive building. The decorative simplicity of balconies and bay windows makes the house voluminous, but at the same time light.

  We approach the intersection of the boulevard and Malaya Bronnaya Street, look at house No. 7

We go along the boulevard to Nikitsky Gate Square and stop at house No. 1

Along the transition we return to the boulevard itself, approaching the monument to K.A. Timiryazev

• In October 1917, fierce battles took place on Tverskoy between armed detachments of Bolsheviks and cadets, which is why a house at the beginning of the boulevard burned down. In its place in 1923, a monument to K.A. Timiryazev was erected. The granite figure wearing the robe of an honorary doctor of the University of Cambridge is carved from a single piece of Swedish granite. And during the war of 1941-1945. A large bomb fell on the square, and the shock wave blew the monument off its pedestal. Later it was returned to its place, but you can still see potholes from shrapnel on the pedestal.

  We look opposite, on the even side of the boulevard

• TASS building

  The building of the new TASS building, which appeared on Nikitskaya Square in 1977, was called one of the successful architectural projects of the 1970s. The building took the place of old Moscow buildings. Here stood a corner residential building No. 2 and the building of the former Tver Public School, which had been located here since the first half of the 19th century. House 2 housed a maternity hospital, a kindergarten, and small shops. He remembered the battles of 1917 and the terrible explosion of 1941, when a German shell hit the square. M. Sabashnikov and K. Paustovsky wrote about him in their memoirs.

• Korobkova's house

  House No. 6 on Tverskoy Boulevard is better known as the Korobkova House, or the house of the St. Petersburg Insurance Society, although the building was also owned by the Yaroslavl Big Manufactory Partnership, and in 1917 it went to the hereditary nobleman A.M. Konstantinov.

  We walk a few meters to house number 6

• "House of Song"

  Now, looking at houses 8, 10 and 12 on Tverskoy Boulevard, it is difficult to determine where one ends and the other begins. They look like a single whole, but when house No. 8 was built in 1910, it was the tallest building on the even side of Tverskoy Boulevard.

Light in an ancient window Tverskoy Boulevard, No. 17

Yes, the first strangeness of this terrible May evening should be noted. Not only at the booth, but in the entire alley there was not a single person, no one came under the linden trees, no one sat on the bench, the alley was empty.

M. Bulgakov.

Master and Margarita

The boulevard was illuminated. But the light burned somehow dimly, the lanterns scattered like sparks in the dry air and were lost somewhere in the heights. The leaves had already fallen off, and the skeletons of the trees stuck out unsettled, ugly, clumsily. My soul became uneasy. And why didn't I take the metro? There was not a soul on the boulevard. What a strange thing! After all, Muscovites walk here at any time of the day and in any weather. This has been the case since the end of the 17th century, when the boulevard was planted with trees and it immediately became the favorite and most comfortable place in Moscow. It was decorated with gazebos, fountains, carved bridges, and even busts of famous people were placed. All aristocratic Moscow walked here. And on the sides slowly drove carriages, from which young beauties looked out, seducing the gentlemen. Often the carriages created such a crowd that it was impossible to get through.

Tverskoy Boulevard in 1825

Tverskoy Boulevard

Then, of course, the aristocracy of the boulevard became a thing of the past. In the middle of the 19th century, merchants with their wives, children and household members, then young people of all ranks, already walked here. The gazebos and fountains fell into disrepair, the bridges fell apart. The busts were smashed by hooligans. Only benches remained, but now it was not ladies in lovely dresses and fur capes who sat on them, but factory workers, artisans, and maids. Everyone gnawed the seeds together, spitting on the paths and lawns around them. True, in the 20th century several theaters appeared on the boulevard and the atmosphere again became cultural. In 1914, the legendary Chamber Theater of the great director Alexander Tairov opened in house No. 23, where the last great tragic actress of Russia, Alisa Georgievna Koonen, shone. The entire life of this theater is filled with legends and traditions, deafening glory and worship. But it also ended horribly. How else could the life of true geniuses end?! The Soviet government treated director Tairov all his life. In the end, the theater was taken away from him, and Tairov himself was sent to an insane asylum, after which he died. His wife, the great Alice Koonen, lived for another quarter of a century in complete oblivion. The tragic actress, who had been robbed of all meaning in life, was pushed into a tiny apartment as an unnecessary thing. Horror…

And in 1935, on Tverskoy, in house No. 13, the no less legendary Jewish Theater opened, which was again directed by the no less great director and actor, tragedian Solomon Mikhoels. His King Lear is forever recognized in the theatrical world as the best embodiment of this Shakespearean image. During the Great Patriotic War, Mikhoels organized the world Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee and raised funds to fight fascism in Europe and the USA. Raised millions of donated dollars. And how did they thank him? Although how could the theatrical happiness that began in house No. 13 end?!

The building of the Moscow Art Theater named after. Gorky

Our great leader of the peoples once, shaking the tobacco out of his famous pipe with his withered hand, decided that it was time to shake poor Mikhoels out of life - his influence and fame in the country and the world had become too great. In short, in 1948, Solomon Mikhoels crashed his car somewhere near Minsk. The funeral in Moscow was the most magnificent. Only people still whispered: the great actor was removed by order from above.

In 1973, a new building for the Moscow Art Theater was built on the right side of the boulevard (house number 22). Almost no one remembered that this place was also shrouded in an old romantic legend, but not a tragic one, like other houses, but a love one.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the estate of the landowner Kologrivov was located here. His wife Praskovya Yuryevna threw those same magnificent balls that Griboyedov wrote about in “Woe from Wit”:

Gives balls, couldn’t be richer,

From Christmas to Lent,

And in the summer there are holidays at the dacha.

The great playwright even brought out Kologrivova (by the way, a relative) in the person of the notorious Tatyana Yuryevna.

True, then the Kologrivovs spent some money and began renting out their estate. She was often photographed for paid balls by the best dance master in Moscow, dance teacher Pyotr Yogel, to show off his students. At one of these children's balls on April 23, 1827, the poet Pushkin met young Natalie, his future wife Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova. Remember in Onegin:

There will be a ball, there will be a children's party.

Where will our prankster rush?

So the Kologrivov estate is a place of romantic and passionate love at first sight.

Of course, now not even a brick remains of the old house. But the place itself has not gone away. Those who designed and erected the new Moscow Art Theater building should think about this. Maybe they wouldn’t have built such a terrible monster with gray-brown, crumpled beams that looked like they had long been rusted, turned outward? People quickly dubbed the structure “the building after the explosion.”

And here it is worth saying something that I could not have known about during my long journey. Then no one could have imagined that in the hot 90s, a true explosion would occur in the troupe of the country's exemplary theater - a split, in which actors and directors would split into two warring theatrical camps. One will become a theater named after Chekhov, the other - named after Gorky.

No, the theaters on Tverskoy Boulevard were unlucky! Tragedy followed tragedy. Even when, in the Soviet era, the famous Herzen house on Tverskoy was converted into the Gorky Literary Institute, and then there was a problem - it was his restaurant that Mikhail Bulgakov presented in a creepy and unpleasant way in “The Master and Margarita.” How did the fire go there? Burn everything with fire?..

Herzen House

In short, an unhappy place for art. Although it is a favorite for walking. Only now, on an October evening, for some reason there is no one on this boulevard...

Again suddenly there was a whiff of terrible cold. Or maybe my nerves were frayed... The lights suddenly dimmed, as if the voltage on the line had dropped. The skeletons of the trees glared into the black sky. Oh, we need to go to the pavement, closer to the houses. There is at least some light from the windows.

I turned my head - over there, to the left, where the odd-numbered houses were, a bright light flashed in the windows. From the side of the boulevard there was just an exit, and I rushed onto the pavement. The window of an old house, obviously built on later (no. 17, I think) swung open. Cheerful voices, Russian and French, were heard, either arguing or laughing. Then the piano started playing. And someone's charming voice said:

- Stop arguing, gentlemen! Please stop and listen to music. Otherwise I'll leave!

I froze under the window. Again the old calm? “Gentlemen”, “if you please”, “I’ll leave” - but what is this?! Or are these some French guests of Moscow, speaking as their ancestors, who emigrated from the Land of the Soviets after the revolution, used to say? More likely.

And then the door of the house opened. (It’s unclear where it came from. I’m standing next to her, but I didn’t notice her. Or is it hard to see in the dark?) A small, plump, round figure jumped out into the street, dressed in something dark and enveloping.

- Ah! – said the figure. - Who is here? Where? Who let you in?

I was dumbfounded. What do you mean from where? I walk down the street. How is it: who let you in? Anyone can walk around Moscow.

- And why is she dressed like that? – the stranger pressed. - Complete indecency - where is the skirt?! “And the lady pointed her umbrella at my miniskirt.

It's clear. The lady is one of those who still does not accept skirts of this size. I can't stand bigots! And I answered sharply:

- It's time to get used to it! They've been doing this for a long time!

- For a long time? - The lady thought about it. - Oh, I went to the wrong place again! I always forget what to do. So what year is it now, girl?

The girl (you have to understand, it’s me) either opened her mouth in amazement, or chattered her teeth in fright. The subconscious suggested a wild version: an old speech, a door that wasn’t there, a lady’s strange behavior, an idiotic remark “I went out the wrong way” - what is this?! Is it really a portal with a time traveler again? After all, my morning acquaintance, the actress, said that portals pass through places of power, and Tverskoy Boulevard has gained it both from history and from tragedies in immeasurable quantities. But the mind refused to believe in all this. There must be some really reasonable explanation!

- That she froze like a pillar! – the lady pressed. - Tell me immediately - what year is she? – And the lady took off the hood of her robe to see me better.

I leaned against the wall of the house. Old lady again! The voice is young and even bewitching, albeit commanding. But her face is covered in terrible wrinkles... She’s a hundred years old! Is today in Moscow a day for the elderly, or what?!

My mind fought with intuition, trying to explain what was happening. In this battle, I myself lost the ability to think and remember. What day, what year?.. And I whispered:

- No... now... Yes, the twentieth century will soon end! And what will she say to this?

The old woman was not at all embarrassed. She just asked, pointing her umbrella at me again, as if at a fascinating picture:

- And now they wear it like that? And what - for young people it can be funny. You know, girl, one day I also appeared in the world, like you, shameless one. I won a bet with mon ami Alexis. Well, you know Alexis, right?

I shook my head.

– Alexis, Count Arakcheev, favorite of Emperor Alexander the First. You should know him! Our poetic scoundrel Sasha Pushkin wrote about him:

And he is the teacher of the Council,

And he is a friend and brother to the king.

Arakcheev?! This is definitely the 19th century. And Pushkin’s quatrain had a beginning:

Oppressor of all Russia,

Governors tormentor.

What is this?! Maybe I'm dreaming or have lost my mind? There’s definitely a ghost in front of me – and, by the way, not for the first time that day...

I tried to cross myself. The hand described the protective cross, but Arakcheev’s ancient friend did not blink an eye, rattling incessantly:

- Do you remember? So I won a bet with the nun Alexis, and he had to fulfill my every wish. And I wished that he would carry me out of my warm bed in a cambric shirt in his arms straight into his state reception room. And he did! True, it was not here, but in St. Petersburg. And there, just imagine, the petitioners humbly await an audience, and here we are - he in a uniform, and I in transparent cambric. Oh, we lived happily!

Emperor Alexander then gave Alexis a look, and all he said about me was: “Shameless!” And the newspapers wrote: “Count Arakcheev subscribed to the body of the lovely Varvara Petrovna.” Varvara Petrovna - it's me! – The hundred-year-old mistress bowed her head coquettishly. - For the first husband - Pukolova, and for the second - Krekshina. Here we are presented. “And she started babbling again: “I bought this house after the death of both the unforgettable Alexis and dear Krekshin.” It seems like around 1852 or 1864, I can’t remember now. She ordered a new house to be built in place of the old one. But I don’t live here myself. I prefer the house on Povarskaya. Do you know Povarskaya Street?

– Yes... – I slowly began to come to my senses. - But now it is called Vorovsky Street.

The old lady snorted:

– You can’t have such a strange name! How can you be a street of thieves?! You'll see, they'll rename it again soon! The royal cooks lived there from time immemorial. My estate is so cute, there are light arches all around. House on a stone foundation at number nine. Was not there?

- Of course, in your time it’s not so easy to get there. The Cypriot embassy is there.

- How do you know?

- I live there. And sometimes when I get confused, I end up in your time. So I know.

And then my curiosity took over.

- How are you confused?

- Due to my own carelessness. When you leave home at your own time, you need to leave some thing that you came with. I specially took an umbrella with me. But years, my head is full of holes... I got ready to go out and grabbed it with me.

– But how do you manage to walk in time?

– I don’t even know! “The old woman’s sly, though already faded, eyes flashed. - Apparently, this is what God promised. It seems that she lived and sinned, welcomed lovers, squandered her wealth, buried her husbands, but somehow the Lord liked her. Or maybe this city. She became an eternal Muscovite. However, I think that this is from the prophecy of the French fortune teller Lenormand. But on the other hand, not all eternal Muscovites visited her, but they also live. Of course, not everyone is as carefree as I am. They don't talk to strangers. Usually they pass themselves off as performers in costumes, or as those who wander around masquerade evenings. Well, I’m so careless. Or maybe, as Emperor Alexander used to say, shameless.

I tell everything without hiding. Why hide, I died a long time ago! It will not be worse. This house, for example, I built as an exact copy of my Parisian mansion. She even ordered the finishing to be done exactly the same way. Would you like to take a look?

I shied away from her:

- No way!

- Why, girl? Let's go to!

The old woman grabbed my sleeve.

My heart beat as if it wanted to pierce my chest. It became completely impossible to breathe, the air around froze as if in the cold.

- Don't be afraid, come with me!

The old woman dragged me to a door in the wall. Skinny fingers, sharpened by age, clung painfully to his hand. I tried to break free - it didn’t work! But suddenly…

- Leave her, Varvara Petrovna! - someone's voice boomed.

The old woman turned around:

- Are you, Mikhalych?

- I am. Leave the young lady. She gave me the twelfth ruble. You know, people are greedy now, you can’t beg for a penny. I had to go to the telegraph office for two days to get the twelfth ruble. Yes, sir! I was desperate to get back home. You feel good, she whispered the cherished word - and again in her own time. And I have to collect a dozen rubles. I’m standing like a fool on the porch... Of course, everyone has their own techniques, but I’m grateful to the young lady. So, do me a favor, don’t touch her!

The old woman sighed:

- It’s a pity... It’s rare that you welcome a new person into the house. I'm tired of the old ones.

“It’s okay, you’ll still find someone new,” Mikhalych boomed. - You can go out whenever you want. But I don’t have such privileges, sir. It is not of my own free will that I find myself in different times and places. The force pulls me in.

My curiosity overcame my fear again.

- But how does this happen?

“I can’t say anything, sir, young lady.” I don’t know myself. That very moment I was sitting in the best restaurant in Tver. Yes, sir! I just ordered crayfish. But it pulled... And here I am.

- You're out of luck, Ivan Mikhalych! – Krekshina grinned. - They took me away from such pleasure.

I felt a chill go down my spine: and if this Tver tramp had not been pulled out by some hidden forces, who would have helped me?! An immortal old woman like Koschey would definitely have drawn me in at one time!

But the tramp, of course, did not understand any of this and was angry:

- I have to collect rubles again! Tired of worse than bitter radish. I'll go to the telegraph office. It’s cold, and I have a girl I know there. He'll give you a warm jacket. I told her everything, she believed me and entered into my sad situation. Yes, sir! But by the way,” the tramp looked at me slyly, “you, young lady, gave me the twelfth ruble, now do me the favor of giving me the first.” I kind of helped you. You didn’t want to go with Varvara Petrovna, did you?

Krekshina giggled:

- Did not want! Yes, usually few people want to. But it has to. I really love new guests.

“So this is where people go when they go on business and don’t return home! – I gasped to myself. “I suppose the ever-living Krekshina is not alone in the city!”

Meanwhile, the old woman sighed sadly and muttered displeasedly:

- Okay, goodbye, girl. Give Ivan Mikhalych his ruble!

And, opening the door of her house, the restless old woman stepped back.

I reached into my wallet.

- Let's hurry up! - Mikhalych hurried. - It’s very cold!

And, snatching the piece of paper from me, he rushed into the darkness - rushed to the telegraph office, where a friend from the twentieth century was holding a jacket for him.

I turned to the door where Krekshina had slipped away. But the wall was smooth. Apparently, from my time there was no door to the past.

Like a bullet, I darted along Tverskoy. Let the boulevard be a place of power. Only for me it turned out to be too mystical. It's creepy! It turns out that if I hadn’t given a ruble to the strange person I met in the morning, in the evening old woman Krekshina would have dragged me back in time. And what would I do there?! This was still the time of serfs...

Flying out onto Gorky Street (when will it become Tverskaya again!), I looked at my watch. Mom dear! It seemed to me that I talked with old woman Varvara for half an hour, but it turned out to be more than two hours. It was now a quarter to twelve. I was late for the meeting at the Operetta Theater a long time ago, I wouldn’t miss the last metro train!