Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve

Among the architectural and landscape heritage of Moscow estates, a special category of former suburban royal and imperial residences of Tsars stands out. By virtue of their status, they have become the owners of real architectural masterpieces and are associated with key events of national history. There are several such residences, and Kolomenskoye plays a particularly important role among them.

Churches of Kolomenskoye

The Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye has become a UNESCO cultural heritage site since 1994. The temple was consecrated in 1532 (most likely in honor of the birth of the heir to the throne, the future Ivan the Terrible). This is the very first stone tent church in Russia, it became a model for subsequent temple construction. ​​Scientists suggest that the temple was built by the Italian architect Pietro Annibale, or Petrok Maloy, as he was called in Russia. The centuries-old traditions of Orthodox architecture were enriched thanks to the masters of the Renaissance, who supplemented Russian architecture with new meanings and images.

There are other significant monuments of church architecture in Kolomenskoye. In the monarchic court there is a five—domed church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God from the time of the first Romanovs — the middle of the XVII century. And if you cross the Golos ravine and Kolomna Creek, you can climb to the Church Useknoveniya Glavy Ioanna Predtechi. The exact date of construction is still a subject of scientific debate, researchers say it’s the 1560s or 1570s. The layout of the church is similar to St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square. Ivan the Terrible liked to come to Church Useknoveniya Glavy Ioanna Predtechi on his Nameday.

The Palace and the Monarchic Court

Kolomenskoye was a favorite country residence of grand dukes and tsars, at various times there were palaces of Ivan III, Vasily III and Ivan IV. And the palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was called by contemporaries the eighth Wonder of the World. Recently it was recreated in the southern part of the museum-reserve. Nearby you can see the original buildings of the monarchic court: the Spassky Gate, the foundations of the fodder and bread yards, the Kazan Church.

Alexey Mikhailovich’s favorite amusements have also been reconstructed. There are stable and falconry yards, you can get acquainted with their inhabitants on special excursions in Kolomenskoye.

The Palace is a Real Miracle-Terem. It was built in the 1660s and amazed contemporaries with its luxury and complexity of architectural decoration. During the time of Catherine II, the palace was dismantled due to dilapidation, and in 2010 — recreated in a new place. The ensemble of the monarchic court is not violated: the new palace is located at the entrance No. 5 to the territory of the museum-reserve (next to the Kashirskaya metro station). The interiors are reproduced in accordance with the preserved fragmentary descriptions of foreign diplomats and similar buildings of that time. It is worth visiting here with children to introduce them to the life of tsarevens and tsarevichs, the peculiarities of royal etiquette, and also to see mechanical lions that frightened the courtiers of the XVII century with their roar.

Take a look inside the Water Tower. There is a small exhibition telling about the complex hydraulic system that supplied the gardens and the household of the royal residence with river water in the XVII century.

Wooden Architecture

Kolomenskoye, as we know it right now, appeared exactly 100 years ago, in 1923. The first director of the museum-reserve was Peter Baranovsky, a great man, one of the founders of the local school of restoration. Owing to him, dozens of masterpieces of both stone and wooden architecture have been preserved or restored throughout the country.

Being the Head of Kolomenskoye for 10 years, Baranovsky was in a good sense obsessed with the idea of creating a «Russian Skansen» — an open-air museum of wooden architecture and ethnography, similar to the museum in Stockholm. Significant buildings from the farthest corners of the country were transported here. Baranovsky’s works were not in vain, and today Kolomenskoye boasts one of the most interesting collections of wooden architecture in Russia.

Pay attention to the house of Peter I, it stands next to the monarchic court apart from the rest of the «Skansen». The house was built in 1702 on a small island at the mouth of the Northern Dvina River, from there the future emperor oversaw the construction of the Novodvinsk Fortress. The house was located in Arkhangelsk from 1877 to 1932 and then moved to Kolomenskoye, where it was restored and now receives visitors. Inside, the spirit of the Peter the Great era is recreated: banners, navigation maps and an extremely simple environment that was so close to the founder of the Empire.

A little away from the next to the monarchic court is a whole complex of wooden buildings brought from all over the country. Here you can see the Church of St. George the Victorious (1685) from the mouth of the river Yerga in the Arkhangelsk region, the gate tower of the Nikolo-Korel Monastery from the mouth of the Northern Dvina and the tower of the Fraternal prison (1630), in which, according to legend, Archpriest Avvakum, one of the leaders of the Old Believers, was imprisoned. The recreated estates of a Kolomna peasant and a blacksmith adjoin the museum of wooden architecture, they remind of the rural history of this corner of the capital.

Dyakovo Settlement

The high right bank of the Moskva River attracted people long before the foundation of the city. Near the village of Dyakov, across a ravine from the Tsar’s estate, archaeologists discovered an early Iron Age settlement at the end of the XIX century. The name of the village gave the name to an entire archaeological culture — Dyakovskaya, and many of the finds can be seen at the exhibition «Landmarks of the history of Kolomenskoye», located in the ensemble of the front gate of the monarchic court.

Nature Corner

Kolomenskoye is not only a museum complex, but also a beautiful park area where various landscapes are combined. On a hot summer day, it’s nice to walk in the shade of the trees of Golosov Ravine, relax under the murmur of Kolomenskoye Creek or take a walk along the banks of the Moskva River.

If you come to Kolomenskoye in winter, there will be a ski trail at your service, winding among the fruit trees of the ancient Dyakovsky garden. And in spring and autumn, the garden turns into an ideal place for photo shoots. The large meadow between the monarchic court and the exhibition of wooden architecture is great for games and walks with children, and the shady alleys of the park are for relaxation with a book or music in headphones.