Manor Petrovsko-Razumovskoye

Studying Moscow and its sights, I accidentally found out about this estate. Its history is very long, the architecture that has survived to this day is amazing. Haven’t seen anything like this yet.

The architectural ensemble in the Baroque style and the equipped huge park area appeared in the middle of the 17th century, when the estate became the property of Count K. G. Razumovsky.

At the moment, since 2005, the Russian State Agrarian University named after K. A. Timiryazev has been located here.

The history of this beautiful place is overshadowed by one terrible event that then excited the whole country. In 1869, the body of a student was found in the grotto of the Petrovsko-Razumovskoye estate. The murder was committed by members of the People’s Reprisal group. And this story formed the basis of the plot of the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky “Demons”.

The first thing you will see upon entering the territory of the estate is the majestic main building of red color with unusual windows. The photo clearly shows that the glass in the windows is special: convex and resemble lenses. They were installed so that more sunlight penetrated the room, and students were not distracted by what was happening outside.

Coming closer, you will see 4 benches and a fountain, and further on – four amazing black statues (they symbolize the seasons), an interesting story is also associated with them.

Initially, they did not belong to the estate. These statues came to Timiryazevsky Park already in the second half of the 20th century from the Bauman Garden, where they stood for a long time. However, after the opening of a pub nearby, the statues were, to put it mildly, in a very neglected state. It was then that they decided to remove them from the pub and transfer them to the Timiryazev Academy. Specialists began their restoration. In the course of the work, it turned out that these figures were repeatedly repainted with different colors (from bronze to silver and blue). Under the layers of paint, the restorers found cast-iron sculptures that were cast at the Demidov iron foundry in the Urals. This is evidenced by the found on them the brand of the foundry master Johann Just and the date – 1760, as well as the method of casting.

By the nature of the execution, these sculptures were clearly intended for the parks of the northern capital, but for some reason ended up in Moscow. It can be assumed that their transportation through the Urals to St. Petersburg coincided with the plague epidemic in Moscow. Because of this, the cargo was delayed, the sculptures were left for a while in a park near one of the three properties that belonged to the Demidovs, and later their transportation to St. Petersburg never took place.

There are several ways to get to the estate. Having reached the Petrovsko-Razumovskaya metro station, it is a little less than 2 km from it to the park, if the weather allows you can take a walk and walk along the picturesque streets.

You can also get to the Timiryazevskaya station, then transfer to bus number 87 or trams number 27, 27k.

Olga Bakhareva.

Photo of the author.