The urban legends of Moscow include the building, which is located on one of the main streets of the capital - Tverskaya. This is the Savvinsky Compound, whose address is Tverskaya Street, 6. Many Muscovites, not to mention the guests of the capital, do not know about the existence of such a house. Perhaps David Copperfield joked about moving the building to another place? By making this assumption, we are close to the truth. This is what our article is about.
Resurrection Monastery
The appearance on the Tverskaya street of the Savvinsky Compound is preceded by an equally interesting story. In the XV century, on Tsarskaya Street, now Tverskaya, was the Resurrection Monastery. In 1650, its building belonged to the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery located near Zvenigorod, the residence of Russian sovereigns. The Resurrection Monastery burned twice with Moscow: in 1773 and 1812. After the last fire it was not restored.
In 1900, Bishop Mozhaisky Parfeny filed a petition with the Moscow City Council. He asked to break a number of unsuitable buildings (the remains of the monastery), and on this site to build a building of five floors with non-residential premises and a courtyard. The city government allowed the construction, and the architect I.S. Kuznetsov.
Compound History
At the request of the bishop, the courtyard was to serve as the Moscow apartment building of the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery. This beautiful architectural monument was built in three years (1905-1908) in a romantic style, combining baroque and modern. Lined with glazed tiles, the facade of the building overlooked Tverskaya Street. It provided premises for offices, certain apartments were occupied by the Savvinsky bishop's office (courtyard), the remaining premises were a hotel. The pointed towers of the apartment building were visible from Strastnaya and from Moiseevskaya Square. And this is clearly visible in old photographs.
After the October Revolution, the Savvinsky Compound turned into a large communal apartment. The first two floors and the basement were defined as shops and warehouses. The upper ones are for apartments. The courtyard church buildings in the back of the courtyard were not touched.
Cinema business Khanzhonkova
The building of the Savvinsky Compound of Moscow housed offices and apartments for rent. By the standards of film entrepreneurs, the cost of hiring was low, so in 1908, one of the first Russian film companies owned by Alexander Khanzhonkov became the tenant. A. Khanzhonkov began his business with the rental of films, then a showroom and a movie camera shop appeared. After some time, a scientific department was opened in the film company for filming feature and educational films, and a film pavilion was needed.
Not immediately, but Alexander Alekseevich was able to get permission from the bishop to build a large film pavilion in the backyard. Over the course of ten years, many artistic and documentary films have been shot about agriculture, botany, medicine and education. He attracted Russian specialists, professors and teachers from Moscow University to work on films. It so happened that a few years later a fire broke out at the film studio, it burned to the ground, and in 1920, Alexander Khanzhonkov went abroad. The office hosts a government propaganda agency of the frontline chronicle.
Moscow reconstruction plan
In 1935, the General Plan for the Reconstruction of Moscow was adopted, which provided for the transformation of Gorky Street. It was not like a transformation, but rather a construction of houses on the street again. It was supposed to expand the street at the expense of the even side, making it a highway up to 60 meters wide. During the expansion, the Savvinsky Compound on Tverskaya was on the list of "lucky ones." He was not touched.
But in 1939, while continuing the implementation of the Master Plan for the reconstruction of Moscow, a beautiful architectural monument was in an uncomfortable place. To preserve the building, and in its place to build a monolith of the Stalinist Empire, the compound with the help of world-famous technologies was moved 50 meters into the courtyard.
Building relocation
The history of the transfer of the Savvinsky Compound has preserved the urban legend that its residents, having learned about the demolition of such a beautiful and historically valuable building, wrote a letter to the chairman of the Moscow City Council. It was asked to save the compound, offering to move the building, as was done on the streets of Serafimovich and Sadovnicheskaya. Either heeded the request, or wanted to get around the States in this matter, but a decision was made to move the building into the back of the yard. In 1936, the Trust was created, which was engaged in the movement and dismantling of buildings. The building together with the residents weighed 23 thousand tons. Time to prepare for the movement gave a little. The procedure should have been completed in March 1939.
All work on preparing the building for movement took four months. It was necessary to cut the house from the foundation, and along the cut line into the punched paths, create I-beams, which then should be welded together. That is, a solid steel frame was made. The basements were covered with rubble in order to establish sleepers and rails on it, on which all this colossus was supposed to go. For the installation of sleepers, punched holes that became corridors. Sleepers and then rails were laid on them on a concrete base. Corridors were carried out in parts. They made 12 corridors - laid the rails. The operation from beginning to end was performed three times. As a result, the house was removed from the foundation and stood on 2100 rinks.
Building relocation and new address
People were not informed about the timing of the building. Most likely, there should be no unnecessary panic. Work began on March 4 at two in the morning. With the help of a 20-ton winch, the house was removed from the foundation and smoothly rode to a new place. Engineering communications were connected to flexible hoses and worked normally. The building of the Savvinsky Compound moved so smoothly that the sleeping tenants did not feel the movement, and when they woke up in the morning, they were amazed to note that the house was in a different place.
The address of the building has also changed. Previously, the compound was at number 24, now it has become home number 6/6. After that, the construction of "stalinok" began, which formed the new border of Gorky (Tverskaya) street.
Compound nowadays
Today, the Savvinsky Compound is an elite building without elevators, but with chic staircases and huge apartments. Something has changed in the appearance of the building, something has remained untouched.
The change should include the replacement of the original original frames of many windows with white plastic and brown. Part of the premises in 2000 was transferred to the Church. There are also charitable foundations that help needy children left without care, a pilgrimage service. The Savvinsky Chapel is operating, the Gallery of Russian and Byzantine icons is open.
Miraculously, the surviving landmark of the capital, although hidden behind the cold gray stalines, is accessible to those who enter the arch of the Stalinist house to admire the beauty of this architectural monument.