Ryabushinsky Mansion address and opening hours. Asymmetry and originality

The mansion of S.P. Ryabushinsky is a house-museum erected at the very beginning of the twentieth century by the great author of architecture F.O. Shekhtel for Stepan Pavlovich. Ryabushinsky himself was an entrepreneur and banker who, together with his brother, created the first automobile plant in Russia. This man truly was a great philanthropist of the country. He owned an impressive collection of icons, which numbered about 200 copies. Some of them were subsequently transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery and the Historical Museum.

The house was built on the corner of Sadovo-Kudrinskaya, now Malaya Nikitskaya. The mansion is made in the English Gothic style with the presence of shades of the Moorish style. Its forms were created on the basis of cubic faces, emphasizing the stateliness of the house. Looking at the house from the outside, you can’t immediately understand how many floors it has. Thanks to the interesting design of the windows, on one side the mansion looks multi-story, and on the other, only two floors.

In fact, the house has three floors, and on the top floor there is a prayer room. The wavy bars on the windows are made in the Art Nouveau style. The facade of the building is made of smooth light brick with mosaic elements depicted in the form of an iris. If you take general composition plot with a house, you can see that everywhere there is a connection with nature and the world - decorations, patterns on the parquet floor, ornaments on the windows and bronze door handles.

The ideological center of the mansion is a marble staircase made in the shape of a wave (symbolizing water and life), and its spiral shape speaks of infinity.

At all, marine theme present throughout the interior - a high-hanging lamp in the shape of a jellyfish, seahorses, snails. An unusual column on the second floor, where the path to that same chapel begins, is entwined at the base with snakes and decorated with salamanders (the personification of evil) and lilies (good). The theme is evident in the light blue stained glass and the wallpaper, reminiscent of cave drawings, and even in the parquet floor, which is laid out with a fish scale pattern - everything in this house is harmonious. Such interesting decisions indicate that Shekhtel was indeed one of greatest artists and architects.

Downstairs is the dining room. Previously, the central wall was decorated with a huge fireplace made of Carrara marble, but after the revolution it was dismantled and replaced with magnificent wooden cabinets and leather furniture. In the middle of the dining room there is a table carved from wood and varnished. There is also a library room, which is decorated with interesting patterns and furnished with wooden works of art.

On the third floor of the mansion there is a prayer room for privacy and communication with the Lord. This is a kind of secret house church. Modest leads to her wooden staircase, hidden behind the columns. The chapel is decorated with a dome, in the center of which there is a window through which you can see the starry sky at night.

During the revolution, the Ryabushinsky family was persecuted, and the house was given to the state. In 1932, the mansion went to Alexei Maksimovich Gorky. It was here that he returned from exile, leaving Italian city Sorrento. Here he spent the rest of his life. Alexey Maksimovich slightly changed the interior, focusing on his preferences for comfort - for example, he equipped his office with new lacquered wooden furniture, partially covered in leather. But the main attractions of the magnificent house still remained untouched.

In 1965, the mansion received the title of the national house-museum of Moscow named after A. M. Gorky. The building is listed as the country's national heritage site and offers many excursions every day. This is partly the merit of Nadezhda Alekseevna, the widow of A. M. Gorky.

Not everyone historical building fate turns out so unusually. Built at the beginning of the twentieth century by the father of Russian Art Nouveau, Fyodor Shekhtel, commissioned by millionaire Stepan Pavlovich Ryabushinsky, it became a refuge where Gorky spent his last years own life.

“We don’t notice a lot, just as we don’t notice the oxygen we breathe,” Shekhtel once wrote in his diary. In the bustle big city we don't see amazing things that are very close. One day, while walking along Malaya Nikitskaya, I noticed an unusual mansion. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be completely asymmetrical: facades made in original decoration, magnificent friezes made of orchids, stained glass and windows different forms and sizes, and at different levels too!

As it turned out, at this house difficult fate, associated with the life of the great architect, millionaire Old Believer and proletarian writer. Now this building houses the Gorky memorial house-museum.

Millionaire from the people

Stepan Pavlovich Ryabushinsky (18741942) was a representative of the famous pre-revolutionary Russia dynasties of industrialists and bankers. The foundations for the future prosperity of the Ryabushinsky family were laid by his grandfather paternal line Mikhail Yakovlevich (1787–1858), who arrived in Moscow from the Kaluga province to sell fabrics in Gostiny Dvor. A devout Old Believer, a “thrifty man”, close to the working people, who survived the ruin and invasion of Napoleon, he was still able to save money through hard work and acquire several manufactories, where he himself often worked as a foreman. He left his heirs a capital of two million rubles - unheard of money at that time!

His eldest son Ivan, having married against the will of his parents, was excommunicated from home and from the family business. And here younger sons Pavel and Vasily turned out to be very enterprising, with their family income growing and strengthening. In 1882, the Ryabushinskys received the right to depict on their goods National emblem sign of high quality products. Pavel Mikhailovich took an active part in the life of his class: he was elected to the Moscow Duma, the commercial court, and was an elected member of the Moscow Exchange Society. The family also paid great attention to charitable activities: during the famine of 1891, the Ryabushinskys used their own money to build a shelter and a free public canteen, which could accommodate up to a thousand people a day.

After the latest fashion

In the summer of 1900, construction began on a luxurious mansion on Malaya Nikitskaya for Stepan Pavlovich Ryabushinsky, one of the representatives of the third generation of the dynasty. Malaya Nikitskaya in those years looked very provincial: low wooden or stone houses, chickens walking along the cobblestone streets, the aroma of samovar smoke. To place here an urban estate with an exquisite house, courtyard and services laundry, janitor, storage room, garage and stables required an experienced architect capable of thinking outside the box. The order for construction was received by Fyodor Osipovich Shekhtel (1859-1926), whose work Stepan Pavlovich especially liked.

An amazing dreamer and great experimenter, Shekhtel was the most brilliant and prolific master of the Art Nouveau style in Russia. Moscow celebrities gladly gave him orders, and the buildings he built largely determined the appearance of old Moscow. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the main customer of professional craftsmen was the Russian merchant class, which replaced the impoverished nobility. Industrialists and bankers sought to show themselves not only as masters of life, but also as highly educated people keeping up with the times. Modernity has come to the court.

By 1902, construction work was completed, and the luxurious mansion immediately became a tourist attraction. Three publishing companies M. Kampel, P. von Girgenson and Sherar, Nabholz and Co. in 1903–1905 published postcards depicting the Ryabushinsky estate.

The main highlight of the house was the main staircase of the hall, made in the shape of a wave. A cascade of marble waves throwing a jellyfish chandelier high up, greenish walls imitating the sea element, subdued lighting, and door handles in the shape of a seahorse create a picture underwater world. Shekhtel continued this game in the design of the remaining rooms plant motifs, marine themes, fancy snails and butterflies disguised in the interior details a special life is in full swing in this house.

Secrets of the house on Nikitskaya

The mansion also has its own secrets: a secret Old Believer chapel, located in the attic of the northwestern part of the house; You can't see it from the street. The walls and dome of the chapel are covered with a unique abstract temple painting; the small room is maximally stylized as an ancient church. To go to secret room, it was necessary to go up to the second floor, walk along a narrow gallery and up the back stairs. Outsiders had no idea that there was such a room in the house.

The Ryabushinskys were deeply religious people; faith in God and the desire for moral perfection were passed down in this family from generation to generation as the highest value. And even in Hard times, when, by decree of Nicholas I, who fought against the “schismatics,” Old Believers were not accepted into the merchant guild, and their children were threatened with 25 years of conscription, the Ryabushinskys were adamant, while many merchant families could not withstand the pressure and left the “schism.” Complete equation The Old Believers received rights with the official church only in 1905 after the manifesto of Nicholas II on religious tolerance. Therefore, the prayer room in Stepan Pavlovich’s house was a secret.

Stepan Pavlovich Ryabushinsky went down in history not only as an entrepreneur and philanthropist, but also as a scientist and collector who collected icons. He was one of the first to begin restoring icons and proved their artistic and historical significance. Ryabushinsky even planned to open an icon museum in his mansion. Probably, the rooms on the second floor, the walls of which were covered with leather, were intended for this purpose.

Don't build palaces for Gorky!

The whirlwind of the October Revolution crippled the fates of more than one family. The Ryabushinskys, prosperous and successful, after 1917 became a symbol of the domestic bourgeoisie and synonymous with the anti-people essence of Russian entrepreneurship. Forced emigration became their only salvation from the attacks and accusations of the new regime.

Shekhtel’s fate was also tragic. Fyodor Osipovich remained in Russia and refused very tempting offers received from foreign customers. He sincerely tried to find his place in the new, alien country of socialism. Shekhtel's family was evicted from their mansion on Bolshaya Sadovaya, and the great architect, who stood at the origins of Russian Art Nouveau, building for the Morozovs, Ryabushinskys, Smirnovs, until the end of his days wandered around rented communal apartments and died sick and poor. Today, the history of architecture is studied based on his projects, and there is a small planet in the sky named in his honor.

After 1917, the Ryabushinsky mansion became the property of the city and belonged alternately to the People's Commissariat for foreign affairs, State publishing house, psychoanalytic institute, kindergarten. Over the years, furniture and lighting fixtures made according to Shekhtel’s sketches were lost, the ventilation system was destroyed, and the unique fireplace made of Carrara marble, which was located in the dining room, was dismantled.

But in 1931 the mansion got new owner Maxim Gorky (18681936). Even before returning from Italy, the writer began to hear rumors that “either a palace or the Cathedral of Christ on the banks of the Moscow River is being prepared for Gorky,” and he wrote angry letters to Russia demanding: “The issue of moving me into palaces should not be resolved.” before my arrival!

Unique stained glass windows, parquet flooring made of valuable wood, picturesque ceilings, luxurious chandeliers, stucco moldings - the house on Malaya Nikitskaya did not correspond to the tastes of the writer from the people. Gorky spoke about it more than once: “Majestic, grandiose, nothing to smile about.”

Interestingly, Gorky did not know Stepan Pavlovich, the first owner of the mansion. But I met his brother Nikolai Pavlovich, publisher and editor of the Golden Fleece magazine, in 1911 in Capri. And in 1918, Gorky sought release from the Cheka younger brother Ryabushinsky Dmitry Pavlovich, a world-famous scientist who founded, with his own funds, in Kuchino, near Moscow, the first in Europe and the second in the world Aerodynamic Institute (later transformed into TsAGI).

Refuge of the proletarian writer

Gorky lived in the house on Nikitskaya for the rest of his life, until 1936. He settled on the first floor; it was difficult for the sick writer to climb the twelve-meter stairs. And his family settled upstairs - son Maxim Alekseevich with his wife Nadezhda Alekseevna and granddaughters Marfa and Daria.

Under Gorky, the mansion became the center of cultural and literary life Moscow, here at the table near the samovar they gathered famous people, historical acquaintances were made and heated debates took place about the fate of literature in this difficult time. And it was to this house that Romain Roland came to Gorky. It was in this house that Stalin called writers “engineers of human souls.”

Of course, since the time of the Ryabushinskys, the decoration of the house has changed a lot. The furniture was quite simple, without any frills. In the premises of the former chapel, Gorky’s daughter-in-law set up a painting workshop.

The tastes of Gorky himself are reflected, perhaps, in the writer’s office. The work table, large, higher than usual and without drawers, was made at Gorky’s request - he was used to working at such a table. Books, notebooks with notes, sharpened colored pencils with which the writer corrected texts, his own and those of others, all lie neatly on the table, waiting for the owner.

Along the walls there are cabinets housing an impressive collection of Gorky collected carved bone works by masters of the 18th-20th centuries. Opposite the desktop are two paintings: a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Madonna Litta” and a panorama of the Bay of Naples. On the windowsill there is a box with garden tools. In his rare free moments, Gorky loved to dig in the garden, laying out paths and flower beds.

In a word, the office on Malaya Nikitskaya was exactly the same as the writer’s offices in Sorrento, in the Crimea and at the dacha near Moscow. Samuil Marshak even joked about this that Gorky took his work room with him everywhere.

In the house-museum, all objects are in their places. Photo by the author

In May 1965, through the efforts of the writer’s daughter-in-law Nadezhda Alekseevna, a memorial museum Gorky. His son, Maxim Alekseevich, was no longer alive, his granddaughters Marfa and Daria left, and Nadezhda Alekseevna continued to live on the second floor, trying to keep everything in the house as it was under Gorky.

Today there are often guests here. Intrigued by luxury appearance mansion, casual visitors are even more amazed by the unique interior, what remains of its former luxury. They slowly move from room to room, looking at stained glass windows, interesting door handles, fancy parquet patterns, or studying books from Gorky’s latest library and portraits of his family members.

I want to return to this house again and again, to once again try to unravel the mysterious charm of the mansion, which so bizarrely connected destinies greatest people era.

Partner news

The museum-apartment of A. M. Gorky is located in the former Ryabushinsky mansion, built for the family of a young Russian entrepreneur by the famous Moscow architect F. Shekhtel. The luxurious house on Malaya Nikitskaya, in which the writer lived in the last years of his life, is a true masterpiece of architecture of the early twentieth century. It is made in the Russian Art Nouveau style, unusual for Moscow at that time, and its history is connected with three outstanding people who lived at the same time, but had too much different destinies. And only one of them is mentioned on the memorial plaque installed on the facade.

The mansion is one of the few similar objects open to the public located in the center of the capital. Some buildings house government agencies and embassies, where ordinary citizens are not allowed to enter. Its interior decoration has been preserved almost in its original form, conceived and implemented by F. Shekhtel.

Ryabushinsky's mansion

An unusual house with multi-level and multi-format windows, a mosaic frieze with floral motifs and glazed brick trim is considered a decoration not only of Malaya Nikitskaya street, but also throughout the capital. Splendor interior decoration hidden from the eyes of passers-by, but you can see it with your own eyes by visiting the museum-apartment of A. M. Gorky.

The mansion was designed by F. Shekhtel under the influence of European Art Nouveau in combination with fashion trends Art Nouveau is a style characterized by the preferential use of natural smooth curves in the architectural appearance and interiors, rather than straight lines and clear angles. Features this direction This also applies to the use of new, non-standard technologies. Despite the borrowing of stylistic solutions, F. Shekhtel managed to harmoniously fill them with his own decorative elements and details.

The mansion bears the name of the customer and the first owner of the house - Stepan Ryabushinsky. He was a famous entrepreneur and collector, but most importantly, he belonged to the wealthy Ryabushinsky dynasty and became its worthy follower. Stepan Pavlovich had one of the best collections of icons in Russia and organized grand exhibitions of icon painting, including for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov. Thanks to his participation, scientific research was carried out, which made it possible to discover and restore real iconographic masterpieces.

After the October Revolution, Ryabushinsky was forced to leave the country. His collection of icons was confiscated. Some of them were sold, the rest were donated to museums. Fortunately, most of the collection has been preserved and is located in Tretyakov Gallery. Today there is talk about organizing a permanent exhibition of icons collected by Stepan Pavlovich in one of the Ryabushinsky houses.

During Soviet times, the mansion changed several owners from among government agencies. During this time, unique pieces of furniture, lamps and the original fireplace portal, made of marble specially brought from Carrara, disappeared. In addition, the house's unique ventilation system was damaged. The salvation from the final ruin of the mansion was the settlement of the family of a proletarian writer in it in 1931.

Architecture of Shekhtel's house

The Ryabushinsky mansion was built under the direction of the architect from 1900 to 1902-03. Main facade with a front porch facing Malaya Nikitskaya Street. IN this moment You can enter the building from Spiridonovka through the “black” door, which was originally intended for servants.

Shekhtel was responsible for creating designs for more than 210 buildings in the capital and Moscow region, built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Among them are the Yaroslavsky railway station, Morozova’s mansion on Spiridonovka, and the Khudozhestvenny cinema on Arbat. Most of the 86 surviving objects are today under state protection. The architect himself lived out his life in his daughter’s apartment, which was turned into a communal apartment after the revolution.

Shekhtel's house on Malaya Nikitskaya became a real masterpiece of the master. Due to the spectacular stepped arrangement of window openings, the building looks multi-story. Streamlined forms of arched vaults, window grilles in the form of curly branches and spiral curls of balcony railings give the exterior additional lightness. A low fence opens up a view of the facade, decorated with a wide mosaic frieze. The plant motifs depicted on it hide mysteries and symbols.

The central terrace, hanging over the main entrance, rests on massive columns united by figured lintels. Two of them come close to the “red” line. On the side facades there are balconies with decorative railings. On the territory of the estate there is an outbuilding with a stable attached to it. The rooms were intended for servants. One of the premises was rented by A. Tolstoy during the Second World War. Today it houses the writer's museum-apartment.

The facade of Shekhtel's house may go unnoticed by passers-by, especially in summer time, when the mansion is hidden behind the treetops. All the most interesting and amazing things are revealed to visitors to the Gorky House Museum.

Interior features

Shekhtel successfully complemented the architectural innovation with the technical equipment of the mansion. The ventilation system allowed air to circulate throughout the entire space of the house. From the kitchen to the dining room, dishes were delivered via elevator.

The first thing that catches the eye of everyone who enters is the famous Shekhtel staircase with its gracefully curved railings. According to the author's idea, it symbolizes the endless movement of waves. At its base stands an original jellyfish lamp, miraculously preserved during the years of “modernization” of the mansion by representatives of government agencies.

Colored stained glass windows sunlight give an amazing play of colors on walls and matte ceilings. Detailed decorative elements successfully complement the interior. Here, even the door handles are shaped like seahorses, and the capitals of the columns are decorated with salamanders surrounded by lilies.

There is a secret room on the third floor, not even mentioned in the insurance inventories. It was decorated in the early Christian style and was intended for prayers. The secrecy was associated with the ban on the presence of religious buildings in private homes. But the Ryabushinskys belonged to the Old Believers, and they needed a chapel.

It is quite difficult to imagine the interiors of the mansion from descriptions and photographs, so it would be better to visit it.

History of the Gorky Apartment Museum

The Ryabushinsky mansion was given to the Gorky family in 1931. He was categorically against moving into “palace rooms,” rightly believing that this would negatively affect the opinions of proletarians forced to live in barracks and communal apartments. Nevertheless, Gorky, who returned from abroad, was brought straight from the station to Malaya Nikitskaya to an already renovated and furnished house.

According to contemporaries, the Ryabushinsky mansion did not suit the writer either in spirit or in status. Here he felt uncomfortable, called the rest room “the ballerina’s bedroom” and never used the Shekhtel staircase, since it was difficult for him to climb to the second floor. Over time, Alexey Maksimovich became accustomed to the furnishings and features of the house, especially since several of his requirements were met. In particular:

the workroom was decorated in accordance with the furnishings of his previous offices;
the living room was converted into a library, filling the walls with multi-tiered cabinets;
the bedroom was placed in one of the offices;
the half-naked figures that decorated the interior were removed.

Under Gorky, the house on Malaya Nikitskaya turned into Cultural Center literary Moscow, where it was always crowded and noisy. The life of a writer has become busy and a little tiring. Social activities and constant creative meetings, including the famous night meetings with Stalin and members of the Politburo, at which the fate of writers and their works had to be decided, distracted from the main activity. But despite the fact that there was too little time left to write his own works, Gorky continued to work on novels and plays.

In 1934, Alexei Maksimovich had to go through tragic events, related to the death of his son, who lived on the second floor of the Ryabushinsky mansion with his family. In recent years, his daughter-in-law and granddaughters remained with the writer. After Gorky’s death (1936), Nadezhda Peshkova, or Timosha, as her family called her, with the direct participation of the official widow of the writer Ekaterina Pavlovna Peshkova, tried to preserve the legacy of her father-in-law, his things and the environment in which he lived and worked in the period 1931-36 gg.

Nadezhda Alekseevna (daughter-in-law) remained in the mansion until 1965, the year of the opening of the Gorky Memorial Museum-Apartment on Malaya Nikitskaya. It is thanks to her efforts and enthusiasm that contemporaries have the opportunity to plunge into the atmosphere that surrounded the writer in the last years of his difficult life.

Exhibitions

In the 5 rooms of the mansion, located on the ground floor, the furnishings of 1936 have been completely preserved. These are the writer’s office and his bedroom, the library and secretarial room, as well as the dining room. Here you can find furniture from those years, personal belongings and Gorky’s book collection, arranged in the same order as in his time. On the second floor there is an exhibition telling about the life of Alexei Maksimovich after his return to his homeland from Italy. Part of the premises is given over to the storage of the museum fund. In the equipped basement there is an exhibition giving an idea of Ryabushinsky and Shekhtel.

Operating mode

You can visit the Gorky Museum and get acquainted with the interiors of the mansion every day from 11:00 to 17:30, except Monday, Tuesday and days on which official public holidays fall. The last Thursday of every month the institution holds a sanitary day.

Ticket prices in 2019

The cost of entry to the Gorky Apartment Museum is:

for adults - 300 rubles;
for children from 7 to 15 years old and pensioners - 100 rubles;
for students and pupils - 150 rubles;
for non-residents of the Russian Federation - 400 rubles.

For a group excursion (up to 20 people) you will have to pay 3,000 rubles. For foreigners, such a service will cost 4000-5000 rubles. Groups of up to 10 people are served individually. The price of the tour for residents of the Russian Federation is 1500 rubles, for non-residents of the Russian Federation - 2000 rubles.

How to get to the museum-apartment of A. M. Gorky

The nearest metro stations are located 1-1.5 km from the mansion:

“Barrikadnaya” and “Pushkinskaya” - line 7;
"Tverskaya" - line 2;
"Arbatskaya" - lines 3 and 4.

The museum can be reached by buses No. 15, 39, A, 243, m6. Stop "Nikitsky Gate".

Mobile taxi services in Moscow - Uber, Gett, Maxim, Yandex. Taxi

Ryabushinsky Mansion: video

Moscow Art Nouveau in the faces and destinies of Lyudmila Anatolyevna Sokolova

Mansion S.P. Ryabushinsky on Malaya Nikitskaya Street, No. 6/2 (1900–1903)

It is not for nothing that this building is considered one of the masterpieces not only of the architect himself, but also of Moscow Art Nouveau as a whole.

All the favorite techniques of this style are present. All four facades of the building look completely different. The windows have different level and shape, and not a single detail in the decoration of the building is repeated.

We already know that the architect always thought out the interior space of buildings as carefully as the exterior. The main detail of the interior is a twisted spiral staircase in the shape of a wave. On the crest of marble waves at the base of the stairs is a jellyfish chandelier. Everything around: greenish walls, lamps, door handles in the shape of algae, shells, seahorses, turtles - create a picture of the underwater world. Next to them is the flora: stained glass windows with landscapes and flowers, fine wooden carvings in the shape unusual plants, the stucco ceiling of the library - all this transferred consciousness into illusory world fantasies.

Ryabushinsky's mansion

At the request of the customer, an Old Believer who did not flaunt his faith, Shekhtel arranged a prayer room inside, stylized as an ancient church, in such a way that none of the guests of the mansion knew about its existence.

In the courtyard there were outbuildings with services: a laundry room, a janitor's room, a storage room, a garage and a stable.

The mansion on Malaya Nikitskaya caused delight not only among the customer, but also among the townspeople. They wrote about him, filmed him, three publishing companies - “M. Kampel", "P. von Girgenson and Sherar”, “Nabholz and Co.” - released postcards depicting the Ryabushinsky estate.

After 1917, the Ryabushinsky mansion was requisitioned and passed from hand to hand to various organizations. At first, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs was located here. Then - Gosizdat, where the poets Yesenin, Mayakovsky and Bryusov often visited. We visited both the psychoanalytic institute and kindergarten... Over the years, the interior of the building has changed a lot: furniture and lighting fixtures made according to Shekhtel’s sketches were lost, the ventilation system was destroyed...

In 1931, new residents appeared in the mansion: Maxim Gorky and his family. The proletarian writer did not like the Art Nouveau style in general, which he wrote and spoke about more than once, and in particular this mansion, which he called “an absurd house.” “Majestic, grandiose, nothing to smile about.” He often said that his house was “suffocating” - isn’t this where the popular version came from: that Gorky, on Stalin’s orders, was “poisoned” for some time (the wallpaper was almost saturated with a slow-acting poison?).

Since Comrade Stalin personally chose the house for him, the “singer of the revolution” had to resign himself and live here for the last five years of his life. He occupied the first floor; his son Maxim and his wife Nadezhda Alekseevna and granddaughters Marfa and Daria were located upstairs. In the chapel, Gorky's daughter-in-law, who was fond of painting, set up a workshop.

And the entire interior of the mansion has changed beyond recognition: the remnants of luxury were removed, the unique fireplace made of Carrara marble in the dining room was dismantled. The front entrance was closed to prevent drafts. The atmosphere became modest, even ascetic, to which Gorky had become accustomed while living in Capri.

Under Gorky, the mansion became the center of cultural and literary life in Moscow. Nikolai Bukharin and Joseph Stalin easily visited here and had heated debates about life, literature and politics. Soviet writers and foreign ones - in particular, Romain Rolland...

Staircase to the second floor

Gorky did not know the former owner of the mansion, Stepan Pavlovich Ryabushinsky. But with his brother Nikolai Pavlovich - “the dissolute Nikolashka,” as he was called in the family, but in fact a philanthropist, publisher and editor of the magazine “ The Golden Fleece“- met in 1911 in Capri. And in 1918, Gorky, in fact, pulled out of the clutches of the Cheka the youngest of the Ryabushinsky brothers, Dmitry Pavlovich, a world-famous scientist who, with his own funds, founded in Kuchino, the first in Europe and the second in the world, the Aerodynamic Institute (later transformed into TsAGI), than saved him from certain death.

In May 1965, through the efforts of the writer’s daughter-in-law Nadezhda Alekseevna, a Gorky memorial museum was opened in the mansion. His son, Maxim Alekseevich, was no longer alive, his granddaughters Marfa and Daria left, and Nadezhda Alekseevna continued to live on the second floor, trying to keep everything in the house as it was under Gorky.

By the way, on the memorial plaque at the entrance is the name of Gorky, but about former owner mansion, S.P. Ryabushinsky - not a word...

To eliminate this injustice, we’ll tell you a little about him, Stepan Pavlovich Ryabushinsky (1874–1942) - businessman, scientist, collector, philanthropist.

Stepan Pavlovich, the second eldest of the eight Ryabushinsky brothers, actively participated in the family business.

In addition to participating in the industrial and banking life of the family, on the outskirts of what was then Moscow, Stepan, together with his brother Sergei, in six months (!), on the basis of the Joint Stock Moscow Company (AMO), created a small automobile plant - the first in Russia. Moreover, production was arranged in such a way that with minimal reorganization the automobile plant could produce aircraft. Now it is a plant named after I.A. Likhacheva.

But Stepan Pavlovich entered our history not thanks to his contribution to the development of the Russian economy, not only because he was a generous benefactor and philanthropist, not only as the owner of a wonderful mansion built by Shekhtel - everyone knows about this - but also because he was the first in Russia he began not only to collect icons of the “old script”, but also to study and restore them, for which he opened a special workshop - but only a few people know about this. He was the first to talk about the artistic and historical significance of icons. But not decorative! Therefore, he did not have icons anywhere except the prayer room!

Stepan Ryabushinsky was a recognized expert in ancient Russian painting, wrote a number of research work. Contemporaries appreciated his merits in this field, awarding him the title of archaeological scientist and electing him an honorary member of the Moscow Archaeological Institute.

In March 1905, his elder brother, Pavel Pavlovich, being the chairman of the Old Believer community of the Rogozhsky cemetery, bought a plot in 3rd Ushakovsky Lane and transferred this land for the construction of the Church of the Intercession Holy Mother of God. Stepan, in turn, donates not only a large amount for the construction of the temple, but also for the temple itself - unique ancient icons.

S.P. Ryabushinsky dreamed of opening the country's first museum of icons in his mansion. Well, there is a special museum of Russian icons in Moscow on Goncharnaya, No. 3. The question is, does it contain exhibits from the once rich collection of Stepan Pavlovich? But the Tretyakov Gallery definitely has 57 icons of the 13th–17th centuries from his collection.

After 1917, like almost all members of the Ryabushinsky clan, Stepan Pavlovich ended up abroad. First in Paris, then in Milan, where he died in 1942. He was buried in the cemetery in Loop near Genoa.

He was married to Anna Alexandrovna, née Pribilova. Of the children, it is known about his daughter Elena (1902–2000), whose descendants live in Milan and bear the surname Rijoff (Ryzhov).

From the book 100 Great Sights of Moscow author Myasnikov senior Alexander Leonidovich

Mansion of Stepan Pavlovich Ryabushinsky (Gorky Memorial Museum) This architectural masterpiece on Malaya Nikitskaya confirms the fact that the best Russian Art Nouveau mansions in Russia are located in Moscow. Mansion of Stepan Pavlovich Ryabushinsky, built by Fedor

author

Korobkova's mansion on Pyatnitskaya Street, No. 33 (1894–1899) This street in Zamoskvorechye received its name from the Church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa, a saint revered in Rus'. According to the general plan of 1935, the church was demolished. In its place since 1943 there has been the lobby of the Novokuznetskaya metro station. In the XIX