10 OLDEST houses in Moscow (PHOTOS)
The oldest buildings in Moscow are ancient churches. But, in this collection, we’ve added chambers and palaces that had no religious purpose.
1. Palace of Facets
Moscow Kremlin, Palace of Facets. View from Ivan the Great Bell Tower
It was built in 1487-1491 by Italian architects Mark Fryazin (real identity unknown, ‘Fryazin’ is a nickname) and Pietro Antonio Solari by order of Grand Duke Ivan III. The building became the main ceremonial hall of the Kremlin.
2. Old English Court
Old English Court in Moscow, Russia
It was built in the 15th century as residential chambers and, since the 1550s, was transferred to a London-based Muscovy Company that traded with Russia. After British embassies began to frequent Moscow, ambassadors and their retinue lived in this building. The English Court was the first representative office of a foreign power in Russia.
3. The Romanov Chambers in Zaryadye
House of the Boyars Romanov, Varvarka street, Moscow
They were built at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries and belonged to the Romanov boyar family. According to legend, Mikhail Fedorovich, the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty, was born in this house in 1596.
4. The Amusement Palace in the Kremlin
The Amusement Palace as seen from Alexandrovsky garden
The building was built in 1651 as the boyar residential chambers, but, from 1672, theatrical performances began to be staged within its walls and the building became known as the ‘Amusement (‘Poteshny’) Palace’. The Church of the Praise of the Virgin, which was the house church of the royal family, was built into the building.
5. Emelyan Ukraintsev’s Chambers
Emelyan Ukraintsev’s Chambers
Built in 1665, the chambers belonged to a major statesman named Yemelyan Ukraintsev, a member of the Boyar Duma. Since 1770, the Moscow Main Archive has been located tthere.
6. Averkiiy Kirillov’s Chambers
Averkiy Kirillov's House
From the outside, these chambers look like an 18th-century palace, but they were built in the 1650s for Averky Kirillov, a major official of those times.
7. The Krutitsy Gallery
The Krutitsy gallery
The gallery above the Holy Gates of the Krutitsky Patriarchal Metochion in Moscow (built in 1693-1694) is part of the chambers of Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna, connecting his house with the cathedral. From the windows of this gallery, the metropolitan priests blessed the people and gave alms to the poor.
8. Zgura’s Tower
The Zgura Tower
It is unknown why this unique building was built at the end of the 17th century. In the 1920s, local historian Vladimir Zgura (1903-1927), the founder of the Society for the Study of the Russian Estate, lived there.
9. Mazepa’s Chambers
Mazepa's chambers
Built in the 16th-17th centuries (exact date is unknown), these chambers were mistakenly considered the residence of Ivan Mazepa during his visit to Moscow.
10. The Volkov-Yusupov Palace
The Yusupov-Volkov palce
There is no exact date for this building, either – it could have been erected in the 15th-16th centuries and, then, rebuilt many times. For almost 200 years, from the 1720s up until 1917, the palace was owned by the Yusupov family.
