Lions in silence. Molchanovka Bolshaya Street Malaya Molchanovka Building 8

The house on Novinsky Boulevard is associated with the life and work of the outstanding Russian singer, the famous bass Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin. This is Chaliapin’s first own Moscow house, it is filled with a special “homely” Chaliapin atmosphere. The museum is rich in authentic items of the Chaliapin family. Among them are pieces of furniture, a Bechstein grand piano, a grandfather clock, wedding candles for Fyodor and Iola, theatrical costumes, performance programs, posters... The house has many paintings donated to Chaliapin by artists: V. Serov, K. Korovin, V. Polenov, M. Nesterov, M. Vrubel. A large collection of his own works was donated to the Museum by the singer’s son Boris Chaliapin. Currently, the Memorial Estate is open to visitors. They will find exhibitions, thematic and sightseeing tours, concerts of famous and young performers, meetings of subscription series, and children's parties. The gallery of the F.I. Chaliapin Memorial Estate forms a single complex with the House-Museum. Its premises host exhibitions dedicated to both the history and current issues of Russian vocal art; they introduce visitors to materials from specialized museums and private collections. The Gallery space hosts evenings and concert subscriptions on various topics - “Musical Capitals of the World”, “Artistic Families”, “Meetings on Novinsky”, “Piano Evenings in the Chaliapin House”, “Choral Assemblies”, “Debut in the Chaliapin House”, etc. Famous domestic and foreign singers conduct master classes in the house of the great Russian performer. Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin bought a house on Novinsky Boulevard in 1910, at the age of 37. He lived here for twelve years, this was the heyday of his talent, the time of mature mastery, deeply conscious creativity, and worldwide fame. After purchasing the building, Chaliapin’s wife, the Italian ballerina Iola Tornaghi, took care of its renovation. The former house of the merchant K. Bazhenova, built at the end of the 18th century, was rebuilt in a new European way: it added gas, running water, bathrooms, and a telephone. Not only the house was landscaped, but also a vast garden, where a gazebo overlooking the Moscow River and cozy benches were installed, a linden alley, jasmine and lilac bushes were planted, and flower beds were laid out. For the Chaliapins, this was a real family home, where both adults and children lived comfortably - and Fyodor Ivanovich had five of them. Many famous figures of Russian culture often visited the hospitable estate: S. Rachmaninov and L. Sobinov, M. Gorky and I. Bunin, K. Korovin and K. Stanislavsky. In 1918, the house was nationalized and became a communal apartment for 60 years. In 1978, the building was transferred to the State Central Metallurgical Plant named after. M. I. Glinka for the creation of the F. I. Chaliapin Museum. It took eight years of complex repair and restoration work to restore the house to the way Chaliapin knew it. The interior interiors of the house were recreated from photographs and stories of the singer’s children. The White Hall, the Green Living Room, the Dining Room, the Study, the Billiard Room... Life in these rooms went on as usual, and was not disturbed by the artist’s busy touring schedule. In the White Hall, Chaliapin rehearsed with many of his guests, celebrated benefit performances in the dining room, and Fyodor Ivanovich loved to read in his office. Chaliapin loved billiards, a game table made by V. K. Schultz” was given to him by his wife. Now, as in the time of Chaliapin, the light fawn facade of the house faces Novinsky Boulevard, its green roof is decorated with figured chimneys, and the pillars of the carved cast-iron gates are decorated with decorative vases.

Previously, this corner building at 15 Bolshaya Molchanovka Street in Moscow had one of its facades facing Serebryany Lane, but after the construction of New Arbat, the latter was greatly reduced and today the house already faces the newly formed Moscow Avenue. The resulting perspective greatly disfigures the appearance of the building from one of the central thoroughfares of the city, although the former apartment building is of architectural value.

Thus, in order to see all the beauty of the structure, it is better to go out to Bolshaya Molchanovka and enjoy what you see.

Architecture and history of the apartment building

The history of the house began in 1903, when for the customer V.A. Chizhov and built this property according to the design of the architect Nikolai Semenov.

The compositional component is made in calm and balanced forms. The front entrance is located on the side of Bolshaya Molchanovka, 15. The corner part is decorated with a two-story rectangular bay window, which recedes significantly outward from the projection of the building itself.

The silhouette of the house is given a special charm by three graceful attics with rounded attic window openings arranged in them. They are located above a cornice that protrudes significantly from the walls.

I would like to pay special attention to the decor in the Art Nouveau style. One of the most striking elements here is the relief frieze located above the third-level window openings. Taking a closer look, we will see... geese, imposingly walking through a wetland strewn with water lilies and overgrown with reeds.

The corner plane of the former apartment building is also decorated with stucco elements, in particular, the exit to the balcony located above the bay window is decorated with floral patterns, also playing on the theme of swamp vegetation. Directly under the bay window you can see a scroll made in relief.

The contrast of the colors of the facade of house 15 on Bolshaya Molchanovka also attracts the eye, where the greenish color of the facade turns into reddish ceramic tiles with glimpses of black and white tiles. This narrow “ribbon” seems to wrap around the front part of the facade, located under the cornice.

The residential complex “House with Lions” is located in a quiet alley between Novy Arbat and Povarskaya streets. As part of the project, a seven-story apartment building built in 1914 by the architect Kondratenko was reconstructed. Today it is an elite club-type residential complex.

The House with Lions has a rich history; it is best known for the fact that the writer Alexei Tolstoy lived here in the first years after the revolution. The main entrance is decorated with sculptures of two royal lions with heraldic shields, which have become the hallmark of the house. The exquisite design of the facade has repeatedly attracted the attention of filmmakers: the “House with Lions” has been repeatedly used for filming in domestic films.

Apartments in the “House with Lions”

LCD " House with Lions» designed for 27 apartments ranging from 120 to 340 sq.m.. These include two-level apartments on the top floor. Glazed winter gardens are equipped on the roof. The rooms have high ceilings - from 3 to 4.5 meters, open layout, French balconies, wooden double-glazed windows. The interiors have preserved unique antique stucco molding.

Description and infrastructure

The house stands out with a luxurious façade with elements of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. It is decorated with columns, porticoes, arches, semicircular bay windows, and exquisite stucco. The cladding is made of natural stone and plaster. The presentable main entrance with lions is continued by a luxurious grand staircase. During the reconstruction, the building was equipped with elevators.

From the courtyard side the building is adjacent to a closed local area. The territory is equipped with a surface parking lot and a checkpoint, and 24-hour security is organized.

Malaya Molchanovka street, building 8, building 1. Even in pre-revolutionary Moscow, Malaya Molchanovka was often called “the street where the house with the lions is.”

Former apartment building Gordon. Built in 1913-1914 in the Art Nouveau style by architects Ivan Gavrilovich Kondratenko, Semyon Aleksandrovich Doroshenko and Vasily Nikanorovich Volokitin.

But Maria Vladimirovna Nashchokina in the book “Moscow Modern” believes that This is the apartment building of Sergei Egorovich Shugaev, director and manager of JSC Teply Ryady. Architects Kondratenko, Voloshin and Rabinovich.

In this house in 1917-1918, on the fifth floor in apartment 19 (though I don’t know how much the old numbering of apartments corresponds to today’s), the writer Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy and his wife Natalya Vasilievna Krandievskaya-Tolstaya lived; the poets Klyuev and Yesenin visited him. Krandievskaya-Tolstaya wrote in 1939... “We have guests in the dining room,” said Tolstoy, looking into my room. - Klyuev brought Yesenin. Come out and meet me. He's interesting... It was the spring of 1917...

Later, Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy wrote in one of his letters to his wife: There is nothing dearer, dearer than Molchanovka.

Marina Tsvetaeva and Sergei Efron came here to visit their friend, Chamber Theater actress Maria Kuznetsova (Grineva). Grineva in “Memories of Marina Tsvetaeva” writes, ...Dear Malaya Molchanovka! Sweet Home No. 8! Seven floors. Heavy entrance doors, and on the right and left there is a huge lion... ... There is a long, sharp ringing. Marina entered first, fresh and rosy from the cold. Behind her is Seryozhka, dark-haired, narrow-faced, big, handsome... ...When Marina had new poems, she usually came to read them to us first...

The poet Maximilian Aleksandrovich Voloshin lived in apartment 25. Pinaev Sergey Mikhailovich in ZhZLka “Maximilian Voloshin, or a god who has forgotten himself” writes ... And there is still Moscow ahead, where Voloshin arrives on April 18. He stops on Malaya Molchanovka with the Efron sisters, where Elena Ottobaldovna lives... Already at 11 o'clock he meets with K. Kandaurov, at 14 - he has lunch with A. Tolstoy... And in the following days - Ya. Glotov, Balmonty, M. Gershenzon, V. Polenov, R. Goldovskaya, F. Arnold...

Interesting memories of the “house with lions” were left by the writer, artist, photographer and traveler Vladimir Aleksandrovich Potresov in the book “Stories of the Old Arbat”... Above the once luxurious entrance, a concrete coat of arms sadly lived out its life, and on its sides it was guarded by concrete kings of animals, much battered by time. This gray monster, which occupied almost half of Malaya Molchanovka and turned into Rzhevsky Lane, was a great success among filmmakers. The lions were lucky here; before filming, their broken paws were repaired and painted in noble colors.

Yes, lions had an interesting cinematic fate in Soviet times. They starred in films . But none of the Moscow experts remembered that lions were also visible in the film. I'm filling the gap.

Vladimir Korovin left curious memories of the house’s very recent past in the book “Fragments of My Memories”... But Malaya Molchanovka, which at one time branched off from Bolshaya, remained, and the “house with lions”, well known to old Muscovites, to which they brought me after my “release” from the maternity hospital, also remained. The house still stands on the corner of Malaya Molchanovka and Bolshoi Rzhevsky Lane, and the lions with shields at the front entrance have been preserved, but its residents have changed. About twenty years ago, a major official, Yeltsin’s promoter, a certain Pochinok, settled in it, and he behaved like a fox in a badger’s hole - he scattered all the original inhabitants of the house around the outskirts of Moscow, and instead of them he settled his numerous intimates...

But their third comrade did not act in any films. From below the lion is not visible at all, only his shield is visible, which he holds in his paws. Only from the side, with his head thrown back high, can you see the third lion.

Today there are 27 apartments in the house with lions. Ceilings 4.5 meters.