One of the most interesting in the decor of the facade of buildings in Moscow is the former apartment building at the Trinity Church on Gryazekh or, as the common people dubbed him, house with animals - located on Chistoprudny Boulevard.

The Art Nouveau building of the early 20th century gained its fame thanks to the unique terracotta bas-reliefs of fantastic animals decorating the walls of the third and fourth floors. On the façade you can see owls and ducks, griffins, dragons, lions, chimeras, unusual plants and flowers, and some creatures are hard to even find a name for. The bas-reliefs were made by the Murava art studio based on sketches by the Moscow artist Sergei Vashkov, a student of Vasnetsov and one of the recognized masters of Moscow Art Nouveau. They did not appear by chance - Vashkov, being a specialist in the field of religious art, was delighted with the medieval bas-reliefs on the walls of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral in the city of Vladimir: its facade is decorated with about 600 bas-reliefs depicting saints, as well as real and mythical animals. They became the prototype of the mythical creatures that inhabited the facade of the apartment building - the artist did not copy them, but rethought them and “adapted” them to the architecture of the early 20th century: the creatures became noticeably larger, and their depiction became more grotesque and ironic, which was characteristic of Art Nouveau that time.

It’s interesting that after the construction of the house was completed, Sergei Vashkov moved into it himself.

The house was built in 1908-1909 according to the design of architect Lev Kravetsky and civil engineer Peter Mikini. The church gave money for the construction of the building - it was erected as an apartment building at the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Gryazekh near the Pokrovsky Gate, and it was planned that some of the apartments would be allocated for housing to needy parishioners, and the rest would be rented out for profit. Initially, the house, built according to the original design, was 4-story, but after the Great Patriotic War, in 1945, it was rebuilt according to the design of the architect B.L. Topaz and acquired a height of 6-7 floors. The top row of bas-reliefs was destroyed, but on the whole the mythical bestiary was well preserved. The last changes in the appearance of the house occurred in the 2000s: it was then that it acquired its current pale bluish-green color, and the bas-reliefs turned white.

Today the building has the status of a cultural heritage site of regional significance.

By the way, you can see how the house with the animals looked before reconstruction in the wonderful Soviet film “The Foundling” (1939) - the adventures of the girl Natasha, lost in Moscow, began just from leaving its entrance.

Well, you can see how the building looks now live: just come to Chistye Prudy - Chistoprudny Boulevard, building 14.

If you ask me about my favorite house in Moscow, I will most likely name this exact address: Chistoprudny Boulevard, 14. There are many beautiful houses in Moscow, but this is the one that... puzzles, makes you look closely, think, try to solve the riddles.
Moscow Art Nouveau very creatively and at the same time carefully reinterprets the motifs of ancient Russian art, turning to the traditions of pre-Petrine Rus'. But this house turns us to the traditions of the Vladimir principality, which are several centuries older, of which little remains, and which themselves are a mystery.
So, Chistoprudny Boulevard, a rather tall house of unremarkable shape - and across the entire facade, along the height of two floors, there is an amazing ornament of fabulous animals, plants, patterns.
However, the house itself was completely different before...

The house on Chistoprudny was built in 1908-1909 as an apartment building for the Trinity Church located nearby (on Pokrovka) on Gryazi. The project was developed by architect L. Krovetsky, construction was supervised by engineer P.K. Mikini. Unfortunately, we can judge their creativity not so much by the house, but by photographs - look, what beauty and grace.

And this beauty was not preserved...

In the 40s, the house was built on two floors, which completely ruined its appearance. And you don’t know whether to be upset by this or rejoice that almost all of its design has been preserved - the work of the artist S.I. Vashkova (1879-1914).
Sergei Vashkov considered Vasnetsov his teacher, although he did not formally study with him. He was the artistic director of a factory of church utensils, and the house on Chistoprudny was his first experience in architecture. In his work, he “combined ancient Russian motifs with ancient Christian ones, synthesized his original plastic language, in which medieval forms received a new interpretation, reflecting the subject-spatial vision of man at the beginning of the 20th century” (art historians say beautifully).
The house on Chistoprudny is stylized as bas-reliefs, although its richness of imagination and density of plots reminds me more. I’m not an art critic and I don’t know how to write beautifully, but it seems to me that, starting from ancient Russian motifs, the artist created his own fairy-tale world of a person of the early 20th century. He also designed the interiors of the house (I know nothing about their preservation) and lived in it himself until his death at the surprisingly early age of 35, even for that time.
Let's just see...

The house acquired its modern appearance (white figures on a blue background) in 2000. Around the same time, a porch was added, stylized to match the overall appearance of the house.

And around the same time, there appeared here... though not quite animals, but truly “unprecedented beauty” - the Sea Aquarium store, which gradually turned into a small but very sincere aquarium.
I love this place very much since the days of the store with free entry, when I went into it at the first opportunity “to correct my frayed nerves.” Now the price of entrance tickets can frustrate your nerves even more, but I still hope that in the foreseeable future I will splurge on photography and tell you more about it.
While walking along Chistye Prudy, don’t forget to raise your head and get some food for thought about our roots...

Only our own photographs were used - shooting date: 05/19/2013

Address: Moscow, Chistoprudny Boulevard, metro station Chistye Prudy, Sretensky Boulevard.

The area occupied by the boulevard has been known since the 16th century, when slaughterhouses settled here - “Animal Dvor”, later “Sovereign Battle Dvor”. The meat trade gave the name to the adjacent Myasnitskaya Street, and its waste, dumped into the nearby swamp, gave the name to the “Filthy Pond”. The Rachka stream flowed out of the swamp, flowed south and flowed into the Moscow River at the Orphanage.
Since 1699, the corner property at the Myasnitsky Gate belonged to A.D. Menshikov, who built the Menshikov Tower in the depths of the courtyard. Meat trade on Myasnitskaya was curtailed in 1710, and in 1723 the slaughterhouses were moved away from the house of His Serene Highness.
After the fire of 1812, the remains of the White City wall were demolished, the pond was cleared, and two hotel buildings were built at the ends of the resulting boulevard.
The hotel at the Pokrovsky Gate has survived to this day, but at the Myasnitsky Gate it was demolished in the 1930s. In its place is the lobby of the Chistye Prudy metro station and a monument to A.S. Griboyedov.
During the 19th century. The development of the boulevard was clearly divided - the inner side was built up with two-story houses of the nobility and government institutions, the outer side with one-story houses of poorer people. At the end of the century, the boulevard was built up with three-four-story apartment buildings; in 1945-1952 Most of these houses were built up to six or seven floors while maintaining the general architectural appearance.

"House with Animals" (Chistoprudny Boulevard, 14) - apartment building of the Church of St. Trinity of the Life-Giving, which is on Gryazekh
(photo from the family archive of the Dmitrevsky family taken between 1908-1917)

The building of the Stasovsky hotels (the very beginning of the 19th century)	Chistoprudny Boulevard, 23 - apartment building of N.D. Teleshov, 1900, architect S.V. Barkov. Initially four-story, in 1947 it was expanded to 7 floors. The library named after F.M. Dostoevsky has been operating on the ground floor of the building since 1907. In apartment 2 in 1920-1934. lived S.M. Eisenstein.	Chistoprudny Boulevard, 14 - apartment building of the Trinity Church on Gryazekh (1908-1909) - a monument of the late “national” Art Nouveau. The house, designed by architect L.L. Kravetsky and P.K. Mikini, is decorated with fabulous animals by S.I. Vashkov. Initially, the house was four floors, and in the post-war years it was built up to its current 7 floors. The animals, for the most part, have been preserved.
Chistye Prudy	Chistoprudny Boulevard, 19a - Moscow Sovremennik Theater. Built in 1914 by R.I. Klein as the Colosseum cinema; worked under this name until 1970; the theater opened in 1974	Chistye Prudy. Multifunctional complex on Chistye Prudy "White Swan".
Chistye Prudy	Fountain "Singing Crane"	One of the first Moscow apartment buildings built in the Art Nouveau style, 1898-1899. buildings, owner grain merchant Rakhmanov.
Monument to Abai Kunanbayev (1845-1904) - Kazakh poet, writer, public figure, founder of modern Kazakh written literature. Opened in 2006, sculptor M. Ainekov, architect V. Romanenko.	Chistoprudny Boulevard, 10 building 1 - Estate of E.P. Kashkin - A.A. Durasova (1876, architect A.E. Weber)

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Previously, in the area of ​​​​Chistoprudny Boulevard there was a slaughterhouse - “Zhivotinny Dvor”, the waste from which was dumped into a pond (there is only one here), called Pogany. In Peter's times, Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov bought land in this area. The corner building at the Myasnitsky Gate began to belong to him in 1699. The prince built a church in the depths of the courtyard, which was nicknamed the Menshikov Tower, cleaned the ponds and forbade them to be polluted. Since then they have been called Pure. The meat trade at this place was curtailed. When A. Menshikov was sent into exile, his house passed to Prince Kurakin, then to the Armenian Lazarev. In 1783, the Moscow Post Office opened in this building. The fire of 1812 did not spare the area of ​​Chistoprudny Boulevard. During its restoration, the remains of the White House wall were demolished and the pond was cleared. Two hotel buildings were built. One of them, at the Myasnitskiye Gate, stood until the construction of the Kirovskaya metro station, which in 1990 was renamed the Chistye Prudy station. And the hotel at the Pokrovsky Gate has survived to this day.
Historically at the walls of the White City; since the 18th century - on Chistoprudny Boulevard. The park area on the boulevard also bears this name.
Known since the 17th century as the Filthy Swamps (waste from nearby butcher shops and slaughterhouses was dumped into it). The Rachka River flowed from the pond, flowing south and flowing into the Moscow River at the future Orphanage. At the beginning of the 18th century it became part of the Moscow estate of A.D. Menshikov, was cleaned out and from that time received the name Chisty Pond or Chistye Prudy.
In 1990, the name “Chistye Prudy” was given to the Moscow metro station (since its opening in 1935, it was called “Kirovskaya”).
Since the 1990s, Chistye Prudy has become a famous cult “party” place in the capital throughout the Russian Federation, where bohemians and informal groups, lovers of alternative music, including rockers, metalheads, punks, goths, and sometimes skinheads gather. Usually vacationers meet at the monument to Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov, drink beer and other alcoholic drinks “on the grass,” on benches and at the fountain in the western part of Chistoprudny Boulevard and call this place “ChP,” “Chistaki,” or simply “Chistye.” According to an urban legend, supported by numerous facts, law enforcement agencies turn a blind eye to the mass drinking of alcoholic beverages in a given public place, including by minors. They are also a permanent place for all kinds of political rallies and celebrations of football victories. They often become the venue for all sorts of flash mob events. In winter, the pond is used as a spontaneous ice skating rink.

Estate of E. P. Kashkin - A. A. Durasova
House with mezzanine
Moscow, Chistoprudny Boulevard, 10с2

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Apartment building (1875, architect A.E. Weber)
It was once an outbuilding and was part of the complex of buildings of the Kashkin-Durasova estate.
The building was periodically rebuilt. This happened both in 1817 and in 1859.
The wing underwent the last reconstruction in the period 1875-1876. The work was supervised by the architect Weber. It was then that the house became a separate building.
It was under him that the building was decorated with stucco in the form of miniature rosettes, as well as wreaths. In the center of the latter there were sculptures of flying doves intertwined with ribbons.
The building is given special charm by relief slabs with sitting children and columns with Corinthian capitals.

Home for the Honored Elderly Members of the Postal and Telegraph Department
Moscow, Chistoprudny Boulevard, 4

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Year of construction 1898,
Architect, sculptor, restorer: A.P. Popov
The two-story building with sharp-angled spiers on the roof was built at the end of the 19th century with funds from the Russian Postal and Telegraph Department.
Here was a “House of Charity” (as they now say, “Home for the Elderly”), in which people who had worked most of their lives in the postal service and had no close relatives lived out their lives.
The building still belongs to the Main Post Office of Russia.
After the revolution, the house was adapted into institutions and apartments. In 1922, the Dry Cleaning Labor Association, the Gamma artel, was located here. In 1929, Alexander Vasilyevich Sveshnikov, who was then the choirmaster of the Second Moscow Art Theater, lived in one of the apartments. Then the departmental clinic of the Moscow Post Office moved into the building.
The building was founded in May 1895 and the first visitors were received here in 1898. Architect A.P. was appointed as the author of the project. Popov.
The façade of the building, facing Chistoprudny Boulevard, was decorated in pseudo-Russian (neo-Russian) style.

Moscow, Chistoprudny Boulevard, 1
The house of the merchant Gusyatnikov, after whom the neighboring Gusyatnikov Lane is named. The house survived the Moscow fire (1812). The second house on the boulevard, under the same number, was built by B.V. Freidenberg in 1886.

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The three-story house on the corner of the boulevard was built in 1806. The facade of the house from Myasnitskaya Street was decorated with a six-column portico, which was removed during the reconstruction of the house in 1876, and shops were opened in the building.

Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
Moscow, Myasnitskaya street, 21с1

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Yushkov's house. Here, from the pre-revolutionary period until 1946, lived the Russian painter P. I. Kelin, a student of V. A. Serov, a teacher of V. Mayakovsky and B. Ioganson. The house housed the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (now the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture). Built at the turn of the 1780s - 1790s. architect (presumably) V.I. Bazhenov. In the courtyard there are: the House of the Moscow Art Society (1913, architect N. S. Kurdyukov) and an exhibition hall (1910s, architect N. S. Kurdyukov together with V. G. Shukhov).
Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
Founded in 1987 by People's Artist of the USSR Ilya Sergeevich Glazunov. From this year to the present, he has been the rector of the Academy. Ilya Glazunov began his active teaching career at Moscow State Art Institute named after. Surikov, where he headed the portrait workshop. Since June 10, 2009 it has been named after I. S. Glazunov.
The Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture is located in a building designed by the outstanding Russian architect V.I. Bazhenov on Myasnitskaya street, house 21, a historical monument of the 18th century.
Built in 1780-1790 for Podnik General I.I. Yushkov's house became a popular high society salon in the capital. After the death of the Yushkovs, the house belonged to P.I. Yushkov, their son. By this time, the financial affairs of this family had fallen into disrepair, which forced the owner to rent out part of the premises for a drawing class to the Moscow Art Society in 1838. From this date, the new life of the Yushkov house begins, connected with the Moscow Public Art School.
The leaders and organizers of the Moscow (public) art school at that time were M.F. Orlov, A.D. Chertkov, F.Ya. Skaryatin, E.I. Makovsky. In the project they prepared for a “public art class,” it was determined that the Moscow art school being created should provide an opportunity for the development of talents from the people.
General M.F. became the main elected director of the art class and the most active member of the Art Society. Orlov, hero of the Patriotic War of 1812.
The artistic class was recognized by government bodies only in 1843. It began to appear in the affairs of the Moscow educational district in 1844, when the Moscow Art Society acquired the entire building.
At the end of the 19th century, the School actually had the status of a higher educational institution, and in 1905 there was an imperial order signed by Nicholas II granting the Moscow Art School the rights of a higher educational institution with complete independence in terms of education.
The Moscow School of Painting differed from other educational institutions in its democratic admission conditions and truly creative atmosphere. This art school united creative youth, for whom the main principle of creativity in art was realism.
Many of the School's teachers became members of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.
Since 1865, in connection with the annexation of the Moscow School of Architecture, the School began to be called the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
The leading class of the School was the full-scale class. It was headed by V.G. Perov, A. Ryabushkin, S. Korovin and many others. The landscape class was taught by academician of painting A.K. Savrasov. Among his students were I.I. Levitan and K.A. Korovin are the greatest masters of Russian landscape. After the death of A.K. Savrasov’s landscape class was taught by P.D. Polenov, and then A.M. Vasnetsov. In the 1870-1890s, V. Pukirev, E. Sorokin, N. Nevrev, S. Korovin, L. Pasternak and others taught at the School.
At this time, exhibitions of famous artists, concerts and charity evenings were held on the premises of the School. The old house on Myasnitskaya Street has always attracted a lot of people. At the end of the 19th century, a four-story educational building was added to the building of the Yushkov house on Bobrov Lane, and at the beginning of the 20th century, two eight-story residential buildings for faculty and students rose in the courtyard.
At the same time, according to the drawings of the architect I.O. Kurdyukov, an exhibition hall was built in the courtyard.
The glazed roof of the hall was designed by the famous Russian designer V.G. Shukhov is the author of the first radio broadcast and television tower in Moscow. After the revolutionary events of 1917, the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture ceased to exist, and the First State Art Workshops were opened in the premises at 21 Myasnitskaya Street (the second were opened on the basis of the Stroganov School). Artists such as Lentulov, Konchalovsky, Mashkov, Rodchenko and others, who were part of the “Jack of Diamonds” association of ARTISTS, as well as Malevich and Kandinsky, who were the founders of abstract art, came to lead the workshops.

Moscow, Frolov lane, 1
The apartment building of the St. Petersburg Insurance Company "Russia" on Sretensky Boulevard (1899-1902, architect N.M. Proskurnin, A.I. von Gauguin) is one of the largest pre-revolutionary residential complexes and one of the most beautiful buildings in the city.

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In this legendary house (or rather, a complex of buildings), in one of its apartments (N85), before the revolution, the board of the Moscow Football League was located; after 1917 - Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA), Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army, People's Commissariat of Education. The building was visited by I.E. Repin, M. Gorky, V.I. Lenin; worked M.A. Bulgakov, N.K. Krupskaya; lived scientists M.I. Averbakh, B.D. Grekov, I.E. There M. At the end of the 1940s, the first Moscow rental office opened in the house. Famous constructivist architect Sh.E. Le Corbusier considered this house the most beautiful in Moscow.

Valeryanova's house
Moscow, Bobrov lane, 6, building 3

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M. Turgenevskaya, Chistye Prudy
Moscow International Translation Center
(territory of the Turgenev Library)
The house with apartments for rent was built in 1900 according to the design of the architect P.L. Syuzeva. The customer was A.A. Valeryanova.
The house was restored in the 2000s.
Anna Aleksandrovna Valeryanova is the wife of State Councilor Valeryanov Konstantin Nikolaevich, a survey engineer, a member of the Society for Assistance to Students of the Land Survey Institute.

Moscow, Frolov lane, 2
Moscow theater “Et cetera” under the direction of Alexander Kalyagin; restaurant "A'propos".

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It appeared on the site of the old Moscow quarter in 2005, and passions immediately flared up around it. On the sign located to the right of the entrance, architects A.V. are listed. Kuzmin, A.V. Bokov, A.A. Velikanov, M.V. Belitsa. However, Velikanov, who began developing the project, bringing the construction of the building to “concrete”, demanded to be excluded from the list of authors, not wanting to have anything to do with the Frolov house, 2. The rest did not discuss the merits of the building and successful solutions, but explained why this happened.
House 2 not only did not find a common language with the nearby buildings, it did not find harmony with itself. The right side of the puck protrusion resembles the Kazansky railway station, the left is dotted with numerous windows of various styles. Rus' with Gothic, palace portal and column with pedestal. For some reason the portal is duplicated, and the empty pedestal makes one think of Tseretelli. A statue of his work would suitably complete House 2.
numerous windows of different styles are a symbol of multiple realities. Column with an "ear" facing the sky. The double portal is a door in front of you, but if you raise your head, you will see another one. All this can be understood as the ideas of Kalyagin’s theater.
House 2 San Sanycha
But San Sanych is not on the list of architects, and if someday House 2 becomes the hallmark of Moscow, just as the Eiffel Tower became the symbol of Paris, then the glory will not go to him.

Gerasimov's House
Moscow, Bobrov lane, 6, building 1

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The building was built in 1895 according to the design of the architect Adolf Nikolaevich Knabe on the territory of the estate of the noble family Petrovo-Solovovo. Currently, the building is occupied by the city's oldest public free library-reading room named after I.S. Turgenev.
At the heart of the building at 6 C1 Bobrov Lane is chamber XVII.
The house was reconstructed in 2004.
At the beginning of the 19th century. on this site was the estate of the merchant Vasily Gerasimov with a two-story stone house with its main facade facing the alley. In 1822, it came into the possession of the merchant Kirill Biryukov, and then to his relative Anna Aleksandrovna Valeryanova, the wife of the state councilor Konstantin Nikolaevich Valeryanov, a survey engineer, a member of the Society for Assistance to Students of the Land Survey Institute.
The houses were restored in 1996-2004. Buildings 1 and 2 were transferred to the I.S. Library-Reading Room. Turgenev.

Moscow, Sretensky Boulevard, 6/1с1

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Complex of former buildings insurance company "Russia" (1899-1902, architect N. M. Proskurnin, with the participation of V. A. Velichkin, forged fence - architect O. V. Dessin). After 1917, the building was successively occupied by ROSTA, the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army, and the People's Commissariat for Education. The building is a cultural heritage site of federal significance. The architect V. E. Dubovskoy lived in the house. Previously, on the site of the building there was a panorama, built in 1875 by architect V. N. Karneev.

Apartment building of the Trinity Church on Gryazekh
Moscow, Chistoprudny Boulevard, building 14с3

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Built in 1908-1909. according to the design of architect L.L. Kravetsky (plan development) and civil engineer P.K. Mikini (Chistoprudny Boulevard, building 14). The planes of the walls of the second - fourth floors are completely covered with terracotta bas-reliefs of fantastic animals, birds and trees, made by the Murava artel according to the sketches of the artist S.I. Vashkov. The samples were the bas-reliefs of St. Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir.
Very interesting is house No. 14 on Chistoprudny Boulevard - the apartment building of the Trinity Church on Gryazekh, popularly known as the “house with animals”. It was built according to the design of L.L. Kravetsky and P.K. Mikini in 1908-1909. The building is decorated with fabulous animals by S.I. Vashkov in the style of the bas-reliefs of the Dimitrievsky Cathedral in the city of Vladimir. At the same time, Sergey Vashkov was involved not only in the external design of the house, but also in the interior. He himself settled in the same house, where he died in November 1914.
Initially, the house was four-story with two hipped towers at the edges, and in the post-war years it was built up to the current 7 floors by the architect B.L. Topaz. This was a widespread post-war practice. The animals, for the most part, have been preserved.
Now the entire lower floor of the apartment building of the Trinity Church on Gryazekh is occupied by the Marine Aquarium on Chistye Prudy store and the Oceanarium museum. The highlight of the “Sea Aquarium” can be considered the circular 25-meter panoramic aquarium “Batiscaphe”, in which 10 sharks swim and a feeding show of sharks and moray eels regularly takes place.
And the Church of the Trinity on Gryazekh itself is located nearby, at the Intercession Gate. The planes of the walls of the second - fourth floors are completely covered with terracotta bas-reliefs of fantastic animals, birds and trees. The bas-reliefs were made by the Murava art studio according to the sketches of the artist S.I. Vashkov. He was involved not only in the exterior design of the house, but also in the design of its interior. Then he himself settled in the same house and lived in it until his death.
The house was originally four stories high, with two hipped towers. But in 1945 it was built with three floors according to the design of the architect B.L. Topaz. At the same time, the second floor balconies and towers were destroyed. True, the house has become more harmonious: the upper part of the house balanced the lower floors, rich in decor.