The huge park ensemble of the Linen Plant was created over several decades, from the mid-18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The park ensemble consisted of three parts: the Big Park, the Lower Park and the Red Park. Red Park was the oldest. It was mentioned under the name of the Red Garden in one of A.A.’s letters. Goncharov back in 1737. It was a small regular park with numerous flower beds and “undertakings” typical of the 18th century, such as earthen slides - “ulits”. This was the name given to earthen embankment pyramids with spiral paths. The Lower or Water Park was decorated with a chain of picturesque ponds forming a peninsula with curtains and gazebos. The large park was a typical landscape one, with an intricate network of paths in the forest thickets and deer running free. Paths sprinkled with red sand were bordered by neatly trimmed linden trees, white marble statues stood in the green alleys, and light bridges were thrown across the canals. On the steep bank of the Sukhodrev River there was a romantic gazebo - a lovely one, from which there were views of the meadows and forests across the river. To admire these views, a clearing was made from the gazebo. The Goncharov family was famous throughout the area for its hospitality. All the surrounding landowners and guests from Moscow came to the Linen Plant for feasts and hunts. For them, performances were staged at the Goncharov estate, concerts, illuminations, and boat rides were organized.
It is unlikely that the Moscow artist Alexander Valentinovich Sredin imagined that his trip in 1907-1909 to the Goncharovs' estate Linen Factory would turn out to be an unexpected "finest hour" of his entire life, that it would leave his name in the annals of Russian culture. He arrived at the invitation of the owners of the estate to paint its interiors. Then I became interested in the history of the estate, its stories and mysteries. Especially connected with Pushkin’s stay here. I sat down to study the Goncharov family archive. And - oh, unexpected luck! - I found a letter from Pushkin, unknown even to the then owners of the estate, sent on April 25, 1831 to Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova’s grandfather, Afanasy Nikolaevich. He first published it in the magazine “Old Years” for July-September 1910 in his article dedicated to the Linen Factory. The letter immediately became part of the obligatory Pushkinian literature and is now widely known. Considering the tragic fate of the Goncharov archive in the Linen Factory after 1917, it can be argued that Sredin saved it from inevitable death.
In the article, Sredin also spoke for the first time and in great detail about the great poet’s visit to the Goncharov’s house, about its historical, artistic, book and archival wealth. And - what an irony of fate! - it was this article and Pushkin’s letter cited in it, and not his work, that brought him the gratitude of his descendants many years later. Now not a single scientist, writer or journalist working on the Linen Factory can do without a quote from Sredin’s article.
But as an artist, Alexander Sredin is almost unknown. His works, scattered across different museums, are not studied or published. His life and work have been ignored by art critics. As if some ominous taboo was placed on his name.
During the Great Patriotic War, the estate suffered enormous damage: the main house burned down and the park was heavily cut down. The estate was partially restored only in the 1970s. Restoration and restoration work is still ongoing. Now there is a museum in the Polotnyany Zavod. Every year on the first Sunday of summer, the Pushkin Poetry Festival is held, attracting a huge number of guests.
One of the best estates in Kaluga land, Polotnyany Zavod, is located 30 kilometers from Kaluga.
In 1718, here on the banks of the Sukhodrev River, the Kaluga merchant Karamyshev built a linen and paper factory. Over time, Karamyshev acquired two companions - his nephew G. I. Shchepochkin and the “Kaluga townsman” A. A. Goncharov. After Karamyshev’s death, the partners amicably divided the common property.
The enterprising and resourceful Afanasy Abramovich Goncharov managed to develop his business in such a way that fifty years later this former Kaluga “potter” became a major nobleman, the owner of many plants and factories, the owner of several estates and houses in Moscow and Kaluga, and in his house in Polotnyany Zavod not Catherine II herself disdained to stop.
Afanasy Abramovich Goncharov died in 1784, having lived to the age of 85. His son did not survive his father for long, and the estate passed to his grandson Afanasy Nikolaevich Goncharov, the grandfather of Pushkin’s wife. Afanasy the grandson managed to squander all of his grandfather’s enormous fortune in a short period of time, leaving his children and grandchildren with nothing. However, the family managed to save the Polotnyany Zavod estate.
In 1812, Kutuzov’s Main Headquarters was located in the manor house. Pushkin came to the Linen Factory twice: first as a groom to introduce himself to the bride’s grandfather, and the second time as a visitor as a close relative. The young widow Natalya Nikolaevna Pushkina returned with her children to the Linen Plant, to the house of her happy childhood, and, having practically no means of subsistence, lived here for a couple of years in the care of her brother Dmitry, who by that time had become the owner of the estate.
At the end of the 19th century, the Linen Factory was owned by Dmitry Dmitrievich Goncharov. He and his wife served at the Zimin Opera House. O. L. Knipper, E. F. Gnesina, and the owners themselves performed at the Workers' Theater of the Linen Factory.
In 1941, the main estate house of the Goncharovs burned down, the trees in the park were cut down. The skeleton of the dilapidated house stood for several decades.
In the 1970s, restoration work began, which, as usual, progressed at a snail's pace. Nevertheless, for the 200th anniversary of Pushkin’s birth, the palace was more or less put in order and a museum was opened in it.
In our home archive we found photographs taken in May 1999, that is, on the eve of Pushkin’s anniversary.
Now the facade from the main entrance looks decent.
But the façade of the house facing the canal still needs work and work to do.
The construction of the main house at Polotnyany Zavod was apparently completed in the mid-18th century. True, he looked different then. At first it was a red (and then azure) palace in the Baroque style with rich stucco and picturesque decoration of the facade.
Three decades later, a new fashion came, the palace was redesigned inside and its facades were changed.
The palace has three floors. The ground floor housed the people's rooms and kitchen, the second floor was occupied by the state rooms, and the third floor housed the owners and their guests.
A wooden grand staircase leads from the lobby to the second floor, where the museum exhibition is located. It is clear that there is no need to talk about a complete reconstruction, much less about restoration of the interiors - there are too few documentary materials left.
But you can at least understand the layout of the house and estimate the size of its premises.
This room served as a dining room.
One of the largest rooms is the Large Living Room.
The large living room is adjoined by a chamber Chinese sofa.
The front "Catherine" bedroom is a tribute to the then existing fashion.
Anyone hoping to see lush interiors and “chairs from a palace” will most likely be disappointed.
The museum exhibition consists mainly of documents (or copies of documents) and bits and pieces of collected objects reflecting different periods of the life of the estate.
On one side of the main house, service buildings have been preserved.
On the other side, the oldest buildings of the paper mill are directly adjacent to the palace. The owner of the Linen Factory was not at all embarrassed by this proximity - the factory was his brainchild and his pride.
Oddly enough, the paper mill, founded 300 years ago, is still in operation.
Attached to the factory buildings are the elegant Spassky Gates, named after the manor church of the Savior that stood nearby.
The gates are alive, but only the foundation remains of the church.
Opposite the entrance to the manor house you can see the turret of the gate of the Horse Yard.
The buildings of the stables themselves have been preserved, but are in a deplorable state.
Once upon a time, there were three parks in the Goncharov estate: Nizhny, Red and Bolshoi.
The "Lower Park" is separated from the palace by a canal.
The place here itself is low and ugly, but the creators of the park managed to turn this featureless area into a romantic landscape by arranging a chain of ponds of complex shape.
The ponds were surrounded by high dams along which alleys were laid.
At the same time, the ponds served not only aesthetic purposes, they also served as water settling tanks for the factory, since the production of high-quality paper requires exclusively soft water.
The “Big Park” is located in a bend of the Sukhodrev River, which goes around the estate in a long loop.
There are practically no old trees left in the park - it was very badly damaged during the war.
Numerous park pavilions have not reached us either. And yet, the layout of the park is easy to “read” to this day: groves and alleys on the high bank of Sukhodrev, soft water meadows below the river itself.
From the house, through the orchard and further through the entire Great Park there is a straight linden alley.
Now the alley is called "Pushkinskaya", but the owners themselves called it "Elizavetinskaya".
The alley leads to the place where the Milovida gazebo once stood. There is a gazebo here even now, but, alas, it is modern and not Goncharov’s at all.
Pushkin “sits” next to the gazebo. They say he loved this place in the park.
In the park, almost immediately behind the Park Gate, a few minutes walk from the Goncharov house, stands the magnificent house of Shchepochkin (former partner of the old Afanasy Goncharov).
The building with a columned portico facing the river rises on the edge of a cliff above the river, offering stunning views.
Surprisingly little information about the history of this estate has been preserved, but it is reliably known that in 1872 the house was already standing, and a little later it was rebuilt.
Shchepochkin's house was much luckier during the war than his neighbor's; it remained intact. Moreover, the original interiors have been partially preserved. For many decades until 2007, the village secondary school was located within the walls of the old house. Now the building has been transferred to the museum, and it seems that restoration work has even begun there. It is unknown how long they will last; Pushkin, alas, did not live in this house, and there is no need to wait for the poet’s next anniversary.
This is what Shchepochkin's house looked like in 1999.
And this is modern photography.
One of the outbuildings near the main house has been preserved; the second outbuilding and numerous service buildings have not survived.
Unfortunately, it is now impossible to completely restore the entire estate complex, including the park, since part of the estate is simply built up with residential buildings in the village.
The third Goncharovsky park - "Red Park" with flower beds and "park ventures" - was located around a U-shaped pond. On the shore of the pond stood the summer Red House. This park disappeared a long time ago - back in the mid-19th century, its territory was transferred to the Trade Square of the village that grew up at the factory.
You can get to the village itself from the Goncharovsky house through the Spassky Gate. A little further on the way you will come across the turret of an unpreserved stone fence of the estate.
And from here a short alley will lead to the main street of the Polotnyany Zavod village with preserved old, but quite respectable houses.
Polotnyany Zavod received the status of an “urban-type settlement” in 1925, but long before that, wealthy citizens began to build their houses quite “urban-style.”
We were especially shocked by the two-story house now occupied by the village administration.
The abundance of decor on the facade took your breath away!
We were somewhat confused, however, by the large pretzels - either this was a reflection of the aesthetic preferences of the former owner, or the owner of the house was a local baker.
During Soviet times, a village club building was erected on the large central square.
And a two-story store was built on the side of the club. The interiors of the store retain an interesting decoration with multi-colored glass tiles.
Of course, I would like to see the estate complex and museum in a more flourishing state. However, it should be said "Thank you very much!" and bow to those people who, in extremely difficult times, were able to give the old estate a second life and preserve a piece of our history.
The memorial historical, architectural and natural museum-reserve “Polotnyany Zavod” was opened on June 4, 1999, on the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin. The museum's exposition is located on the second main floor of the three-story Goncharovs' house and has 13 halls. On the ground floor there is a village library, on the third - a children's art school named after. N.N. Goncharova.
The formation of the estate complex took place in the first half of the 18th century under Afanasy Abramovich Goncharov, the great-great-grandfather of N.N. Goncharova-Pushkina. The main feature of this estate was that it was formed on the territory of an industrial complex, where the palace-like house of the Goncharovs, the Church of the Transfiguration, the Horse Yard, parks, a greenhouse, ponds and other objects were organically combined with the buildings of sailing and linen and paper manufactories.
Panorama of the Linen Factory, the estate of the Goncharovs and Shchepochkins.
The beginning of the 19th century (based on reconstruction by architect A.A. Kondratyev, 2000).
Manaenkov V.S. Hm.
The main manor house was built in the 30s of the 18th century. Unfortunately, no documents have survived from which one could find out the name of its architect, but there is an assumption that he could be the great B. Rastrelli. Initially, the house had only two floors, was dark red in color with snow-white details of lush baroque decor. In the 40-50s. it was repainted azure, and in the 70s. rebuilt in the style of classicism that was then dominant in architecture. The reconstruction of the house was carried out according to the design of the Moscow architect K.I. Blanca. By the end of the 18th century, it was a three-story, light-colored house with risalits on the main facades. This is exactly what this house looked like in the 30s. XIX century, who came to the Linen Factory A.S. Pushkin. The Goncharov estate was one of the largest in size and richest in decoration of Russian estates.
In 1918, the main house of the estate was nationalized, and the furnishings were sent for storage to the Kaluga Provincial Historical (now Local Lore) Museum. For several decades of Soviet power, a secondary school was located in the house, and courses for advanced training for workers in the stationery industry were also held.
The Great Patriotic War became a tragic milestone in the history of the Goncharov estate. In October 1941, the Linen Factory was occupied by Nazi troops. On the very first day of the occupation, the estate was almost completely destroyed by fire. Only a skeleton remains of the magnificent palace. The ensuing decades continued to have their devastating effects.
The decision to restore the estate was made by the Kaluga Regional Executive Committee in October 1967. The first restoration work began in 1972 under the leadership of Moscow architect V.A. Zhilina - great-great-granddaughter of Sergei Nikolaevich Goncharov (younger brother of N.N. Pushkina). Then the restoration was continued by architects V.A. Korchagin and A.A. Kondratiev. In June 1999, a museum was opened in the main manor house.
Exhibitions:
Exhibition of paintings by Vladimir Trubakov
There, on unknown paths...
Double-barreled English road carbine with a folding bayonet, 2nd half of the 18th century
Things from days gone by
POLONYANY PLANT - an urban-type settlement in the Dzerzhinsky district of the Kaluga region; memorial historical, architectural and natural museum-estate.
Ras-po-lo-zhen on the river Su-ho-drev. Population 5.0 thousand people. (2013). Railroad station.
The history of the Linen Factory has been in operation since 1718, when, by order of Tsar Peter I, Kaluga merchant T.F. Ka-ra-my-shev os-no-val here pa-rus-but-po-lot-nya-nu-fak-tu-ru, and in 1720 paper-maz-nu-ma-nu-fak -tu-ru (now-not Po-lot-nya-but-Za-vo-d paper mill). In 1732, com-pan-o-na-mi Ka-ra-my-she-va became A.A. Gon-charov and G.I. Shche-poch-kin. After the death of Ka-ra-we-she-va, his companies in 1735 realized the division of their own property, according to after which 2 mustache-deb-complexes of Po-lot-nya-no-go Za-vo-da were formed.
The first estate was founded by A.A. Gon-char-rov (1704/1705-1784), one of the largest ma-nu-fak-tu-rists of Russia, erected in 1742 by decree of Empress Eli -for-you Pet-rov-ny in the hereditary no-no-ry. By-lot-but his ma-nu-fak-tu-ry is in great demand both at home and abroad (in pe- ri-od of color, in the 1750-1770s, produced from 1/4 to 1/3 of the total Russian production in pa-rus-no-go -lot-na), bu-ma-ha produced by the Gon-cha-ro-va factory was considered one of the best in Russia. In 1736-1741, the Church of the Savior of the Pre-ob-ra-zhe-niya was erected (a family mustache-finger-tsa Gon-cha-ro was built in it) -out; raz-ru-she-na in the 1930s). The estate was in the possession of the Gon-cha-ro-vyh until 1917.
Gon-cha-ro-vyh's estate: in December 1775 - Empress Eka-te-ri-na II, in 1837-1839 - V.A. Zhu-kovsky and P.V. Na-scho-kin, in 1849-1850 - N.V. Go-gol in the co-pro-vozh-de-nii of the poet Count A.K. Tolstoy, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries - pianist E.F. Gne-si-na, ak-tri-sa O.L. Knip-per-Che-ho-va, hu-dozh-ni-tsa N.S. Gon-cha-ro-va, exiled A.V. Lu-na-char-sky. During the Patriotic War of 1812, the main headquarters of the Russian army was located in the estate for a few days. N.N. spent his childhood at the Polotnyany Plant. Gon-cha-ro-va, subsequently she stayed there more than once. Two-year-old estate of A.S. Goncharovs. Pushkin: in May 1830, he spent several days here, having arrived for official representation at N.N. Gon-cha-ro-howl and for per-re-go-vo-rov about the pri-da-nom; in August - September 1834, during those two weeks, the state lived together with the soup and the older children.
The second estate-ba os-no-va-na G.I. Shche-poch-ki-nym (1707-1881), from 1834 under his granddaughter, Baroness M.P. von Bi-st-rum, then until the end of the 19th century it was up-to-the-ryam, from the end of the 1890s - to the lot-nya-but-for-vod-merchants Er-sho-vu and Pro-ho-ro-vym. In June 1850, N.I. went to the estate. Pi-ro-gov, married in the Polotnyany Plant with a second marriage to the do-che-ri of the vla-de-li-tsy - ba-ro-nes-se A.A. von B-st-rom. Since 1909, on the 3rd of the same usa-deb-no-go house ras-po-la-ga-los 4-year-higher primary school - per- school in the village (operating until 2007).
Around the industrial enterprises of the Linen Plant there was a cluster of workers. In 1874, permanent traffic was opened along the Vyaz-ma - Pa-velets railway line that passed through the Polotnyany Plant. In 1925, the Linen Plant started working in the village. During the Great Patriotic War, ok-ku-pi-ro-van by the German troops on October 10, 1941. On the very first day of the ok-ku-pa-tion, the estate of Gon-cha-ro-vykh was almost completely destroyed-in-the-heat . Os-in-bo-day hours of the Red Army on the night of January 18-19, 1942.
The decision to restore the Gon-cha-ro-vyh’s estate in the Polotnyany Factory was in the region of Kaluga region in October 1967. Restorative work was carried out in 1972-1999. In August 1997, a branch of the Ka-Luga Regional Museum of Local Lore was opened in the Polotnyany Plant, which was opened in 1999 ra-zo-van in Me-mo-ri-al-ny is-to-ri-ko-ar-architectural and natural-museum-estate-bu “Po-lot-nya-ny Za-vod” "
Nowadays, the complex of the museum-estate includes: the restored main house of the Gon-char-ro-vyh estate (2nd half of the 1730s, about -project of the architect B.F. Ras-rel-li, re-built in the 1780s), the entrance Spas-skie gates (1736), the entrance tower of the Con- no-go yard (1773), pi-lo-ny gate of the Big Park in the style of pseudo-do-go-ti-ki (1773) and more. In 2008, the museum-estate was re-given the main house of the Shche-poch-ki-nyh estate (1770s - early 1780s, re-built in 1790-1800- 1990s), where unique interior decoration from the 1st quarter of the 19th century was preserved, including polychrome painting of placards and walls room, fa-yang-stoves in the form of columns and more.
In the ex-position of the museum-estate there is furniture of the 18th century and Chinese porcelain of the mid-18th century, which belonged to A.A. Gon-cha-ro-wu, an eight-sided hundred-face made of Karelian birch, for which A.S. worked in 1834. Push-kin. The living collection includes a number of 18th-century ports, including the owners of the estate and their families , as well as the representatives of the di-na-stii Ro-ma-no-vyh (Emperor Peter I, Empress Eka-te-ri-na II, Empress Maria Fe-do -rows). Every year, the Polotnyany Plant celebrates the Pushkin poetry festival on the 1st Saturday of June (since 1979) and on Na-tal-in day August 26 (September 8), when the name of N.N. is celebrated. Push-ki-noy-Lan-skoy (since 1999).
In the village there is a former old-rite prayer house (19th century; since 1993, the Right-Glorious Church of the Savior of the Pre-Observation) -ra-zhe-niya; ko-lo-kol-nya, 2000).
Po-lot-nya-no-Za-vo-dskaya bu-maz-naya factory-ri-ka (tet-ra-di, block-but-you, bu-ma-ga for gof-ri-ro-va- niya, cardboard for flat layers of gof-ro-kar-to-na), enterprise of the Eco-po-li-mer company (ob-ru-do-va -tion for wastewater treatment), waste water plant.