| At the end of the 19th century, in the Moscow region, on the territory of the estate of Baroness Meyendorff, to the west of Moscow, a castle was built, stylized as a French chateau of the early 16th century. The construction of the castle took 9 years, from 1874 to 1885, the architect and construction manager was Peter Samoylovich Boitsov. In 1914, the Meyendorffs went abroad for treatment and never returned to their estate.

| After the October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin lived and worked in the castle for some time, and in 1930, next to the castle, on the territory of a reserved forest in the Moscow region, construction began on the Kremlin sanatorium Barvikha, named after a nearby village, and intended for the treatment of senior workers and senior officials. persons of the state. View of the main building of the resort.

| The project of the sanatorium was developed by one of the leading representatives of Stalinist architecture - Boris Iofan, who created the famous "House on the Embankment" in Moscow and the author of the unrealized project of the Palace of Soviets. The construction was completed in 1935, but the sanatorium began its work only in 1937, when work was completed to equip the hospital with the latest physiotherapy equipment for those times. View from the main entrance.

| During the war years, the sanatorium worked as a military hospital. In 1965, its reconstruction began, and a couple of years before that, a monument to Stalin was dismantled at the entrance to the main building, for the creation of which materials from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior destroyed in 1931 in Moscow were used. Internal interior.

| Museum of the sanatorium

| The archives of the museum contain a collection of thanks from patients, including Leonid Brezhnev and Boris Yeltsin, Semyon Budyonny and Georgy Zhukov, Mikhail Bulgakov and Sergei Mikhalkov, Faina Ranevskaya and John Reed, Sergei Korolev and Igor Kurchatov and others.

| After modernization, the building was rebuilt and lost the form of the Stalinist Empire style of the 30s. In 1969, in front of the main building of the sanatorium, a monument to Lenin was unveiled by the sculpture of V. B. Pinchuk - a copy of the monument to Lenin, installed in 1967 in the Tainitsky Garden of the Moscow Kremlin. By the way, the monument was dismantled from the Kremlin in 1995 and moved to Gorki.

| There is also a copy of another famous monument on the territory of the sanatorium - a sculpture by Yevgeny Vuchetich "Grieving Mother" was installed at the memorial soldier's cemetery - a copy from the memorial "Battle of Stalingrad" in Volgograd. As well as many other monumental sculptures of the Soviet era.

| There is not much entertainment here - yet the specifics are not the same. One of the places of leisure is a pond, where hundreds of birds live - ducks, swans, geese. Judging by the photographs from the museum of the sanatorium, entertainment in the form of feeding has been practiced here since the 60s, which is captured on the TASS photo chronicle.

| At present, both the castle and the sanatorium belong to the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. In "Meiendorf" there is "State residence Barvikha, where some official events are held.

| There are also curious artifacts of the Soviet era.

| The plate on the device is L. M. Ericsson.

| Church of the Nativity in the village of Barvikha, opposite the Meiendorf castle.

A few kilometers north of Odintsovo is the village of Barvikha, where the “Castle of Baroness Meiendorf”, built in the style of knightly buildings of the Middle Ages, is sure to attract attention. Remarkable for its beauty is the magnificent regular park that stretches around it. Behind the castle is a large lake with a dam and a beautiful stone bridge.

The “Castle of Baroness Meiendorf” has a rich history, built in 1885-1887 under the leadership of Pyotr Samoilovich Boytsov for the daughter of General A. B. Kazakov, Nadezhda Alexandrovna.

Soon, a baron appears in the life of Nadezhda Alexandrovna - a retired officer Bogdan Yegorovich Meiendorf. He was not rich, but he had a title. The wedding took place in 1904. Nadezhda Alexandrovna became a baroness, and her husband got the magnificent Barvikha castle. The Meiendorfs deduced their origin from the old Baltic baronial family of Ikskul, who received their surname from the castle of the same name, 25 km from Riga, on the banks of the Western Dvina. "Ikskul" is a Finnish word meaning village. During the conquest by the German knights, this "village" was the first to enter into relations with the Germans, who in 1187 founded a fortress here.

It is quite likely that the Barvikha castle in some way satisfied the baronial pride of its new owner. At the direction of Meiendorf, the castle is rebuilt and acquires a slightly different silhouette, a brick wall is built around it. The castle has a large collection of weapons, paintings, a wonderful library. In the lower large hall appears a magnificent large tapestry "The Great Flood". It was mounted on a coffered ceiling, the size of which is about 40 square meters. meters. There are several medallions around the tapestry, on one of which there is an inscription in Latin “Diluvium”, and on the other, in a beautiful ornament, two intersecting letters “H” and “X”, which means: “House of Ixcules”. A forest park with an area of ​​up to 5 hectares was laid out around the castle. The owners lived in the castle only in the summer, and left it for the winter. In 1914, the Meiendorffs went abroad for treatment.

Soon the First World War broke out, and they remained abroad. After the October Revolution, they never returned to Barvikha. Valuable property remains in the castle. His protection was entrusted to the Komsomol members of the village of Odintsovo, headed by Stanislav Makovsky. A special armed team was created to carry out security.

In 1918 V. I. Lenin often visited Barvikha. According to the memoirs of his sister M. I. Ulyanova: “In order to get some fresh air on a free day, we ... made it a rule to leave the city for at least a few hours, taking sandwiches with us instead of lunch. They traveled in different directions, but soon the forest on the banks of the Moskva River, near Barvikha, became Vladimir Ilyich's favorite place. We chose a secluded place on a hill with a wide view of the river and the surrounding fields, and spent time there until the evening.

In the first years of Soviet power, a colony was created in the Barvikha castle for the children of the dead Red Army soldiers. Sleeping quarters, a dining room and workshops were equipped here. About 150 children were brought up in the children's colony. In March 1935, the sanatorium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "Barvikha" was organized in the building of the castle, where M. A. Bulgakov, I. L. Andronnikov, D. D. Shostakovich, S. P. Korolev, I. V. Kurchatov, Luis Corvalan, Yuri Gagarin and others.

Since that time, Barvikha has become a vacation spot for the Soviet elite. The dacha of M.A. Bonch-Bruevich was located near the village, from 1938 to 1945 the writer A.N. Tolstoy lived in one of the state dachas.

The castle was extensively restored in 2003-2004. According to ancient engravings, the interiors were restored, portals and stairs were made, a unique tapestry on the theme of the Flood was assembled literally bit by bit. The castle consists of a main building and an outbuilding connected by an underground passage. The facades have completely retained their original appearance. Restoration work restored the former luxury: spiers, windows, white stone, gilding - everything is carefully preserved without alteration. Even the windows and drainpipes are recreated in the form in which they are depicted on old documents. Inside, there were serious changes related to the new functionality of the castle and modern technological requirements. Screen painting was used to decorate the walls: in each room - with its own special pattern. The walls of the corridors are covered with English silk, and the wooden elements of the walls and stairs are made of tinted pine.

Currently, the castle belongs to the Office of the President and is used not only for high-level political meetings, but also for private events.

The emergence of a dacha settlement in Barvikha in the second half of the 19th century is associated with the name of the owner of the neighboring village of Podushkino, General A. B. Kazakov. Initially, the village was called Samynka (after the name of the river), a road was laid to it from the nearest railway station Odintsovo. For his daughter, who has been fond of chivalric stories since childhood, a loving father builds a miniature wooden castle on the bank of a small pond. The castle becomes Nadezhda Alexandrovna's favorite place, but it is more of a child's toy than a full-fledged manor house. When N. A. Kazakova marries one of the neighbors - Colonel E. A. Verigin, in 1885 - 1887 the construction of a castle house begins according to the project and under the guidance of architect P. S. Boytsov. A few years after the completion of construction, the owner of the castle died unexpectedly. Sent abroad with important papers, E. A. Verigin dropped a briefcase with documents from the ship into the sea on the way back. Rushing after him into the water, he did not drown, but caught a bad cold and died shortly after his return. Following her husband, the father of Nadezhda Alexandrovna also died.

Podushkino estate in Barvikha, architect P.S. Fighters. 1890

The owner of this castle lacked only the title, and in 1904 N. A. Verigina married a poor retired officer B. E. Meiendorf, who bore the title of baron. So finally Nadezhda Alexandrovna became a baroness with her own castle. The owners lived in the castle only in the summer, they usually spent the winter abroad or in the capitals. They were visited by the Russian emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II with their august families, as evidenced by memorial plaques on the south wall. Prince Felix Yusupov, the last owner of the Arkhangelskoye estate, which is five kilometers away on the other side of the river, wrote in his book “Before the Exile”, recently translated from French: “Not far from Arkhangelskoye, on a hill, there was a semblance of an old German castle, as if transferred here from the banks of the Rhine. The hostess with the figure of the goddess, which the local wits called "affe popo", which means a flirtatious tail, boasted to her numerous guests that every morning she takes a bath of rose petals.

Interior of the castle of the barons Meiendorf, 1890
"Art collection of Russian architects and engineers", 1890-1892
As always, in 1914, the Meiendorfs left their castle for a short time, thinking of returning by summer. But the outbreak of the 1st World War forced them to refrain from a quick return to Russia. And the revolution of 1917 led to the fact that the owners of the majestic castle forever remained abroad. (You can read the full history of the Podushkino estate -)

Living room. Modern interior © 2007-2010 AM O. Klimova

Manor Podushkino. Meiendorf. Reception
Currently owned by the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, Meiendorf sometimes hosts some official meetings of the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev with heads of foreign states, heads of State Duma factions and other events.

Canteen

Canteen

square hall

round lobby

Living room

Manor Svyatopolk-Chetvertinsky. 1887 (now the Central House of Writers, Povarskaya Street, 50)
Architect P.S. Boytsov
Pyotr Semyonovich (Soymonovich or Samoilovich) Boytsov (1849, Nizhny Novgorod - after 1917, Moscow) - Russian architect, the largest master of manor construction in the eclectic and neo-Gothic styles. He built estates-castles in the Moscow and Vladimir regions, mansions in Moscow, Kyiv, Nizhny Novgorod. He is also known as the author of the first draft of the Moscow Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (1898), the layout of which was taken as a basis by the builder of the museum R. I. Klein.

Central House of Writers, Povarskaya street, 50 (Moscow, former estate of Svyatopolk-Chetvertinsky)

on Yandex.Photos
In the 1890s Boitsov switches to Art Nouveau, not forgetting, however, about Gothic and Renaissance reminiscences. The mansion of S.P. Berg (Money Lane, 5), built in 1898, resembles Italian or French city palaces, lined with stone on the facade. Today it houses the Italian embassy.

Berg's mansion

On the plans of 1806, on the site of this land ownership, there was a building of an estate that belonged to Countess Katerina Petrovna Zotova. The building burned down in 1812 during a fire in Moscow and was restored in 1824. In 1897 it was acquired by Sergei Pavlovich Berg. Berg decided to build a stone mansion on this site, which was built according to the project of the architect P. S. Boytsov in the neoclassical and neo-baroque styles.

In 1918, after Berg left for Switzerland, the mansion housed the German mission headed by envoy von Mirbach, who was tragically murdered in the Red Hall by two agents of the Cheka, members of the Left Esser party. In the same year, the mansion becomes the headquarters of the Executive Committee of the Communist International. Zinoviev, Trotsky, Radek and Bukharin worked here. Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, often came here too, Lenin visited.

After the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and the Soviet Union, Berg's mansion was transferred in 1924 to the diplomatic mission of Italy. At the beginning of World War II, Berg's mansion was transferred to the care of the Japanese ambassador in Moscow. In 1944 diplomatic relations were restored. In 1949, the embassy returned to Berg's mansion.

Country village Meiendorf Gardens. Service buildings. Central Checkpoint © 2007-2010 AM O. Klimova

Central checkpoint

Country village Meiendorf Gardens. Service buildings. Checkpoint 1

On June 17, 2006, the wedding of the popular Russian singer GlukoZa (Natasha Ionova) and top manager of RAO UES of Russia Alexander Chistyakov took place in Meiendorf Castle.
Among the guests were Ksenia Sobchak and her mother Lyudmila Narusova, Kristina Orbakaite, Yulia Bordovskikh, as well as their mutual friends and colleagues Alexandra Chistyakov from RAO UES of Russia, a total number of more than 200 people.

After the official part, the guests were invited to a banquet, where round tables were laid, each of which had a special name - for example, "electrification", "fuse" and even "high voltage".

Even the plates were painted with high-voltage transmission lines.

The newlyweds themselves sat on a raised platform opposite the stage. The first toast was made by the parents of Alexander Chistyakov. Thanking Natasha's mom and dad for her excellent upbringing, they handed over the family tree of their family to the newlyweds.

After the guests drank and ate a little, they moved to another hall of the castle, where a festive concert and disco soon began.

Verka Serdyuchka, Ivanushki International, Diana Arbenina, Garik Sukachev and, finally, the main guest of the evening - Jamiroquai succeeded each other on the stage.

Outgoing year results. Andrey Budaev's calendar (c) lady_may yashin

View of the successor (c) Andrey Budaev

. 1875. Litovchenko A.D. (1835-1890)

vkinobudke.ru ©
I watched the movie "Tsar" (c) warsh

Pyotr Mamonov as the Terrible and Oleg Yankovsky as Metropolitan Philip (his last role) are certainly impressive. And the film itself - hard and at times cruel - makes you think.

In particular, where do the roots of such monstrous despotism and tyranny grow, which Peter I and Joseph Stalin later revealed? And most importantly, why do so many people almost happily rush to fulfill the smallest whims of such tyrants on the throne (and not only on the throne)?

. 1858. Khlebovsky S. (1835-1884)

Viennese Ball ~ Elenin's Walkers

on Yandex.Photos

Toast of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin "For the Russian people!"

Comrades, allow me to raise one more, last toast.

I would like to raise a toast to the health of the entire Russian People.
(Stormy, "prolonged applause, cheers").

I drink, first of all, to the health of the Russian People, because they are the most outstanding nation of all the nations that make up the Soviet Union.

I raise a toast to the health of the Russian people because in this war they deserved and previously deserved the title, if you like, of the leading force of our Soviet Union among all the peoples of our country.

I raise a toast to the health of the Russian People, not only because they are the leading people, but also because they have common sense, general political common sense and patience.

Our government made quite a few mistakes, we had moments of desperate situation in 1941-42, when our army retreated, left our native villages and cities in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, the Leningrad region, the Baltic states, the Karelian-Finnish Republic, left, because there was no other way. Another people could say to the Government: you have not lived up to our expectations, go away, we will install another government that will make peace with Germany and ensure peace for us.

But the Russian People did not agree to this, the Russian People did not compromise, they showed boundless confidence in our government. I repeat, we made mistakes, for the first two years our army was forced to retreat, it turned out that they did not master the events, did not cope with the situation that had arisen. However, the Russian People believed, endured, waited and hoped that we would still cope with the events.

It is for this trust in our government that the Russian People has shown us, thank you very much!

For the health of the Russian people!
(Stormy, long-lasting applause.)

Khmelko M.I. For the great Russian people. 1949. (In the Georgievsky hall of the BKD)
Archive inventory (c) opposto

Andrey Budaev. Head of Chukotka ~ Rokirovochka

The family loves Roma. Roma loves football

Red Square invites... ~ Phenomenon

Kremlin favorites ~ Russian

citizen Yumasheva t_yumasheva
I want to appeal to those who believe in what I am telling. If you don't believe, read no further.

My last two posts were very simple. She told about the resignation of the pope on December 31, 1999. Then I dug into the photographs, accidentally found just those taken on that very day - the patriarch in the president's office with dad and V.V. Putin, the famous pen that the former president gives to the new acting president, dad before recording a television address to the country, porch of the presidential entrance, leaving the Kremlin forever... I did not give any assessments, just described how everything happened, step by step. Once again, there were many comments that all this is not true. Everything was different.

(c) t_yumasheva
Someone in their comments threw out that I was avoiding difficult questions. I describe only what is beneficial to me. I try not to touch difficult situations and complex figures. What, however, is the story of the resignation of the first president of the country on December 31, 1999, and the beginning of work as the head of the country, V.V. Putin, is beneficial to me, I don’t really understand, well, yes, these are the details.

So, I want to explain. I will definitely tell you about the most difficult and acute events of the 90s. What I think about both the first Chechen war and the second Chechen campaign of 1999. And about the default of 1998. And about the October crisis of 1993. And about the family. And about the oligarchs. We will definitely talk about everything. Because for some readers, the facts do not fit with the assessments. And I would like you to hear facts and truth one more time, not emotional squeals. About how the great Soviet Union was ruined and destroyed in the 90s. It's a lie. Or about how innocent lambs gathered in October 1993 in the White House, and from some fright they began to fire at them from tanks. And this is also a lie.

Why Roman Abramovich became a billionaire (c) t_yumasheva
I think I have already tortured you with political texts. I suggest taking a break. Quite a different story.

When I was in the Transit club, where we were talking about the nineties, at some point there was a discussion about why some people become rich and others don't. One young man, I think his name was Pavel, remembered an interesting detail, how he played something like Monopoly with the company, the meaning of the game is that in the course someone becomes rich, and someone goes bankrupt. And it turned out that no matter how they sat down, no matter how they changed the rules of the game, they always won the same ones, while others lost.

In this regard, I remembered a similar story. A long time ago, when I had just started to be friends with Roman Abramovich, he told me a funny story from his army past.

2010 is the year of the yellow metal tiger () tanya_2004
An old Burmese legend says that once the Buffalo defeated the Tiger in a fight and mocked him. Since then, the Tiger has not endured Bulls (and Cows), therefore, seeing off the year 2009, one cannot praise him. But the New Year should be met with respect and hope - this is the Tiger's liking. The tiger always goes forward, despises conventions, hierarchy and conservatism of the mind. The tiger is a sign of extraordinary action, unexpected situations and exceptional fate. In any case, the year of the yellow metal Tiger is the year of outstanding personalities and the battle of the strongest human ambitions, the year of achievements and testing the strength of all life.

© Dpa / Zuma Press
as if interested in visitors to the zoo in Eberswalde, Germany,
How much can you celebrate?

There are quite interesting places in the suburbs. Some are familiar to many, but there are those that are in the shadows.

Just a few years ago, few people heard about the Meiendorf castle in Barvikha (the photo is presented in the article), but they often saw it when driving past the Barvikha state farm along the Podushkinskoye highway. Today it is the official residence of the Russian president and information about it periodically appears in the news, but the grandeur and beauty of this building is not available to everyone. After a major restoration, the castle is surrounded by a high fence around the perimeter.

History of the castle

The history of this architectural masterpiece began in 1874. The general's daughter, romantic by nature Nadezhda, convinced her father to build a castle in the spirit of chivalric novels. At that time, near the small village of Podushkino (future Barvikha), a small wooden castle was built on the bank of a pond.

Meiendorf Castle (photo presented in the article) was built in 85-87 years of the XIX century according to the project of the then famous architect P. S. Boytsov.

Why did he get such a name? Nadezhda Alexandrovna in 1904 married a poor retired military man who bore the title of baron, - Mikhail Feliksovich Mayendorff. Thanks to this, she became a baroness, and this estate became known as the castle of Baroness Meiendorf. The name remains so to this day. The castle has been visited by many famous people. For example, a memorial sign installed on the walls of the castle says that Emperor Nicholas II was also in it.

After the Meiendorf couple went abroad for treatment in 1914, they never returned to Russia. During the civil war, the Soviet authorities were able to save the castle by placing guards, and then organized a colony in this building for the children of the dead Red Army soldiers.

Since 1935, the castle has turned into an elite sanatorium "Barvikha". Many celebrities were treated in it - Bulgakov M.A., Prishvin M.M., Gagarin Yu.A., Korolev S.P. and others. Later, the House of Culture of the state farm "Barvikha" was created here.

architecture style

The castle of Baroness Meiendorf in Barvikha became unexpectedly bright against the background of the general classical style of the estates of the nobles of the 19th century.

The basis of the unusual image is luxurious and romantic neo-Gothic. Here, according to old photographs and engravings, the original elements are restored, combined with a thorough and rather attractive stylization of the interiors.

The nearby park has such unusual and unique plants and trees as could be obtained in those days. In this park area there is also a picturesque lake, loved by swans.

A little about the village

Baroness Meiendorf Castle is located in Meiendorf Gardens. This is an excellent location, at the same time combining proximity to the metropolis (about 7 km from the capital of Russia along the Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway) and a remote location from the main highway. Quietness and beautiful ecology attract many to this picturesque corner.

The territory of the village is represented by a magnificent natural landscape. - relic coniferous forest with lakes and ravines. There is also a well-kept forest park walking area.

This village has a rather high status due to its proximity to the territory of the sanatorium "Barvikha", where a wonderful architectural monument is located - Meiendorf Castle. The high level and status of the settlement is also due to the fact that this area is historically inextricably linked with famous statesmen of culture, science, art and politics who have ever visited these places.

Modern purpose

Since 2008, the castle has been owned by the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. Nearby, as noted above, there is a regular operating park covering an area of ​​more than 3 hectares.

In today's Meiendorf castle, official meetings of the Head of Russia with representatives and heads of various states, with heads of factions of the State Duma, and many other official events are held.

More detailed facts from the history of the reconstruction of the castle

The young lady Nadezhda Alexandrovna in 1886 first married an officer of the General Staff E. A. Verigin. They immediately began to remodel the building, as noted above, according to the project of the famous architect Peter Boitsov, who played an important role in the architectural history of the Barvikha area. But a fatal accident ended her husband's life early.

After she married the same Meiendorf, the castle was rebuilt again (already at the direction of the baron) - it acquired a brick wall around the perimeter and new towers. In the fireplace room, located on the first floor, a tapestry on the theme of the Great Flood was fixed. It is assumed that this is the work of Benoit. The tapestry is surrounded by monograms. On one of them is written in Latin Diluvium, which translates as "flood", and the inscription on the other - H and X - reads "House of Ixkules" (the Meiendorf family began its history from this ancient family).

Reconstruction work in the Meiendorf castle after the departure of the Meiendorf couple in 1914 was no longer carried out.

Further history

After the October Revolution of 1917, V. I. Lenin lived and worked in the castle for some time, and then, in 1935, the Barvikha sanatorium, owned by the USSR Council of Ministers, was created in the building of the former estate.

As already mentioned, many famous personalities rested and underwent treatment here at different times.

Meiendorf Castle today

From 2003 to 2004, a major restoration was carried out in the castle and in the surrounding area. To recreate the former beauty and authentic interior, old engravings and paintings were used. Stairs and portals were completely restored, a unique tapestry was assembled according to the finest details, which collapsed so much that it was impossible to remove it from the ceiling.

Today the castle consists of a main building and an outbuilding connected by a passage. Their facades have completely acquired their original appearance. Careful restoration work has given the castle its former luxury. Gilding, windows, spiers, white stone - everything is preserved so accurately that there is not the slightest sign of a "remake".

Even the drainpipes and windows took on the same look that is depicted on ancient documents. Although double-glazed windows were installed, thanks to the addition of second frames to them, a castle-like appearance was preserved.

Some difficulties and innovations

During the reconstruction of the Meiendorf castle in Barvikha, some difficulties arose. They especially arose during the selection of bricks, since the same texture as it was before cannot be found today. But the problem was solved in the following way: the outer face of the facing brick was grinded, and as a result, its inner texture became similar to the original brick.

The interiors have undergone more serious changes related to the new functionality of this castle and the modern requirements of technology. In addition, the basement was completed in the castle, where the kitchen and other technical premises were located. The building is equipped with modern air conditioning and ventilation systems. All technical elements are completely hidden in the wall, for example, ventilation hatches are inscribed in the recreated old interiors.

The walls are decorated with stencil painting, and each room has its own special pattern. It should be noted that the restorers removed more than 18 layers of paint during the work. This had to be done in order to reveal an elegant and delicate pictorial pattern. In the corridors, the walls are covered with magnificent English silk.

Rublyovka is the only place in the country where there are no letters "d" on the signs before the name of the settlement. or with.". It is written simply - "Barvikha", "Zhukovka", "Uspenskoye", etc. There are no villages or villages there, they are everywhere, but they are not there. They're probably shy. And by themselves, there are villages and villages, preserved between rich cottages and newfangled castles. Those estates that occupy a large area are hidden by giant fences. Those "palaces" and "castles" that are built on relatively small plots of land, together and as a whole, give a depressing impression of Shanghai.
But I was interested in these places from the point of view of history. And this area is rich in history. And sometimes its amazing pages open up.

After the revolution, the castle became a boarding school for the children of the fallen Red Army soldiers. Then, in 1935, the elite sanatorium "Barvikha" was created in the castle. A settlement (state farm "Barvikha") arose to serve the economic needs of the sanatorium. Later, the castle became the house of culture of the state farm trade union. A new large building was built nearby for the sanatorium.
During the war years, the sanatorium worked as a military hospital. In 1965, its reconstruction began, and a couple of years before that, a monument to Stalin was dismantled at the entrance to the main building, for the creation of which materials from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior destroyed in 1931 in Moscow were used. ( From here)
The archives of the museum contain a collection of thanks from patients, including Leonid Brezhnev and Boris Yeltsin, Semyon Budyonny and Georgy Zhukov, Mikhail Bulgakov and Sergei Mikhalkov, Faina Ranevskaya and John Reed, Luis Corvalan, Sergei Korolev, Yuri Gagarin and Igor Kurchatov and others.
Near the village there was a dacha of M.A. Bonch-Bruevich, from 1938 to 1945 A.N. Tolstoy lived at one of the state dachas.
Now the castle is the official residence of the President of Russia. The castle was visited by Hugo Chavez, Libyan leader Gaddafi, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, Condoleezza Rice held closed talks here. Medieval luxury, of course, surprises guests, but not everyone feels at home in this setting. For example, Madonna was also offered to stay in Meiendorf, but the singer politely declined the offer, citing traffic jams on the Rublevo-Uspenskoe Highway. They say that Nazarbayev loves this castle and every time he comes to Moscow, he stops only there.
If the news says that the negotiations took place in Barvikha, then they took place in the Meiendorf castle. And the background that you see on the screen is the interiors of the castle.
Commercial events are held in the mansion for a very separate fee, for example, you can hold a wedding. Despite sky-high prices, according to our ideas, registration for such events is carried out long before, in accordance with the schedule of official events and visiting distinguished guests.
You can see photos of the castle from the territory and interiors.

In the immediate vicinity of the castle there is a small church:

And a wonderful view of the pond opens:

It is impossible to ignore the architect Pyotr Samoilovich Boytsov, he is not as widely known as, for example, Shekhtel, however, this person is very extraordinary. Pyotr Samoilovich was self-taught, therefore he did not have a building license, and other architects often built according to his designs. That is, in modern terms, he was a successful "shabasnik".
The list of his architectural heritage (preserved and not preserved) is impressive. According to his projects, houses and estates were built in the Penza province, Tula, Ryazan, Vladimir, Lipetsk, Kyiv, Nizhny Novgorod. And in Moscow, a lot was built according to his projects. For example, the mansion of Prince Svyatopolk-Chetvertinsky on Povarskaya, where the Central House of Writers is now located; the mansion of the industrialist Berg, where the German embassy was later located and the Socialist-Revolutionary Yakov Blumkin shot the German ambassador von Mirbach, and today the residence of the Italian ambassador.
On the building of the Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin in Moscow for many years hangs a sign erroneously calling its builder R.I. Klein. Yes, Klein built the main museum building. But according to the project of Boytsov. Wikipedia says that "the project was used by R.I. Klein during construction." However, the project was not just used, but Klein built exactly in accordance with Boitsov's project, not allowing a single deviation from it.
The history of the estate, built according to the project of Boytsov in Muromtsevo, Vladimir Region, by order of Vladimir Semyonovich Khrapovitsky, captain of the Life Guards of the Hussar Regiment, is very interesting, as well as the legend associated with it. If you believe the legend, then the captain roamed widely - in Russian, and "pinned" in our way.

Another castle built by Boitsov is located not far from the Meiendorf castle - in Uspensky. This estate belonged to the ancient family of the princes Svyatopolk-Chetvertinsky, who built a manor house in Uspensky that has come down to us in the proportions and forms of a Scottish castle.

The house received a rich wooden finish from the famous furniture factory of Pyotr Alexandrovich Schmidt, whose sister (or daughter?) Pyotr Boytsov was married to.
After the revolution, it had an orphanage, an institute for horse breeding and forestry, and a hospital. Since 1960, the estate has housed a branch of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Academy of Sciences. In the 1970s her new building was built next to the castle. It is also impossible to get into the territory, you can only look through the fence.
You can read the history of the estate and see more detailed photos, as well as look inside .

Fences, barriers.... barriers, fences......
The only places accessible to the people in the Rublyovka area are churches. On the day we traveled there, it was Forgiveness Sunday and the last day of Maslenitsa, services were going on in the churches. Surprised by the large number of children, there were a lot of them. In the Assumption Cathedral, among the crowd (for the most part) of the most ordinary people, a well-known person "from the TV" was noticed, some famous politician, but they could not remember the last name.

Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands (late 17th century) in Ubory village:

In Ilyinsky, a manor that belonged to the Romanov family has been preserved.
The estate was founded in the 17th century by the first Moscow governor boyar Streshnev, and at the beginning of the 19th century it was owned by Count AI Osterman-Tolstoy, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812. In the second half of the 19th century, Ilyinskoye passed into imperial ownership, the house was rebuilt by the architect A.I. Rezanov, and Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the widow of Alexander II, lives here.
Members of the royal family were related to almost all the royal houses of Europe, and almost everyone came to Ilinskoye. As a rule, from the Odintsovo station of the Smolensk railway, opened back in 1870, guests rode in carriages, and at the estate they were met by a charming hostess - Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich expressed his attitude towards her in verse. Many of his poems were written at the Ilinskoye estate and set to music by famous composers Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Rachmaninov, and others.
The children of his younger brother, Pavel Alexandrovich, Maria and Dmitry, were brought up in the family of the Grand Duke. Pavel was married to the daughter of the Greek king, Alexandra Georgievna. They owned the Usovo estate, located next to Ilyinsky.
The last owner before the revolution was her nephew, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, the head of the conspiracy against Rasputin in 1916.
Manor buildings with romantic names have survived to this day: “Throw sadness”, “Do not smell grief”, “Shelter for friends”, chamberlain and chamber-maid of honor buildings.
Many people worked in Ilyinsky: Lazhechnikov and Aksakov, Polezhaev and Yazykov, the collector of Russian folk songs Kireevsky, Chaliapin performed here. And Lenin also visited here, so in Soviet times, the rest house "Ilyichevo" was located in the estate for many years.
Currently, the boarding house "Ilyinskoye" belongs to the State Unitary Enterprise "Moscow Property".
Near the estate, across the road, there is a small wooden house. Once upon a time, the service staff of the boarding house lived in this house:

And among them was Vladimir Putin's grandfather - Spiridon Ivanovich Putin, who worked as a cook in a boarding house.
“According to the information that has been preserved about him, Putin’s grandfather was a closed, serious person, of impeccable honesty, he was fond of the history of princely and royal families. He was a good cook: before the revolution he worked in the best restaurants of the capital, after the First World War, as the president himself says in the book “Conversations in the First Person” published before the elections, he was invited to work in Gorki near Moscow, where Lenin and the whole Ulyanov family lived. When Lenin died, Spiridon Ivanovich was transferred to one of Stalin's dachas. Few of those who were under Stalin all the time survived. Putin's grandfather survived the "leader of the peoples." After retiring, he lived and cooked in the rest house of the Moscow City Party Committee in Ilyinsky. Vladimir Putin still in the same book "Conversations in the First Person" says that the grandfather kept quiet about his life, and the parents almost did not tell anything either about the grandfather or about themselves. (