Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki

The riding house fronted by Pyotr Klodt's statues of horse tamers.

Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki is an estate formerly belonging to the Stroganov and Golitsyn families of the Russian nobility. Today, it is incorporated into Kuzminki-Lyublino historical park located in Moscow's Kuzminki District. The estate was named after the Icon of Theotokos Vlakhernskaya, a copy of which was kept in the estate church.

History[]

In 1702 Peter the Great granted the estate to Grigori Stroganov. No buildings were erected on the property until after the death of the first owner in 1714. The new owner, Alexander Stroganov, began construction on the estate; in 1754 the estate passed to his widow. After the marriage of her daughter Anna in 1757 to Prince Mikhail M. Golitsyn (1731–1804), the property passed to the Golitsyn family. From 1833 onwards, Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki was a part of Golitsyns . In 1889 a part of the estate was donated to Vlakhernsky hospital. In the course of the First World War, the manor house was converted to an officers' hospital.

After the Revolution[]

In 1917 the mansion was nationalized and given to the Institute of experimental veterinary medicine, which later became the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Veterinary Medicine in Petrograd and occupied the building until 2001. During the following decades, Kuzminki fell into disrepair and decay. Many buildings were rebuilt and converted into laboratories, residential and administrative buildings.

Today, it is the largest manor house in Moscow by number of buildings (currently over 20), a considerable part of which are newly built ones.^[1]

The Manor house[]

The manor house was rebuilt several times in the second half of the 18th century. Side wings are connected with the main house by two semi-circular galleries. In the 1830s, the entrance of the manor court was decorated with iron candelabra and griffins, designed by J. Colombo. The manor house and its western wing burned down in 1916. In the late 1920s, a new building of the Institute of Experimental Veterinary Medicine was built on the spot. The western wing was renovated in the 1950s. The wings of the manor house are operated by the Museum of History of Moscow and exhibit various collections, including those of the Museum of Russian Estate Culture.

The Estate Church[]

The Church of the Blachernitissa today.

The church of the Blachernae Icon of Theotokos is located at the heart of the estate. The first wooden church was built here in 1716 by the Stroganovs in honour of the Blachernae Icon, a Stroganov family patron. The construction of a stone church in the Baroque style began at the end of the 1750s. In the 1780s, the church was rebuilt in Neoclassical style. In the 19th century, it was rebuilt by Domenico Giliardi and .

The church has two side altars dedicated to Saints Alexander Nevsky and Sergius of Radonezh; several members of the Golitsyn family are interred at the church.

The church was closed in 1929 by order of the government and many of its ceremonial items were removed, the bell tower was also ruined and the building itself was badly damaged. The church and the bell tower were restored in 1995 under the guidance of Yelena Vorontsova. In October 1995 the refurbished church was consecrated by the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, Alexy II.

The Riding Court[]

The Riding Court on the left bank of the Upper Pond near the dam was built in 1805. It was rebuilt in 1823 by architect Domenico Gilardi. The Riding Court contained stables, warehouses for forage and special utensils, sleighs and carriages. In 1846, sculptures similar to those on the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg were installed around the edges of the music pavilion.

In 1978, the building of the Music Pavilion burnt down and the other premises of the Riding Court were abandoned. In the early 2000s, the entire complex of the courtyard was restored and museum exhibitions showing the stables, carriage, forage and hay barns and the riding arena where equestrian events are held. The Courtyard Music Pavilion organises concerts with auditoriums on the banks of the pond.

On 28 January 2019, a wooden ceiling collapsed in the Riding Court premises.^[2]