Коlomenskoye

Kolomenskoye village near Moscow, situated on the high bank of the Moskva river, was the ancient royal country estate of the Russian princes and tsars.

Nowadays, Kolomenskoe has been converted to a museum of history, architecture, applied art and life of the 16th and 17th centuries. Several interesting examples of the Russian architecture of those times can be found in Kolomenskoe, such as the wooden house of Peter I the Great, which was brought there from Arkhangelsk city, and the Gate Tower, which was built in the 17th century and later transported to Kolomenskoe from the the St. Nicholas Monastery from the White Sea coast of north-western Russia. The museum often hosts folk festivities, concerts and plays. During seasonal holidays, the museum’s visitors can participate in traditional Russian three-horse drawn sled rides, boat tours along the Moskva river and various other traditional Russian folk amusements.

The oldest monument in Kolomenskoye is the unique Church of the Ascension, constructed in 1532 under Vasily III. It is one of the finest examples of the ancient Russian architecture. After his visit in Kolomenskoye in 1863 the famous French composer Hector Berlioz declared the church to be one of the greatest works of architecture he had ever seen.:

"Nothing has brought me as much astonishment as the old Russian architecture in Kolomenskoye… I have seen the Strasbourg Cathedral, which has taken centuries to construct and have found nothing but ornaments piled upon ornaments. Here before my gaze stood the beauty of perfection and I gasped in awe. Here in the mysterious silence, amid the harmonious beauty of the finished form, I beheld an architecture of a new kind. I beheld man soaring on high. And I stood amazed."

History of Kolomenskoye:
In the 16th century Kolomenskoye was the favourite estate of Vasily III and later of Ivan IV the Terrible. At that time, there was a royal wooden palace in Kolomenskoye. However, it has been disassembled in the 18th century as by then it has fallen dilapidated from disuse. A small-scale model of this palace can be seen at the museum.
,br> The wooden palace was decorated with finest ornamental carvings and murals made by Simon Ushakov, teh leading Russian graphic artist of the late 17th-century. In those days, the palace was astounding in its beauty – so much so that it was renowned as the «8th Wonder of the World». In the 17th century, under the tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Kolomenskoye became the official royal summer residence. It has seen ambassadors from all over the world, conferences of the Boyar Duma (an advisory council to the Russian rulers) and many a tsar court hunt. Peter I the Great has spent his childhood years in Kolomenskoye.

After Peter I has transferred the Russian capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg, the estate lost its significance. Disused, the wooden palace became dilapidated and was disassembled in the 18th century.