Kuskovo is a unique estate, one of a kind. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that Kuskovo is an example of the earliest surviving rich estate of a noble nobleman, and in the fact that Kuskovo was owned by the same family without interruption from the 16th century. and before the October coup of 1917.
History of Kuskovo
Kuskovo is entirely a work of human hands, and nature did not help with anything here, on the contrary, it prevented the creation of this masterpiece. Among the flat, flat and dull terrain, covered with a rare forest, and even swampy, as if by magic, a wonderful vision arose: a wide pond, a canal, a palace, a skillfully planned garden, an equally skillfully arranged landscape park, many intricate pavilions … Thousands of serfs were driven away from the surrounding villages to heavy earthwork and construction work, and talented architects and gardeners took part in the design.
Kuskovo was first mentioned at the end of the 16th century: “For the boyar Ivan Vasilyevich Sheremetev…”. It is known from the scribes of 1623/1624 that in the Sheremetev "old" patrimony there was already a wooden church with two side-chapels - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. Frola and Lavra, and in the village the scribes noted “the boyar’s yard, but the animal yard, business people live” (this was the name of personally free servants. - 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 to him in the boyar, 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 the invitation of the Polish prince Vladislav to the Russian throne. When the issue of succession to the throne was being decided, it is said that it was he, Fyodor Sheremetev, who said: “… we will choose de Misha Romanov, he is still young and stupid,” which characteristic, perhaps, predetermined the choice of a new dynasty.
From Fedor Ivanovich Sheremetev, Kuskovo passed for almost a hundred years from one representative of this clan to another, until Vladimir Petrovich Sheremetev in 1715 sold it for 200 rubles to his brother, a famous associate of Peter the Great Boris Petrovich Sheremetev, whose heirs transformed Kuskovo. He became famous for 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 suppression of the uprising in Astrakhan, he was awarded the first Russian count. At Poltava, Sheremetev commanded the center of the Russian army and largely contributed to the victory over Charles XII.
Sheremetev possessed great ancestral wealth, during the war in Livonia, he, in the words of Tsar Peter, “gloriously managed”, and many estates with peasants were given to him for his service (for example, after the Battle of Poltava, Sheremetev became the owner of the Yukhotsk volost with 12 thousand peasants), but all his life he spent in campaigns, battles, diplomatic negotiations and hardly visited 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 Peter Borisovich. He did not become famous on the battlefield or in the civil service, although he reached the known degrees: under Elizaveta 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 posts and the advantages of the chief chamberlain.
In 1743 P. B. Sheremetev married the only heiress of Chancellor A. M. Cherkassky. Her father wanted to give her off to the diplomat and poet Antiochus Cantemir, the son of the Moldovan 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.
Almost everything that is in Kuskovo owes its appearance to Peter Borisovich Sheremetev, and the very idea of building a luxurious estate near Moscow may have arisen because Sheremetev wanted to have it near the palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna near Moscow in the village of Perov. The layout and arrangement of the Kuskovo estate was directly related to Yuri Ivanovich Kologrivov, a friend and adviser of PB Sheremetev, a man with an interesting and largely unexplored biography.
Peter the Great knew him well, on whose instructions Kologrivov acquired many works of art abroad, and, in particular, the famous Venus of Tauride. Since about the 1740s. Kologrivov lives here with Sheremetev.
There is information that the author of the project of the palace was the French architect Charles de Valli, but either serfs or hired Russian architects, and in particular, F. S. Argunov and K. I. Blank, supervised the construction directly, although nothing was done in Kuskovo without consulting Peter Borisovich, to whom the decisive word belonged.
Manor scheme
Church of the All-Merciful Savior
The one-domed, octagonal drum of the dome has niches with sculptures of the apostles placed in them. The same facades go out on three sides, from the east there is a small altar apse. Three identical porches without awnings are equipped with double-sided staircases with wrought iron railings. Ribbed roof with dark roof and light walls are different from all surrounding buildings
The interior of the temple, which opens before those entering the Church of the All-Merciful Savior, surprises with its modesty and laconicism. The neatly whitewashed walls contain no stucco moldings or picturesque paintings. Of the decorative elements, only the carpet path in the middle of the nave leading to the altar iconostasis can be mentioned. There is also a shop with religious paraphernalia.
Only some of the holy images, including the upper icon of the Holy Trinity, sparkle with gilding. Such are the large icons of the Mother of God and the Child to the left of the Holy Gates and the Savior himself - to the right. The unusual shape of the doors of the side passages to the altar space, made in the form of vertically cut half arches. In the right one you can even see the room for changing the clothes of the clergy.
The device of the already seen in full size candlestick for healthy candles is quite traditional, in contrast to the luxurious rectangular one.
The park
The park is bounded by a canal with water and a rampart in front of it, 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 by a garden pavilion (for example, the Hermitage closes the perspectives of the park's eight alleys). 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" and others.
In the summer, southern trees, trimmed in the form of different figures, were exhibited in the park alleys.
The main alley leads to the Big stone greenhouse, built in 1761-1763. It was intended not only for the cultivation of exotic plants, but also for concerts - the central volume, allocated by the dome, was a concert hall. The greenhouse contained the rarest laurel trees, which were 300 years old. They disappeared already at the end of the 19th century. from neglect
To the right of the main alley is the "Aviary" for birds (a relatively recent reconstruction), even further is the place where the Air, that is, the open theater, was located, and closer to the main house - the Italian house, where, possibly, there was a small museum, Menagerie - five graceful houses where birds were kept, and next to a small pond - the Grotto, a garden pavilion, built by 1771, decorated with figures of fish, Mediterranean shells and stones (the Rastrelli Grotto in Tsarskoye Selo served as a model for it). To the left of the main alley is one of the most remarkable Kuskovo Baroque monuments - the Hermitage of 1765-1767.
Dutch house
The very first Dutch house was built in 1749 in memory of the era of Peter the Great. This pavilion was also intended for guests' recreation.
Kuskovo (park): how to get there, opening hours
Kuskovo Park is located in the southeastern part of the capital. The address of the forest park and museum: Moscow, st. Youth, 2. It is located inside the metropolis, but visitors forget about it, getting into a beautiful corner of nature.
There is a forest-park zone on the Meshchera lowland and has an area of more than 300 hectares. There are several beautiful ponds on its territory. The largest and most famous is the Great Palace Pond. It is located opposite the palace and the estate and has an area of 14 hectares.
Travel options:
- From the Vykhino metro station, take bus # 620 or minibus # 9M to the stop “Museum“Kuskovo”,“Street Moldagulovoy”or“Veshnyakovskaya street”.
- From the Ryazansky Prospekt metro station, take bus number 133 or 208, go to the stop called “Museum Kuskovo”, “Moldagulovoy Street” or “Veshnyakovskaya Street”.
- From the Novogireevo metro station by bus # 615, 247 or trolleybus # 64, go to the “Ulitsa Yunosti” stop.
- In the Kazan railway direction the station "Perovo", "Veshnyaki" or "Plyushchevo".
- In the Gorky railway direction of the station "Kuskovo", "Novogireevo" or "Chukhlinka".
Opening hours
Kuskovsky park is conventionally divided into two zones: museum and forest park. Residents call both parts the same, but at the same time specify Kuskovo - a park or a museum. The park area consists of a wild forest park and a count's regular park, on the territory of which there is a beautiful Museum-Estate.
The forest park is open for walks at any time, the regular park can be visited from 10.00 to 20.00, and the estate-museum has a paid opening hours from 10.00 to 18.00. Ticket offices are open from 10.00 to 17.00.
Testimonials
Today the Kuskovskaya forest-park zone is considered one of the most visited places in the capital. People come here to breathe the air, admire nature and actively relax.
Reviews about the walk in the park are positive, there are many playgrounds for children, benches on its territory, there are excellent places for rollerblading or ice skating. There is a bike rental. The forest park area is clean and well-groomed, there are special picnic pavilions in it.
