St. Petersburg, Admiralteysky Prospekt, 12

For a long time, the façade of the house was closed for restoration; it was completed not long ago, and finally I got around to photographing the lions.

“The House with Lions” is mentioned in A. S. Pushkin’s immortal poem “The Bronze Horseman”. One of the most dramatic episodes of the work takes place on the porch of the mansion: here the main character of the poem, young Eugene, takes refuge from a stormy flood.

Many citizens of our country remember Pushkin’s impeccable accuracy to historical details “from school.” Indeed, the description of the “House with Lions” is as reliable as possible. The text gives the location of the Lobanov-Rostovsky mansion (in the corner of "Petrovaya", i.e. St. Isaac's Square) and gives an indication of the time of its construction (the "new house" was erected shortly before the events of the poem). The marble lions on the porch of the “House with Lions” also correspond to the poet’s description:

"...on Petrova Square,
Where a new house has risen in the corner,
Where above the elevated porch
With a raised paw, as if alive,
There are two guard lions standing,

Riding a marble beast,
Without a hat, hands clasped in a cross,
Sat motionless, terribly pale
Eugene..."

In turn, the prototype of the real lions of the Lobanov-Rostovsky house were similar statues in front of the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. The authorship of Triscorni is indicated by the signatures on the platform of the statues. True, over time the inscriptions were erased, and now only the first three letters of the sculptor’s name can be read: “Tri<...>" Most likely, the entire inscription sounded like “Triscorni Fin Carrara 1810”. It would seem that everything is clear. But there were two sculptors in the Triscorni family - Agostino, who lived in St. Petersburg, and Paolo, who worked in Italy. Which of the Triscorni brothers was the author of the famous lions?

Usually in literature the lions of the Lobanov-Rostovsky palace are considered the work of Paolo Triscorni. But a number of inconsistencies prevent us from completely believing this. The historian Nesterov draws attention to the fact that lions are not included in the cargo that in August 1816 the works of Paolo, completed by him in the same year as the lions of the Lobanov-Rostovsky house (1810), were delivered from Carrara.

On the other hand, it was in 1810 that Agostino Triscorni opened a sculpture manufacturing company in St. Petersburg. Agostino Triscorni’s workshop and “marble store” were located in the 1810s on Voznesensky Prospekt, not far from the Lobanov-Rostovsky house under construction.

And the second question is who ordered the lion statues and for which building? After all, the idea of ​​building a house arose no earlier than 1817. Montferrand came to Russia only in 1816. These mysteries remain unsolved today.

A former noble residence, built in 1817-1820 for Prince Alexander Yakovlevich Lobanov-Rostovsky according to the design of the architect Auguste Montferrand. The mansion is designed in classicism style. The mansion is also known as the "House of Lions", thanks to its famous lion sculptures at the main entrance, which, like other sculptures on the facade, were made by Paolo Triscorni. It was on these lions that in A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman” Eugene escaped from the flood.

Prince Alexander Yakovlevich Lobanov-Rostovsky (1788-1866) - the son of a major dignitary Yakov Lobanov-Rostovsky, the elder brother of Lieutenant General Alexei Yakovlevich. The heir to his parents' substantial fortune, Prince Lobanov increased it in 1811 by marrying one of the richest brides in Russia, the daughter of Count Ilya Andreevich Bezborodko - Cleopatra Ilyinichna (1791-1840).

Lobanov-Rostovsky gained the greatest fame as the founder and first commander of the Imperial Russian Yacht Club. The prince was also interested in history and collecting rare objects, many of which turned out to be scientifically useful. The prince had no descendants; his only daughter Anna died in infancy. He was buried at the Lazarev cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The house of Alexander Yakovlevich Lobanov-Rostovsky, built by the author of St. Isaac's Cathedral, occupies the entire triangular block and is a majestic structure that plays an important role in the design of St. Isaac's Square.

The facades of the building, facing Admiralteysky Prospekt and St. Isaac's Square, are decorated with magnificent eight-column Corinthian porticoes. On the sides of the wide staircase on the side of Admiralteysky Avenue there are two lions made of white Carrara marble, made by the sculptor Paolo Triscorni in the 1810s.

It was on one of these lions in A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman” that Eugene escaped from the flood:
“….On Petrova Square,
Where a new house has risen in the corner,
Where above the elevated porch
With a raised paw, as if alive,
There are two guard lions standing,
Riding a marble beast,
Without a hat, hands clasped in a cross,
He sat motionless, terribly pale,
Eugene…"

In 1827, the Lobanov-Rostovsky house was transferred to the jurisdiction of the War Ministry, which was located here until 1917. To accommodate the military department, internal reconstruction was required, carried out in 1829 under the direction of the architect E. H. Ahnert. As a result of these works, not much has been preserved from the original decoration of the mansion, made according to Montferrand’s sketches.

During Soviet times, the former mansion of Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky housed a dormitory, a school and a design institute, which also had a negative impact on the historical interiors of the building. Nowadays the lobby and the main staircase are of particular interest in the interiors.

In 2002, the mansion was transferred to the Presidential Administration. Initially, it was planned to adapt the buildings for the Constitutional Court, which was moving to St. Petersburg, but later it was decided to place a hotel here.

Literature and sources

1. Architectural guide to Leningrad. A. A. Borovkov and others. Moscow: Stroyizdat, 1971. - P. 53.

In Moscow, the doors of ancient mansions and estates are opening more and more often to visitors. To this day, they house various organizations and offices, but nevertheless, tenants and owners are aware of the historical significance of the property and provide Muscovites with the opportunity to look at the historical interiors.

House of Lobanov-Rostovsky in Moscow

One of these mansions, which, by special arrangement, can be visited is house 43, building 1 on Myasnitskaya. This is a mansion from the early 18th century. In old Moscow, this palace was called “the house of the color of dawn.”

Isn't it very romantic?
In local history sources, the name was assigned to the mansion - the Lobanov-Rostovsky House. But Prince Alexander Ivanovich was far from the first and by no means the last owner of the estate on Myasnitskaya. And he lived there no longer than the other owners. Truly, names are not chosen. The memorial plaque on the building makes it clear that it is the house of A.I. Lobanov-Rostovsky.

Although the name of the architect F. Camporesi proudly appears on the memorial plaque, historians are in no hurry to be so categorical. The question mark has not yet been removed from the name of the author of perestroika; there are versions that attribute the project to Matvey Fedorovich (M.F. Kazakov), especially since he rebuilt the house opposite, the famous Baryshnikov-Begichev estate.


House of Baryshnikov-Begichev on Myasnitskaya. architect M.F. Kazakov

House of Lobanov-Rostovsky. Architecture

Let's take a closer look at the Lobanov-Rostovsky mansion. The building undoubtedly bears classicist features. But here classical architecture clearly deviates from established traditions. The facade stretched along the street is divided into five projections. The central façade is highlighted by a Corinthian portico. The columns stand almost on the ground, which makes the façade somewhat heavier.


They carry a massive attic, broken by a semicircular mezzanine window.


The central part of the house is very reminiscent triumphal arch. The side projections are topped with a regular triangular attic and highlighted by an Ionic portico in the form of pilasters.




The facade is decorated with stucco decoration - rosettes on the central attic,


Corinthian capitals of columns and Ionic pilasters,




semicircular finial above the window.


From the street side the house appears rectangular. In fact, it is built in peace, with two side wings opening onto the courtyard. Attached is a building plan.


On the plan you can see that the courtyard of the estate was provided on the side opposite the facade.
On the back side of the house, the center of the facade is highlighted with a white risalit with huge windows on the first and second floors. This volume looks at least 50 years younger than the main one. Nevertheless, it is an integral part of the palace.


On the left you can clearly see how the house grew in size: the unplastered part is old, and the later extension is highlighted with pink paint.


The windows of the second floor in the old part are bricked up, which means that the purpose of the interior chambers has also changed.

House of Lobanov-Rostovsky. Interior. Hallway

Now let's go inside. The very first room of Lobanov-Rostovsky’s house is a small, bright reception room. The height of the ceilings clearly does not correspond to the capabilities of the house.


A developed cornice supported by columns increases the height of the reception area.


It is likely that the goal of the master’s architectural game was the contrast between the low, inconspicuous reception room and the solemn main staircase. I can testify that the trick was a success! In no other mansion have I wanted to fly up the stairs so much!


But we are offered to look at the technical floor of the house.

House of Lobanov-Rostovsky. Interior. Ground floor

The ground floor of the mansion now serves technical purposes. A boiler room is installed here, communications are laid. Judging by the architecture of the room, at the beginning of the 18th century everything here was completely different.

Firstly, blocked window openings are visible in almost every nook and cranny.




There is also a door that led to the cellar (in the photo on the left, an opening covered with gray fabric).


In some rooms the ribs of the vaults are visible. In some places, brick and white stone masonry has been preserved. In some places it is plastered and painted, but this, I assume, is antifungal protection.


It is interesting to look at the ancient vaulted ceilings and narrow passages. It is unlikely that the owners' chambers were located in the lower part of the house. Most likely, as now, it was used for official needs, as storage space. After all, the first owner of the house was the merchant of the hundred's living room, Fyodor Kozmin. There is information that in 1701 he paid 130 rubles for the plot. Fyodor Kozmin not only built stone chambers, but also furnished the estate - dug a pond, laid out a garden, and built outbuildings. I believe that the thick brickwork of the ground floor is a reminder of the trading affairs of the first owner, Fyodor Kozmin.

House of Lobanov-Rostovsky. Interior. Main staircase

From the depths of centuries (literally and figuratively) we return to the entrance. Now you can see the front hallway. The flight of stairs is beautifully illuminated by the window.
But in our latitudes we can’t rely on daylight. In the center of the ceiling there is a large crystal chandelier, the most striking decoration of the main staircase.


At the top we find ourselves on a semicircular platform with a balustrade.


The floor tiles contrast with the light decoration of the room. The typesetting patterns vividly reminded.


During the excursion we were not told where modern restorers got information about the interior appearance of the room. For the rest of the finishing? From archival information? Did you rely on the interiors of other mansions? Did you draw examples from the history of architecture? Nevertheless, finishing the floor with tiles is quite in the spirit of the times; the best noble families of the Russian Empire did not disdain.


Let's look at some details of the ceiling decor. Stucco molding at the base of the chandelier.


Molded cornices and semi-column capitals.


Chandelier in a semicircular ceiling lamp.


Now let's move on.

House of Lobanov-Rostovsky. Interior. State dining room

I didn’t remember the small room separating the staircase from the main dining room at all; I didn’t take any pictures. There is a discreet reception area with modern furniture. All attention is on the huge hall with a U-shaped table.


Bright, with a row of huge windows.


With heavy (looking) curtains

and an intricate cartouche embroidered with gold threads.


The pilasters and cornices of the walls are finished with pale pink “meat” colored artificial marble.



I note that in the old days artificial marble was valued on an equal basis with natural marble and was not cheap.

The upper part of the space between the pilasters is decorated with semi-circular inserts with bas-reliefs on the theme of ancient mythology. They alternate. In some arches we see two sphinxes and two female figures.


On others, two goat-horned winged creatures accept bunches of grapes from two half-naked satiresses.


ABOUT appearance We can judge the formal dining room from the surviving painting by Nikolai Ivanovich Podklyuchnikov - “Painting workshop at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.” The painting was painted in 1830 and is kept in the collection of the State Russian Museum.

Here it is appropriate to recall the shortest period in the history of the A.I. Lobanov-Rostovsky mansion - from 1825 to 1826. For only one year it belonged to the Stroganov school for training artists of applied and decorative arts.

Thus, the art school separates the time of ownership of the house by A.I. Lobanov-Rostovsky from its ownership by Alexei Fedorovich Malinovsky. He bought the estate in 1826.

We’ll return to the history of the owners a little later; I propose to look at some interior details. Stucco frieze.


The massive table supports are decorated with gilded ornaments.


Modern furniture is successfully stylized in accordance with the classic interior decoration of the hall,




perfectly harmonizes with the color of artificial marble.


The old stove has been preserved.

It is unlikely that such a huge room was heated by only one stove. I will assume that the Moscow Union of Consumer Societies (MoSPO) had no use for antique stoves. But in reality there were more of them; if you look closely at the photographs, you will notice the tiles of the second oven.

Before moving to the next room, let's look at the chandeliers. They are not as massive as in other chambers of the palace.



House of Lobanov-Rostovsky. Interior. Dance hall

The last of the few rooms available for inspection is the dance hall.


Comparing the size of the formal dining room and the ballroom, the thought comes to mind that a huge, bright dining room is much more suitable for a dance hall. But the semicircular niche and second-level choirs for musicians make it impossible to make a mistake.


That's right, dance, music, and theater evenings could take place in this part of the house.

Of course, the modern furnishings do not at all correspond to its previous purpose, but it fits well with the status and style of the hall.




And the curtains on the windows match very well.


Just like chandeliers.



House of the Lobanov-Rostovskys. A little history

This part of Moscow survived the fire. But the palace of A.I. Lobanov-Rostovsky suffered not from fire, but from looters, the mansion was plundered by the French.
Among the famous visitors to the house, I will name, first of all, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He was on friendly terms with Alexander Fedorovich Malinovsky.
A.F. Malinovsky, archaeographer, head of the archive of the College of Foreign Affairs, honorary member of the Armory Chamber, was the brother of the first director of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, Vasily Fedorovich Malinovsky. V.F. Malinovsky, whom the great poet loved very much, died in 1814. During his brother’s funeral, Alexey Fedorovich met Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. 15 years later, Alexei Fedorovich’s wife Anna Petrovna nee Islenyeva, niece and pupil of E.R. Dashkova, contributed a lot to Pushkin in arranging the wedding with N.N. Goncharova. Anna Petrovna was a friend of N.I. Goncharova and, at Pushkin’s request, spoke with Natalya Ivanovna about her daughter’s future marriage. She was also the bride's mother at the wedding of Pushkin and Natalie.

Among the owners of the house are the Tatishchevs and the Panins.

It is interesting that at one time the Butenop brothers owned the house. Muscovites remember that it was their company that remade the Kremlin chimes. To this day, on the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin we see the same dial of the Butenop brothers from 1851.

Could the owners of the mansion leave their house without a clock? At one time, on the roof of the mezzanine there was a turret with a ringing sound; residents of Myasnitskaya could find out the time by looking at the Butenop clock, which was installed in the arch of the mezzanine.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Lobanov-Rostovsky Palace miraculously escaped demolition. Myasnitskaya was going to be built up apartment buildings. But the projects were interrupted by the First World War.

House of the Lobanov-Rostovskys. Modern life

I’ll write now, you asked for it

In St. Petersburg, the scandalous reconstruction of the House with Lions on Admiralteysky Prospekt, 12 is being completed. The Four Seasons Hotel will open in the spring of 2012, after a three-year delay, and the process of transferring the premises to the hotel has now begun. Experts are unanimous in their opinion: this is an example of how not to deal with architectural monuments.

Officially, the work is called “adapting the building for modern use,” although experts call it a crude reconstruction. St. Petersburg city defenders especially emphasized that the developers, without any special barriers from Rosokhrankultura, decided the fate of one of the most famous buildings in the city, mentioned even in Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman” in the spring.

The owner of the Lobanov-Rostovsky House, also known as the House with Lions, is the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. In 2008, the department transferred the monument to Tristar Investment Holdings CJSC for reconstruction. Market participants are confident that the project was given to this particular company, since it is close to Andrei Yakunin, the son of Russian Railways President and Putin’s friend Vladimir Yakunin. Today Andrey Yakunin holds the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tristar Investment Holdings.

Alexander Margolis, co-chairman of the city branch of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Monuments, believes that the reconstruction of the House with Lions is perhaps the most notorious crime in relation to the history of St. Petersburg.

“This is a gross violation of current legislation in the field of historical heritage protection. The Lobanov-Rostovsky House is a federal monument in the very center of the site world heritage UNESCO, where there could be no talk of any reconstruction - such a building can only be restored,” Alexander Margolis told a Karpovka correspondent today.

He recalled that investors demolished the historical outbuilding in the courtyard, designed, like the entire building, by the architect Auguste Montferrand. This is unacceptable, since it is a “direct and unequivocal violation,” our interlocutor believes. Mr. Margolis noted that the minor penalties that were applied to the developer were “absolutely incommensurate” with the harm from the reconstruction.

“This is a vivid example of how one should not deal with architectural monuments, especially of this rank,” a member of the preservation council told a Karpovka correspondent today cultural heritage Deputy Director of the Spetsproektrestavratsiya Institute Mikhail Milchik. Now hoteliers praise builders for high-quality restoration, including the main staircase, but you shouldn’t take their word for it. In the building, Mr. Milchik noted, several zones were identified in which restoration was underway according to the design of the architect Rafael Dayanov; a significant part was given for reconstruction.

Another violation was the construction of an attic, which turned out to be 18 centimeters higher than the original roof. Initially, it was supposed to be even higher - 80 centimeters, but under public pressure, Tristar Investment Holdings decided to lower it. Nevertheless, even now the superstructure is clearly visible.

“This violates the traditional appearance of the monument. In general, this kind of attic is not typical for a monument of high classicism, and therefore is not acceptable. Members of the Council for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage unanimously spoke out against the attic, but despite this, this attic was made,” says Mikhail Milchik.

True, the organizers of the reconstruction have a different view of the situation. “This is an outstanding, unique project, and this is exactly how the developer, the financial partner, and the owner treat it,” said Isadore Sharp, founder of the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts chain. According to Vladimir Kozhin, manager of the Presidential Administration, “the re-creation of the House with Lions is an excellent example of the successful implementation of a project when investors, developers and their partners attach the correct and necessary importance to preserving the cultural heritage and historical appearance of the city.”

The main architect of the project is the head of his own workshop, Evgeny Gerasimov. The design of the premises was carried out by the Californian company Cheryl Rowley and the Japanese studio Spin Design Studio. The Four Seasons hotel itself will have 183 rooms. The total area of ​​the hotel is 24.3 thousand square meters. meters.

Let us add, according to some sources, this is not the only project of Andrei Yakunin in St. Petersburg. His name is associated with the reconstruction of the Nikolsky Market on Sadovaya Street, 62. The owner of the building, Nikolsky Ryady CJSC, is expected to plan to place mainly hotel and office premises there, also according to the design of Evgeny Gerasimov.

True, in that case, the developers agreed with the opinion of the public, who sharply protested against the main element - the glass dome over the courtyard, and abandoned it. However, for now “Nikolskie Ryad” still insists on building up the internal space of the market, which is also unacceptable, experts say.

Dmitry Ratnikov
Photo by Denis Panov