The Palace of Zinaida Yusupova on Liteiny Prospekt in St. Petersburg is a cultural heritage of Russia, one of the best preserved mansions of the Russian aristocracy. Zinaida Yusupova and her house are covered with many legends and myths. What of what has come down to us are urban legends, and what is true is not known for sure even to historians, but it's so nice when the mystery remains unsolved …
Dream and Adventurer
The Palace of Zinaida Yusupova at 42 Liteiny Prospekt is one of the many residences of the famous family. The hostess personally chose the project, monitored the progress of work and kept a careful record of funds, materials and workers. It was built for the princess to live after the death of her husband, Prince Boris Yusupov.
Born Naryshkina, Zinaida Yusupova had undeniable talents - she was brilliantly educated, had a sharp mind, observation and a considerable amount of adventurism in her character. At least this is how her grandson, Felix Yusupov, describes her in her memoirs. She learned early to create secrets around herself and wrap herself in a veil of mystery. According to historians,it is extremely difficult to obtain reliable information about her biography, she carefully confused the traces. The date of her birth is considered to be November 2, 1809. So wrote her father.
According to the recollections of relatives, she was distinguished by her extraordinary beauty, charm and artistry. Some thought that she was not so beautiful as charming. Numerous portraits will convince any skeptic of her external data, and numerous contemporaries tell about her character. For the first time she married Boris Yusupov, who put a lot of effort into winning the favor of the young beauty and her parents. The age difference between the spouses was 16 years. He was 32 and she was barely 16.
Family unions
The couple represented two opposites - the poetic, sensitive, impressionable Zinaida seemed like a fairy to the world, and Boris, who directly expressed his thoughts, laid-back in communication, was considered a limited person. The princess quickly became disillusioned with the marriage, consoling herself only with the birth of her son Nikolai. The second child died as soon as he was born. This was the period when the young wife learned about the curse of the Yusupov family, which said that in each generation only one male child would remain alive, and the rest would die before the age of 26. Allegedly, the curse dates back to the time of the Nogai Khan, who changed his faith during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. The history of the family demonstrated the fulfillment of the curse.
Zinaida decided not to have more children and, having given her husband freedom, plunged into secularlife in search of romantic adventures. There were legends about the number of her fans, but no one can find and confirm the facts, the princess so carefully hid her personal life.
Her husband was extremely dissatisfied with his wife's behavior, but he could not do anything and began to devote the lion's share of his time to charity. He was not afraid of anything, boldly entered the barracks for cholera patients, invited doctors to them, equipped hospitals. This killed him - he fell ill with typhus and died in 1848. After the death of her husband, Zinaida Yusupova went to France, where she conquered Paris with her beauty and made a misalliance by marrying a rootless officer. However, the title and the palace were acquired for him, the piquancy of the situation was given by the fact that the princess had already celebrated her 40th birthday, and the young spouse was twenty years younger.
The marriage was not a happy one. The palace of Zinaida Yusupova had already been rebuilt by the time of the wedding of the newlyweds, and the sacrament took place there in the house church. But the young husband did not become too attached to the countess and at the end of his short life he presented the French estate to his beloved (or to his sister, who the lady was to him is unknown). However, all real estate and fortune remained in the hands of the princess. She very competently compiled all the papers, according to which the newly-baked Marquis de Serres had no one to dispose of him, as well as the state of his wife.
Princess Yusupova died at the age of 83 in Paris. A year before her death, she submitted a petition to Emperor Alexander III, where she expressed her desire to return to her homeland. She got permission, but never had time to do it.do.
Architectural delights
The palace of Princess Zinaida Yusupova began to be built on two acquired land plots in the area of Liteiny Prospekt and the current Nekrasov Street. The choice of the project was made from several proposals, the author of the version he liked was Ludwig Bonstedt. The hostess turned out to be a very practical person, delved into all the subtleties of the work, knew thoroughly what was happening and at what moment, gave good advice to the architect. Changes to the initial design were made before construction began. The princess carefully followed the schedule and demanded its exact implementation.
Zinaida Yusupova, of all the documents she left behind, kept the most careful records regarding the construction of the palace. They take into account all the costs of purchased materials, recorded the workers and craftsmen who performed the work, even those who were involved in the removal of garbage from the construction site. The only thing that the princess did not interfere with was the artwork, which the architect was entirely involved in, and this demonstrated her foresight. The palace of Zinaida Yusupova excites the imagination even today, thanks to the talent of Bonstedt.
The appearance of the mansion is not devoid of eclecticism, as was customary at the time of its construction. Here are references to the Renaissance and elements of the German reading of the Baroque. The facade, according to the idea, was completely lined with Gatchina limestone, which was rare for St. Petersburg. The choice in favor of stone is due to the fragility of the plaster, which covered most of the buildings. Rarelythe limestone used by many contemporaries was mistaken for marble, which added value to the building in the eyes of the world.
Besides the stone façade, the palace of Zinaida Yusupova on Liteiny Prospekt amazed the eye with arched windows of unprecedented size, sculptural groups, exquisite bas-reliefs, graceful caryatids and other decor. Thanks to the rows of window openings, the building seems almost weightless. In fact, the palace of Zinaida Yusupova has an impressive size, although it seems chamber. The façade of the short side has been brought to the avenue, the main part of the house goes deep into the quarter, where there was a place for a vast courtyard, flower beds, and two outbuildings.
Interior decoration
In St. Petersburg, the address is well known - Liteiny Avenue, 42. The palace of Zinaida Yusupova attracts tourists and citizens. The first - an unprecedented luxury of architecture, interiors and myths, and the second - an inner sense of unity with its history and cultural events.
The rooms in the main building of the mansion are lined up in an enfilade, living quarters are located on the first floor, and ceremonial halls are located on the second. The interior decoration was designed as meticulously and scrupulously as the facade. The interior contains everything that befitted a rich and famous family - bronze art casting, numerous mirrors, gilding, lamps made in a limited or single copy, vases. Furniture was ordered from precious woods, wall decoration elements were made of natural stone, in which the Countess was known to be an expert.
KUnfortunately, almost all collections of paintings were taken out of this palace and are in various museums in Russia, but you can see a small part that reflects the tastes of the hostess and her predilections in the large Yusupov mansion on the Moika or the Arkhangelskoye country residence.
The most extensive hall was allocated for balls and was called White because of the large amount of snow-white stucco in the decoration of the room. There is a pink living room in the mansion, a grand dining room, a library, a golden living room. Each room has a special atmosphere, saturated with art objects that the princess collected. Of all the surviving heritage, the main staircase is the best preserved. She has remained almost the same today as she was under the Yusupovs.
In addition to the master's chambers and ceremonial halls, offices and libraries, in 1861 a house church was built, consecrated in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God. The author of the project was the architect A. M. Gornostaev, and the complex dome was designed and assembled by the carpenter Lapshin. The artist N. A. Maikov was engaged in painting the walls, he performed many artworks in the mansion, his paintings adorned the walls of many halls of the palace. The carved iconostasis was made according to the sketches of A. M. Gornostaev. The church kept family icons, an ancient icon of the Iberian Mother of God and much more.
Technology
Technological innovations that began to appear have always found practical applications in the mansions of the nobility. The palace of Zinaida Yusupova was equipped with steamovens, which allowed to maintain a constant temperature in all rooms, lighting was provided by gas lamps, and later electricity was provided.
The main staircase surprised contemporaries not only with luxury, but also with light lanterns and technical innovations. A mechanism was built into the ceiling, thanks to which the massive chandelier lowered and rose without delay and difficulties. It wasn't hard to keep her clean. Today, the upper platform of the central staircase is decorated with a portrait of the owner of the mansion - this is a copy of the canvas "Portrait of Z. I. Yusupova". Original painted by artist C. Robertson circa 1840.
Now one can only guess about all the interior and exterior solutions in the palace. After many years of misuse and neglect, part of the stucco has died, the large fireplace has lost all its decoration, with the exception of a few elements. One can appreciate the scale of the work, the taste of the hostess only from photographs and from a series of 30 watercolor drawings by the artist V. S. Sadovnikov, commissioned by the princess.
Luxury without owners
The palace of Zinaida Yusupova was rebuilt in 1861, a solemn housewarming party with the reception of numerous guests took place in February of the same year. The princess was already married to the Comte de Chauveau and, having celebrated the wedding, went with her husband to France. Her brother Dmitry remained to live in the house on Liteiny Prospekt. According to the laws of the Russian Empire, she should have sold all her property in her homeland, but Emperor Alexander II decided not tofollow too rigidly the letter of this code.
According to the will, the house on Liteiny was inherited by the great-grandson of Princess Zinaida - Felix Yusupov. Until his coming of age, the palace was rarely inhabited, for the most part remaining in a mothballed state, this lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. Sometimes it was rented out to eminent aristocratic families, but most of the inhabitants of St. Petersburg considered it empty, making up numerous myths and fables. Some stories have survived to this day, and no one can dissuade the townspeople of their failure.
Theatre Club
The first theatrical troupe in the house of Zinaida Yusupova appeared after Felix entered into the inheritance rights. He passionately loved the theater, and in 1907 he leased the main building and both wings of the palace to the theater club at the Union of Dramatic and Musical Writers. So the mansion became a haven for three theaters, the most famous of which were Meyerhold's Lukomorye and the Crooked Mirror parody theater.
The events of the club gathered the entire color of the intelligentsia, who created the Silver Age of Russian culture. Artists, poets and writers came, the evenings were noisy and intoxicating. But, despite the popularity of the place, luxurious interiors and the love of the public, the theater club moved out of the palace in search of a larger and more equipped venue for their purposes. With the departure of theatrical bohemia, the elite of society continued to visit the Yusupovs' house. In 1912, Prince Felix arranged an exhibition "One Hundred Years of French Painting" in the house. Beginning of the Firstworld war filled the premises with a completely different content.
War and Revolution
In 1914, Prince Yusupov, released from military service as the only son in the family, developed a vigorous activity and supported the initiative of Empress Maria Feodorovna to create hospitals and infirmaries. The genes of his great-grandfather Boris appeared in Felix, and he gave the palace of Zinaida Yusupova as a hospital for the seriously wounded. The dance hall became a huge hospital ward, and doctors' offices were equipped in the outbuildings.
After nationalization in 1917, the mansion received a new appointment and the name - "The Palace of Construction Workers". In the former front and master's rooms, a library, a dining room, and classrooms were opened. During this period, it became necessary to create one large theater hall, which was solved by combining and redevelopment of the front yard and the winter garden.
Since 1918, the Polish house named after M. Y. Marchlevsky. Nobody stood on ceremony with exquisite interiors - posters, announcements and visual propaganda were nailed with nails directly to the stucco molding. Sculptures, paintings and furnishings gradually left the walls of the palace, they were replaced by busts of the leaders of the revolution and slogans on plywood. Performances are again given in the halls, musical evenings and costume performances are held. The residence of the Polish House did not cause significant damage to the mansion, but it needs restoration.
Modernity
Today, many people come to theater performances at avenueLiteiny, 42 (Zinaida Yusupova's palace). The theater (St. Petersburg MMT), located in the large hall of the mansion, played the first performance in November 2015. The auditorium seats 600 people, 480 seats are allocated for the stalls, and 120 for the mezzanine. This hall has one feature - there is no orchestra pit, so the musicians are located on the upper level of the balcony.
At the present stage, the Musical Theater gives performances mainly to the soundtrack, so more seats are available for the public: the stalls, the balcony and the mezzanine. During intermissions for curious spectators, there are guided tours of the halls of the mansion, there is a small buffet. Petersburgers expect that the palace of Zinaida Yusupova will soon be restored. The scheme of the hall and the theater stage indicates the intimacy of the theater and its obvious arrangement on the site of completely different premises.
Besides the Maly Musical Theatre, since 1951 the Yusupov Palace has been the permanent seat of the Knowledge Society of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. The organization conducts educational work, master classes, festive events, seminars and exhibitions. Guides invite everyone to tour the palace, telling visitors about each hall, the mistress of the house, the myths and history of the Yusupov family.
Myths and mysteries
A persistent misconception associated with Princess Zinaida Yusupova is the myth that she was the prototype of Pushkin's Queen of Spades. It is also believed that the house itself on Liteiny Prospekt was the place where dramatic events unfolded. But the mansion became a partPetersburg, when Pushkin was no longer alive.
Another mysterious story is connected with the house on Liteiny, which no one can confirm, but it is described in the memoirs of Felix Yusupov. He wrote that, while in exile in Paris, he read in a newspaper that the Soviet authorities, while conducting searches in the princess's palace, had found a secret room. It was in 1925. Having opened it, they found a terrible find - the skeleton of a man in a shroud. He himself only wondered who it could be, and was inclined to think that this was one of the lovers of his great-grandmother Zinaida.
Reviews
The Palace of Zinaida Yusupova receives only enthusiastic reviews. Visitors love the theatrical performances and the opportunity to spend some time in such a magnificent mansion. Everything in it is delightful, and the guided tours help to get to know the history of the Yusupov family better, to imagine the former splendor of each hall.
Visitors express regret that the palace has not yet been restored, but there is hope that this will happen in the near future. In 2017, the restoration work of the Yusupov Palace on the Moika was completed, which has become the main decoration in the crown of theaters in St. Petersburg.
