Sofiyskaya Embankment

It was named after the Church of Sofia the Wisdom of God on Sofiyka, at the Cannon's yard . In 1964-1992, it was called the embankment of Maurice Thorez , in honor of the chairman of the French Communist Party, Maurice Thorez (1900-1964) ^[1] .

The embankment is named after the preserved church of Sofia, the Wisdom of God in the Middle Gardeners (house number 32, in the courtyard), known since 1493 . The first St. Sophia Church was probably to the west of the modern place. The existing single-domed church, located in the back of the courtyard, dates from 1682, and the bell tower overlooking the embankment - 1862-1868.

The stone embankment was built in the 1830-1840s according to the project of engineers N. I. Yanshin and A. I. Delvig ^[1] .

In the 1930s and 1940s, there were plans to demolish the Sofiyskaya Embankment with the construction of a new front facade or a breakdown of the park from the Moscow River to the Vodootvodny Canal , ^[2] but they were not implemented. The destruction was limited to the houses that stood on the site of the new Moskvoretsky bridge (built in 1938 ; the old Moskvoretsy bridge was located to the east and overlooked Baltschug Street ). On the Swamp, trading depots were demolished and a modern park was laid out.

In the 1990s and 2000s, there were many plans for the “reconstruction” of Sofiyskaya Embankment and Bolotnaya Square, starting with the 1995 Mosproject-4 plan, according to which only the English Embassy and “ House on the Embankment ” should be preserved from historical buildings . Subsequently, as the tasks were divided up, some projects failed, others were suspended under the influence of the public, as a result, the district lost one old building after another, but did not acquire anything new. Behind the facade of Sofiyskaya Embankment, half-hidden by billboards, wastelands formed that have stood idle since 1998-2001.

In 1998, the Keystone company demolished the buildings between the Kokorevsky Compound and the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge (Sofiyskaya, 36 - Bolotnaya, 10), and proceeded with the construction of the Tsarev Sad office complex ^[3] . The construction was financed by a credit line of Sberbank of the Russian Federation for $ 150 million. Having spent 90 million of borrowed money, Keystone managed to build only 23 of 83 thousand square meters (along Bolotnaya embankment). The head of the company, Elena Klimenkova, was eventually sentenced to 8 years for embezzlement ^[4] , and Sberbank got the unfinished plot. Only two lower floors are occupied in the constructed building, the rest are empty; Analysts suggest that the best way out for the future owner is to demolish everything built by Keystone and rebuild according to a competent project. In August 2007, the press passed information about the plans of the PIK group of companies to buy the land from Sberbank. ^[five]

In the late 1990s, the Moscow government was developing the issue of reconstructing the “Golden Island” opposite the Kremlin. “Searches” was crowned by decree 1104-RP dated 11/08/2000 with the eloquent title “On the demolition of buildings No. 1 of house 4; N 1 at home 6; N 1 at home 8; NN 5, 6 of building 10 on Sofiyskaya emb. and buildings NN 2, 3, 4, 5b, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 13a, 15, 19 of building 14 along Bolotnaya Square ” ^[6] . By this time, the buildings were mostly evicted, according to the decision of their owners and at the same time responsible for the demolition were OJSC Kamenny Most and OJSC Kremlin Site. Demolition included all buildings in Sofia and Bolot to the west and south of the English Embassy (a square plot of about five hectares). Among them are not only little-known chambers of the 17th century, but also a recognized “facade” monument ( Durasov’s estate - Mariinsky School , houses No. 8-10). A few days later, on the night of November 12–13, 2000, Brook Mil LLC demolished the chambers of the 17th century, where Picart lived - the court painter of Peter I, the author of a panorama of Moscow in 1707 (house number 6 inside the block), and was damaged and neighboring No. 8. ^{[7] [8] A} public protest forced the Moscow government to adjust its immediate plans; after three weeks, houses 8 and 10, directly facing the embankment, were removed from the demolition list ^[9] . Houses 8 and 10 remain evicted and abandoned to this day and are gradually turning into ruins. In even worse condition, a tiny corner mansion numbered 4/2. As of August 2007, construction work on this site is not underway, the site itself is not guarded.

On April 5, 1999, house No. 34v occupied by the Ministry of Transport burned down. There were no casualties ^[10] .

The Moscow government does not abandon its plans for a massive restructuring of this territory ^{[11] [12]} .

Odd side

The Moscow River flows.

On the even side

• No. 4/2 (according to the general plan; No. 6 hangs on the house itself) - a two-story mansion of the 19th century. The ruined building is all that remains of the extensive complex of the first Einem factory (vl. 4-6).
• No. 6,   architectural monument (lost) - a site of the former Einem confectionery factory (other factories and workshops were also located here). In the center of the plot were Picard's chambers . Historical buildings were completely destroyed in 2000-2001 ^[13] .
• Number 8-10   architectural monument (newly identified object) - the Mariinsky Women's School complex, the identified cultural heritage object ^[14] ("Durasov manor"). The main building (p. 1) - of the 18th century, rebuilt as a school in the 1870s; the service buildings of the 19th - early 20th centuries were demolished in 2000-2001.

The estate was founded in the middle of the 18th century by the merger of possessions belonging to Tsar Tsaritsa Evdokia under Sergei I, Sergei Avraamovich Lopukhin and the confessor of Tsar Fr. Timothy Nadarzhinsky. The owner of the united estate, the president of the Revision Board Vasily Mikhailovich Eropkin built the chambers that have remained at the base of the house. The estate belonged to the Eropkin , Zubov , Durasov . Under the Durasovs, the house was decorated with a portico with sculptures instead of extreme columns - a reception spied on by Pashkov’s house, standing across the river ^[15] . In the post-reform era, the estate was occupied by the Mariinsky Women's School ^[16] , in which N.G. taught Rubinstein, in 1894-1901, Sergey Rachmaninov served as a full-time teacher here. After the revolution and until the 1960s, the building was occupied by secondary school No. 19 named after Belinsky . The writer Yuri Trifonov and other children from the neighboring “ House on the Embankment ” studied here ^[15] .

In the late 1990s, a huge part of the quarter between Sofiyskaya Embankment and Bolotnaya Square (holdings No. 6-12 at Sofiyskaya Embankment, 14 and 16 at Bolotnaya Square) was given to the American company Brookmil LTD and OJSC Kremlin Site for construction of a hotel, office and residential complex “Tsarev Sad”. By an order of Yuri Luzhkov of November 8, 2000, the Mariinsky College architectural monument was unlawfully appointed for demolition, as were the neighboring "Chambers of Picart" (Sofiyskaya nab., 6). During the demolition of the chambers that same month, the school building was damaged ^[15] . The protest that arose forced the mayor of Moscow to adjust the order, and the Mariinsky School managed to defend. Since then it’s empty. Only in 2015, the Moscow City Heritage gave a task to develop a restoration project ^[15] . In May 2017, the GIKE act of the restoration project and the project for the adaptation of the monument was submitted for public discussion ^[17] . In July 2017, Mosgosexpertiza agreed on a project of the Capital Group company - the Zolotoy Ostrov residential complex on Sofiyskaya embankment , 4-10, Bolotnaya square 14, in the metropolitan area of Yakimanka , the press service of the Moscow city planning policy department reports. The project was developed by Sergey Skuratov’s architectural bureau, who won the international competition for the concept of the site development. LCD "Golden Island" involves the creation of a multifunctional complex, as well as the restoration of buildings-monuments for a hotel and apartment-hotel ^[18] .

• No. 12/14   architectural monument (newly discovered object) - the city estate of I. T. Rakhmanov, N. L. Bukhvostov, S. S. Sulima, the merchants of the Kotovs (1st half of the 18th - mid-19th centuries). In 1872, the estate was acquired by a Prussian citizen, 1st Guild merchant Gustav Liszt to house a metal plant ^[19] - Sofia Mechanical Plant of the Joint Stock Company Gustav Liszt ^[14] (in Soviet times, the Red Torch fire-fighting equipment plant). Factory facilities were built on the site of the household courtyard and a plot adjacent to the estate on Bolotnaya Square. Part of the buildings of the Liszt metal plant, adjacent to the Mariinsky School complex, was demolished in 2001 ^[20] .

• No. 12/14, p. 1   an architectural monument (a newly discovered object) - the building of the office of G.I. Liszt factory (1875–1891, architect F.K. Melgren ) ^[21] .
• No. 12/14, p. 14   architectural monument (newly discovered object) - the main manor house (1st half of the 18th - the middle of the 19th centuries) ^[21] .

The two-story main house on the line of Sofiyskaya Embankment (p. 14) was rebuilt by Liszt for itself in the 1880s. To the east is the administrative wing (p. 1). The gates between the house and the outbuilding were decorated with metal sculptures of hammers .

In the late 1990s, the territory of the former plant, together with neighboring estates 6 and 8 on Sofiyskaya Embankment, was given to the American company Brookmil LTD and OJSC Kremlin Site for the construction of the Tsarev Sad Garden hotel, office and residential complex. The factory buildings were demolished, the hammers disappeared from the gate (according to rumors, they are in the storerooms of the Tretyakov Gallery), and List's house and the administrative outbuilding were empty ^[11] . In September 2015, the Khoroshevsky District Court of Moscow awarded OJSC “Kremlin Site” a fine of half a million rubles for failure to comply with the instructions of the Moscow City Heritage on engineering and technical inspection of the main house ^[15] . In May 2017, the State Historical and Cultural Expertise Acts of restoration projects and adaptation projects of identified windows were submitted for public discussion at Moscow, Bolotnaya sq., 14, building 1 (Plant office building, 1875 - 1891, architect F.K. Melgren. - Fragment of the fence with the sculpture "Workers" - two figures on the pylons of the gate, 1880s, architect Ivanov (?), F.K. Melgren.) ^[22] and building 14 ( The main house, 1st half of the XVIII - the middle of the XIX centuries, the house of the owner of the plant) ^[23] .

• No. 14/12, pp. 1-4,   architectural monument (regional) - the city estate of the “sugar king” P.I. Kharitonenko . The main house was built in 1891-1893 according to the project of architect V. G. Zalessky , interiors - 1911, architect F. O. Shekhtel , artist F. Flameng) ^[14] .

Here was a collection of paintings collected by Kharitonenko. After the revolution, the house went to the People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs . At first, there was the only foreign mission in the "red" RSFSR - the Danish Red Cross , then - such prominent foreign guests as Armand Hammer and Herbert Wells stayed.

The mansion for guests of the government, where we lived with Mr. Vanderlip and the enterprising English sculptor, who somehow came to Moscow to sculpt busts of Lenin and Trotsky, is a large, well-furnished building on Sofiyskaya Embankment, located opposite the high Kremlin wall ...

- Herbert Wells , “ Russia in the Dark ”

Since 1929, the building has been the residence of the British Ambassador . It is under reconstruction.

• No. 16,   architectural monument (newly identified object) - residential building of N. A. Tereshchenko (1844) ^[14] .
• No. 18 - a three-story mansion built in 1817.
• No. 20 - the house of Jacob Sivov, built in 1821.
• No. 20, p. 3,   TsGFO - apartment building (1885, architect Eliev; 1950s - 1960s) ^[14] .
• No. 22, p. 1 - the house of the merchant Lobkov . The building in the Moscow Empire style was built by Lobkov in 1816 on the ruins of an old noble estate. According to the Atlas of Industry of the Moscow Province, a factory for 26 jobs was located here (probably in the outbuildings in the backyard). In 2003, it was rebuilt according to the method of “preserving the facade wall”: the ceilings and the rear wall were demolished, the attic floor was built on ^[24] .
• No. 24 - Lebedeva's house, built after 1825.
• No. 24/2,   architectural monument (newly identified object) - profitable possession of A. N. Vinogradov; entered into the Red Book of Archnadzor (electronic catalog of Moscow's real estate objects under threat) ^[25] :

• No. 24/2, p. 1 - the apartment building of A. N. Vinogradov with benches (beginning of the 19th century; 1876, architect V. N. Karneev ) ^[14] .
• No. 24/2, p. 2 - the apartment building of A. N. Vinogradov (1893, architect I. A. Ivanov-Shits ; rebuilt in 1905 by architect I. I. Sitnikov) ^[14] .

• No. 26/1 - the house of free apartments for widows with children and students of the Bakhrushin girls. It was built in 1900-1903 according to the project of architects K. K. Gippius and F. O. Bogdanovich ^[26] at the expense of the Bakhrushins merchants who donated 1.2 million rubles for the project. This was the first Moscow experience of cooperation between private capital and city authorities in the construction of large municipal residential complexes. In total, there were 456 apartments in Bakhrushinsky houses on the Swamp (both free and “cheap”), in which 631 adults and 1378 children lived by 1913 ^[27] . In Soviet times, the building was occupied by state institutions, now - the headquarters of Rosneft .
• No. 28 is a modern building.
• No. 30, p. 1 (in the courtyard) - residential building - storage building (1830s - 1852, 2nd half of the 19th century, 1990s) ^[14] .
• No. 30, p. 2 (in the yard),   TSGFO - warehouse buildings of the Moscow branch of the Joint-Stock Building Company " Standard " - the educational building "Courses for the unemployed" (1850s-1870s, 1925, civil engineer A. A. Andreevsky ) ^[14] .
• No. 32,   architectural monument (federal) - the tent- bell tower of the St. Sophia Church (1862-1868, architect N. I. Kozlovsky ). The temple itself is located in the back of the courtyard of house number 32 (the construction of the main volume - 1682, the refectory - 1891-1893, architect V.I. Verigin ). The temple was closed in 1929, restored in 1976-1983 and 1999-2004, the service was resumed in 2004 ^[14] .

• No. 32, p. 1 (in the yard),   architectural monument (regional) - clergy house (1868, architect N. I. Kozlovsky ) ^[14] .

• No. 34 - trade and warehouse and hotel complex "Kokorevsky Compound".

• No. 34, p. 1 - V.A. Kokorev's hotel (1860-1867, 1880s, architect I.D. Chernik ; built on during the Soviet years). Here stayed P.I. Tchaikovsky , I.N. Kramskoy , I.E. Repin , V.V. Vereshchagin , D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak and others. ^[14] . A.P. Chekhov likened the Kokorevsky farmstead to the labyrinths of the Spanish palace, full of intrigue: “You are again in the gloomy“ Kokorevsky farmstead ”. This is Escorial , and you will end up becoming Alba . ” Between 2016 and 2018, the Russian State Archive of Modern History and its repositories moved here from a complex of buildings on Old Square ^[28] .
• No. 34, p. 3,   an architectural monument (a newly identified object) - a building of furnished apartments with shops ^[14] .
• No. 34, p. 4,   TsGFO - trading depots of the Kokorevsky Compound (1860-1880, 1930) ^[14] . On the site, it is planned to build a new facility with an area of ​​33 thousand m².

• No. 36 - the Tsarev Sad multifunctional complex (architect A. R. Vorontsov ) - 74 thousand m² of modern buildings (12 thousand m² of which is residential) from Midland Development .

•  

  The bell tower of the St. Sophia Church (1862-1868, architect N. I. Kozlovsky )

•  

  No. 14, the estate of Kharitonenko (1891-1893, architect V.G. Zalessky )

•  

  No. 22, the house of the merchant Lobkov (1816)

•  

  Sofia Church in the Middle Gardeners (view from the temple bell tower to the courtyard of house No. 32)

• Mentioned in the detective story of Boris Akunin's " Mistress of Death ":

Accompanied by wailing and screeching, Kolombina proudly passed through Red Square, through Moskvoretsky Bridge and turned onto Sofiyskaya Embankment, where a decent audience walked. Here she not only showed herself, but she herself looked in all eyes, gained impressions ...

• Bus number 158 (only in the direction of the 3rd Paveletsky passage).

• The history of Sophia and Bolot on the site of the Yakimanka district (Neopr.) (Inaccessible link - history ) .
• About the wards of Picart alt. text [1]
• WOOPIC Black Book - Picard's Chambers
• Kokorevsky Compound and "Keystone". Architecture and Construction of Moscow, No. 52, 2000
• Decisions of the Government of Moscow No. 1104-RP of 11/08/2000 [2] , No. 579-RP of June 28, 2001 [3]

• Moscow at the beginning of the century / ed. O. N. Orobey, ed. O. I. Lobova. - M .: O-Master , 2001 . - S. 223-224. - 701 s. - (Builders of Russia, XX century). - ISBN 5-9207-0001-7 .