The house of the merchant Igumnov on Yakimanka is striking in its quirkiness and pretentiousness of its decorations. Built in the 19th century, it has survived to this day almost unchanged. Today, the French ambassador lives there permanently, so you can’t just visit a high-ranking official.
But Igumnov's house on Yakimanka is still available for visits, and everyone can discover all its magnificent decoration and magnificence. External charms can be appreciated if you take a walk around the area. Each brick of the building will tell the story of creation.
History of the mansion
The building, outwardly resembling an old Russian tower, built on behalf of Nikolai Igumnov. The house was conceived as the Moscow residence of the owner of the Yaroslavl manufactory. Although Igumnov had a lot of money, the choice of the area for the new building fell on a non-prestigious, poor one. The rich man justified his preference by the fact that he grew up in these parts. Even the warnings that neighboring wretched houses would spoil the impression of a luxurious palace did not convince the entrepreneur to abandon the idea.
Yaroslavl architect Nikolai was invited for the constructionPozdeev, countryman Igumnov. Wishing to emphasize the power of the owner, his condition, the most popular and striking style in the architecture of that time was chosen - pseudo-Russian. By the way, the Terem Palace was built in the same spirit. The pseudo-Russian style was called because of the imitation of old wooden towers.
Spare no money for construction, Igumnov ordered Dutch bricks, tiles were ordered at Kuznetsov's porcelain factory.
In the building, as if on a gypsy horse, everything beautiful that existed in Russian architecture was collected. From this excessive magnificence, Pozdeev was branded as a provincial, absolutely devoid of taste architect. They made fun of the customer himself no less. Having succumbed to criticism and having heard a lot of mocking attacks towards the owner, the architect could not stand it and committed suicide. But not only criticism finished off the artist. The house of the merchant Igumnov cost a pretty penny and exceeded the original estimate. The customer himself refused to overpay for something that was not included in the primary project. This ruined Pozdeev. The only way out was death.
Legends of the Igumnov House
Igumnov's house is covered with many secrets and legends. The most mysterious to this day is the legend of the dancer. According to her, a rich merchant built a house for his mistress, an amazingly beautiful girl with whom he was madly in love. But he was not the only one who was pleased with the charm of the eyes and excited the consciousness. Avid for a luxurious life, she managed to host lovers. Having found out about the betrayal, the enraged Igumnov did not kill the beauty, but immured her body in the walls of the building. Since then it has been said thatat night the ghost of a restless white girl wanders. But the current resident, the French ambassador, did not complain and does not intend to leave Igumnov's house on Bolshaya Yakimanka.
Another fable claims that Igumnov's house nearly cost him his life. He ordered to lay out the floor of one of the rooms with gold coins, with the image of the imperial profile up. For such thoughtless disrespect, Nikolai was almost exiled, and he had to flee. Probably, the merchant would have been found, but the revolution saved his life.
The purpose of the house in different years
Everyone knows that now Igumnov's house is occupied by the French ambassador. But this was not always the case, but only since 1938. Initially, the purpose of the house is shrouded in secrets: whether it is a "cottage", or an apartment for a mistress. But the fact that it was built for the personal needs of the merchant, for sure.
Revolution requisitioned the mansion and placed it at the disposal of the club of the Goznak factory. A year after Lenin's death, in 1925, the building was transformed thanks to new residents. They were leading physicians who founded the Institute for the Study of the Brain. Researchers tried to penetrate the secret of the genius of Vladimir Ilyich. Then the list of "outstanding brains" was replenished with gray matter samples of many other great people.
Igumnov House Style
Igumnov's house combines elements of many styles. Decorative elements: bell towers, columns, tents - unconnected until that time, intertwined in an architectural ensemble under the masterful hand of Pozdeev. Although the structure turned out to be a little heavy, otherwise the pseudo-Russian style would notintroduced himself.
Despite the fact that the Terem Palace in the Moscow Kremlin had already been built in this style, society did not accept the new resident - Igumnov's house. Art critics of the time characterized the structure as a vinaigrette of Greek classicism, rococo, renaissance and gothic.
Now Igumnov's house in Moscow is an architectural monument and an example of high art.
Building exterior
The exterior of the building used a large number of decorative elements that were not previously combined during construction. Such an imaginary dissonance was achieved by introducing wood carving, figured brickwork, metal forging and even casting into the decoration of the facade.
Nevertheless, the Russian style is a through motif in all elements, although the building, with the exception of the main staircase and the hall to which it leads, is considered to be made in the European style.
The Igumnov House has retained the decoration of the facades, although since 1938 it has undergone a certain “Frenchization”. The architects were the first to recognize the splendor of the building and sought to bring a drop of French charm to Russian heaviness.
Interior
The main stylistic direction in the interior of the room is Empire, and each element displays the meaning of the word. Igumnov's house contained the breadth of the Russian soul and skillfully combined it with classicism. Ivan Pozdeev, the brother of Nikolai Pozdeev, was engaged in decorating the house.
Each piece of furniture was decorated with gold-plated elements. The halls of the rooms are illuminatedlarge windows that are inserted into the arched openings. The walls are painted ivory and lined with pilasters.
Bas-reliefs form frames, inside which elite silk was stretched or paintings were hung.
The brain of Igumnov's house
German neuroscientist Oskar Vogt became the head of the laboratory to search for zones of genius in the brain of the late Vladimir Lenin. In addition to Vogt, several other specialists were settled in the house, who worked on this difficult task. Some time later, the laboratory grew into the Brain Institute.
As you know, the truth is known in comparison, therefore, in addition to the outstanding spirited mind of Lenin, others began to be brought to the Institute, including Lunacharsky, Zetkin, Bely, Mayakovsky and many others.
It was planned to produce superhumans in the building under the former name "Igumnov's House", Moscow. On Yakimanka, a world revolution in the field of medicine was about to take place. But the effectiveness was equal to zero, because the Institute turned into a museum, and then was completely liquidated.
Funny coincidence
Next to the modern French embassy in 1979, the building of the embassy office was built. Magnificent modern building. Angular, sharp, similar to a pyramid, painted in dark red. Ultra-new, it is nevertheless very reminiscent of another… The mausoleum in which Lenin's body rests.
Some historians attribute this mysterious coincidence to a semi-legend. Rumor has it that at the end of the 19th century, a certain young man was so amazed by the grandeur of Igumnov's house that he decided to become a famous architect. This young man was allegedly Aleksey Shchusev, the author of the famous Mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow.
