Kurakina Dacha is a historical district in the southeast of St. Petersburg, on the left bank of the Neva. The area received its name from the estate of the Kurakin princes located here. The name was preserved in the name of the city garden “Kurakina Dacha”.
The first owner of the estate was Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin. His great-grandson Alexander Kurakin, left an orphan at an early age, was invited to the Winter Palace for joint games and educational activities with the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich. Kurakin was brought up together with the future Emperor Paul I, who subsequently appointed him vice-chancellor.
A. B. Kurakin participated in the conclusion of the Peace of Tilsit with France, and from 1809 to 1812 he was the Russian ambassador in Paris. He died on July 25, 1818 in Weimar and was buried in the church of the Mariinsky Hospital in Pavlovsk.
The country house had a winter garden on the second floor. The park was bordered by the Kozlov Stream, which flowed into the Neva (traces of the stream are still visible).
The luxurious garden and park occupied 12 acres.
In 1801, by decree of Paul I, the dacha became the property of the Department of Empress Maria Feodorovna for the residence of orphans - teenagers who worked at the Alexander Manufactory. In return, Paul I ordered that Kurakin be allocated land with a village near Moscow.
In 1837, on the territory of Kurakina's dacha, by order of Emperor Nicholas I, the Orphan Institute was opened at the Orphanage.
The dacha itself began to be called the Alexandrovskaya dacha of the Nikolaev Orphan Institute. First, 100 orphan girls of noble origin from 5 to 11 years old were brought here.
The building, which had fallen into disrepair, was rebuilt for them in the mid-19th century. former dacha Princes Kurakins. The reconstruction of the dilapidated building was carried out by the architect Ioganson. Perestroika was completed in 1869.
Since 1918, a boarding school for children of workers was organized on the territory of the former Orphan Institute. A significant part of the children did not have parents: some of their fathers died during the imperialist and civil war, others died of hunger and disease.
This building housed 150 pupils of the Junior Department, divided into 15 groups. Each group had its own bedrooms and classrooms. The gymnasium and recreational halls and the church in the name of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky were common.
There was also an infirmary, apartments for educational ladies and rooms for female servants. On both sides of the main building there were two two-story outbuildings.
Now this building houses secondary school No. 328 with in-depth study of the English language.
The red brick building is a former teaching building. Previously, it was connected by a gallery to the main educational building.
In a gray brick building, built according to a standard design in 1964,
The Levoberezhny Children's Art Center is located, in which students participate in clubs educational institutions district.
A children's hospice was opened in 2010
Now a cap has been carried out on the territory. renovation and it has become very beautiful here, many young trees have been planted,
Kurakina Dacha Park was opened today after a major renovation that lasted more than a year and a half. The main change in the appearance of the green zone was the newly dug up Kozlov Stream.
The park on the banks of the Neva was laid out at the beginning of the 19th century. It was part of the estate of the princes brothers Alexander and Alexei Kurakin, from whose surname it inherited the name. In the 1960s, the park was expanded to include a spot in the north adjacent to the Volodarsky Bridge; A monument to Volodarsky was erected there. Now the Kurakina Dacha park has an area of about 20 hectares.
At the beginning of 2015, a major renovation of the green zone began. It was completely fenced off and thus closed for walks by residents of Shchemilovka. The reason for this decision was explained by the integrated landscaping center (the customer) by the fact that people would interfere with the gardeners.
The head of the specialized department of the gardening and park management, Elena Peskova, told Kanoner that, in addition to the general comprehensive improvement, it was planned to make a more significant change - to dig up Kozlov Stream. Bridges were built across it. Old-growth trees were also demolished and new trees were planted, pedestrian paths were restored and laid out with drainage installed, and drainage was carried out.
The contractor NPO Rand LLC was supposed to complete the repairs by the end of the summer, but the opening took place today. However, work is still ongoing. Thus, in the south-eastern part they continue to create paths and a playground.
Kurakina Dacha Park in St. Petersburg is a large park area with a predominantly landscape view, an ancient place that inherited its name from the estate of the first owner of these lands, Prince Boris Kurakin, a diplomat, ally of Peter the Great, participant in the Battle of Poltava.
Story
At the end of 1770 the estate passed to the great-grandson of its first owner - the “Diamond Prince”, Alexander Kurakin, famous for the fact that he abolished serfdom on his lands.
In 1801, by decree of Paul I, the Alexander Manufactory was organized on the territory of the estate. A whole civil-industrial complex with shops and workshops was built here. The building of the Dacha housed an Orphanage, where orphans lived under the care of the state and, having matured, began to work in the manufactory.
Since 1837, by order of Nicholas I, the Orphanage was transferred to the Orphan Institute for girls aged 5–11 years, and the Dacha was named after Alexandrovskaya. In 1858, a large-scale redevelopment of the area was carried out, as a result of which a shady park was formed.
In 1863, due to the abolition of serfdom, the Aleksandrovskaya manufactory was abolished, and most of the lands of the Aleksandrovskaya dacha were given over to the construction of the Obukhov steel plant.
At the end of the 70s. under the leadership of St. Petersburg architect I.E. Ioganson erected a new stone building of the Orphan Institute, 100 m long, to which two wings were attached. The church wing of St. Alexander Nevsky was located on the right, and on the rest of the square there were classrooms and dormitories, a teacher's room, premises for employees, a gymnasium, and an infirmary.
In 1917 - 1920, much was lost, destroyed, and burned on the territory of Kurakina Dacha. Since 1918, a boarding school for orphaned children of workers began to operate in the stone building of the Orphan Institute, then a school with a site for young people “Agrobaza” was opened here, which later expanded to the Agrobiological Station. In the pre-war years, a botanical garden grew on the lands of the park, and a horticultural college and the House of Pioneers were opened.
After 1945, boarding school No. 10 was located in the building of the Nikolaev orphanage.
Park today
In September 2016, the long-awaited two-year reconstruction of the territory of Kurakina Dacha Park was completed.
Before it was carried out, the park, which occupies 20 hectares on the banks of the Neva, fell into disrepair: the bed of the Kozlov Stream was washed away, the territory gradually turned into a swamp with dying trees.
For two years of active work:
- a drainage system was installed in the green zone and a storm sewer was laid;
- restored the local pond into which Kozlov Stream had turned, clearing the banks and strengthening them with stones;
- sections of the green zone separated by a reservoir were connected by four bridges, from which walkers admire the surroundings;
- crossings were erected, and the structure was strengthened for the convenient passage of special equipment to maintain the territory;
- on an area of 160 thousand square meters. m. lawns were laid out, walking paths were repaired and restored;
- Hundreds of benches and sofas and more than 100 trash bins were installed along the alleys.
The park has four playgrounds with certified play equipment, including a specialized one where equipment for children with disabilities has been installed. disabilities. Playgrounds“Caravel”, “Elephant and Baby Elephant” were built according to an individually developed project.
As part of the park's overhaul, almost 250 outdoor lighting poles with LED lights were manufactured and installed, and now residents of the surrounding neighborhoods can walk along the paths even at night.
In the landscape part of the Kurakina Dacha, the historical layout and valuable tree stand of 160 old oaks, apple trees, elms, which were cured by forest pathologists, were restored, 700 young trees were planted from the assortment of lost historical plantings - English oaks, small-leaved lindens, larches and Siberian ash trees.
In the modern part of the park, the landscape is decorated with chestnut trees, decorative white and purple willow, Serbian spruce, bird cherry, and Manchurian walnut. Among the abundance of shrub species are lilac, spirea, barberry and rose bushes.
The St. Petersburg Improvement Committee plans to recreate historical apple tree plantings so that the blooming garden will delight park guests.
On the territory of the Kurakina Dacha, in the reconstructed building of the Orphan Institute, today there is a secondary school No. 328 with specialized study of English, in the lobby of which there is an exhibition dedicated to the history of the park, and very close - sports complex, kindergarten, restaurant.
How to get there:
The park is located in the Nevsky district of St. Petersburg. Address: Obukhovskoy Oborony Avenue, st. Lesnozavodskaya. From the Lomonosovskaya metro station you need to walk 700 m. Open 24 hours a day.
It is unknown who was the first architect of the Kurakina Dacha, but a drawing from an old book brought to us the appearance of the main building as it was seen by a contemporary in 1744.
Baron Ivan Cherkasov, director of the Porcelain Factory, was the first owner of the estate, which is known today as Kurakina Dacha. The first, if you don’t count the inhabitants of the village of Miikkula (aka Mikkeli, known since the 1620s), which was located in these places in pre-Petrine times.
Ivan Cherkasov started out in poverty. He was a simple clerk, and even when he entered the service in Peter’s Cabinet I , his funds remained very limited. Over time, Ivan Antonovich gained more and more confidence in Peter. Under Elizabeth Petrovna, Ivan Antonovich became the cabinet-secterate of the empress, received a baronial title, and was granted orders and villages.
After the death of Baron Cherkasov, another nobleman, Senator Prince Boris Aleksandrovich Kurakin, became the owner of his dacha, and from him the dacha went to the children. One of his sons was the famous Alexander Kurakin, one of the educated people of his time, a close friend of the heir Pavel Petrovich, who later became Emperor Paul I.
In the 1780s, the Kurakins erected a number of buildings here that have not survived to this day. And in 1801, Kurakina’s dacha was purchased by the treasury for the Alexander Manufactory. Many young pupils of the Imperial Orphanage worked at this enterprise. They were settled in the dacha. Then for several years the almshouse of the Orphanage operated at the dacha.
The orphanage was generally a unique institution for its time. Established according to the thoughts of Ivan Betsky(author of one of the most famous reforms Russian education), it was intended to educate orphans, foundlings, and children from poor families. In 1806, as part of the Orphanage, a special School for the Deaf and Mutes appeared (the country’s first educational institution for the disabled), on the basis of the educational classes at the house, in 1837, the Orphan Women’s Institute was established (later the Nikolaev Orphan Institute - now the Pedagogical University), whose students became teachers of music, gymnastics and dance, French...
The old manorial buildings could not satisfy all the needs of the new establishments. The main building was expanded and rebuilt three times. In 1845-1848, wings were built on the sides of the stone house, where kitchens, bakeries, laundries, a pharmacy, and apartments for employees were located. Separate houses for the warden and the infirmary were also erected.
In 1847, the juvenile department of the Nikolaev Orphan Institute (designed for children from 5 to 11 years old) moved to Kurakina's dacha. During the holidays, older pupils also came here, conducted practical classes with minors and went on excursions - including to the Glass and Porcelain factories, the Obukhov factory, the Hermitage and the Peter and Paul Fortress.
In 1868-1870, the stone building was completely rebuilt and enlarged according to the design of architect. I.E.Ioganson. The new U-shaped building stretches 100 meters. It contained classrooms and bedrooms, employee apartments, gymnastics and recreation halls, an infirmary, and in the right wing - the Church of St. Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. On November 2, 1869, the church was consecrated by Bishop Pavel of Ladoga in the presence of Prince P.G. Oldenburg. The facade of the church was decorated with a large recessed cross and completed with a stepped pediment. The church was located on the 2nd floor next to the recreation hall and was separated from it by a sliding partition. Its decoration was distinguished by modesty: even 4 icons in the white and gold single-tier iconostasis were color lithographs. The altarpiece “The Savior Blessing the Children” was copied by artist K.L. Peterson from the work of Academician. T.A. Neffa. Initially, the building accommodated 100, and after reconstruction - 150 children.
For summer holiday pupils, on the site of the dilapidated Kurakin buildings, a long one-story wooden building was erected, divided in half by a stone hall.
Mikhail Ivanovich Pylyaev (Russian writer, journalist, famous expert on Russian antiquity ), who saw Kurakin’s dacha with his own eyes, wrote: “The dacha where the establishment is located lies in the middle of a shady garden, fenced with a beautiful fence; all the land under the dacha is 12 acres.” This is Pylyaev talking about the shady garden, formed after the redevelopment of 1858, which was carried out by garden master Joachim Alwardt...
For the needs of the estate, a pond was created on the territory of Kurakina Dacha, which has survived to this day. It was clean and there were fish in it. Around the pond there were wooden outbuildings. Young pupils of the Nikolaev Orphan Institute swam in this pond in the summer. On the shore of the pond, wooden buildings were built: stables, barracks, a cowshed, a kennel, a gardener's house, greenhouses and greenhouses were built, and vegetable gardens were planted.
Kozlov Stream flowed from the western and northern sides of the territory, which dried up in the summer. The bed of this stream can still be seen now, when there is a lot of rain in spring or autumn.
During the revolution, the large wooden house of Kurakina's dacha burned down, and the greenhouses disappeared without a trace. A boarding school and then a school were opened in the remaining premises. In the fall of 1925, students turned one of the vacant lots closest to the dacha into a Yunnat site. The farm of young naturalists began to be proudly called “Agrobase”.
By 1931, the entire park had become a de facto botanical garden. The guide to Leningrad noted here “strict order, labels on trees with the names of species and slogans of the environmental commission.” Then the Gardening and Vegetable Garden College named after. Volodarsky, and “Agrobase” was upgraded in status to “Agrobiological Station”. In 1937, almost simultaneously with the city Palace of Pioneers, its own House of Pioneers and Schoolchildren appeared in the Volodarsky district - at Kurakina’s dacha. It still operates today, now it is the Levoberezhny Children's Creativity House.
The southern part of Kurakina's dacha was given over to collective gardens: local inhabitants grew fruits here. “The greenhouse farming organized here during the blockade saved the lives of many Leningraders. In the spring of 1942 alone, 30 thousand tomato bushes and about a million cabbage and rutabaga bushes were grown here, and a new variety of tomatoes called “Yunnat” was developed, writes historian Sergei Glezerov.
Already in the post-war years, boarding school No. 10 was located here. The famous film artist Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev studied here for eight years, which he spoke about in one of his interviews: “Our boarding school at Kurakina Dacha gave me the happiest years of my life. It so happened that while my parents were alive, I was forced to live and study there. It was a real SHKID republic, an extraordinary brotherhood. In those days, Kurakina's dacha was considered a wild bandit place. But I didn't become a bandit. True, we managed to steal bottles from the collection point and handed them over the next day. It was our little business."
Today, the state of Kurakina’s dacha cannot be called prosperous; let’s hope that her best years are ahead of her.
General plan of Kurakina Dacha
A - winter premises for young pupils (now there is school 328)
B - summer premises for pupils; C - infirmary; D - kitchen and living space;
E - room for the Chief; F - bathhouse, laundry, living space; H - barns, icehouse and living quarters; I - farm and stables; K - barn; L - barn, cowshed, storerooms; N - greenhouse and gardener's room; W - underground glacier.
Church outbuilding
Kurakina dacha -
Juvenile department of the Orphan Institute of Emperor Nicholas I
Pam. arch. (region.)
st. Babushkina, 56 - Obukhovskoy Oborony Ave., 193 (conventional address)
1869 - architect. Ioganson Ivan Egorovich
Wooden Kurakina dacha.
In 1801, the dacha was acquired by the Orphanage.
In 1817-1822, the dacha was occupied by the almshouse of the Orphanage.
In 1847, the juvenile department of the Orphan Institute of Emperor Nicholas I moved here.
In 1869, Arch. I. E. Ioganson is building a new stone building.
At the end of the 1770s. here was the dacha of Alexander Borisovich Kurakin, who was elected provincial leader of the nobility in 1778. In 1801, he sold the estate with an area of 12 acres to the treasury.
An almshouse was set up here, for which the arch. D. Quadri built a two-story stone building, and then a summer cottage for the children of the Orphanage.
Since 1837, the dacha became a branch of the Nikolaev Orphan Institute for young children. As a result, new buildings were required. In 1845-1848. outbuildings were built on the sides of the stone house, where kitchens, bakeries, laundries, a pharmacy, and apartments for employees were located. Separate houses for the warden and the infirmary were also erected.
In the 1868-1870s. The stone building was completely rebuilt and enlarged according to the design of architect. I. E. Ioganson. The new U-shaped building stretches for one hundred meters. It contained classrooms and bedrooms, employee apartments, gymnastics and recreation halls, an infirmary, in the right wing - Church of St. Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky.
For the summer holidays of the pupils, an extended one-story wooden building, divided in half by a stone hall, was erected on the site of the dilapidated Kurakin buildings. On the bank of the stream, wooden services were built: stables, barracks, cowshed, kennel, gardener's house; greenhouses and greenhouses were built and vegetable gardens were planted.
After redevelopment by garden master Joachim Ahlwardt in 1858, a shady garden was formed.
In 1869, Kurakina's dacha was renamed Alexandrovskaya.
On the general plan:
A - winter premises for young pupils
B - summer quarters for pupils
C - infirmary
D - kitchen and living space
E - room for the Chief
F - bathhouse. laundry, living space
H - sheds, icehouse and living quarters
I - Farm and stables
K - barn
L - barn. cowshed, storerooms
N - greenhouse and gardener's room
O - water pump
P - bath
W - underground glacier
Y - kennel
Z - barn
Next to Kurakina's dacha was the Vyazemsky estate. Elizaveta Petrovna granted the village of Kaikuki with a large forest to Prosecutor General Prince N. Yu. Trubetskoy. The estate went as a dowry to his daughter Elena Nikitichna, who married Prince A. A. Vyazemsky. Vyazemsky created a luxurious estate on the site of the village. There were tanneries, wineries, sugar factories and a Dutch windmill at the estate.
After the death of Vyazemsky, the estate went to the treasury, and Paul I ordered the founding of a manufactory there, which later received the name Alexandrovskaya, transferred to the jurisdiction of the Orphanage, which was part of the institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna. The backbone of the workers were orphans. Stone buildings were built for workers, teachers, officials, disabled guards, an infirmary and technical structures: paper spinning mill, flax spinning mill, hosiery, dyeing, canvas workshops, leather and mechanical workshops, card factory. This multifunctional complex has become a large industrial enterprise.
For the workers of the manufactory, a temple was built near the Shlisselburg tract, a little further from the Trinity Church. The temple was built on the initiative of Empress Maria Feodorovna, who wished to dedicate it to the memory of her husband.
After the peasant reform of 1861, the manufactory was deprived of free labor and in 1863 most of the territory was given over to the creation of a steel foundry. (Obukhovsky).
After the war, boarding school No. 10 was located here.
The building of the Orphan Institute department was rebuilt in stone in 1869. I. E. Ioganson, then a church wing appeared; until 1869 the department did not have a church. Money for the establishment of the church was provided by sweat. honor citizen Grigory Galov, and on November 2, 1869 it was consecrated by Bishop Pavel of Ladoga in the presence of Prince P. G. of Oldenburg. The facade of the church was decorated with a large recessed cross and completed with a stepped pediment. The church was located on the 2nd floor next to the recreation hall and was separated from it by a sliding partition. Its decoration was distinguished by modesty: even 4 icons in the white and gold single-tier iconostasis were color lithographs. The altarpiece “The Savior Blessing the Children” was copied by artist K. L. Peterson from the work of Academician. T. A. Neffa. Initially there were 100 children in the building, and after reconstruction - 150 children. From 1909 until its closure on March 1, 1918, the priest in the church was Fr. Nikolai Nikolaevich Vasiliev.
The building is now occupied high school № 328.
1965: School No. 334 Nev. district - st. Babushkina, 34. Boarding school No. 10 Nev. district - st. Babushkina, 34. (p. 203, 205).
The building is included in the Unified State Register of Objects cultural heritage(historical and cultural monuments) of peoples Russian Federation as an object of cultural heritage of regional significance.
