Arkhangelskoe

Arkhangel’skoe 

an estate located 20 km west of Moscow. From 1703 to 1810, Arkhangel’skoe belonged to the Golitsyn princes, and from 1810 to 1917 it belonged to the Iusupov princes. Now it is a museum.

Arkhangel’skoe was built in the classical style. It includes a palace (designed in the 1780’s by the architect de Gern) with its park facade facing the old channel of the Moscow River; a regular park in 18th-century style (designed by I. Borunov) with terraces (architect, Trombaro), busts, statues, and park buildings including the Little Palace Kapriz (1819) and a monument to Catherine II (a bronze statue by J. D. Rushette); a theater (1817–18, with P. G. Gonzago’s stage sets intact). Beginning in 1813, I. Ia Zhukov, O. I. Beauvais, the serf architect V. Ia. Strizhakov, S. P. Melnikov (1817–18), E. D. Turin (1817–27), and others participated in the construction of Arkhangel’skoe. Inside the palace the decorations, furniture, ceramics, and other furnishings executed with the collaboration of serf artisans have been preserved. Paintings by A. van Dyck, G. B. Tiepolo, H. Robert, F. Boucher, and P. Rotari and sculptures by E. M. Falconet and I. P. Vitali have also been preserved. The estate ensemble comprises the Church of the Archangel Mikhail (1646) with the Holy Gate (1825–26, E. D. Turin) at its entrance. Between 1934 and 1937, two sanatorium buildings were constructed on the site of the greenhouses by the military engineer V. P. Apyshkov. In 1965 restoration work was done.

REFERENCE

Poznanskii, V. V. Arkhangel’skoe. Moscow, 1966.