An interesting street of Moscow is Prechistenka Ulitsa from the underground stop Kroportkinskaya as, in this street there are some very nice classic residences. Here you can also find the Puschkin museum dedicated to the life and the poetries of the artist and it’s opened every day but Thirsday since 14 to 19. you can come to this street actually to visit Tolstoj museum which is at number 11 (closed on Monday as well as the last Friday of the month).
The picturesque Prechistenka, which preserves all the stages in the city's history, leads upwards from the right of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. There are white stone chambers, noblemen's mansions, and luxurious houses for rent constructed with outstanding taste. It seems that time stands still in Prechistenka.
Long ago a fast-running stream ran down to the Moscow river through a deep gully along what is now Gogolevsky Boulevard. It was a nuisance for the local people, with the high spring floods. People would grumble: 'The devil dug it,' as they balanced uneasily on makeshift wooden bridges across the stream. The phrase sounds similar to Chertony, and that is what the stream was called in those days. The nearby street got a similar name: 'Bolshaya Chertolskaya.'
Many years ago people would travel down this street on their pilgrimage to Novodevichy Convent, where the famous icon of Our Lady of Smolensk was kept as one of the most revered in orthodox Moscow. The god-fearing Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich thought it would be blasphemous to lead the cross procession through a street with such an improper name, and in 1658 Bolshaya Chertolskaya street was renamed Prechistenka (from russian word prechistaya - 'immaculate') in honour of the icon of the Immaculate Virgin. Today's Gogolevsky Boulevard was formerly known as Prechistensky Boulevard, and was laid out on the site of the walls of the White City.
After the revolution the name Prechistenka was abandoned, and in 1922 it was named after the lately-deceased anarchist Prince Peter Kropotkin. But despite
the vigorous activity during the time of the NEP (New Economic Policy proclaimed by the Government), the street maintained its charm as a quiet oasis of old Moscow amidst the hurly-burly of Communism.
It was in Prechistenka that the young writer Mikhail Bulgakov first began his acquaintance with Moscow, since his relatives and friends lived there. Later he would 'settle' the heroes of his books here: Professor Preobrazhensky and Mr. Persikov - in Prechistenka; The Master and Margarita in the side streets near by. Bulgakov himself had his last Moscow residence in a flat on Nashchokinsky Pereulok, not far from Prechistenka.
Boris Shaposhnikov, a friend of Bulgakov, and a member of the artistic group "BubnovyValet" (Jack of Diamonds) lived in this street at №9. The two Russian capitals remember Shaposhnikov because he established two fine museums. He made Pushkin's last flat at Moika Street in St. Petersburg into a memorial museum, while in Moscow he developed a fascinating museum on the life of the nobility in a house which formerly belonged to A. S. Khomyakov at Sobachia Ploshadka ('Dog's Square'). Unfortunately, this square was later demolished during the construction of Kalinin Prospect. Bulgakov frequently visited his friend, and he described Shaposhnikov's house in his novel Heart of a Dog which of all his novels is most closely based around Prechistenka. The ground floor of the house was occupied by the 'Tsentrokhoz' grocers, where Professor Preobrazhensky once bought some Krakow sausage which had 'the divine smell of garlic and chopped horse meat.' It was this smell which attracted the dog Sharik, who had been sitting across the street by the gates of the House of Scientists.
We turn now to the next page of Bulgakov's Prechistenka, represented by an imposing residence at №.13 on the corner of Lopukhinsky Lane. This house was built in 1912 by the architects G.A. Gelrikh and N.G. Lazarev as a commercial property, all the flats being let. Such houses were called dokhodny dom (money making), since they brought their owners a substantial income, provided they did not scrimp on the decoration and furnishing. And No. 13 was a really luxurious building, with spacious flats of seven rooms, with high stuccoed ceilings, oak parquet floors, and a huge marble front staircase. Naturally, only very wealthy people could afford such apartments. Before the revolution of 1917 two fifth floor flats in this house were occupied by A. P. Faberge, a relative of the world-famous Moscow jeweller. The postrevolutionary upheaval forced Faberge to leave Russia in a hurry, leaving all his belongings behind. This event gave rise to the rumours that Faberge left his treasures hidden in the thick walls of the house. In the late 1970s it was discovered that the rumours had some basis in fact, for in the course of reconstruction on the house some workers found a cache of silverware in one of the walls.
The revolution of 1917 brought different standards in its train, and the luxurious flats were turned into communal quarters with one room per family. Among the new inhabitants of Faberge's former residence were young artists, some of whom were members of 'Bubnovy Valet,' and some who were friends of Mikhail Bulgakov. Soon afterwards Bulgakov moved to Moscow, and he became a regular visitor to the house. Many people and features of contemporary life would make their appearance in Bulgakov's novels: the jeweller Anna Frantsevna Fugeret in The Master and Margarita, the huge chandelier on which the indefatigable tomcat Behemoth would swing, the entrance hall with its marble staircase, and the first floor of 'the Kalabukhov House,' where Professor Preobrazhensky lived.
The 'Kalabukhov House,' №24 is just a step away, on the right side of Prechistenka at the junction with Chisty Lane (up to 1922 it was known as Obukhov ). The house was built in 1904 by the architect S.F. Kulagin, who is portrayed in the novel as Kalabukhin. The writer's uncle Nikolai Pokrovsky, a distinguished Moscow gynaecologist, lived in this house before the revolution. His flat was the first place where the young Bulgakov stayed in Moscow: he spent a week there in 1916 when he arrived in Moscow with his wife.
Dr. Pokrovsky used to hum arias from Aida, spoke in loud and inspiring tones, and with his fluffy moustache and pointed beard he resembled a medieval French knight. It was he who served as the model for Professor Preobrazhensky. He is portrayed sympathetically as a man commanding respect, but nonetheless the author's light irony is noticeable, and Pokrovsky felt somewhat offended by his talented nephew's use of such a recognisable literary portrait.
Finally, we must have a look at the very heart of Prechistenka, as it was depicted by Bulgakov - Mansurovsky Lane adjoining the street on the left hand side. Here one can see a small wooden house of the last century (№ 9), with a small fencedoff garden that has survived to today. This is the house of the Master. In 1920s it was occupied by close friends of the writer - Sergei Yermolinsky and the brothers Topleninov. A few steps lead from the yard into a small room in the house's
semi-basement with a stove. In a small lobby there stood an object in which the household took special pride - a porcelain wash-stand. Bulgakov loved this house and would often stay overnight. On winter evenings he would enjoy the pleasant crackling of wood in the stove, which filled the rooms with a divine warmth, while in the spring days of May the branches of blossom-ing lilac would fill the air with delicate fragrance.
Sometimes Bulgakov would work by candle light, just as the Master himself did.
Some historians of Moscow believe that Bulgakov based the house of his heroine Margarita on №12 Maly Vlasyevsky Lane, a secluded spot between Prechistenka and Sivtsev Vrazhek. In this quiet lane there is an elegant mansion, erected at
the beginning of the century. A modest garden enclosed by cast-iron railings with small gates makes this house particularly attractive. Nearby is the Arbat, along which Margarita flew to Bolshoi Nikolopeskovsky Lane on a broomstick to wreak havoc on the flat of Latunsky, a despised literary critic. This character was based on the critic Litovsky, who was a constant source of torment to Bulgakov. In fact Litovsky lived in a different district, but Bulgakov placed him in the Arbat for otherwise Margarita would have had to make a much longer journey. With that we come to the end of what remains of Bulgakov's Moscow, but old Prechistinka lives on.
On the left side of the street, opposite the fire station and Chisty Lane we see №17, a small residence dating from the second half of the 18th century. From 1770s it was owned by Nikolai Arkharov, a celebrated Moscow Chief of Police whose exploits as a detective made him a legend in his own lifetime. His name inspired fear among the criminal fraternity, since he could tell at a glance whether a suspect was guilty or not. His talent for solving all kinds of crime with such lightning speed was well known in St. Petersburg. Even the Empress Catherine the Great once sought his help when the icon of Our Lady of Tolg in a rich, silver frame encrusted with jewels was stolen from the Winter Palace. The theft had caused a great commotion at court, for the icon was a genuine relic for the Empress. This icon had opened the way for Catherine to ascend the throne, for on her marriage to Peter III, who was then the heir, Catherine was blessed by Empress Yelizaveta Petrovna with this very icon
The sovereign immediately summoned Arkharov to investigate, and the very next day he found the stolen icon.
On another occasion he solved the theft of some silverware that had been stolen in St. Petersburg, without troubling to leave Moscow. He deduced that the silver was hidden in a basement close to the home of the city's chief of police. The thieves had gambled on the fact that no one would think of looking in such a place, but they were outsmarted by the resourceful Arkharov.
The fame of this ingenious detective reached as far as Europe - the Head of the Paris Police was so fascinated by Arkharov's talent that he even sent him a eulogistic letter.
Even in old age Arkharov preserved the sharpness and clarity of his intellect, and in 1805 he predicted the inevitability of war between Russia and Napoleon. Some twenty years later his house at Prechistenka became the home of a glorious Russian hero of that war, Lieutenant-General Denis Davydov, who was the forefather of Russian partisans. In fact the General did not stay here for long, and thereafter the house changed hands quite frequently.
On the other side of the street at № 16 a magnificent mansion of the late 18th century stands behind gates decorated with noble lions. At present the building belongs to the House of Scientists of Russia, whereas in the time of Catherine the Great it was owned by Ivan Arkharov, a brother of the famous detective. In his youth, he helped Count Grigory Orlov to abduct Princess Tarakanova from Livorno. The motive for this was that the Princess had passed herself off as the daughter of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. Later Ivan Arkharov became close to the Emperor Paul, and in 1796 he was promoted to the rank of Infantry General and appointed Moscow's Military Governor.
On the same side of Prechistenka street, next but one at No. 20 stands one of the most well known of Prechistenka's mansions, which may also have been built in the late 18th century by Matvei Kazakov.
In the middle of the last century this building was home, in his last years, to General Alexei Yermolov, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812. It was he who at the critical moment in the Battle of Borodino recovered the artillery battery of Gen. Raevsky from the French.
At the beginning of this century the Yermolov house was bought by the millionaire A. K. Ushakov, who owned the tea company 'Gubkin & Kuznetsov' and had plantations as far away as in Ceylon. Ushakov's wife, Alexandra Balashova, was a famous ballerina at the Bolshoi Theatre. In order to rehearse at home, a room was specially fitted out with mirrors along the walls from floor to ceiling.
After the revolution the Ushakovs had to leave Russia in a hurry, but the mansion with its mirrored room did not stay empty for long. In 1921 the sounds of music filled the house once again when the American dancer Isadora Duncan settled here and opened a children's ballet studio. By ironic coincidence, Alexandra Balashova moved into a house at Rue de la Pompe in Paris which had formerly belonged to Isadora. Duncan. On learning of this 'exchange' Isadora laughingly described it as a 'quadrille.'
In autumn that year Isadora Duncan became acquainted with the poet Sergei Yesenin at the house of Mr. Pigit at 10 Bolshaya Sadovaya Street. Much later that night they went home by carriage to Isadora's house in
Prechistenka. It was a long journey via the Sadovaya streets, Smolenskava. the Arbat ... The horse slowly went on through the dark and deserted lanes, and the tired coachman gradually fell asleep. Yesenin and Isadora were talking animatedly and did not take any notice of the route. It was left to the interpreter to observe that the horse had got lost and the carriage was circling around the church of St. Vlasy in Gagarin Lane. He shook the cabman by the shoulder: 1 say, old man, are you trying to get us married? It's the third time that you've taken us round the church!' On hearing this Sergei Yesenin laughed: 'He has married us, all right !' When they told Isadora what had happened she was very happy and said with a broad smile: 'He really has!'
This episode minor incident turned out lo be an augury, for in May 1922 Sergei Yesenin and Isadora Duncan celebrated their marriage. Sergei went to live at the mansion in Prechistenka with Isadora and her numerous pupils. He spent many happy days working here, and among other poems he wrote Wolfs Death. But soon the quiet life of the mansion was disturbed by mysterious events: at night some shadowy figures with lanterns would be seen wandering through the rooms. It proved impossible to catch them, for at the slightest sound they would swiftly disappear. On one occasion these with pass keys went into the children's room and threatened them with knives. On hearing the children's screams Yesenin grabbed a log and searched the house from top to bottom, but all he found was the porter sleeping peacefully. It turned out later that the residents had been in real danger, for it was a gang of thieves which had been sneaking into the house at night in search of hidden treasure. There were rumours at that time that the Ushakovs had left a cache of priceless riches in their mansion walls.
The poet and his wife stayed here until 1924, when they went abroad. Soon afterwards they divorced - domestic happiness was not something that Yesenin was destined to enjoy. By 1925 the poet was back in Moscow, and this time he settled close to Prechistenka, in Pomerantsev Lane and it was the last place in which Yesenin lived in Moscow.
Next to Isadora Duncan's former house is the fire station, which has occupied №22 for more than l50 years. In 1835 it was bought from General Yermolov's relatives by the State Treasury for the fire service. Today it accommodates the fire service headquarters.
Fires were always a serious problem for Moscow, and the city was razed to the ground several times. In a city of wooden buildings flames would instantly spread far and wide, taking its citizens unawares. Then in panic they were unable to do anything to avert disaster. To cope with the threat some people in each district were appointed as fire-fighters. On hearing the sound of the Nabatny bell, they were supposed to hasten to the scene of the fire with buckets and hooks. Then in the 16th century fire fighting was entrusted to streltsy brigades (a military corps instituted by Ivan the Terrible). The first regular fire brigade was set up in 1812 by Moscow Governor Count F. Rostopchin. The brigade would be manned by brave and athletic young men frained to work as a team.
Later the fire brigade was also made responsible for Moscow's street lights. In the city centre there were kerosene lamps, while on the outskirts there were oil lights, and the firemen were allocated a special quota of hemp oil for these lamps. The knowing lads in the fire brigade would eat this oil with their porridge, and the city lamps would be lit with the leftovers from their supper. In those days Moscow nights were indeed dark.
The Tverskaya Fire Brigade was established in 1823 as the first separate division in Moscow's history. Its fire station, with a tall and well-proportioned watch tower, was erected on Tverskaya Square where today one can see a monument to Yury Dolgoruky. An identical watch tower was also put up on the mansion at Prechistenka, but it was taken down in 1930 as redundant. Duty firemen would keep watch over the city from their towers, and raise the alarm in case of fire.
Immediately a team of firemen in a cart or a series of carts would then rush to the scene. Moscow's fire brigades had the best horses in the city. Each area brigade had its own breed of horses. The Tverskaya Brigade kept yellow skewbalds, the Arbatskaya had coloured bays. while the Taganskaya preferred roans, and so on. In the 1860s, Police Chief Ogarev used to go round inspecting the fire stations, and with his snow-white handkerchief he would go over the horses to make sure thev were well washed and cared for. Even earlier there had been a strange practice: the fire brigade was entitled to requisition good-looking horses from street cabmen without showing any papers.
In 1908 a real marvel appeared in Prechistenka when the first Moscow fire engine was delivered. It had an extend ladder on the top which only reached up to second floor level, but in those days that was quite adequate. On hearing the fire alarm the first to board the engine were the Fire Major, the Chief Fireman, a medical attendant and a team of firemen.
Sometimes Moscow firemen would be addressed as pozharniki instead of pozharny (fireman) either in error or as a joke. These two words sound very similar, but have very different meanings. Pozharniki was a rather insulting nickname. because it was normally used of rogues who pretended to have lost all their possessions in a fire and so asked for charity from passersby They would often travel on a sledge with burnt shafts, making it appear that the sledge was all they had saved from the fire, so as to move soft-hearted Muscovites to pity. These scoundrels were known as 'burnt shafts.'
The modest house standing in its own grounds at №5 Chisty Lane, which leads off the right hand side of Prechistenka, is now the residence for the Moscow-Patriarchate. At the end of the 18th century it was the home of the legendary Anastasia Dmitrievna Ofrosimova, the wife of Moscow's Chief Kriegkomissar. She was known for her resolute, capricious, blunt and very imperious character. She had carried off her husband-to-be from his parents' house, and as a result she did not stand on ceremony with him. He was a good-natured fellow, and in her anger Ofrosimova was quite capable of grabbing her husband's wig in front of everybody and throwing it out of the window:
She was notorious in Moscow and people were rather afraid of her sharp tongue. On one occasion at the Arbat Theatre in the presence of the Emperor Alexander I she exposed a senator who took bribes. Madam Ofrosimova wagged her finger at the senator and then pointing her finger at the Emperor's box, exclaimed loudly: 'Take care! Mr. N, take care!' The words were heard by the emperor, and he decided to find out what the senator might have to fear. Once everything was out in the open the senator was dismissed.
Alexander Griboyedov used Anastasia in one of his comedies as the basis for the interfering old lady Khiestova, while Tolstoy portrayed Madame Ofrosimova as Maria Dmitrievna Akhrosimova in War and Peace. His heroine would go for Sunday services in the company of her beloved Natasha Rostova to the Church of the assumption at Mogiltsy. This church was built in the late 18th century by the French architect Legrand. It is well preserved today, and the visitor can see it at the end of Chisty Lane.
Returning to Prechistenka, we can see at №21 the building of the Academy of Arts. It is a beautiful town mansion, and in the last century it was owned by S. Potemkin, who was called 'Lucullus' because of his cordial nature and great hospitality.
His wife, Ye.P. Trubetskaya stood proxy for Pushkin's mother at his wedding. Pushkin was a frequent and welcome visitor to this house.
In the late 1890s the mansion was bought by Ivan Morozov, a member of the well-known family of industrialists, art patrons and collectors. Up to 1900 Morozov lived in Tver, but would
often come to Moscow to see his mother at Vozdvizhenka Street and his brother Mikhail at Smolensky Boulevard. The latter had a magnificent collection of paintings. Both houses were known for their regular art and literary salons, and Ivan Morozov had the opportunity to meet and talk to Moscow's artists. Eventually, his brother's collection so inspired him that he decided to start his own collection.
In 1903 while visiting Paris he bought a landscape by Alfred Sisley Frost at Louveciennes, and he began his collection with the works of West European painters. Years later, he had one of the richest collections in Moscow, with canvases by Gauguin, Bonnard, Van Gogh, Renoir, and Matisse. But Morozov's favourite picture was Cezanne's Pears and Peaches. There were also some 300 pictures by Russian artists: Levitan, Vrubel, Sornov, and Korovin. Morozov was patron of a young man from Vitebsk, Mark Chagal, and in many respects Chagal owed his success as an artist to the help he received from Ivan Morozov.
Because of the collection's size the house had to have a lot of internal alterations. Morozov invited Lev Kekushev, one of the best architects in Moscow, to convert the rooms into vast exhibition halls. However, it must be said that this fine collection could be only be admired by Morozov's close friends.
Аптека А. Форбрихера на пречистенке - одна из старейших аптек Москвы / The Forbriher Chemist's on Prechistenka - one of the oldest in Moscow
Early in 1918 Morozov's mansion was occupied by anarchists. Day and night the unwelcome guests would harass Morozov's family. When eventually the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree for the nationalization of private art collections, Morozov received the news with relief, since he had unpleasant memories of the days spent under the same roof as a gang of armed bandits. He now received a safe conduct pass from the new state, guaranteeing him against any infringements of his liberty. He was appointed Deputy Director of the collection for life, and the mansion itself was called 'Gallery of Modern Western Art.' With the enthusiasm of a man who has spent his life among pictures, Morozov took groups of visitors through the halls of the gallery. However, he did not play the role of guide through his own house for long. His family was unable to endure the hardships and shortages of the revolutionary period, and at the end of 1918 the Morozovs left Russia for the West. Despite the comforts of life in Europe, Morozov could not bear to be parted from his paintings, and in June 1921 he passed away in Karlsbad.
Twenty years later his gallery suffered a similar fate when it was closed down and the collection dispersed. In 1947 part of the collection was sent to the State Museum of Fine Arts, (now known as the Pushkin Museum), and other canvases were sent to the Hermitage collection in Leningrad. This 'resettlement' was described by the art critic Mikhailovsky: ' Degas' dancing girls in blue, the vineyards of Van Gogh and the green pines of Cezanne are being loaded into a truck, and through the wide-open doors of Morozov's mansion people are carrying rolls of carpet and massive tables, behind which the fate of Russian art will be decided.' The mansion of Ivan Morozov had been taken over by the USSR Academy of Fine Arts.
