Moscow
Whoever has been to Moscow knows Russia
Prechistenka
This street appeared on the road to the Novodevichy (New Maiden)
Convent in the 16th century and was named after the icon of the Prechistaya (Purest)
Virgin of Smolensk, which is kept in the Convent today. The modern Gogolevsky boulevard
also had this name.
After the revolution Prechistinka lost its name for a long time. In
1922 it became Kropot-kinskaya, named in honour of the anarchist Peter Kropot-kin.
The street is closely connected with the name of Bulgakov, whose
characters lived on Prechistenka or in its small side streets: professor Preobrajensky,
The Master and Margarita and finally the writer himself had a flat in the area. One of the
friends of Bulgakov, Shaposhnikov, lived there as well. He was a member of the famous art
group Bubnovy Valet (Jack of Diamonds) and in both capitals the painter created two
wonderful museums. Bulgakov visited the friend very soon and described his flat in
“Heart of a Dog”.
One of the former dohodny (moneymaking) houses in a side street
of Prechistenka is worth mentioning, as it was there where a relative of the famous Moscow
jeweller Faberge lived. After the revolution he left the town having left all his
belongings in the house. There were rumours about treasures hidden in the walls of the
flat and in the 1970s, when the house was reconstructed there really was discovered a
secret place in a wall full of silver.
 After the events of 1917 there were big communal flats made in the house and a
group of painters from Bubnovy Valet moved there. Soon Bulgakov started visiting
them and today we can find in The Master and Margarita allusions to the building:
Anna Fugeret or a huge chandelier that was so much loved by Behemot.
The brother of Bulgakov also lived in one of the side streets of
Prechistenka and it was his house that the writer visited with his wife in 1916.
In the heart of Bulgakov’s Prechistenka we can find the house of the
Master. In the 1920s there were two friends of the writer living in a small wooden house.
Bulgakov liked the place and often stayed there overnight.
As for the house of Margarita, it can not be identified exactly, but
some specialists say it was the house №12 in Maly Vlasevsky lane.
On Prechistenka the famous policeman and legendary detective Nikolay
Arkharov lived. He had a gift to solve any crime, and even in Saint-Petersburg people new
about the talented man. Catherine the Great asked him once to help her. It was when an
icon that was very dear to the Empress suddenly disappeared. Arkharov found it on the next
day. Another time he managed to find silver stolen in the northern capital without leaving
Moscow.
The glory of the detective reached Europe and the chief of the Paris
police sent him a letter in which he praised the talent of the colleague.
There is a beautiful house with lions on the other side of the street.
Today it is occupied by the House of Scientists of Russia; in the 18th it belonged to the
brother of the detective who helped Count Orlov to kidnap princess Tarakanova who said she
was the daughter of Elisaveta Petrovna.
In house No. 20 Esenin lived with Isadora Duncan. At first everything
was calm and peaceful there, but then the life in the building was troubled: there were
strange people walking in the rooms at night. It was impossible to catch them as at the
slightest sound they disappeared. Once these guests scared the children and Esenin ran to
catch the thieves but found nothing. Later people learnt this was a group of thieves that
were looking for treasures that according to a legend had been left in the house by its
former owner.
Esenin and Duncan lived there till 1924, afterwards they separated and
the poet moved to Pomerantsev Lane where he lived in the house No. 3, flat No. 8.
Our next heroine who lived in one of the side streets of Prechistenka
is also connected with Russian literature. It is Anastasya Dmitrievna Ofrosimova,
well-known in high society by her sharp tongue: she could tell everyone everything. She
was the prototype for the old lady Khlestova in the famous Griboedov work and Tolstoy also
included her in his roman “War and Peace” in the image of Akhrosimova. Akhrosimova
visited divine services in the church in a lane near Prechistenka with Natasha Rostova,
and the building has remained till our days in Tchisty Lane.
On Prechistenka one can see the building of the Academy of Arts (No.
21). In the late 1890s the house was bought by Ivan Morozov who had a rich collection of
paintings: Renoire, Cesanne, Matisse. There were also 300 paintings by Russian artists,
such as Levitan, Somov, Korovin, Vrubel and finally Shagal, sponsored by Morozov.
 To install the collection, the merchant had to rebuild the house and it was
one of the best architects of the epoch – Lev Kekushev – who was made responsible for
this task. He transformed the rooms into big exhibition halls that were intended only for
the master’s friends. By the way, there is also the house of Kekushev himself on
Osto-zhenka (No. 21) – a beautiful building of red stone.
In the beginning of 1918 the house was invaded by anarchists that
oppressed the owners. Finally the government issued a decree on nationalization and
Morozov got the document that protected him from infringements of his liberty.
The collector became a guide in the museum and was glad to show
everyone the halls of the gallery. However it did not last long, as in 1918 Morozov’s
family had to move to the east and the owner of the collection died in 1921.
In twenty years the museum was closed. A part of its collection found
itself in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the remainder in the Hermitage.
Questions to the Next Part:
1. Where did the name of Sparrow Hills come from?
2. When did architects for the first time set their sights on the Hills?
3. Why were the Hills called Lenin’s?
4. Who built Moscow State University?
5. When was the construction of MSU completed?
6. Where can we see the twin building of MSU?
7. How did the building policy of Khrushchev differ from Stalin’s?
|