The Kuskovo Estate Museum is located in the Veshnyaki district, in the east of Moscow. It is a unique architectural ensemble and park. It is not included in the tourist route in Moscow, but it is worth visiting.
Kuskovo is one of the most famous estates in Moscow, it is an architectural ensemble of the 18th century. From the end of the 16th century to 1917 it belonged to the Sheremetyevs, until the 18th century Kuskovo was a village with a wooden church, boyar yards and serfs' huts.
In the first half of the 18th century, Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetyev married the daughter of Prince Alexei Cherkassky - Varvara, which led to the unification of the lands around the village and the formation of a large estate.
The construction of the estate was carried out from 1756 to 1767 with the participation of serf architects Fyodor Argunov and Alexey Mironov, its area is 230 hectares (the area of the museum-estate "Kuskovo" is 26 hectares).
In addition to the architectural ensemble, the estate included hunting grounds, fields, meadows and groves, a menagerie. The territory of the estate was divided by a canal with an island (it was completely preserved), a funny fortress was located on the island (lost), comic battles were played on the water.
In 1812, Kuskovo was occupied by the corps of the French Marshal Michel Ney, and the officers of the Napoleonic army were based. The French ravaged the estate, removed the valuables, smashed most of the park sculptures.
At the end of the 19th century, restoration work was carried out in the estate, in 1918 it received the status of a museum-estate.
Entrance to the territory of the museum-estate is paid, the ticket price is less than 100 rubles. For the right to take pictures, shoot videos, visit exhibitions, you have to pay separately. Many people shoot with their smartphones (you also have to pay for this) and do not buy permission to shoot (the main thing is not to get caught).
I paid 100 rubles for the right to photograph, I was given a special ticket and a yellow strip of paper (I need to stick it on my sleeve so that everyone knows that I have permission).
The estate has beautiful and unique architecture in the neoclassical style, fresh air and a well-groomed park (around the estate there is a forest park of the same name, you can walk through it for free and feed squirrels).
The Church of the All-Merciful Savior is considered one of the rarest architectural monuments of the Anninsky Baroque, its construction was completed in 1739. The church houses a unique two-tiered chandelier for eighteen candles with figures of seraphim.
The park of the estate is a bit like the Summer Garden in St. Petersburg (due to the large number of sculptures) and Peterhof.
The large stone greenhouse resembles a little palace (1761-1763), but was intended for the cultivation of flowers. The American greenhouse appeared on the Sheremetyevs' estate a little earlier than the stone one; it was a structure for tropical plants (architect unknown), similar to a greenhouse. The large stone greenhouse looks like a palace, compared to it, the American one is not impressive.
Houses have been preserved, at the entrance there is a Dutch house, a little further the Swiss and Italian ones.
On the territory of the estate you can see beautiful pavilions, outbuildings, an aviary with birds, and much more. It is better to visit Kuskovo during the warm season to admire the beauty of the reservoirs.
The easiest way to get to the estate is from the Kuskovo railway station, it is closer to the estate than the metro station.
