Provision, garage and contemporary art.
Behind the monumental forms of Provisional Warehouses at the corner of Zubovsky Boulevard and Ostozhenka lies a confused past, a shaky present and a vague future. Maybe they will fall apart before they can be repaired. Such is their fate.
The architect Stasov never arrived.
The confusion began as early as the century before last, when a giant pit was dug at the corner of Zubovsky and Ostozhenka, to the delight of the boys. locals habitually grumbled about dirt and noise, but consoled themselves with the fact that the famous Stasov was building, who by that time had become something of a court architect. Well, I decided to give my native Moscow such an honor. A knowledgeable people just smiled. Vasily Petrovich, they said in confidence, was not up to it. He never even went to the site.
I just drew a typical project - they say that in Russia all food warehouses in general should be like this, period. And all the dirty work was done by the architect Fyodor Shestakov. By the end of the 20s, Stasov had become a bird of too high a flight. Yes, and he was busy with work, from which you can’t just tear yourself away: he remade the personal chambers of the deceased Emperor Alexander into the personal chambers of the living Emperor Nicholas. Soon, all three buildings of the Provision Warehouses were ready, and the rumors were confirmed.
Passers-by were surprised at the enormity of the white facades, befitting rather the capital of St. Petersburg. They would have to watch from afar - but nowhere. It turned out to be strange that the rectangular strict buildings stand crooked: a project made for regular building northern capital, had to be squeezed into the oblique corner of Ostozhenka with the ring: No sooner had the workers finished plastering the facade than the warehouses began to acquire new legends. There was a reason: they were not allowed inside in the 19th century, they were not allowed in the 20th century, and even now they are not allowed.
They said, for example, that there were no warehouses inside, but a special cavalry platoon to suppress riots. And army provisions are stored underground, for which a six-meter basement was secretly dug under each building. And not only provisions in it, but also something even more valuable ... True, no one saw the cellar with their own eyes. Having become a garage after the revolution, Provisional warehouses only became more classified. Even Moscow guidebooks began to pass them over in silence.
We reveal the 500-page History of Moscow Streets by Sytin, published in the 1950s. Moving along Ostozhenka and scrupulously describing almost every house, Pyotr Vasilyevich abruptly stops a block before the warehouses. And he goes for a walk along Zubovsky, prudently stepping back from the corner: Food warehouses? Or maybe tell you more about the secret Metro-2?
And they are not allowed inside.
New times brought clarity to the fate of the grocery stores. But from riddles and inconsistencies they still can not escape. Four years ago, Moscow - no longer a province, but the capital - agreed that 300 cars of the 147th garage would leave the warehouses, and in return the Ministry of Defense would receive six hectares in Krylatskoye and a billion one hundred million rubles for a new good garage. They gave us land, money too, but there was not enough money. It was the Ministry of Defense builders who were stealing! – Confidentially, but confidently, sources in the garage who asked not to be identified told us.
No, it's all about inflation, materials have risen in price during construction, - military builders told Stolichnaya no less confidently. No, we took inflation into account, the Moscow authorities say: In principle, the usual problems, not only with Provision warehouses. But the fact is that while the parties are resolving issues, the very object of the dispute may disappear from the face of the earth. Warehouses now seem to be no one's, no one is responsible for them, neither Moscow nor the ministry. Builders know that a house that no one looks after deteriorates instantly, and in a year it can become emergency.
Outside, everything is the same as 170 years ago, but inside, garage workers complain to Stolichnaya, a mess. The roof is leaking, the rafters are rotting, the walls are cracking. It's time to repair! “Waiting for the military to vacate the premises, we have been designing the reconstruction and repair of warehouses for several years,” says Dmitry Metaniev from the GiproNII RAS. And they don't even let us in! We work according to drawings and photographs of 70 years ago. The object is modal.
Architects still do not know whether the basement under the buildings is a myth or reality. They don't know how much the military has rebuilt the warehouse interiors. “According to rumors,” says Metaniev, “residential buildings were built in the courtyard right on the territory of the architectural monument.” Yes, they were built, the military confirmed to Stolichnaya. 4-storey, you can even see them from the bridge. But the architects were still not allowed. Why don't you wait until the warehouses are empty? All because of the same, - Metaniev answers. If by the time the warehouses are emptied, at least rough plan, more likely that we will have time to save from death.
Warehouse fight.
Logically, the destruction of warehouses would be the most natural end to history. But while they're preparing to fall apart, it's already slated new turn in their biography. Indeed, for a museum, unlike a garage, the premises are simply luxurious. In the very center, almost without internal partitions and almost without windows, which the museum does not need.
And now, although there are no official documents about who to give them to, the division already underway full swing. Warehouses were promised to the House of Photography. Then they decided to give him only one of the three buildings, one more - Tsereteli for the museum contemporary art, and the third - to the Museum of Moscow. Then the Museum of Moscow disappeared from the list. There are two left. “I hope he doesn’t take all the warehouses,” Olga Sviblova told us. But she hopes in vain. In a telephone interview, Zurab Tsereteli assured Stolichnaya that he would find something to occupy the food warehouses entirely, and had already received an unofficial order from Luzhkov to that effect.
Tsereteli's plan is striking in its grandiosity. Hardly any of the approving authorities will be able to resist such a pressure of ideas and money. “There will be a better museum in the Proviatne warehouses than the Pompidou Center,” Zurab Konstantinovich promised Stolichnaya. - There are 100 thousand paintings in the storerooms of the Academy of Arts. Everyone will be here." There will be a museum of photography, a museum of Moscow, and Western European painting.
All this regardless of existing museums. “We have a different concept,” Tsereteli explained, “they come from history, archeology, technology, and we come from art.” The former garage will become the largest international art history center. Foreigners will be coming in droves, and for them Tsereteli has already planned a small hotel. “I personally do not want to touch the budget,” Tsereteli puts forward the last and main argument. “In America, I’m making a 30-meter sculpture, I’ll give the fees to the Center for the Arts in its entirety.”
Tsereteli never fights with anyone, he just buys everyone, ”Alexey Komech, director of the Institute of Art Studies, explained the situation to Stolichnaya. - I would prefer this museum to be organized by a person with better taste and broader ideas than Zurab. And I will object to new construction in the territory of warehouses. In a normal society, Tsereteli could be entrusted with making a museum; he is enterprising and rich.
The Museum of Moscow is located in the old building "Provision Warehouses" in Moscow at the address -, d. 2, st. , d. 48. Entrance to the museum as from the side of the street. Ostozhenka, and from Zubovsky Boulevard.
Nearest metro station: Park Kultury.
Entrance to the museum courtyard is free. Exhibitions and excursions are paid.
The Museum of Moscow tells about what Moscow was like in the past, how it is changing today, and what it can become in the future. The rich and varied collection of the museum allows you to explore Moscow with different parties, look at your favorite city from unexpected angles.
Sculptures are installed in the courtyard of the museum, and open-air exhibitions are held.
Documentary Film Center
The museum building houses a cinema specializing in documentary films. If you like cinema not for everyone, then you are here.
Historical information about the building of Provisional warehouses
Provision warehouses were built in 1832-1835 according to the project of the architect Vasily Stasov. In Moscow, Fyodor Shestakov built according to his project (sometimes he is considered the author of the Food Warehouses, and Stasov is called the author of the "exemplary" project). Warehouses consist of three approximately identical buildings (the differences are caused by the non-rectangular geometry of the site). As the name implies, warehouses were used to store provisions.
After the revolution of 1917, the complex of buildings was transferred to the Ministry of Defense. For the past 30 years, the military has used the buildings as a garage. The idea is to remove the garages of the Ministry of Defense from the buildings and create a certain Cultural Center refers to the mid 1990s. Now the building is a museum complex.
« Provision warehouses- the current building of the Museum of Moscow - during the war they were somehow connected with the military. There was something pretty serious going on here. I have never seen cars leaving from there. Windows and doors were always tightly closed. They never opened."
The Ensemble of Provisional Warehouses on Zubovsky Boulevard, an example of the beautiful architecture of Moscow's mature classicism, was built in the 1830s for the needs of the military department.
The need to build new stone warehouses in Moscow for the storage of "state provisions" appeared in the early 1820s, since the old wooden barns, which were then located near the Serpukhov Gate, were dilapidated and needed to be replaced. New warehouses were originally supposed to be built in the same place, at the Serpukhov Gates.
The project of the Resurrection food warehouses in St. Petersburg, developed in 1821, was taken as a model for the future construction. famous architect V. P. Stasov. The task of implementing this project in Moscow was entrusted to the architect F. M. Shestakov. As a result, a new place was chosen for the construction of Provisional Warehouses - at the corner of Ostozhenka Street and Zubovsky Boulevard, in the possession that previously belonged to the Stable Department. This place turned out to be more convenient in terms of food delivery.
The new site was of an irregular trapezoidal shape, with acute angle at the intersection of Ostozhenka and Sadovoye Koltso, which created certain difficulties for Shestakov when trying to “fit in” here exemplary project Stasov (which was created with the expectation of a regular layout of St. Petersburg). As a result, the architect simply placed the right building along Ostozhenka, so that it turned out to be at an angle to the main building, and the two front facades of this side wing were made at an acute angle to each other, which, however, is not at all striking due to the monumental architecture of the buildings. According to the project of Shestakov himself, a building of the guardhouse (a guardroom) was built in the courtyard and a metal fence was created along the boulevard and Ostozhenka. The complex of Provisional Warehouses (or shops, as they were then called) was built from 1829 to 1835.
The appearance of the ensemble is simple and monumental. All buildings are of the same architecture, two-storied, with a rather laconic design of facades. The surface of the walls is smooth, only the central part of the facade is decorated with rustication. On the main and courtyard facades, three trapezoidal portals with semicircular windows above them alternate with narrow windows. Semicircular windows are placed in niches, and niches are arranged above some windows. The stucco decoration of the facades is modest: triangular sandriks over the portals, wreaths with garlands over the windows (this element is typical for the Empire style, in this case, such decor also emphasizes the military purpose of the buildings). The buildings are crowned by a powerful forward-facing cornice with a triglyph-metopic frieze. The internal partitions of the storage buildings are made in the form of arcades that divide the space into three naves. Three buildings are connected to each other by a fence original drawing. The metal pillars of the fence, made in the form of fascias, are topped with tied battle axes (a Roman military symbol), the fence lattice itself ends with peaks and was decorated with elegant cartouches with the imperial crown and the monogram of Nicholas I. the main gates are crowned with antique armor made of metal - symbols of military triumph. The ensemble is complemented by the building of the guardhouse in the courtyard - a one-story building with a portico decorated with a frieze depicting ancient military helmets.
Provision stores were used as food warehouses for the military department, where grain, flour and other products were stored. After the revolution of 1917, they came under the jurisdiction of the Red Army. In the 1930s, the buildings were given over to military garages, which led to the restructuring and redevelopment of buildings (in particular, ramps to the second floor were arranged). The complex of former food warehouses belonged to the military until the mid-2000s. In 2007, the buildings were transferred to the Museum of Moscow.
The Ensemble of Provisional Warehouses on Zubovsky Boulevard, an example of the beautiful architecture of Moscow's mature classicism, was built in the 1830s for the needs of the military department.
The need to build new stone warehouses in Moscow for the storage of "state provisions" appeared in the early 1820s, since the old wooden barns, which were then located near the Serpukhov Gate, were dilapidated and needed to be replaced. New warehouses were originally supposed to be built in the same place, at the Serpukhov Gates.
As a model for the future building, the project of the Resurrection food warehouses in St. Petersburg, developed in 1821 by the famous architect V.P. Stasov. The task of implementing this project in Moscow was entrusted to the architect F.M. Shestakov. As a result, a new place was chosen for the construction of Provisional Warehouses - at the corner of Ostozhenka Street and Zubovsky Boulevard, in the possession that previously belonged to the Stable Department. This place turned out to be more convenient in terms of food delivery.
The new section was of an irregular trapezoidal shape, with an acute angle at the intersection of Ostozhenka and the Garden Ring, which created certain difficulties for Shestakov when trying to “fit in” Stasov’s exemplary project (which was created with the regular layout of St. Petersburg in mind) here. As a result, the architect simply placed the right building along Ostozhenka, so that it turned out to be at an angle to the main building, and the two front facades of this side wing were made at an acute angle to each other, which, however, is not at all striking due to the monumental architecture of the buildings. According to the project of Shestakov himself, a building of the guardhouse (a guardroom) was built in the courtyard and a metal fence was created along the boulevard and Ostozhenka. The complex of Provisional Warehouses (or shops, as they were then called) was built from 1829 to 1835.
The appearance of the ensemble is simple and monumental. All buildings are of the same architecture, two-storied, with a rather laconic design of facades. The surface of the walls is smooth, only the central part of the facade is decorated with rustication. On the main and courtyard facades, three trapezoidal portals with semicircular windows above them alternate with narrow windows. Semicircular windows are placed in niches, and niches are arranged above some windows. The stucco decoration of the facades is modest: triangular sandriks over the portals, wreaths with garlands over the windows (this element is typical for the Empire style, in this case, such decor also emphasizes the military purpose of the buildings). The buildings are crowned by a powerful forward-facing cornice with a triglyph-metopic frieze. The internal partitions of the storage buildings are made in the form of arcades that divide the space into three naves. Three buildings are connected to each other by a fence of the original design. The metal pillars of the fence, made in the form of fascias, are topped with tied battle axes (a Roman military symbol), the fence lattice itself ends with peaks and was decorated with elegant cartouches with the imperial crown and the monogram of Nicholas I. the main gates are crowned with antique armor made in metal - symbols of military triumph. The ensemble is complemented by the building of the guardhouse in the courtyard - a one-story building with a portico decorated with a frieze depicting antique military helmets.
Provision stores were used as food warehouses for the military department, where grain, flour and other products were stored. After the revolution of 1917 they came under the jurisdiction of the Red Army. In the 1930s, the buildings were given over to military garages, which led to the restructuring and redevelopment of buildings (in particular, ramps to the second floor were arranged). The complex of former food warehouses belonged to the military until the mid-2000s. In 2007, the buildings were transferred to the Museum of Moscow.
