Bobrinsky Palace

Palace Construction

It is known that in the second half of the 18th century the city estate on this site was owned by the cabinet-secretary of Catherine II - A.V. Khrapovitsky , the son of general-general V.I. Khrapovitsky, whom some sources call the first owner of the estate. By the name of the Khrapovitsky, the nearby Khrapovitsky bridge across the Moika got its name.

In 1790, the building was bought by Senator P.V. Myatlev , for which it was rebuilt by the architect Luigi Ruska .

This was the first independent work of the future famous architect. In the course of perestroika, carried out in 1792-1796, another building located on a neighboring site, the former house of architect Savva Chevakinsky, entered the estate complex. In 1798, for a short time, the palace, having bought it from Myatlev, was owned by His Excellency Prince P. Zubov , from whom it was acquired by Empress Maria Fyodorovna .

Palace owned by Earls of Bobrinsky

The further history of the palace is connected with the kind of counts Bobrinsky . In the XIX - early XX centuries, many representatives of the genus of Counts Bobrinsky held high positions in the state hierarchy and at court, engaged in scientific and public activities. Bobrinsky was one of the largest landowners and property owners. In 1897, the total value of land, real estate, and financial assets of the Bobrinsky family amounted to 17.5 million rubles ^[1] (several billion rubles in 2019 prices). However, this is a condition jointly owned by representatives of the family name. Although the personal wealth of certain representatives of the Bobrinsky family, which had become quite numerous by the beginning of the 20th century, was inferior to the state of the richest Russian aristocrats (so by 1915 the real and movable property (without city buildings and palaces) of the Yusupov couple was estimated at 22.4 million rubles ^[1] , the prince’s fortune S. S. Abamelek-Lazarev - about 31 million rubles ^[2] ), the Bobrinsky family undoubtedly belonged to the most wealthy Russian surnames. The proximity of the clan to the reigning house, marriages with representatives of other noble clans, participation in court and public life, a large fortune provided Bobrinsky a prominent place in the narrow (several dozens of surnames) circle of the highest Russian aristocracy. The status of the clan was reflected in the status of the St. Petersburg Bobrinsky Palace, which for more than a century was one of the centers of social life in the capital.

In 1798, the first owner of the estate from the Bobrinsky clan was Alexei G. Bobrinsky , the illegitimate son of Empress Catherine II and Grigory Orlov . He was elevated to count dignity in 1796 by his half-brother Paul I , and received the estate on Galernaya Street as a gift from Empress Maria Fyodorovna .

In 1798, having left military service, A.G. Bobrinsky retired to his theotokos estate near Tula, where he spent almost all his time, occasionally visiting Petersburg.

After the death of her husband in 1813, Anna Vladimirovna Bobrinskaya continued to raise children in Bogoroditsk, spending the winter in her house in Moscow. In the 1820s, the family settled in the St. Petersburg Palace, which was expanded and re-decorated.

In the 1830s, receptions, balls, salons, amateur performances, masquerades, and evening parties were constantly held in the palace. According to I. M. Dolgoruky , Countess Bobrinskaya was distinguished by “a cheerful character, kindness in intentions and simplicity in customs”. ^[3]

The eldest son of Aleksei Grigorievich, Count Aleksei Alekseevich Bobrinsky and his wife Sofya Aleksandrovna continued the traditions of the house.

Emperor Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra Fedorovna visited the palace several times. The salon of the younger Countess Bobrinskaya was readily visited by P. A. Vyazemsky , V. A. Zhukovsky (in 1819 he was passionate about it and dedicated a number of his works to her), the Vielgorsky brothers, A. M. Gorchakov . Regularly visited the palace of A. S. Pushkin . In the diary of Pushkin for 1833-35, it is mentioned that he visited the Bobrinsky dinners (in particular during this period - December 6, 1833 and February 28, 1834), and on January 17, 1834 (on January 1, 1834 he was granted a cell -Junkers) was at a ball in the palace and left the following record:

17. Ball at gr. Bobrinsky, one of the most brilliant. The emperor did not tell me about my junk chamber, but I did not thank him. Speaking of my Pugachev, he said to me: “It’s a pity that I didn’t know what you were writing about him; I would introduce you to his sister, who died in the fortress of Erlingfos for three weeks ”(since 1774!). True, she lived at large in the suburbs, but far from her Don village, on a strange, cold side. The Empress asked me where I went in the summer. Upon learning that in Orenburg, inquired about Perovsky with great good nature ^[4] .

From a letter from Nadezhda Osipovna Pushkina (nee Hannibal) dated January 26, 1834:

[...] Natasha’s presentation to the court was a huge success - they only talk about her. At the Bobrinsky ball, the emperor danced with her, and at dinner he sat next to her ^[5] .

Pushkin’s letter (dated January 6, 1835) to Count Bobrinsky about the invitation to a ball in the palace in January of the following 1835 is known (it’s clear from the tone of the letter that they were “on a short leg” with the count’s couple):

Nous avons reçu une invitation de la part de Madame la Comtesse Bobrinsky: Mr et M-rne Pouchkine et sa soeur etc. De là grande rumeur parmi mes femelles (comme dit l'Antiquaire de W. Scott) la quelle? Comme je suppose que c'est simplement une erreur, je prends la liberté de m'adresser à vous pour nous tirer d'embarras et mettre la paix dans mon ménage. Je suis avec respect, Monsieur le Comte, Votre très humble et très obéissant serviteur A. Pouchkine. 6 janvier 1835 ^[6] .

[Translation: We received the following invitation on behalf of Countess Bobrinskaya: Mr. and Mrs. Pushkins and her sister , etc. Hence the terrible excitement among my woman (as Antiquary V. Scott is put it): which? Assuming this is simply a mistake, I take the liberty of contacting you in order to get us out of our difficulties and bring peace to my home. I remain with respect, Count, your lowest and most obedient servant A. Pushkin. January 6, 1835.]

The poet’s ill-wishers were also admitted in the salon: Count K.V. Nesselrode , Baron Haeckern , Georges Dantes .

Count Aleksei Alekseevich was one of the founders of the Tsarskoye Selo Railroad joint-stock company. In 1835, in order to attract additional funds to the company’s capital and to convince those who doubted the technical capabilities of the railway, he built a railway section in the palace’s garden, along which a trolley loaded with 500 pounds of stones moved.

Alexey Alekseevich Bobrinsky was one of the first Russian photographers / daguerreotype. Portraits of the count’s family members made by the method of daguerreotype in 1842-43 are among the earliest Russian daguerreotypes. Some of them were performed in St. Petersburg, but not in the atelier and at the Bobrinsky cottage on Kamenny Island, that is, it is very likely that in the palace on Galernaya. These daguerreotypes were part of the photo collection of Counts Bobrinsky, and now - in the collection of the State Hermitage.

From 1856 until his death in 1868, Count Alexei Alekseevich left Petersburg and lived on the Smela estate near Kiev.

The role of the palace as one of the centers of social life in St. Petersburg was preserved under the next representative of the clan, Alexander Alekseevich , who in 1861-64 served as the St. Petersburg civil governor, in 1869-72 he was the St. Petersburg provincial leader of the nobility, and from 1858 he held various court posts, in particular from 1890 until his death in 1903, one of the highest - Ober-Hoffmeister.

In the second half of the 19th century, collections of paintings, weapons and books in the Bobrinsky Palace were open to the public; a memorial cabinet of Count G. G. Orlov was also created ^[7] .

The palace on Galernaya Street in St. Petersburg traditionally served as the home of the eldest of the sons of the previous owner, which did not exclude the presence of apartments for other members of the family. One of Alexander Alekseevich’s brothers, Vladimir Alekseevich Bobrinsky , at a certain stage in his career, connected with the duties of first comrade (deputy) Minister of Railways (1868-69), and then the Minister himself (1869-71), returned to St. Petersburg and also lived in a palace on Galernaya, along with his brother's family.

During these years, Vladimir Zhemchuzhnikov , who, along with his brothers Alexei and Alexander , as well as A.K. Tolstoy , was known as the creator of the literary image of Kozma Prutkov , was the official of special assignments under V.A. Bobrinsky through the Ministry of Railways. In one of the wings (with a separate entrance from the street) of the Bobrinsky Palace, an apartment was allocated for V. M. Zhemchuzhnikov. From the correspondence of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev ( Turgenev’s letter to Polina Viardot dated February 24 (March 8), 1871 (original in French)) it is known that on March 7, 1871, at the invitation of V. M. Zhemchuzhnikov, he visited his apartment in the palace on Galernaya at a musical evening (on the envelope from the invitation letter the address “Sink, Khrapovitsky bridge, village of Bobrinsky, 2nd wing, entrance from the street” is indicated) ^[8] :

In the evening I went to a certain Mr. Zhemchuzhnikov, the brother of the one you saw in Baden-Baden [...] I found there several followers of the new Russian music school (unfortunately, not Cui), but the great Balakirev , whom they recognize as their leader .

The last owner (since 1903) of the Bobrinsky family estate is Count Alexei Bobrinsky , historian, archaeologist, statesman. His first marriage was married to Nadezhda Alexandrovna , the daughter of an influential statesman and large industrialist Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsev .

The status and family ties of the Bobrinsky family were such that, not only at ceremonial receptions, but also at everyday lunches and dinners in the palace on Galernaya, the most prominent figures of then-Russia met, important political issues were discussed. The episode of January 2, 1902 described in the diary of A. A. Polovtsev, when during a regular family visit he found in the palace of the Minister of Finance S. Yu. Witte, is characteristic :

2 Wednesday. Was at my daughter Bobrinskaya. I meet Witte there, who bitterly complains about the Moscow Governor-General of the Great K (nyaz) Sergei Alexandrovich. Not having serious preparation for the performance of his duties, under the influence of those around him, and in particular Chief Police Officer Trepov [also alien to any state knowledge of the officer], he (in the “elite”) (nyaz) struck into his head that for peace in the factory world Calmness is necessary to give the workers everything that socialist teachers urge them to. Without entering into the essence of socialist doctrines, C (ergey) A (leksandrovich) thinks that the principle that reforms should go from above, not from below, is enough to resolve such complex and burning issues as giving an eight-hour day, setting wages by government , the participation of workers in the benefits of factory enterprises ^[9] .

In 1905, Count Aleksey Aleksandrovich Bobrinsky was elected chairman of the Patriotic Union, a political association (which, however, did not last long), whose key principles were "autocracy, a deliberative Zemsky Sobor, and the fight against constitutionalism." The union included about 350 people (representatives of the highest bureaucracy, generals, the nobility, including 8 senators, 15 military men with the rank of generals, 41 leaders of the nobility (8 provincial and 33 district), 35 representatives of the titled nobility) ^[10] . Meetings of members of the "Patriotic Union" were held in the palace on Galernaya. One of the members of the union, V. I. Gurko , wrote:

I vividly recall the meeting of the Union’s board on Galernaya in a cozy mansion c. A.A. Bobrinsky. In a relatively small room, covered with soft carpet and lined with cupboards filled with countless archeological objects obtained from excavations made by the count, at an elongated table, under the light of pink chandeliers softened by the light of several candelabra, the creators of the Union gathered and seriously discussed issues to be resolved by entities were deprived of the possibility of any significant influence. However, the work of thought took place, the views of the participants were clarified, and at the same time, the disagreement between them was clarified, which subsequently was to distribute them among different political groups, although generally conservative, but completely different in essence. ^[eleven]

With the establishment of the State Duma in the Russian Empire, Count A. A. Bobrinsky makes several attempts to run for deputy. He manages to become a deputy of the Third Duma in 1907. In 1912, in connection with his appointment to the Council of State, he left the Duma. A supporter of right-wing parties and a monarchist, Count A. A. Bobrinsky takes a number of steps aimed at bringing conservatives closer in the State Council and the Duma. During these years, in the Galernaya Palace, balls and social gatherings were replaced by closed meetings of right-wing politicians and regular political events with the participation of numerous invited guests.

So on November 6, 1911 (a few days before the hearing in the State Council of the bill on the transition from one religion to another) a rally was held in the palace, attended by over 100 people (representatives of the State Council and the State Duma, church hierarchs, scholars, etc.) . The meeting was devoted to a discussion about the freedom of the church. A report on it, dedicated to the need for the state to recognize the right to an “out of confession”, was made by the famous church journalist and legal scholar ND Kuznetsov . According to Kuznetsov himself, the report caused almost a storm in the right-wing parties and synodal spheres ^[12] .

Unlike the balls and salons of the 19th century, the political discussions of the 1910s in the palace were attended not only by the aristocracy, but also by representatives of other social strata, who in the recent, at that time, past had almost no chance of being guests in palaces of nobles. Apparently, therefore, the secular gloss, which naturally distinguished political events in the palace on Galernaya Street, caused mixed feelings for some guests, rumors of which later spread throughout the country. So the preacher, publicist and writer V.P. Sventsitsky left the following, indignant remark:

What is "patriotism"? Patriotism is champagne. When people eat a prison of potatoes and sawdust, they die from scurvy and typhoid - this is called hunger . When they drink at the Count Bobrinsky’s party for the glory of Russia, this is called “patriotism” [...] Aksakov’s sincere pathos - into Count Bobrinsky’s champagne ^[13] .

In 1911, a banquet was given in the palace in honor of the election of Count A. A. Bobrinsky as chairman of the supervisory board of the Russian-English Bank. In his speech, the count expressed the hope that by placing capital in Russian industrial enterprises, the British “will develop them to an appropriate size and, on the one hand, contribute to the prosperity of both countries, on the other hand, will contribute to the friendly rapprochement of the two great empires” ^[14] .

With the outbreak of the First World War, A. A. Bobrinsky donated a palace for the Red Cross infirmary. In the revolutionary 1917, part of the palace was occupied under the barracks by revolutionary battalions ( female and Latvian ), the other continued to be used for the infirmary. After the revolution, the owner did not have enough money to maintain the building, to pay salaries to the janitors and maintenance personnel after the revolution. Due to the seizure of bank accounts, he was unable to take advantage of his savings. Although the Provisional Government, led by Kerensky, promised to grant the pension a pension as a former member of the Council of State, October 1917 put an end to these hopes. Attempts by A.A. Bobrinsky at the beginning of 1918 to get the new authorities (Bolsheviks) to grant him a pension and compensation for the costs of maintaining the infirmary or, at least, freeing the homeownership used for public purposes and of historical value, were not crowned with success ^[15] .

After the events of October 1917, a serious threat loomed over the private palaces of Petrograd. Against the background of the post-revolutionary chaos and food problems, rumors (often exaggerated) about the treasures hidden in the palaces of the nobility, as well as about the contents of wine cellars, fueled the interest of gangs of thugs and robbers. In the summer of 1918, on August 1, the palaces of Countess E. V. Shuvalova on Fontanka, Count S. G. Stroganov on Nevsky Prospect and Count A. A. Bobrinsky on Galernaya Street were nationalized with special decrees, which saved them from total looting ^[16] . After the decree on nationalization was published, A. A. Bobrinsky moved to the south of Russia, then to Kiev. In 1920, he moved to Constantinople, and in 1921 - to France, where he lived and was buried in 1927.

Soviet-era palace

In the 1920s, the building housed the Historical and Household Department of the Russian Museum. In 1925, the exhibition “Merchant Portrait of the 18th – 20th centuries” was organized here with a partial “recreation” of historical and typological interiors, including the fantasy “Merchant’s Salts of the 1840-50s” ^[17] .

Subsequently, the collection of paintings collected by Bobrinsky and furniture (in particular, sets from the Red Living Room) entered the State Hermitage Museum .

Among the museums and libraries was distributed library of the palace of more than 13 thousand volumes ^[18] . The rich decoration of the palace was partially plundered, partially also transferred to various museums of the country. For example, a number of objects from the collection of artistic values ​​of A. A. Bobrinsky ended up in the Nalchik Museum of Local Lore (numismatics section, which includes 70 items, two candelabra vases with 11 candles, two ashtrays, a single-barrel, inlaid gun, the work of Aristov with a gold notch on the barrel) ^[19] ; two bronze cups with figures of knights and Bacchus (Russia, the 19th century) went in 1924 to the Omsk Museum of Fine Arts ^[20] , etc.

Also, since 1929, the building housed the Central Geographical Museum, created by V.P. Semenov-Tian-Shansky . The museum organized thematic exhibitions, which saw tens of thousands of people. At the beginning of 1933, in one of the documents of the USSR State Planning Commission, the museum was even declared "shock". Through the museum passed all the students of Leningrad and a lot of foreign tourists. In 1931, the museum was compacted, providing 1,500 sq.m. Giprovod organization. Due to the mismanagement of Giprovoda, a fire broke out in the building in the summer of 1931, as a result of which the local history department of the museum was damaged, then the Giprovoda premises were given to new gaskets. Only in 1935, after the release of a new law on the protection of museums in 1934, the entire building was returned to the museum. But with the departure for health reasons, Semenov-Tyan-Shansky from the post of head of the museum began to fade. When the museum was eventually transferred to Leningrad University, the museum premises occupied first the correspondence sector of the university, and then the vocational school. At the beginning of 1941, the Leningrad City Council and the administration of the Leningrad State University followed the decision to close the museum. ^[21]

Then, the geographic faculty of Leningrad State University was located in the palace, and since the 1960s, the Research Institute of Complex Social Research (NIIKSI) and the psychological faculty of Leningrad State University . The complex restoration of the palace was not carried out in the Soviet years, the premises (including the palace halls) gradually fell into decay.

From the memoirs of a student (1968-1973) of the psychology faculty of Leningrad State University L.V. Bochishcheva:

I also liked this old house - the central staircase with a huge mirror on the side, and beautiful old chandeliers, and wooden screw internal staircases for servants, along which we climbed from the second floor to the third, already under the roof, where there were small rooms in which Apparently, the servants once lived. Nowadays, they were used for seminars and classes in foreign languages, and then there were laboratory facilities. But it’s worth mentioning how terrible this building partially stayed [...] in the third year during a lecture [...] in a chamber hall a large piece of stucco fell off with a roar and fell on the Vietnamese who were sitting against this wall [...] Good that they reacted very quickly - they recoiled, crouched, and they were only bombarded. They were not even very scared, because they were at war and they were used to similar surprises ^[22] .

From the memoirs of a sociologist E. E. Smirnova:

The interaction of NIIKSI and the Faculty of Psychology is a special page in the life of the institute. Both organizations in the 70s were located in the Bobrinsky Palace on Red Street, now - again Galernaya. This mansion deserves at least a small description. It then preserved only a few rooms with the remains of its former splendor. The director's small oval office overlooked its tall windows into a garden with tall trees, and in spring blooming chestnuts were visible from the windows. It has preserved bookcases. The ceiling was painted with small stars. Many zalabs admitted that during boring meetings they tried to count their number. The noble proportions and coziness of this office delighted almost everyone. The law lab was located in the red living room (our local name). She preserved the crimson silk on the walls, mirrors and gilding. Two other laboratories - the sociological and Lisovsky's laboratories preserved only a little stucco molding. Almost all other rooms had a simple working appearance, the walls were painted with oil paint. In those days, unique bronze chandeliers were preserved in several rooms. The building itself had a U-shaped shape. The faculty occupied one wing, NIIKSI was located in the central part. The second wing was given to the clinic. The wings of the building on the ground floor had rooms whose windows were flush with the sidewalk and it was difficult to work in them, because from time to time they were subjected to rat invasions. Нашей лаборатории пришлось там просуществовать несколько лет, и эти проблемы нам были знакомы ^[23] .

Modernity

13 декабря 2001 года Федеральной комиссией по Управлению государственной собственностью дворец Бобринских был передан в ведение СПбГУ. C 2002 года в помещениях дворца проводятся занятии Факультета свободных искусств и наук . С 2003 года во дворце начались неотложные ремонтно-реставрационные работы, поскольку в нескольких помещениях существовала угроза обрушения стен. По Федеральной программе «Культура России» в 2004 году из федерального бюджета на реконструкцию дворца было выделено 26 миллионов рублей, в 2005 году — 30 миллионов рублей. ^[24] Проект реконструкции дворца предусматривал сохранение фасадов, конфигурации кровель, сводчатых перекрытий первого этажа, а также реставрацию уцелевшей декоративной отделки парадных помещений, металлической и кирпичной оград. Парадные помещения главного корпуса приспосабливались под читальные залы библиотеки, конференц-центр и несколько больших аудиторий. Реставрация продолжалась около 8 лет. Торжественное открытие дворца Бобринских после реставрации состоялось 31 августа 2011 года. ^[25]

В настоящее время во дворце проходят занятия, проводятся исследования, реализуются арт-проекты студентов и преподавателей факультета. Силами выпускников, преподавателей и сотрудников подготовлен аудиогид по дворцу. ^[26] В течение года во дворце регулярно проводятся конференции и семинары (информация о графике проведения мероприятий размещается на интернет-сайте факультета), доступ на многие из которых открыт для публики (по предварительной регистрации либо по предъявлении удостоверения личности, в зависимости от мероприятия). Также с 2016 года во дворце периодически проходят экскурсии (по предварительной записи) в рамках проекта «Открытый город» .

Застройка участка типична для городской усадьбы конца XVIII века. П-образное в плане здание образовано тремя связанными друг с другом корпусами, главный дом расположен в глубине участка. В 1846—1850 годах дворец был частично перестроен по проекту архитектора Г. Э. Боссе . Обширный парадный двор окружают низкие служебные флигели и ограда с воротами. Одноэтажные флигели со стороны парадного двора надстроены в 1883 году.

Центральный корпус дворца отличается богатой пластической обработкой главного и садового фасадов. Главный фасад дворца выходит во двор. Его средняя часть отмечена портиком , украшенным четырьмя ионическими колоннами; портик объединяет первый и второй этажи. Вертикали колонн продолжены мраморными статуями, стоящими на антаблементе и олицетворяющими времена года. Статуи выполнены неизвестным итальянским скульптором в первой половине XVIII века. Между вторым и третьим этажами находится сильно выступающий карниз.

Главный вход во дворец расположен со стороны парадного двора по Галерной улице, въезд в который оформлен монументальными воротами с бюстами на пилонах. Через неширокие проемы въездных ворот виден лишь центральный ризалит здания.

Садовый фасад со стороны Адмиралтейского канала оживляют закругленные выступы ризалитов -полуротонд по бокам и портик коринфского ордера с фронтоном .

Центральный ризалит трехэтажный, боковые ризалиты построены в два этажа.

В одну линию с садовым фасадом главного здания построен дополнительный корпус, на втором этаже которого находится самый большой парадный зал дворца. Фасады этого корпуса не имеют яркой художественной отделки, так как скрываются в глубине сада.

Сад отделяют от набережных каменная рустованная ограда (по набережной Ново-Адмиралтейского канала) и сквозная решетка (по набережной Адмиралтейского канала, начало XIX века). В месте соединения оград в южной оконечности сада, напротив Храповицкого моста, находится небольшой двухэтажный павильон-беседка (его автор — также Луиджи Руска), увенчанный невысоким куполом. Его фасады по периметру украшены арочными окнами. Оформление павильона дополнено балконами второго этажа и спуском в сад с внутренней стороны.

Каменная ограда украшена копиями античных бюстов (конец XVIII века, воссозданы в 1970-е годы).

Внутренние помещения дворца в 1822—1825 годах перестраивал архитектор А. А. Михайлов 2-й . Он создал анфиладу парадных залов со стороны сада. Сохранившиеся росписи потолков Белого и Танцевального залов предположительно выполнены живописцем Джованни Батиста Скотти . До настоящего времени частично или целиком сохранились интерьеры 15 помещений. Это анфилада залов (Малиновая гостиная, Голубая гостиная, Белый и Танцевальный залы и др.), выходящих на Ново-Адмиралтейский канал (в сад), и комнаты, примыкающие к ней. В отделке парадных интерьеров преобладает классический стиль / ампир.

• A film about the architects of the Bobrinsky palace Luigi Ruska and Andrei Mikhailov from the series "Show off, Grad Petrov"
• The plot of channel 5 about the Bobrinsky Palace from the series "Guide"
• Bobrinsky Palace // Encyclopedia of St. Petersburg
• Bobrinsky Palace // GradPetra
• Bobrinsky Palace // Entertaining Petersburg
• Bobrinsky Palace // citywalls.ru
• Thematic issue of the quarterly warden magazine about the Bobrinsky Palace and its environs
• Open City Project