Bolshiye Vyazemy Estate
Bolshiye Vyazemy is a historical and architectural ensemble that is part of the Pushkin Museum-Reserve. The estate is located in the village of the same name, in Odintsovo district of Moscow region. Visiting Bolshiye Vyazemy, you can not only enjoy the crystal clear air and wander along the very paths of ancient parks, where walked the founder of the modern Russian literary language, but also touch the mute witnesses of Alexander Sergeyevich’s childhood – magnificent historical monuments that are united in the palace and park complex.
Video: Bolshiye Vyazemy Estate from the top
ContentsHighlights
Pushkin’s places in Russia conceal a lot of mystical, mysterious and unrecognized. The great poet himself wrote: “…there are strange convergences…”. Bolshiye Vyazemy, the poetic birthplace of Alexander Pushkin, was no exception. It was here, in this beautiful estate in the Moscow region, passed the childhood and youth of one of the most influential literary figures of the first third of the nineteenth century.
.Both in Bolshiye Vyazem, and in the Zakharovo estate located 2 km from Vyazem, Pushkin became acquainted with the beauty of Russian nature, the life of the rich provincial nobility and peasant round dances, here he first heard folk songs, here he also began to write his first poems. In Bolshiye Vyazemakh Alexander Sergeevich was formed as the greatest national Russian poet, here he returned when his life was not the most favorable periods.
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Nowadays, on the territory of both Bolshiye Vyazem and Zakharovo, the estate of Maria Alekseevna Hannibal, Pushkin’s maternal grandmother, is located the Pushkin State Historical and Literary Museum-Reserve (A. S. Pushkin State Historical and Literary Museum-Reserve).
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History of Bolshie Vyazeme
Bolshiye Vyazeme has cultural and historical value not only as Pushkin’s “poetic homeland”. Many key events in Russian history are associated with this estate, a former royal, boyar and princely residence.
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Late 16th century – early 17th century
The first written mention of Vyazemakh dates back to the 16th century. Nothing is known about the earlier history of this place. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the village of Vyazemy was called Nikolskoye-Vyazemy, due to the wooden church there. The village was the last station-settlement on the Great Smolensk Road before Moscow.
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In 1584, Tsar of All Russia Fyodor Blazhenny gave the village to boyar Boris Godunov, his associate and brother-in-law, who almost immediately decided to organize construction of unprecedented scale here. Godunov turned his newly acquired possession into a small but powerful fortress. In a short period of time, the boyar’s architects built a wooden house with wings, a wooden fortress wall with five towers, a dam and Nikolskaya Church, now known as the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior.
.The Piskarevsky chronicler described the Nikolskaya Church as “a church of five tops”. It is known that in 1600 the church was fully completed, painted and consecrated. In the same period was built a structure for hanging bells (belfry) uncharacteristic for the Moscow suburbs architecture of the Pskov type.
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Even in Godunov’s time on the territory of Bolshiye Vyazeme there was a building of the fair (torzhok) and St. John the Theologian Monastery. A specially dug moat protected the fortress walls from the invasion of enemies. Except for the belfry and the stone church, none of the buildings have survived to this day, neither in the original nor in the rebuilt form.
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XVII-XVIII centuries
The palace once contained not only a huge library, but also an archive with rare documents. There is also an interactive exhibition called “Paintings Come Alive”, which includes installations with historical figures who once visited the estate.
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It is much more interesting and informative to explore the interiors of the Golitsyns’ house-palace not on your own, but with a guide. Every weekend at 12:00 and 14:00 on the estate Bolshiye Vyazemy organized tours on duty. The unpretentious and spacious building of the palace house blends very harmoniously with the bright and symmetrical parterre. Located at the entrance to the palace, the parterre flows smoothly and gently into the park, decorated with fountains, sculptures and flowerbeds.
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To appreciate the beauty of the palace garden, you should look at it from the second floor balcony. If you want to enhance the impressions of the tour, then be sure to visit the famous neighbor of Bolshiye Vyazem – the estate Zakharovo.
.Western wing (kitchen wing)
Prince Nikolai Mikhailovich Golitsyn built the western (kitchen) wing in 1771. The outbuilding not only housed the estate kitchen, but also accommodated the service staff of the Bolshiye Vyazemy estate. After the revolution of 1917 the outbuilding was given to a dormitory. In the 80-90s of the XX century there was a polyclinic.
.In 2014-2015, thanks to large-scale restoration, the western wing was returned to its original historical appearance. And in 2017 the exposition “On Golitsynsky avenues. Vyazemy. Century XX”. This exposition is devoted to the history of the village of Golitsyno, the Velikie Vyazemy estate from the beginning of the XX century to 1987, when the museum was created.
.Eastern wing (guest wing)
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How to get there
The village of Bolshiye Vyazemy is located 30 km from the Moscow Ring Road, 54 km west of Moscow, 20 km from the city of Odintsovo, in the Odintsovo District of the Moscow Region, on the bank of the Vyazemka River. Near the estate runs parallel to the Minsk highway Mozhaiskoye highway (former Bolshaya Smolenskaya road).
.You can get to the estate by own or rented vehicle, public transport, metro (the nearest station is Belorusskaya), electric train, cab, bicycle. There is a special parking lot for bicycles in front of the entrance to the park.
.To get to Velikie Vyazem by car, you need to drive along the Mozhaisk highway to 44 km. Without entering the village itself, you should turn left before the bridge, and then make a right turn and drive to the parking lot at the Transfiguration Church.
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In Bolshiye Vyazemy from Moscow you can get by train “Lobnya – Borodino” from Belorussky station. You need to get to the station “Golitsyno”, and then take a bus number 38, 39, 1055 or route number 20, 38, 38a and go to the stop “Institute”, and then walk about 700 m.
.You can also get to Bolshiye Vyazem by route #594 from the metro station “Molodezhnaya”. Go to the stop “Akulovo”, and then change to bus number 1055, 50 and follow to the stop “Institute”.
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