The sight in Tambov I would like to show to English-speaking visitors

The sight in Tambov I would like to show to English-speaking visitors

Tambov is a city with many cultural sights. There are memorials, museums, parks, streets and so on. The most famous and attractive sights are Victory Park, dedicated to the triumph of the USSR in The Great Patriotic War, the memorial to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya in Sovietskaya street, Chicherin House Museum, the Tambov region Аrt gallery, Kazan Monastery. That is not even the end of the list!

However, today I want to tell you about The Aseev’s Estate in Tambov. In my opinion, it is an unbelievably beautiful sight which keeps the culture and atmosphere of the 19th century merchantry. That is exactly why I would show this place to my English-speaking friend to get to know not only present Tambov but also its past.

 To begin with, I should tell you about the owner of this estate. The Aseevs’ merchant family appeared in the Tambov region at the beginning of 19th century. The founder of the dynasty is Agafon Aseev. He was a trader in the nearest countryside of Rasskazovo in 1830s. But the head of the family died on January, 1832. His wife Marfa was left with two sons Vasiliy and Tihon. After the Agafon’s death, Marfa Aseeva developed his business and became a successful manufacturer.

By the 1870s, the family had acquired a cloth factory. Aseev's sons became the richest people in the province and were able to pay for the titles of merchants of the first guild.

Family business was continued by the third generation of the Aseevs. Mikhail Aseev, the son of Vasiliy Aseev, was educated as a doctor. But he had to give up this profession because of his father's commercial and industrial affairs. Mikhail Aseev with his cousin Vasiliy founded a merchant house named «Brothers M. and V. Aseevs». They owned wool washing and distilling factories, cloth factories, and lands almost all over the Russian empire. The merchants were involved in charity work. They built schools, maintained hospitals and shelters.

Because of revolution of 1917, the Aseevs had to emigrate. First, they ended up in Serbia, and then moved to South America.

Mikhail’s house was designed by the project of the Moscow architect Lev Kekushev in 1905. The huge scale, the fine detailing and the decorative variety, as well as the high quality of the construction work, were unprecedented. Built in the Art Nouveau style with original facades and exclusive interior solutions, the house still impresses with its originality, beauty and grace of all its elements.

The interiors of the rooms, which have retained many elements of the original decoration, had been carefully restored and amaze with their richness and diversity. On the ground floor of the mansion there is the Grand Entrance Hall, Dressing Room, Fireplace Room, Аnte room, Reception room, M.V. Aseev’s Study, Sofa Room, Small Living Room, Billiard Room and Grand Dining room. The largest and most ceremonial room on the first floor is the White Hall. It was designed for guests, musical events and festive occasions. A spectacular grand staircase made of white marble leads to the second floor, where the main room is the Columned Gallery Hall, made in the classical tradition. The eastern side of the hall has tall windows and the western side has a glass dome - that is a light lantern.

In spring of 1918, the Aseev’s estate was confiscated by the new government. There was a summer colony for poor children. In 1920s it was an orphan home. In 1924 the mansion was transferred to the healthcare system. First, they treated tuberculosis here, and in 1932 they opened a sanatorium for the mentally ill.

During the Great Patriotic War, the sanatorium was closed and the building was given over to the hospital of the People's Commissariat of Health.

In 2009 the restoration of the centennial building began. Many elements of the original decoration of the mansion were preserved, and the interiors of Mikhail Aseev's study, Sofa room and Men's room were recreated. A permanent exhibition of the museum is located in the White Hall. In 2014, in honor of the Tambov region's birthday, the Aseevs’ Estate Museum Complex as a branch of Peterhof Museum-Reserve was opened to visitors.

A five-hundred-year-old oak tree grows in the old park. There are walking paths, gazebos, benches, and a stage throughout the property. Training sessions, health days, and workshops in nature are often held here. Opposite the main entrance there is a cascading light fountain with a marble copy of the statue of Venus de Medici.

Today, the Aseev’s Estate Museum Complex is the cultural center of Tambov city and the region. Charity concerts, exhibitions, creative meetings with theatre and film actors and chamber music evenings are held here.