Serednikovo Estate

Serednikovo Estate is a beautiful example of Russian countryside architecture and landscape art. This atmospheric corner near Moscow is associated with the names of outstanding representatives of Russian culture, and it is often called the place where the talent of Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov began to blossom. Serednikovo, located in Solnechnogorsk district, belongs to the most beautiful pre-revolutionary estates built in the vicinity of Moscow. One complex with it includes an equestrian and sports club with the same name and the movie town Piligrim Porto.

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Video: Serednikovo Estate

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Highlights

Serednikovo Estate and the capital of Russia are separated by only 40 kilometers, and Muscovites often come here on weekends to relax in the lap of magical nature. The homestead park with centuries-old trees, ravines overgrown with hazel and ornate paths leading to quiet ponds cannot be called exemplary well-maintained, but fans of romantic walks will be delighted by it. Wonderful and ennobled park area, which surrounds the architectural ensemble of the estate, attracting classical simplicity of its forms and strict elegance of appearance.

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The Barsky house is beautifully restored and keeps the memory of all its owners. And among them were the Cherkassky princes, the richest nobleman Vsevolod Vsevolzhsky, the Stolypins, who were related to the Lermontovs, the family of the big businessman Firsanov. Serednikovo owes its revival after decades of decline to the representatives of the Lermontov family. Having united in an association, they financed the restoration of the estate complex, preserving the atmosphere of pre-revolutionary Russia and turning the estate into one of the most famous Lermontov’s places.

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Every summer the estate holds a promenade ball “Lermontov’s Vacations”. Tours of the bar house are accompanied by the recitation of poems by the great poet. His love lyrics are also heard in musical and poetic compositions performed during concerts held in the Marble Hall or in the open air.

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A 10-minute walk from the bar’s house is the movie town “Pilgrim Porto”. Here it is pleasant to stroll among the scenery of English towns of the 18th century. They were created for the adventurous multi-part movie “Notes of the Forwarder of the Secret Chancellery”, and some scenes were filmed in the estate park. By the way, it is possible to walk around its territory on horseback. Horses are kept at the Serednikovo equestrian and sports club located near the estate.

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History of the Serednikovo estate

Five centuries ago, the lands on which the Serednikovo estate later spread out were owned by voivods from the Dobrynsky family. Since ancient times, this area, stretching on the waterway “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, was known as Goretov Stan. It was named after the Goretovka River, which was navigable at that time. In the center of the boyar fiefdom lay the Srednaya wasteland, which gave its name to the settlement that emerged here. In archival documents it was listed as “Srednikovo”, but later this name was transformed into the modern one.

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In 1525, the family estate of an ancient Moscow family became the property of the capital’s Chudov Monastery as a gift from Ivan Dobrynsky-Simsky. So the voevoda, returning from the campaign against Kazan, honored the memory of his fallen comrades. The monks owned these lands for almost a hundred years, using them as agricultural land. Then, for a century and a half, the masters of Serednikovo were the princes Egupovs-Cherkassky. During this period, the first stone church, manor house, stable and cattle yards were erected here.

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In 1775 the estate had a new owner – Senator Vsevolod Alekseevich Vsevolzhsky, who by the will of fate was among the conspirators who paved the way to the throne of Catherine II. The nobleman generously rewarded by the Empress opened a new page in the history of Serednikovo. Thanks to him, the architectural ensemble that has survived to this day appeared on the right bank of the Goretovka River. The name of the author of the project is not reliably established, but it may have been the famous architect Ivan Starov.

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Under the new owner built a two-story bar house with 4 wings: for guests and servants. On the territory of the estate, characterized by intricately rugged terrain, laid a park with a cascade of ponds, built bridges. The already existing outbuildings were enriched with greenhouses, greenhouses, workshops where cabinet makers worked. The owner bred horses, and a riding arena was built for riding them. In short, the estate turned into a well-organized farm, bringing an impressive income.

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In 1825 Serednikovo became the property of Major-General Dmitry Alexeevich Stolypin, and for almost 45 years served as a family nest of the successors of this ancient noble family. Peter Arkadyevich Stolypin, a prominent statesman and reformer, spent his childhood here. The representative of the respectable dynasty was also Elizaveta Alexeevna Arsenyeva – “the most famous grandmother of Russian literature”. Her grandson, Mikhail Lermontov, visited Serednikovo for the first time in 1829 and immediately succumbed to the charms of this peaceful corner near Moscow. Four years in a row, the poet spent his summer vacations here in the company of friends and neighbors, who were always welcome by the hospitable Stolypin family.

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The estate was often visited by Ekaterina Sushkova, who lived next door and became Lermontov’s first serious love interest. Emotions of the future luminary of Russian literature caused irony in a successful coquette. The bitterness of unrequited love was reflected in his famous lyrical “Sushkovsky cycle”. However, the ardent feelings did not prevent the young poet to work on books in the library and write. Here were born about 100 of his poems, 7 poems and 2 dramas.

In 1869 the Stolypins sold the estate to Ivan Firsanov, a Moscow merchant of the first guild. The new owner, who paid 75,000 rubles for the property, quickly made up for the costs. He sold antique furniture from the bar’s house and, like the hero of “The Cherry Orchard”, “cleared” from the trees a part of the territory for the construction of dachas. Thus the village of Firsanovka was formed. Soon Serednikovo was inherited by Firsanov’s daughter Vera Ivanovna. This enterprising emancipated lady invested a lot of money in restoration works and contributed to the opening of a railway station in Firsanovka. Being well educated, she appreciated art and gathered a brilliant society in the estate. Before the revolution of 1917, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Fyodor Chaliapin, Valentin Serov were frequent guests here.

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In 1919, the already nationalized estate was visited by Vladimir Lenin. It is said that he pondered the idea of setting up a residence near Moscow, but still preferred Gorki. In 1925 a neurological sanatorium was opened in Serednikovo, and during the war years a front-line hospital was located here. Soon after the Victory the estate turned into a hospital for tuberculosis patients. It was called “Mtsyri”. In the 70’s, the health resort accommodated a special contingent – now here former prisoners with the same lung disease were improving their health. These patients took advantage of the privileges in their own way, not hesitating to sell antique tapestries and pre-revolutionary furniture. During this period, the oak wall paneling was partially destroyed.

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The historic estate remained in a deplorable state until the 90s of the last century, although its architectural ensemble and authentic landscape have been preserved. In 1992, the National Lermontov Center in Serednikovo was established. It was organized by representatives of the Lermontov family from Russia and a number of other countries, who set themselves the goal of reviving the estate as a cultural and memorial complex. The large-scale restoration, financed by the Lermontov Heritage Foundation, lasted almost 10 years.

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Architectural complex

The front facade of the main house of the Serednikovo estate faces the access road, according to the canons of Russian country architecture. On both sides of this wide, fringed with linden trees alley, are located farm buildings – former horse and cattle yards, outbuildings, which are now housed in the administration, gift shop.

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The original building in the shape of a polyhedron stands apart. Its cone-shaped roof rests on snow-white stone pillars, fragmenting log walls with windows. Today banquets are held in this ancient building, and in the XVIII century it served as an arena. Here the owner of the estate Vsevolod Vsevolzhsky used to ride elite horses. It is said that after the nobleman’s death his nephew, who illegally took possession of Serednikovo, stole all the thoroughbred horses and sold them for an impressive sum. Near the manege there is a greenhouse where exotic fruits were grown under the last owners of Serednikovo. From here they were delivered for sale to Moscow.

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The front yard of the estate is fenced, the entrance is through a wrought iron gate framed by snow-white columns. Kurdoner decorated landscape beds with bright flowers, emphasizing the whiteness of the walls of the bar house, distinguished by solemn simplicity. Semicircular architectural ensemble, which includes the main building and 4 wings, is compositionally united by a graceful open colonnade.

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The central building is topped with a light gazebo with panoramic windows, from where one can enjoy romantic views of the surrounding landscapes that once inspired Lermontov. To modern guests of the estate, the main baronial house may seem familiar thanks to cinematography. Fans of the endless TV series “Poor Nastya” and the mystical thriller “Closed School” will surely recognize these historical scenery. Other popular movies were filmed here as well.

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The interior decoration of halls and rooms recreates the atmosphere of the XVIII-XIX centuries. It immediately becomes obvious: the restoration here was carried out professionally and with great taste. In the elegantly wood-paneled lobby, the magnificent Villeroy&Boch tiles of the 19th century have been carefully restored. The elegant chandeliers made by modern masters on the basis of ancient drawings look authentic. Specialists managed to masterfully restore the ceiling painting, Moorish stained glass windows of the century before last.

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One of the most beautiful halls of the house is the Oak Hall, where the dining room was located. Its entire perimeter is trimmed with wood paneling. They were restored by modern cabinetmakers on the basis of historical descriptions. The Oval (or Marble) Hall located on the high second floor, where Chaliapin and Rachmaninov used to perform at musical evenings, makes an impression. Here, as before, on a makeshift stage stands a piano, and a little further away – chairs for the audience.

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This room is also home to the famous plafond painted after Lermontov’s poem “Demon”. It was created by the famous artist Victor Stember at the request of Vera Ivanovna Firsova, who honored the memory of the great poet. In 1900, the last mistress of Serednikovo ordered a bronze bust of Lermontov for the room where she thought he lived on vacation. The author was the renowned artist and sculptor Anna Golubkina. Today this pectoral sculpture, cast in Paris, is installed in the Lermontov Room.

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A separate room with a library and a study are named after Stolypin. On the walls – photos of the famous reformer, his large portrait, the family coat of arms. Photographs of Vera Firsova herself can be seen in the elegantly furnished room where she lived.

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Serednikovo Manor Park

The romantic landscaped park of Serednikovo extends from the rear facade of the bar’s house, designed in the form of a semi-rotunda. From the windows of the Oval Office one can clearly see how a wide ramp with rhythmically alternating platforms made of stone slabs rushes to the ancient pond. It is flanked by luxurious larch trees that create dense shade, which in clear weather is effectively pierced by thin rays of sunlight. In this atmospheric location filmed an episode of the movie “Kolchak”: on the ancient stairs to the pond descended actors who played the roles of Admiral Kolchak and Nicholas II.

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There are also side paths leading to the pond, laid close to the front ramp. Once down, you will find yourself on the shore of the pond with two miniature islands. It is connected by a cascade with other water reservoirs, created at the behest of Vsevolod Vsevolzhsky in the place where the old bed of the Goretovka River was located. Its quiet banks can be accessed through the park.

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The dark water surface of the ponds is framed by tall trees, and these elegiac landscapes look delightful even in the dreariest season. It is not by chance that they impressed the artists Valentin Serov and Konstantin Yuon, who often visited Serednikovo. Today, on summer days the estate visitors and locals swim in the reservoirs. By the way, this side of the estate is free of charge. Not far from the central pond, in the depth of the green zone, arranged pavilions for picnics.

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The vast park stretching on both sides of the stairs is still called English, although it has long been chaotically overgrown with forest. In the 1990s, the park was threatened with the fate of going to firewood. Fortunately, the tenants, the Lermontovs’ family successors, saved the historical green oasis, which appeared thanks to Senator Vsevolozhsky. Laying the park, he did not consider the financial costs, and, as contemporaries testified, instructed workers to constantly replenish fresh fertile soil for new plantings.

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The territory was ennobled taking into account the expressive local relief, mottled with hollows and ravines. Bridges were built over the deepest of them. The best preserved is the white stone arched Chertov Bridge with three spans. Next to it there is a spring.

Practical information

You can enter the territory of Serednikovo estate from 10:00 to 18:00. The time interval may vary depending on the time of year and on holidays. Pilgrim Porto Cinema welcomes guests from 10:00 to 19:00 daily (tickets cost 200 rubles for adults and 100 rubles for children). Equestrian and Sports Club “Serednikovo” is open from 06:00 to 23:00.

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For an entrance ticket to the territory of the estate adults pay 100 rubles, children under 14 years old can pass for free. For pensioners the ticket will cost 30 rubles.

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Note that tourists do not have the opportunity to independently inspect the main house of the estate. You can only visit it as part of a tour, and they are usually held 1-3 times a day. Before heading to Serednikovo, look at the museum’s website to find out the schedule for the nearest time. You can also book a personalized tour there. An hour-long tour of the house accompanied by a guide costs 300 rubles (regular ticket). Pensioners, schoolchildren, students pay 250 rubles for the tour.

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Where to eat

Behind the building of the former manege there is an atmospheric cafe “Tea House”. Its interiors are decorated in the national style, the menu features mainly Russian dishes, and the prices correspond to those in the capital. In the warm season it is pleasant to sit here on the open veranda with a coffee or a glass of wine. It is worth considering that the cafe periodically serves events that are held in the arena, so you can not always eat here.

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To the right of the “Tea House” are gazebos with barbecues for cooking meat. They can be rented.

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Those who wish can refresh themselves in the stylized medieval tavern located on the territory of the film town “Pilgrim Porto”.

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How to get there

From Moscow to Serednikovo is convenient to get by train departing from the platform of the Leningradsky railway station. You need to get off at the Firsanovskaya station. The underground passage will lead you to the public transportation stop. Here take the bus number 40 and go to the final stop. It is called “The village of the sanatorium “Mtsyri”. Transportation runs from 05:30 to 22:00.

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By electric train you can get to the station Firsanovskaya and from Zelenograd. In addition, bus number 7 departs here from this city.

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Heading to Serednikovo by car, drive to the 34th km of the Leningradskoye highway, where there is a sign turning to the village of Yelino. Then, following the signs, drive to Firsanovskaya station, and then – to Serednikovo. The total distance from the turn to the estate is 8 km.

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There is a parking lot on the territory of the manor complex, but it is not always possible to find a free place there. Visitors often park further away from the entrance – near the local grocery store.

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