Today we are getting acquainted with the Rukavishnikov Manor on the Upper Volga Embankment in Nizhny Novgorod. This is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city.
The building itself, of course, is familiar to many; until 1994, the local history museum was located here. My task is to show what is inside this building now.
is an object of culture of regional significance. It was built by the owner of the first steel plant in Nizhny M. G. Rukavishnikov . His heir S. M. Rukavishnikov decided to turn the estate on Verkhnevolzhskaya embankment into a majestic complex with a house in the style of an Italian palazzo.
The building is richly decorated with stucco, the balcony is supported by atlantes, and the window piers are occupied by high relief figures of caryatids.
Since 1924, the mansion has housed the Museum of Local Lore (now the Nizhny Novgorod State historical and architectural museum-reserve ).
History of building construction
Initially, the 2-storey stone mansion on the Upper Volga Embankment belonged to the merchant of the 3rd guild Serapion Vezlomtsev and went into debt in the 1840s. the owner of the first steel plant in Nizhny Novgorod and a large usurer - interest-bearer M. G. Rukavishnikov.
Facade of the main house of the estate of Serapion Vezlomtsev. 1840s Copy from an archival drawing (Central Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Region)
His successor S.M. Rukavishnikov decided to turn the Manor on Verkhne-Volzhskaya Embankment into a majestic complex with a house in the style of an Italian palazzo. To implement this idea, the architect P.S. Boytsov, who completed the project for the reconstruction of an old house - turning it into a palace-type building and an artist from St. Petersburg M.O. Mikeshin, the author of rich facade decor. Having retained the load-bearing walls of the old building, the architect added wings to it and built on the third floor, on the south side he added a marble front staircase to a two-height hall, richly decorated with stucco and painting. All the interiors of the mansion are distinguished by the splendor of wall decoration and expensive artistic parquet. The building is richly decorated with stucco, the balcony of the 2nd floor is supported by Atlantes, the window piers are occupied by high relief figures of caryatids. On the second floor, the mansion is connected with a two-story brick outbuilding.
The scheme shows that the old building of the 1840s makes up the entire right side of the mansion of S. M. Rukavishnikov.
The border of the old and new parts of the house is visible on the first floor: in the office of S. M. Rukavishnikov there is an inclined passage to small rooms. The “old building” of the 1840s begins with them.
Upon completion of the reconstruction, in 1877, the Rukavishnikov House became the most prominent and richest in Nizhny Novgorod. In general, this is an example of a well-preserved large urban estate complex of the last quarter of the 19th century.
During the Great Patriotic War, the exposition was moved to the village of Tonkino, Gorky Region. As archival studies have shown, in these years, Stalin's bunker was located under the Verkhnevolzhskaya embankment. And its main part was hidden under the museum building. More about this is described in one of the series of the series "Searchers".
After the war and until 1994, the building housed a museum of local lore.
Patio with a fountain and a veranda - a cozy place to relax
For 16 years (since 1994) the doors of the main entrance of Rukavishnikov's palazzo were closed.In 2010, restoration work on the most beautiful building of the Verkhne-Volzhskaya embankment was completed. The attempted maximum possible restoration of the originally rich and refined interior decoration, revealed during the study of the building, largely confirms the evidence of contemporaries of the construction of the mansion.
The main house of the estate today becomes the same as it was vividly and originally presented in the work of art of one of the descendants of the famous Nizhny Novgorod merchant family. I.S. Rukavishnikov, a writer and poet, adhering to some extent to well-known biographical information about the family, in the novel “The Cursed Family” (published in 1912 and 1914, republished in 1999), describes with a great degree of accuracy and reliability the creation of his father - a palace covered with legends Rukavishnikovs on the Volga slope.
Let's go inside this manor.
The first thing you see when you enter this building is a wide front staircase with a huge mirror at the top.
The walls of the stairs are richly decorated with stucco.
Ceiling painted in baroque style
And of course, the main decoration of the stairs is a mirror.
To my great regret, most of the halls are prohibited from filming. So I didn't get to take pictures of them. And there are many interesting things. Museum curators refer to the local government's ban on taking pictures of exhibits, as if they could become unusable due to camera flashes. Although how a flash can ruin, for example, a cast-iron cannon or armchairs, which, by the way, are in abundance in the exposition, I do not understand.
In my opinion, this is a direct violation of the Presidential Decree on the availability of museum valuables.
Only a couple of photos of one of the halls were found on the Internet. Apparently the ban on filming is strictly enforced.
The next room that is allowed to take pictures is the lilac living room.
The ceiling is amazing! Just don't take your eyes off it.
The walls are covered with bas-reliefs in the same style.
The central place in the living room is occupied by a table in the form of a donut
The next room in which shooting is allowed was the dance hall. Of course it makes a lasting impression.
The entire hall, walls and ceiling are decorated with stucco.
On the floor of the hall - stacked parquet made of various types of wood
On one of the walls, again, a huge mirror, with an area of more than 10 square meters. m. (it is on the left in the next photo)
After inspecting the dance hall, visitors go back to the main staircase
At the very exit from the building, we are escorted by another work of art - a vestibule made of carved wood.
This is how we saw the Rukavishnikov Estate on Sunday.
50 km from Nizhny Novgorod in the village of Podvyazye, Bogorodsky district, there is an old romantic place - the noble estate Podvyazye, or the estate of the Priklonsky-Rukavishnikovs.
The Priklonsky-Rukavishnikov Estate is a unique architectural ensemble of the 17th century, a family nest of the richest nobles of the Priklonskys, millionaires Rukavishnikovs, founded in the 16th century and bringing to us the colors and style of past centuries that have long disappeared.
A bit of history.
In the 18th century, the estate became the property of the director of Moscow University, Mikhail Vasilyevich Priklonsky, a noble family. The old estate was renovated, they built a large manor house, an outbuilding, service and economic buildings, laid out a garden with apple trees, currants, plum and cherry trees.
At the end of the 19th century, the estate was under the supervision of the last of the Priklonsky nobles - Praskovia Andreevna, who buried her husband and only daughter. The estate began to fall into disrepair.
In 1877, a young merchant Sergei Mikhailovich Rukavishnikov arrived in Podvyazye. He is full of strength, energy and self-confidence. The purpose of his visit is one - at any cost and for any money to buy the estate. But, unfortunately, the old woman Priklonskaya refuses him with the words "never the estate, which belonged to the pillar nobles Priklonsky, will belong to the former serfs." Rukavishnikov could not bear such a refusal. Yes, he had huge capital inherited from his father, and he could afford a lot, but he could not buy the history of his family name. Only two years after the death of the last Priklonskaya, he was able to acquire the estate. Rukavishnikov hated everything connected with the Priklonskys and his "shame", so the appearance of the estate is changing decisively. First of all, the new owner orders to fill the territory of the estate with a three-meter layer of earth, as a result, the first floors of the buildings were underground. The exterior of the main house was completely changed, all the stucco molding that decorated the house was mercilessly knocked down and the house was covered with a layer of cement (in those days it was the latest fashion). Red brick buildings appeared (forges, stables), various innovations: plumbing, electricity, steam heating, greenhouses were built with pineapples and peaches, which bear fruit even in winter.
The 20th century, like many other estates, did not spare the Podvyazye estate either. Graceful buildings turned into ruins. The park is overgrown. The descent to the river is almost cut by a landslide of the slope.
Now the estate of the Priklonsky-Rukavishnikovs is being restored by the efforts of Zhanna Potravko. To restore the former power and luxury of the estate, investors are needed, which, unfortunately, are not yet available. Now all that is possible is to prevent the plundering of everything that remains of the estate, to clear it of debris and at least restore something and put it under a roof.
The first thing that greets guests is the Resurrection Church (1818) 
At the beginning of the XIX century. in memory of the victory over Napoleon, the owner of the estate, Andrey Bogdanovich Priklonsky, built a temple-rotunda in the village in an unusual architectural style for the Orthodox tradition. It was reported about this church that it was “built in 1818 to commemorate his parents and his wife, Priklonsky ... The facade of her new taste, namely: the church is circular with a pyramidal tong high from the dome to the cross”, the ruins of which, unfortunately, can be observed today, and next to the temple they built a belfry in the form of a triumphal arch. 
In the mid-40s, the stone temple was plundered and used as a vegetable store. Time and robbers from local residents, who stole all the property and even the roof, completed the destruction of the estate. For a long time, the church building was a mortal danger for people who got here. Now the vault of the dome has collapsed completely. All that remained of the iconostasis were nails in the wall. Instead of the old stained-glass windows, there are empty window openings. 
In the same church in the basement was the Priklonsky family crypt, Rukavishnikov ordered to wall it up. 
From the hill of the church, a view of the estate itself, located behind the fence, opens up. So that everything is not completely plundered here, the doors and gates are closed and you can get inside only by prior agreement with Jeanne. Of course, we didn’t know anything about this and just arrived, fortunately for us, a telephone number hangs on the door by which all issues can be resolved. 
Gothic water tower 
After 5 minutes we were already at the estate. Entrance 250 rubles per person. As a gift, a small introductory tour and unlimited time on the estate. 
The estate itself is located on a high, 70-meter cape, which offers an excellent view. 
We go inside. This is the main path that leads from the church to the center of the estate. Technical buildings on the left, chicken coop on the right. 
Church, view from the estate. 
Poultry yard 
Water tower behind the chicken coop 
To the left are technical buildings and an outdoor stove. 
We approach the very center of the estate. 
On the left, before reaching the main house, the greenhouse 
A bit of history.
Sergei Mikhailovich was a man of a sharp mind and loved everything new, he constantly ordered various technical innovations from abroad - from a water supply system that still works to this day, and ending with greenhouses, where fruits grew in the middle of winter and exotic fish swam in the pool. On the territory of the estate under Rukavishnikov there were four greenhouses, which were managed by the most famous biologist in the province, agronomist-breeder A.V. Portugalov, who constantly experimented, growing grapes, peaches, apricots. It should be noted that all the greenhouses were built according to the latest technology: “the building is 17x5 fathoms in size, the front wall and sides are stone, the back wall and the roof are glass, in iron frames, it is divided into a greenhouse consisting of 3 rooms, a steam heating boiler room in 1 room. The glass roof of the greenhouse was mechanically raised and lowered, and was made of French glass, 15 mm thick. The estate had three heating boilers of the French company "san-gali", which supplied heat to the manor's house, greenhouses and the church. One of the boilers is still preserved and stands in the lower floor of the manor house. 
Between the greenhouse and the main house are the "bathing gates". It was from them that there used to be a descent to the river. 
Main house located in the center of the estate 
A semicircular building with outbuildings was built opposite the house. 
Together, both the house and the building form a small area in the center of the estate. 
Main house.
The Rukavishnikovs' manor house of 40 rooms, furnished with precious woods, became simply luxurious, decorated with a gazebo, from which one could enjoy the views of the surroundings, sitting in the chairs of the pavilion on the roof of the house.
Here, from the side of the square, the main entrance to the house was once located. But Rukavishnikov “unfolded” the house: the main entrance was bricked up and an entrance appeared from the other side. It was inconvenient and the guests had to go around the house, but that was the will of the owner.
We go around the house and go to the main entrance, which, by order of Rukavishnikov, was moved to the side of the river.
One of the heating boilers
The semicircular building of outbuildings forms a square. This is a small copy of Admiralteiskaya Square in St. Petersburg. This building once housed a bakery, a huge fish glacier, a dairy, and garages. The lower floors housed the stables.
Main gate. It was through them that they used to get into the estate. Now the road to them is overgrown.
Glacier, the principle of operation is to collect cold in winter and store it in summer. Here you can safely store meat and fish products throughout the year.
Bakery
All rooms are finished with thick tiles.
Garages. Rukavishnikov bought two self-propelled steam engines in England just for them and garages were built
The stables were located on the lower floors.
Second floor, above the stables and view of the forge
Descent to the basement
We leave through the main gate and go towards the water tower
On the road in the bushes there is a cowshed
The water tower was built in the 80s of the 19th century.
Since the estate is located on a cape, representing one large stone, there was a serious problem with the delivery of water. Under S.M. Rukavishnikov, this problem was solved. All water supply systems were delivered from France, including a water pump, two water pumps: 7-horsepower and 25-horsepower, which allowed uninterrupted supply of water to the water tower and the forge.
The first floor was closed, but the stairs to the second and third floors were open
interior
Climbing to the third floor
View from the window
After visiting the main buildings, be sure to go down to the river. Down there once were the main or river gates to the estate
Go to them for about 700 meters, along a narrow path paved with stone, on one side of which there is a high hill, and on the other a deep ravine.
Walking on the stones is not very convenient, it is not clear how horses rode here before.
The river gates (late 19th century) look like small fortress towers.
They consist of two elements: a watch room and a high pylon, between which there were gate bars with a complex decorative pattern and resembling butterfly wings in silhouette. The gatehouse itself was made in the form of a two-tiered tower, reminiscent of a medieval castle.
You can climb to the second floor right along the hill to which the tower is adjacent.
We rise back. As it turned out, in such heat, it was much easier to descend.)))
View of the main building from the park.
An integral part of the Rukavishnikovs' estate is a park with a central linden alley that remembers the steps and rustle of the dresses of the owners who once walked here.
To the left of the alley grows a three-hundred-year-old larch. There is a belief that one can make a wish here and it will surely come true, you just need to hug this tree.
And for someone who can grasp it immediately in one fell swoop, the wish will come true immediately.)))
A blacksmith was built against the larch, on the other side of the alley. She was specially moved away from the manor house, so that in the event of a fire she would not burn the entire estate.
We go back to the exit. We are escorted only by a cow, which sadly looks after us, because. tourists are very rare here.
The room through which we entered and are now leaving.
photo June 2016 Ksenia Yuferova
Founded at the mouth of two rivers, Nizhny Novgorod was the center of the country's merchant life. Its architectural appearance was adorned with rich estates, merchant mansions and tenement houses. Among all these buildings, the buildings, one way or another connected with the Rukavishnikov family, with the dynasty of millionaires - magnates, which became the mainstay of the public life of the city of the 19th century, stood out in particular.
Manor on the Upper Volga Embankment
The family nest of the Rukavishnikov dynasty is located on the picturesque slope of the Dyatlovy Mountains - the Volga slope. The construction of the estate dates back to 1877. Its owner was a well-known merchant - the son of the Nizhny Novgorod magnate Sergei Rukavishnikov. Once upon a time, his father bought a two-story house with a mezzanine on this site, and later, in 1875, Sergei decided to build a new building here.
Later, the son of Sergei, the poet and prose writer of the Silver Age, Ivan Rukavishnikov, in the novel “The Damned Family” will describe this idea as follows: “And there will be a house-palace. And there are a hundred rooms in the palace ... And that palace will cost exactly a million ... Let the whole city gasp. The house really cost the owner almost a million, while the construction of the city government building on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street took 260 thousand.
The owner of the future mansion chose Pyotr Boytsov as the architect. Despite the construction of a real palace, they decided to leave the old building and make it part of the new one. The owner's old aunt flatly refused to move to another place. The building was not touched, but the lady had to put up with the constant noise of construction work.
The palace was built in the then fashionable eclectic style. The architect used elements of different historical styles and combined them in one work. The current building differs from others in the abundance of various decorative elements on the facade. The palace is decorated with sculptures of Atlanteans, caryatids and putti angels. The perimeter of the first floor is decorated with carefully traced capstones and mascarons in the shape of a lion's head. The roof is decorated with balusters and pilasters. Many compare the mansion with an Italian palazzo, but such a comparison is groundless. Both buildings are united only by monumentality and a rusticated facade.
In Soviet times, the Rukavishnikov estate was nationalized. Now it is the Nizhny Novgorod State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve.
Photo: Anastasia Golikova
Not far from the Rukavishnikovs' mansion, on Minin Street, there is another estate of members of this wealthy family. It was owned by a married couple Burmistrov. The head of the family Dmitry is a well-known merchant, a member of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma, and his wife Varvara is a native of the merchant family of the Rukavishnikovs.
In 1879, Varvara acquired a manor with a wooden house and an outbuilding as an inheritance. Under the guidance of the architect Nikolai Grigoriev, in 1885 the house was rebuilt in the eclectic style. The architect placed figures of caryatids on the architraves of the facade of the building, and golden garlands under the windows. In the family novel, Ivan Rukavishnikov writes about the mansion itself in passing, but describes the garden in detail. According to the plot of the novel, the garden extends to the Volga itself and is decorated with fountains, a marble staircase, many sculptures and a grotto. It is known that Dmitry Burmistrov was a passionate gardener and built three greenhouses on the territory of the garden, which, unfortunately, have not been preserved. They say that it was from here that flowers were brought to the coffin of Lenin.
After the October Revolution, the Burmistrov mansion was nationalized and given over to the city museum. For almost twenty years, various institutions were located in the estate: from the art and history museum to the hostel for workers of the Gorky Party School. In 1934, the building was transferred to the Gorky Literary Museum. The former mistress, having become a widow, lived in her own estate, where she was given a small room, until 1930.
In 1887, at a meeting of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma, a call was made to open a house of industriousness in the city, where the homeless and the poor could work. The idea of creating such a building was supported by the Rukavishnikov family. In 1893, Mikhail Rukavishnikov acquired a carpentry factory named after I. T. Khvorinov, in which he opened premises for the employment of the poor. However, the building did not last long, as it was wooden and soon burned down. Then the children of Mikhail and Lyuboviya Rukavishnikov decided to build a stone building in the same place and name it in honor of their parents.
The construction was made of fireproof materials: concrete and ceramic bricks. Inside, there were spacious bright workshops equipped with various amenities. The identity of the architect has not been precisely established: according to some sources, he was Pavel Dombrovsky, according to others - Anatoly Shmakov. The building was built in the rational modern style. Industrial buildings were often built in it, such as the checkpoint of the Krasnoye Sormovo plant. Due to the peculiarities of the style, the architecture of the House of Diligence is not rich. Everything corresponds to the idea of conciseness, simplicity, rational use of space, despite the fact that modern is an artsy style. Now we see an even more simplified corner facade of the building, because in Soviet times the figured roof tops were replaced with a superstructure.
In 1914, the building housed a military hospital, most of the poor went to the front. After the war, a printing house was opened in the former House of Labor, which still operates there today.
Lower polygraph since 1922
Trading house and bank of Sergey Rukavishnikov
At the beginning of the 20th century, the country's economy was on the rise. New banking establishments were opened. In 1910, Sergei Rukavishnikov built a building on Rozhdestvenskaya Street, which housed the Russian Commercial and Industrial Bank, one of the largest in the country. A year later, the construction of a trading house began on the Nizhne-Volzhskaya embankment. The architect of both buildings, which made up a single complex, was one of the most famous representatives of the Art Nouveau era in Russia and Europe, Fyodor Shekhtel. He designed buildings in a style in which the decorative decoration of the facades looked concise and not pretentious. Both buildings refer us to Gothic motifs and reflect the romantic mood of modern architects. There is also a strong rhythm of verticals, and even an imitation of buttresses (protruding elements on the facade of a trading house). The main attention is focused on windows, pillars, proportions of facade planes.
The trading house of Sergei Rukavishnikov was completed after the start of the First World War. The spacious premises of the building housed a military uniform sewing workshop evacuated from Warsaw. Then, for a long time, the Mayak garment factory was located in the former trading house, which stopped its work in 2015. The bank building has remained administrative in its purpose.
Trading house
Another architectural monument belonging to the dynasty of Nizhny Novgorod millionaires is the profitable house of Uzatis-Rukavishnikov. According to legend, the eldest son of the founder of the merchant dynasty, Ivan Rukavishnikov, the third of the heirs, really wanted to marry a young noblewoman - the daughter of Colonel Birin. To match the high status of the bride, Ivan bought a house on the main street of the city. The former owner of the mansion was Aleksey Uzatis, the head of the Sormovo steamship plant and a major in the corps of mining engineers. The construction of the house dates back to 1865. It is known that at the end of the 19th - 20th centuries there was a public meeting here, which became the center of the musical life of the city. In Soviet times, the building was converted into a regional philharmonic society. It existed in this place until 1968, until it received a new building in the Kremlin. The house itself underwent a major reconstruction for a puppet theater, the project of which was led by the architect Sergei Timofeev.
Puppet theater since 1929
Ksenia Yuferova
Tags: ,The Embassy of Myanmar occupies a very interesting mansion on Bolshaya Nikitskaya. And although its architectural solution is not very magnificent, it is decided in the typical forms of an ordinary building, but it stands out with a beautiful glazed lantern above the entrance portico.
The history of ownership can be traced back to the middle of the 18th century. On the extensive site of the Bessonovs' estate, which occupied half a quarter until the middle of the 19th century, the plan of 1757 shows one-story stone chambers with a semi-basement. By the French invasion, the possession was already somewhat smaller. In the fire of 1812, the main house survived, unlike neighboring properties. In 1830, the new mistress, the daughter of state councilor N. A. Simonov, built a mezzanine at his place. In 1876, the wife of collegiate secretary E. D. Vikulina divided the plot into two parts - she keeps one, which later became 43, and builds a new house there, and sells the western part (41) with the old house to the merchant Vasily Nikitich Rukavishnikov. The Rukavishnikovs were a very significant merchant family. Merchants of the first guild, they were not Muscovites. They came from the Urals and were large gold miners. The head of the dynasty - Vasily Nikitich Rukavishnikov - a merchant of the 1st guild, the owner of gold mines, began his activities in the Orenburg province. In 1875, he and his wife Elena Kuzminichnaya went to Moscow, where his three sons were already receiving higher education. Vasily Nikitich himself was an enlightened man, had a good education and tried to give the same to his sons. The patriarchal spirit reigned in the family. He also taught his children merchant and entrepreneurial skills. His wife Elena Kuzminichna Rukavishnikova, a pious woman, brought up dignity, virtue, attentiveness to others in her children, taught them compassion. Their middle son Nikolai in 1870 headed a unique charitable institution, a correctional shelter for juvenile delinquents of the noble society of industriousness, and dedicated the last 5 years of his short life to him. Since then, this shelter has been called Rukavishnikovsky. In 1875 Nikolai died at the age of 29. The parents decide to sell the mansion on Tverskoy Boulevard and move to another house. The plot was registered in the name of his wife Elena Kuzminichna, from whom in the same year a request was received to rebuild the house. The project was entrusted to a relative - the architect Alexander Stepanovich. Kaminsky. The second floor was built on and a risalit was added on the north side. A.S. Kaminsky also significantly changed the architectural appearance of the facade in his characteristic eclectic manner, using motifs of the Moscow neo-baroque. After the death of Elena Kuzminichna in 1879, the youngest son Konstantin Vasilyevich Rukavishnikov and his family moved to the mansion with his father. And the mansion is issued to his wife Evdokia Nikolaevna, nee Mamontova. She came from a famous merchant family, was the younger sister of Vera Nikolaevna Tretyakova. Through her, the Rukavishnikovs became related to half of merchant Moscow.
Konstantin Vasilyevich Rukavishnikov was on the board of the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society for several years. Board meetings attended by P.I. Tchaikovsky, S.I. Taneev, A.S. Arensky often took place in the mansion. Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, the cousin of Evdokia Nikolaevna, came to her with his friends, artists and artists. There were young F.I. Chaliapin, K. Korovin, even I.A. Aivazovsky was here because he was friends with the owners, whose dacha was in Feodosia.
In 1893, after the murder of N.A. Alekseeva, K.V. Rukavishnikov was elected the Moscow Mayor for a 4-year term. He completed many projects that his predecessor did not have time to do - sewerage, plumbing, hospitals and schools. At the same time, he devoted a lot of time and energy to the Rukavishnikovsky children's correctional shelter for juvenile delinquents, which he constantly led after the death of his brother and until his death. And his wife arranged a similar shelter for girls - the Titov needlework school on Povarskaya, in her house.
In 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, the couple equipped a surgical infirmary on the second floor of their mansion, which was later transformed into the “E. N. Rukavishnikova Surgical Hospital”. For a bright operating room, an entrance risalit was built on the second floor, which looks like a bay window-lantern. It turned out to be a very bright, good room. In general, 20 patients could easily fit in the clinic. Outpatients were also received daily. The clinic was considered one of the best private surgical hospitals in the city and Evdokia Nikolaevna was very proud of her. During the First World War, it was again turned into an infirmary for the wounded. In 1917, the mansion and the clinic were nationalized. In Soviet times, the house was under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Health Department. In 1960, it was given over to the Myanmar embassy, which is still located here.
The future house is big and beautiful. A thousand masons will build. Drawings-plans from Moscow and St. Petersburg. And there will be a house-palace. And the palace has a hundred rooms. And a hall with two lights. And the staircase is marble, which is nowhere to be found. And that palace will cost exactly one million ... Let the whole city gasp. Let them come from all over the Volga to admire. Where should that palace stand? Not in the same narrow street, where there are houses on both sides. And on the embankment on the top ...
So wrote I.S. Rukavishnikov in the novel "The Cursed Family" about his father's dream.
The Rukavishnikovs are one of those high-profile families with which Nizhny Novgorod is historically associated: merchants, breeders, bankers The Rukavishnikovs were known throughout Russia in the 19th century.
The ancestor of the dynasty, Grigory Mikhailovich Rukavishnikov, was not born an entrepreneur. He was an ordinary blacksmith in the village of Krasnaya Ramen, Makaryevsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province. Entrepreneurial streak showed up in him later: having moved in 1817 after the Makariev fair to Nizhny Novgorod, he bought several shops and began to trade in iron rather briskly. Things were going well - the number of shops grew, capital multiplied, and pretty soon Grigory Mikhailovich founded his own ironworks. In 1836, for his work, he was even awarded a medal from the department of manufactures and domestic trade.
Nature also did not rest on the children of Grigory Rukavishnikov. Under his son Mikhail Grigorievich, the business reached its highest peak. Mikhail inherited from his father a sharp savvy mind and endless diligence. He could not stand carelessness, laziness, kept in strong hands not only those who worked for him, but also himself. At the end of his life, for his character, Mikhail Grigorievich was nicknamed the Iron Old Man.
Having taken over the business from his father, Mikhail Rukavishnikov managed to arrange it in such a way that he very soon became the monopoly supplier of iron in the Nizhny Novgorod province. His business reputation was so unshakable that the owners of the Ural mining plants - the princes Golitsyn, Stroganov, Abamelek-Lazarev - preferred to have contacts only with Rukavishnikov's firm. The fortune of the family grew by leaps and bounds. Mikhail Grigoryevich opened large warehouses in Nizhny Novgorod, a large stud farm in Podvyazye on the Oka, as well as a steel plant in Kanavin, which produced almost the best steel in Russia: the products of the Kanavinsky steel plant were supplied both to many Russian provinces and abroad . A high-ranking official from the capital, who visited the plant, said with skill: "I had the opportunity to make sure that the steel factory of Mr. Rukavishnikov was ahead of many others." Throughout his life, Mikhail Rukavishnikov improved production, adopting the best experience from his own competitors. Honorary citizen of Nizhny Novgorod, manufactory adviser, member of the provincial guardianship committee on prisons, the first guild merchant Rukavishnikov was one of the most influential people in the city.
They say you can't hide genes. Let me remind you that the founder of the merchant family, Grigory Rukavishnikov, was originally a blacksmith and, probably, a blacksmith not mediocre: inclinations towards beauty were already evident in his immediate descendants. His grandson, the son of the Iron Old Man, Mitrofan Mikhailovich was a connoisseur and collector of art objects. Many paintings from his private collection (“Flying Carpet” by Vasnetsov, “The Lady under the Umbrella” by Kramskoy) still adorn the halls of the Nizhny Novgorod Art Museum. Mitrofan's brother, Sergey Mikhailovich Rukavishnikov left a memory of himself by the construction of magnificent buildings, which today are the decoration of Nizhny Novgorod, including the Rukavishnikov estate on the Verkhnevolzhskaya embankment.
The head of the merchant family, Mikhail Rukavishnikov, bought a two-story house on the Otkos from the merchant Serpion Vezlomtsev in 1840. His son Sergei, having inherited the house, decided to turn it into a palace. He decided to turn a two-story house, modest by the standards of a millionaire, into a luxurious estate in the style of an Italian palazzo. Architects and artists helped the merchant to realize his idea. The building was completed with the third floor, the wings of the facade, the main staircase made of marble.
The architect Pyotr Boikov, invited from Moscow, was in charge of the construction, and the famous artist Mikhail Mikeshin performed the sculptures. The estate was the first in the city to have electricity, an elevator worked.
By the way, Sergei Rukavishnikov hid the old two-story house in his royal estate during construction. This is one of the secrets of the house, which must be known. There are many versions of this host decision. First, the Rukavishnikovs were prudent, and it was economically more profitable for them to keep the old house, building a new one around it. The second is more interesting - the owner of the estate succumbed to the persuasion of his mother, who wished that the old house was preserved. And in his novel, Ivan Rukavishnikov tells in detail the story of an aunt who categorically refused to leave the house. Then the merchant bought part of the land from her and built a new house, keeping her aunt's rooms with low ceilings intact.
From the outside, the building is decorated with stucco, atlantes support the balcony, high-relief figures of caryatids occupy the window piers.
After completion of construction, the house was estimated at 15,000 rubles. A tax of 1933 rubles was taken annually from the owner to the city treasury - the most significant amount in Nizhny Novgorod.
The first thing you see when you enter this building is a wide front staircase with huge mirrors and murals.
Photography was allowed only in three places. This is the purple living room.
Looks great. By the way, a family of eight people lived in the house. It's good to be a millionaire!
And finally, the ballroom. With good acoustics, a huge mirror and a place for an orchestra.
And it was all for chic. Let's not forget that the Rukavishnikovs are Old Believers, for whom family comes first. They lived on the third floor, where there were simple wallpapers and solid furniture. Almost the entire third floor was given to children, of whom there were many in the family. And the owner of the house himself rarely used the pompous office on the first floor. The millionaire Old Believer could easily be recognized by a solid, but modest suit of dark tones, the absence of expensive jewelry. He was distinguished by moderation in eating and often avoided noisy social entertainment. That's what the Old Believer did not spare money for - this is to improve his business - scientific developments and innovations, and, of course, for good deeds.
