Russian architect Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov: biography, achievements and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

Krasnov Nikolai Petrovich - an architect with a capital letter. Master of the Faculty of Architecture, creator of the Livadia Palace. He was also the town planner of Y alta. What else did Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov discover in the Crimea? We will talk about this further.

Krasnov is an architect, creator, honorary member of the Academy of Arts. In Y alta he was the chief architect (1888-1899). Nikolai Petrovich emigrated to Yugoslavia in 1920.

N. P. Krasnov erected numerous palaces commissioned by the Romanov family. They are located on the south coast of the Crimean peninsula. The names of some of them are the Livadia and Kharaks palaces, the portal of the city baths, and so on.

This talented architect was a bright creator of his time. In his luxurious complexes, in elegant mansions, the creator combined different types of architectural art. Most of all he liked the Gothic, Romanesque and Neo-Renaissance styles. Later he came to modern.

Childhood. Students

The famous creator was a peasant son. Biography of Nikolai PetrovichKrasnova began in 1864. They baptized him in the Novinsky monastery. The future creator of the palaces lived in the village of Khonyatino. When Nikolai was only 12 years old, in 1876 he decided to study at a prestigious architecture course in the Russian capital. He enters the School of Painting and Architecture exclusively on his own and graduates with a silver medal. In 1883, he presented his first drawing of the building "Theater not subject to fire", and received a silver medal for it, still a small one from the Moscow Art Society. Thanks to this flattering award, Krasnov could no longer pay all 30 rubles for his university education. All the time studying at the Academy, the future academician lived in Moscow with his mother. They lived rather poorly, trying to save modest means.

His next project was not awarded the Grand Silver Medal. The most sought-after builder of palaces in the Crimea was then rejected by academicians due to the ambiguity of his project. In 1885, Nikolai still receives the coveted Grand Medal. Architects liked his project called "Gymnasium". Such an honorary award awarded him the title of an artist of the third degree. Nikolai Petrovich was henceforth able to work independently and create building designs. After 10 years of work in the profession, the artist could also receive a personal honorary citizenship of the country.

Y alta town planner

In 1887 he moved to Y alta. At just 23 years old, he is declared the chief urban planner of Y alta.

Architect Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov immediately begins to improve the city. He expands the embankment, paves the sewer. Krasnov also builds two gymnasiums - male and female. Near the women's educational institution, he installed a playground. In the Florentine direction, Nikolai Petrovich creates a boarding house, in the Renaissance genre - a church, as well as a gymnasium hospital.

An architect builds an interesting building not far from the boys' gymnasium. It belonged to the historian, scientist A. L. Berthier-Delagard. The mansion consists of two floors, built in the French style. The mansion is painted in a classic yellow-cream color. It is distinguished by white décor, and above the windows you can see colored murals of the vegetable genre.

Architect Mansions

Outstanding researcher of the Crimea Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov designs independently and two houses belonging to him. His first house is on Pushkin Boulevard. It was built in the neo-Greek architectural form in 1888. The second two-story mansion is located on Nikolai Street, Zarechye. There is also a caretaker's house, a barn and a stone outbuilding on one floor. In this mansion, Krasnov often worked and received eminent guests and customers.

Country houses

In 1907, at the invitation of Felix Yusupov, the architect reconstructed country houses in Koreiz. So, the “Pink House” turned from a fortress into a palace. The style of the building evokes the Italian Middle Ages. Windows - arches of the second floor are framed with scalloped decor. This building is a vivid example of secular buildings in Italy dating back to the 12th-14th centuries.

In 1899 Krasnov becamemember of the commission for the restoration of the former Khan's palace in Bakhchisarai.

Palaces and tenement houses

Ancient Tatar buildings of the city the architect photographed, drew them, made drawings. He gained great experience and further applied it in the construction of many palaces: the mansion of the painter G. Yartsev, the Y alta estate of the Bulgakov family.

On the waterfront of Y alta, the architect built prestigious hotels and trading houses to order from Russian industrialists. This is the apartment building "Mariino", a three-story hotel "Saint Petersburg" (built according to the canons of the Italian Renaissance).

The architect collaborated with Count A. A. Mordvinov, for whom he created a complex of tenement houses. He completed the project in strict "neo-Renaissance". Currently, the buildings house hotels, shops.

Trading stalls

In the center of the embankment, Krasnov established shopping arcades for a merchant from the capital N. D. Stakheev. The rows are made in the architectural configuration of the renaissance. For the same merchant, he also designed buildings in Alushta, near the Demerdzhi River. The outer surface decoration included mainly marble-like limestone. The sophisticated building stands to this day among the Himalayan cedars and looks very organic.

Dear person. Iconic works

What else did Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov do for the Crimea? The architect in 1913 sent a list of his creations to the Academy of Arts in order to receive the title of academician. Listedthere were more than 60 works.

Professor Batuev's mansion in the direction of Art Nouveau architecture appears among the works. There are other palaces in the same style on the southern coast of Crimea. These are such works of architectural art as "Kuchuk-Lambat", the "Xenia" mansion, related to northern modernism, etc.

Nikolai Krasnov admired Renaissance architecture. In the spirit of the Renaissance, the famous Livadia Palace was built by order of the emperor. And from the appearance of the mansion of Princess Baryatinsky breathes the Renaissance.

In general, the creations of the architect, like many architects of his time, are made in the spirit of eclecticism. It incorporates the characteristics of many styles. A striking example of this is the house of the Mutual Credit Society.

The great architect did not stop only at secular buildings. Many Y alta temples were built by him. He is the main builder of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Its project belongs to P. K. Terebenev. All the interior decoration of the temple, icons, murals are made according to Krasnov's sketches. He himself also became the author of the chapel of St. Nicholas in the old Russian style, which is located on the Y alta embankment. And in the XX century. Nikolai Petrovich directs, as the author, the construction of a Catholic church. The church was built according to all neo-Gothic canons.

This outstanding figure worked in the Crimea for about thirty years. He achieved the title of Architect of His Majesty's Supreme Court. Academician of the Academy of Arts of St. Petersburg, in 1917 he also became a real state councilor.

During the Revolution

But allthese merits did not help Krasnov stay in the country. After the October Revolution, some Russian migrants lived in M alta. Academician Nikolai Krasnov himself was found in the lists of 1920. In a small profile of a famous migrant, one sees the grief of a talented creator. He came from the peasantry, worked hard, but was forced to flee the revolutionary Motherland.

“Sailed to M alta on the Bermudian. Date - May 1919. Arrived with family. Anna Mikhailovna, wife, 55 years old; daughters Olga (30 years old) and Vera (24 years old); son-in-law Horvat Leonid, 29; grandson Vladimir 6 years of age. Lived permanently in Y alta. Papers, shares left in a Moscow bank; lack of material resources; wish to work by profession; I would like to go to the Crimea after the situation improves. Location: the island of M alta, a haven for refugees. Date: June 25, 1920.”

Refugee from revolutionary Russia lived and worked in Belgrade from 1922 until the end of his life (1939). In this city, he built a large number of palaces. Many religious and public buildings were built under his supervision. At home, the architect was undeservedly forgotten. His buildings were condemned, their artistic and architectural value was called into question. Nikolai Petrovich was buried in the New Cemetery of Belgrade, in the Russian part. His grave is located next to the monument to Emperor Nicholas II, who often ordered works of architecture from him.

Keeping the memory of the architect

At present, the works and personality of this significant person have become morediscussed. A large number of exhibitions and conferences are organized in Y alta. They tell about his great talent, about the features of his buildings. Articles are written about Nikolai Petrovich, materials are published. And even one street of Y alta is named after him. Moreover, 2009 in the sunny city was declared the year of this talented architect. He worked hard to create a resort, warm Y alta the way it is now.