There are many of the most unique and beautiful mansions, palaces,
castles and houses in St. Petersburg, and each of them has its own zest,
something so special that distinguishes it from a huge number of its own
kind.
This is the case with the most interesting palace of Prince
Abamelek-Lazarev. The building is one of the pearls of St. Petersburg
architecture - a strict solemn parapet over the entablature, elegant
white pilasters of the Corinthian order, and other wonders of
architectural art.
It became the last palace built in the capital
of the Russian Empire, Petrograd, before the October Revolution. In
addition, it is located in one of the most beautiful places in the
center of St. Petersburg.
The palace is located in such a place in the city on the Neva, where
you can arrive by boat, or go from here on a voyage along the rivers and
canals of the Northern capital.
The building is distinguished by
brilliant interiors, well preserved to this day. They can be seen today
in their original grandeur and splendor, they have come down to the
present day almost untouched.
The main decoration of the palace
is a luxurious dance hall, skillfully decorated with paintings on the
ceiling, stucco, marble columns and an exquisite balcony. Balls and
celebrations were held there. There was an orchestra on the balcony. And
now it serves the same purpose.
The theater hall is decorated
with red-brown Corinthian columns and ceiling paintings. It was used for
its intended purpose. Initially, it was equipped for performances. It
hosted dramatic performances. There is still a scene here.
The mansion is a single property with houses: on the Moika River
Embankment No. 21 and 23, as well as on Millionnaya Street No. 24. At
the beginning of the 18th century, a wooden house for Vice Admiral M.P.
Gossler.
Then a stone mansion was built here according to the
project of the architect G. Kraft for Count F. A. Apraksin in 1735 -
1737. In the 1770s, the mansion was rebuilt, during which the porch in
the center was replaced with a four-columned portico of the Ionic order.
It has a slender column with a base, a trunk cut by vertical
grooves. The capital (top of the column) consists of 2 large curls. The
walls of the house were smoothly plastered, and it acquired a modern
look. It is assumed that A. Rinaldi was involved here.
In 1904,
one of the richest people in the Russian Empire, Prince S. S. Abamelek
(Abamelik)-Lazarev, acquired house No. 22 on the Moika River embankment.
He also bought houses No. 21 and 23 along the Moika embankment,
connected by courtyard outbuildings with buildings on Millionnaya
Street. In 1911, the prince also bought the neighboring plot of house
No. 24.
By his order, in 1907-1909, the architect E. S. Vorotilov
rebuilt house No. 21 along the Moika embankment. In 1913-1915, on the
site of the demolished house No. 23, architect Ivan Alexandrovich Fomin
erected a new building in the neoclassical style.
At the same
time, the facades from the side of Millionnaya Street were
reconstructed. In house number 22, the facade was extended by 2 windows.
In the house number 24 in 1913 - 1914, the gates were broken through and
internal redevelopment was carried out. The millionaire prince himself
died in 1916. He was childless, but he had heirs who owned all his
property until 1917.
From the very beginning and until 1917, many eminent personalities
owned the house on the Moika embankment. Its owners were: first,
Vice-Admiral MP Gossler, for whom a wooden house was built; then - the
brother of the famous favorite of Anna Ioannovna: Gustav Biron in the
1730s; a little later - Count F.A. Apraksin, a stone mansion was erected
for him; in the 1770s - Prince V. S. Vasilchikov.
Since the end
of the 18th century, the house belonged to Count V.P. Kochubey. Prince
V.V. Dolgorukov owned the house since 1809. Then it was acquired by one
of the most prominent statesmen of the then empire - A.B. Kurakin in
1812.
In 1822 - 1872, the mansion was managed by Alexander
Mikhailovich Potemkin - a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812,
colonel, marshal of the nobility of the St. Petersburg province, real
privy councilor, owner of the Holy Mountains and Gostilitsy. Alexander
Mikhailovich occupied apartment No. 3 in this house. There was a house
church of the Presentation of the Lord in the building.
Later,
among its owners was Prince A. B. Golitsyn. From 1874 to 1903, the house
was owned by a well-known statesman - Count Nikolai Pavlovich Ignatiev.
From 1904 to 1916, the house belonged to one of the richest people in
Russia - a millionaire, Prince S. S. Abamelek (Abamelik)-Lazarev. Until
1917, his estate was owned by his heirs.
You may be interested in the information that was presented in the
publications of the capital in past centuries regarding this unique
mansion. Note that for ease of reading and perception of information,
the paragraphs were divided into smaller ones.
Here is what you
could read No. 28 of the St. Petersburg Gazette of 1817.
On the
occasion of the departure of His Excellency Prince Alexander Borisovich
Kurakin for healing waters abroad, his own house, consisting of 1
Admiralty part of the 1 quarter, in the large Millionnaya, with all the
decorations in it, is rented for two and three years, such as:
silk wallpaper in two chambers, with windows decorated with draperies,
mirrors, chandeliers, paintings, table clocks, with all kinds of
furniture gilded from mahogany with bronze and without bronze <...>,
with a stable for 22 stalls, sheds for 8 carriages , with different
cellars and special for grape wines <...>.
Note by A. A. Ivanov
"Alexander Borisovich Kurakin ... bought a house on Millionnaya in 1812,
after returning from Paris, where he served as ambassador for several
years ..."
Here is what could be read in No. 45 of the magazine
"Capital and Estate" on pages 4-8, published on November 1, 1915.
"The inhabitants of Petrograd are well aware of the original facade of a
two-story house located on Millionnaya, now around the corner of Moshkov
Lane. Against the background of dark brown walls, a portico with columns
of dark gray marble, apparently Greek chippolino, from the island of
Evbei stands out beautifully.
The history of this old house,
bearing number 22 along Millionnaya, is as follows. It was built in the
thirties of the eighteenth century and belonged to General Biron,
brother of the famous temporary worker Anna Ioannovna, then passed into
the hands of Count Apraksin, who owned it until 1794.
The next
owners were successively Count Kochubey and Prince Kurakin. From 1822 to
1874, the house was owned by Potemkin, the former governor of Petrograd,
marshal of the nobility and husband much more famous than himself for
his influence at court, his kindness and participation in the affairs of
the church and charity Tatyana Borisovna Potemkina, born Princess
Golitsyna.
Note (ours): There are (probably) 2 errors in the
publication. If history does not lie, then after Kochubey the house was
owned by Dolgorukov in 1809, and then by Kurakin since 1812. And not
consistently, as it is said in the magazine "Capital and Estate": after
Kochubey - Kurakin.
It is known from history that A. M. Potemkin
owned the house from 1822 to 1872. And these 2 years, from 1872 from the
previous owner - Potemkin and until the moment when the mansion passed
to the next Ignatiev in 1874, the house belonged to Prince A. B.
Golitsyn. There are also 2 spelling errors below, but most likely these
are typos. Read on, as the publication is very interesting.
"From
1874 to 1903, the famous statesman Count Nikolai Pavlovich Ignatiev
owned the house, and finally, in 1903, the current owner acquired it.
The current prince Abamelek-Lazarev grew up in the house of the Armenian
church on Nevsky.
According to childhood memories, this house was
so dear to the prince that when he decided to add a new spacious house
along the Moika to his mansion on Millionnaya, he reproduced in this new
house an exact copy of the two halls of the old Armenian house of the
architect Felten and gave the facade of this house (Moika , 21) a view
similar to the house of the Armenian church on Nevsky, 40.
Moreover, from the house on Nevsky, the prince transferred six figured
stoves and doors to the newly built house on the Moika. The copy of
these two halls turned out to be perfect and most accurate. Two of these
ovens are monumental and are in imitation of the famous Lysicrates
monument in Athens.
Now both houses are connected into one in
such a way that a person who is not dedicated would never have guessed
that these are two completely different, interconnected houses. The main
attraction of the old Biron house is a magnificent lobby and staircase.
Boldly and easily, steps wind up, from the last platform, decorated
with a huge mirror, diverging in different directions. A beautiful,
light ceiling in a semicircle gives this whole staircase great elegance
and style. On the grounds there are huge white and gold floor lamps,
painted by Rossi for the Mikhailovsky Palace.
What is now the
Museum of Emperor Alexander III. Directly from the stairs you find
yourself in a large white room with beautiful stucco work in gentle
tones. Here, as well as throughout the house, excellent parquet. To the
right and to the left of this hall, with windows facing the millionth,
lies a series of living rooms, ending on one side with a corner bedroom
and on the other a large living room, with magnificent Flemish
tapestries on the walls.
In all rooms you will find excellent
antique bronze, marble, porcelain, family portraits by famous artists.
In the hall rise from the floor four colossal, more than a man's height
candelabra of Thomir. On the walls are two huge tapestries representing
the history of Tamerlane and Bayazet, executed in the 17th century. in
Brussels.
The old house ends with a long white dining room and
then you move on to the new building. The connection is an original oval
passage, in which are placed four lovely oil paintings depicting four
young women by Bode, a student of Van Loo. Bode painted Sanssouci for
Frederick the Great.
Adjacent to the new Felten-style house, the
building of the home theater was built in the last two years according
to the plan of the architect A. I. Fomin. Both the residential building
from the Moika and the theater hall overlooking the Moika have two
separate entrances from this embankment.
Prince Abamelek-Lazarev
is one of the largest landowners in Russia. He worked a lot in the areas
of mining and archeology that interested him. Wrote the book "The
Question of the Subsoil and the Development of the Mining Industry in
Russia from 1808 to 1908."
He has published several books on
political and economic issues. As an archaeologist, the prince
discovered in 1882 in Palmyra a well-known inscription in Greek and
Aramaic. This inscription was carved on a huge board of white marble 6x2
m, it was presented by the Turkish Sultan to our Sovereign and is now
kept in the Hermitage.
The prince wrote a long article about
Palmyra, luxuriously published. Now this edition is a bibliographic
rarity. To the relatives of the Abamelek-Lazarevs belongs the cavalry
lady Anna Davidovna Baratynskaya (1814-1888), born Princess Abamelek,
aunt of the current Prince S. S. Abamelek-Lazarev. The poems of A. S.
Pushkin are dedicated to her:
Once upon a time (I remember
fondly)
I dared to nurse you with admiration,
You were a wonderful
child.
You blossomed - with reverence
I bow to you now.
Behind
you heart and eyes
With involuntary trepidation I wear
And your
glory and you,
Like an old nanny, I'm proud.
The autograph of
this poem is kept by Prince Abamelek-Lazarev, just like Lermontov's
"Last Housewarming", written by the poet's hand and brought by him for
reading.
Under the Soviet regime in 1920-1925, the building was rented by the Pushkin House to accommodate funds and organize exhibitions. Since 1927, the Central House of Physical Culture Workers has been located here. There was also a museum, the expositions of which were devoted to the sporting achievements of the country.
House No. 23 on the Moika River embankment was built in 1913-1914.
Its author is the outstanding architect Ivan Aleksandrovich Fomin. He
built this wonderful mansion for a millionaire - Prince Semyon
Semyonovich Abamelek-Lazarev.
Here's what you can learn from
eyewitnesses who wrote. When approving the project, a serious conflict
arose between the customer and the architect. The prince demanded to
install 6 vases at the top - on the parapet in imitation of antique
samples.
The architect was categorically against it, arguing that
the vases, as an alien element, would "overload" the skillfully
thought-out decorative elegance of the facade. Fomin had to obey the old
rule that the client is always right, and the architect installed those
vases.
In 1916 the prince died. A year later there was a
revolution. The prince's wife emigrated from Russia. The architect Fomin
stayed in the country and became one of the leading Soviet architects.
The dispute between the architect and the customer was resolved in favor
of the first - in accordance with the "original intention of the
artist", the elaborate vases, according to the exquisite architect, were
removed.
As a result, the victory went to the architect, who, it
would seem, was defeated at the beginning, obeying the customer. From
this we can draw a very instructive conclusion. What we offer you at
your leisure. And we round off on this, as they say. We hope you enjoyed
the informative story about this amazing mansion.
St. Petersburg, emb. river Moika, 21-23 / Millionnaya st., 22
Nearest metro station: "Nevsky prospect"
From Art. m. "Nevsky
prospect" on foot ~ 14 minutes = 1.2 km. From the lobby, walk a little
along Nevsky Prospekt, go out to the Griboyedov Canal Embankment, follow
it all the time, turn onto Konyushennaya Square, then into Konyushenniy
Lane, get to the Moika River Embankment, go along the Bolshoy
Konyushenniy Bridge to the other side of the Moika - from the embankment
go to Moshkov lane, turn left and you are there.