Ostankino Palace

Ostankino was built for Nikolai Sheremetev between 1792 and 1798, and its oddity is the material: it looks like a stone neoclassical palace, with columns, pediments and rusticated surfaces, and it is made entirely of wood, plastered and painted to imitate masonry - an extreme example of a Russian practice, and the reason it is so vulnerable to fire and damp. It was built around a theatre, which Sheremetev cared about more than the rest: an auditorium at the centre of the plan that could be converted to a ballroom in an hour or so by raising the floor, with stage machinery of the period, much of it surviving, and a company of serf actors and musicians. Praskovya Zhemchugova, the serf soprano Sheremetev married, performed here. The interiors carry parquet floors of many woods, carved and gilded decoration made in the estate's own workshops, and a substantial sculpture collection. Restoration has kept parts closed for years.

History

The lands, then called Ostashkovo, are first recorded in the mid-16th century, passed to the princes Cherkassky after the Time of Troubles, and came to the Sheremetevs through the marriage of Princess Varvara Cherkasskaya and Peter Sheremetev the year after Empress Elizabeth's visit of 1742. Nikolai Sheremetev, who inherited in 1787, had a wooden theatre hall built by 1792 and then the palace around it, finished by the end of 1798 (Wikipedia, Ostankino Palace).

Highlights

• The wooden palace - a neoclassical building of timber rendered to imitate stone.
• The theatre - an auditorium convertible to a ballroom, with period stage machinery.
• The serf company - the troupe Sheremetev maintained, including Zhemchugova.
• The estate workshops - parquet, carving and gilding made on site.

When to go

May to September; the palace is unheated and closes for the cold and damp months. One to two hours. Check whether it is open at all - restoration has closed it for long periods.

Good to know

Closed for much of the year and for extended restoration periods - check before travelling rather than assuming. It is a wooden building, so humidity closes it at short notice. Photography is restricted. The surroundings are dominated by the Ostankino television tower and Soviet-era development.

Nearby

VDNKh is next door; the Ostankino tower stands beside the palace.

Key facts