City estate of the Suvorovs - N.I. Baranova - N.P. Gagman

Malaya Nikitskaya is a quiet street 800 meters long in the Presnensky district of the capital. It was named after Nikitsky Monastery, which was located on the site of the current park in front of the metro electrical substation from the late 16th century to the 1930s.

Starting from the 18th century, this area was inhabited mainly by nobles and housed the courts of princes G. A. Potemkin-Tauricheski, M. A. Shakhovsky, I. P. Gagarin, I. M. Golitsyn. A good example of the majestic buildings in the area preserved since that time is the luxurious Suvorovs - N. I. Baranov - N. P. Gagman estate with the current number 13 (building 1-4).

The ownership was first mentioned in the 18th century, when the area next to the site of the Ascension Church outside the Nikitsky Gate belonged to Avdotya Semyonovna Shchepotyeva, the wife of the adviser to the Board of the Admiralty Commissariat Expedition.

In 1768, the building was acquired by General-in-Chief Vasily Ivanovich Suvorov, and early classical two-story rectangular chambers were added in the next decade. In 1776, the estate became the property of his son, the great commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky. There is an assumption that he rarely visited his Moscow estate, since he was constantly busy in the service - he participated in military campaigns.

The 1812 fire destroyed the Nikitskaya streets area: wooden buildings were completely burned out and stone ones were charred. Following a series of changes of owners in 1829, the estate was sold to Nikita Andreevich Weyer, the French Vice-Consul and Moscow merchant of the 2nd guild, a famous moneylender. He is the man from whom Alexander Pushkin borrowed money and pawned diamonds.

The site finally passed into merchant hands in the 1870s. During the ownership of the estate by the hereditary honorary citizen Nikolai Baranov, the main house was enlarged with a large extension on the western side and underwent serious changes, the project was designed by the architect A. S. Kaminsky, the author of such Moscow buildings as the Tretyakov House on Gogolevsky Boulevard, the Moscow Exchange Building in Kitay-Gorod and many others. Kaminsky gave the building a classic look, which has survived to this day almost unchanged.

In February 1892, it became the property of the merchant of the 1st guild, Nadezhda Kunina, the wife of Karl Gagman, a Swedish citizen, member of the Men's Charitable Prison Committee, assistant to the Russian Military Historical Society. Thanks to his efforts, a memorial plaque with the name of Suvorov was installed.

Shortly after the transaction, internal reconstruction and decoration of the house began, led by architect V. G. Zalessky, and soon a new wing was built on Malaya Nikitskaya Street with the installation of beautiful fences and pylons of the main entrance. The buildings were provided with a sewerage system and running water, and the front lobby of the main house, designed in that period in the Egyptian style, is to this day considered unique for Moscow architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

After the 1917 revolution, the property was nationalized and subsequently put under the jurisdiction of the USSR UPDK for diplomatic corps.

Restoration (2013-2014)

In the 2000s, thanks to the efforts of GlavUpDK under the MFA of Russia, a complex restoration of the façades and interiors was carried out to return the building to its former glory.

Lost decorative elements and a white stone wall base were recreated on the façades of the building; old chandeliers, plaster molding decorations and ceiling paintings, wall patterns, parquet and floor tiles, and a fireplace system were restored. The Enterprise experts completely replaced the electrical and plumbing system and installed a security and fire alarm system and air conditioners.