Kotomin House
Encyclopedia
Kotomin House is a historical landmark
building located at Nevsky Prospekt
18 (between Bolshaya Morskaya Street and Moika River
embankment) in Saint Petersburg
, Russia
.
- the Vice Admiral
of the Imperial Russian Navy
and the first commander of the Russian Baltic Fleet, close associate of Peter the Great. In 1738 the property passed to tailor Johann Neumann. He hired a famous architect Mikhail Zemtsov
to build a new two story stone house. Neumann's house facade faced Moika, and the side to Nevsky Prospekt didn't even have windows. This shows that at the time, Nevsky didn't yet obtain its status of the main street in the Saint Petersburg. The house hosted the museum of wax figures - first in city, although it only existed for one year. Several boutiques operated in Neumann house. In 1743, German merchant Johann Albrecht was selling tableware made from serpentine stone, which supposedly rejected poison (considering the times, it was an attractive proposition). Frenchman Charpentier was selling powder, and Holland merchant le-Roi had a shop "Rotterdam" selling chocolate, vanilla and ink.
In 1807, merchant Konon Kotomin bought the land and the property. Kotomin raised to prosperity after being released from serfdom
for prince Alexei Kurakin some twenty years earlier. Perhaps a coincidence, but Kotomin has chosen to live right next to prince Kurakin's residence at the time - Chicherin House
- across Nevsky Prospekt. Kotomin contracted architect Vasily Stasov
to build a palace in place of existing house, as if to compete with his former master. The new house was built in 1812-1815, and is mostly preserved in the same form today. The main facade featured a Doric order
connecting the two parts of the ground floor. There were eight semi columns in the middle (which did not survive to present time), and a lodge with four columns at each side. At the top, the cornice
was decorated with modillions and stucco
rosettes
.
Soon after the new building was completed, entrepreneurs Wolf and Beranget opened the confectionery at the first floor. It quickly became very popular, especially for the chocolate eggs with relief scenes dedicated to the victories in the Russo-Turkish war. By 1820s, a number of magazines and newspapers in Saint Petersburg considered it the best confectioner's shop in the city, described as "temple of kickshaw and prodigality". In 1834, a Chinese cafe (Cafe chinois) was open on the same premises. The place was popular with literati, such as (at different times) Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov
, Taras Shevchenko
, Nikolai Chernyshevsky
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
, Mikhail Petrashevsky
, Ivan Panaev
, Aleksey Plescheev
and others.
On January 27, 1837, about 4pm, Alexander Pushkin entered Wolf et Beranget Confectionery on his way to duel
with Georges d'Anthès
. Here he met with his friend Konstantin Danzas
, who was to serve as a second at the duel. Pushkin had a glass of water or lemonade (Danzas didn't remember exactly) and they left. In less than an hour, Pushkin was mortally wounded by d'Anthès. A few days later, at the same place Mikhail Glinka
read aloud the poem Death of a Poet by young Mikhail Lermontov
.
In 1858, a bookshop opened on the ground floor of Kotomin House. It became well known beyond the Saint Petersburg, and existed until 2001. Next to it, Pyotr Elisseeff, the founder of the merchants Elisseeff's dynasty
, opened his first store selling "foreign wines and colonial goods".
The confectionery was closed in late 1840s. In 1877 F. Leiner open a restaurant in the Kotomin House. It was located at the second floor facing the Moika. And while confectionery was frequented by literati, Leiner's restaurant was popular in the theater circles. Its habitués included Mamont Dalsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky
and Fyodor Shalyapin.
According to the legend, on October 20, 1893, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
asked for a glass of water in the restaurant. "Sorry, we don't have boiled water" was the answer. Tchaikovsky replied - "Then bring the coolest raw water". He was served raw water, and left after single sip. In a few days the composer died
from cholera, and rumors swung that the water was poisoned.
In 1978-1981 Kotomin House was reconstructed. The lodges with four columns (previously concealed in 1846) were restored. In 1983 the Literary Cafe opened at the same location as Wolf et Beranget Confectionery. Carrying the tradition, besides being a restaurant, the place also organizes evenings of poetry and Russian romances.
Landmarks of Saint Petersburg
The appearance of St. Petersburg is achieved through a variety of architectural details including long, straight boulevards, vast spaces, gardens and parks, decorative wrought-iron fences, monuments and decorative sculptures. The Neva River itself, together with its many canals and their granite...
building located at Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Avenue |Prospekt]]) is the main street in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. Planned by Peter the Great as beginning of the road to Novgorod and Moscow, the avenue runs from the Admiralty to the Moscow Railway Station and, after making a turn at Vosstaniya Square, to the Alexander...
18 (between Bolshaya Morskaya Street and Moika River
Moika River
The Moyka River is a small river which encircles the central portion of Saint Petersburg, effectively making it an island. The river, originally known as Mya, derives its name from the Ingrian word for "slush, mire"...
embankment) in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
History
The first building at the modern location of Nevsky, 18 was constructed at the beginning of 18th century. It was a small wooden house owned by Cornelius CruysCornelius Cruys
Cornelius Cruys was a Norwegian-born Vice Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy and the first commander of the Russian Baltic Fleet.-Early life and career:...
- the Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
of the Imperial Russian Navy
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
and the first commander of the Russian Baltic Fleet, close associate of Peter the Great. In 1738 the property passed to tailor Johann Neumann. He hired a famous architect Mikhail Zemtsov
Mikhail Zemtsov
Mikhail Grigorievich Zemtsov was a Russian architect who practiced a sober, restrained Petrine Baroque style, which he learned from his peer Domenico Tresini...
to build a new two story stone house. Neumann's house facade faced Moika, and the side to Nevsky Prospekt didn't even have windows. This shows that at the time, Nevsky didn't yet obtain its status of the main street in the Saint Petersburg. The house hosted the museum of wax figures - first in city, although it only existed for one year. Several boutiques operated in Neumann house. In 1743, German merchant Johann Albrecht was selling tableware made from serpentine stone, which supposedly rejected poison (considering the times, it was an attractive proposition). Frenchman Charpentier was selling powder, and Holland merchant le-Roi had a shop "Rotterdam" selling chocolate, vanilla and ink.
In 1807, merchant Konon Kotomin bought the land and the property. Kotomin raised to prosperity after being released from serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
for prince Alexei Kurakin some twenty years earlier. Perhaps a coincidence, but Kotomin has chosen to live right next to prince Kurakin's residence at the time - Chicherin House
Chicherin House
Chichrerin House was a historical landmark building located at Nevsky Prospekt 15 in Saint Petersburg, Russia...
- across Nevsky Prospekt. Kotomin contracted architect Vasily Stasov
Vasily Stasov
Vasily Petrovich Stasov was a Russian architect.-Biography:Stasov was born in Moscow....
to build a palace in place of existing house, as if to compete with his former master. The new house was built in 1812-1815, and is mostly preserved in the same form today. The main facade featured a Doric order
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
connecting the two parts of the ground floor. There were eight semi columns in the middle (which did not survive to present time), and a lodge with four columns at each side. At the top, the cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
was decorated with modillions and stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
rosettes
Rosette (design)
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...
.
Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", became the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837. Lermontov is considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest...
, Taras Shevchenko
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko -Life:Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven...
, Nikolai Chernyshevsky
Nikolai Chernyshevsky
Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was a Russian revolutionary democrat, materialist philosopher, critic, and socialist...
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
, Mikhail Petrashevsky
Mikhail Petrashevsky
Mikhail Vasilyevich Butashevich-Petrashevsky, commonly known as Mikhail Petrashevsky was a Russian thinker and public figure.Mikhail Petrashevsky graduated from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum and Saint Petersburg State University with a degree in law . He was then employed as a translator and...
, Ivan Panaev
Ivan Panaev
Ivan Ivanovich Panaev was a Russian writer, literary critic, journalist and magazine publisher.-Early life:Panaev was born into a gentry family in St Petersburg. He graduated from the Boarding School for the Nobility at Saint Petersburg State University in 1830. He began publishing his works in 1834...
, Aleksey Plescheev
Aleksey Plescheev
Aleksey Nikolayevich Pleshcheyev was a radical Russian poet of the 19th century, one of the Petrashevsky Circle.Pleshcheyev's first book of poetry, published in 1846, made him famous: «Вперед! без страха и сомненья…» became widely known as "a Russian La Marseillaise" , «На зов друзей»...
and others.
On January 27, 1837, about 4pm, Alexander Pushkin entered Wolf et Beranget Confectionery on his way to duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
with Georges d'Anthès
Georges d'Anthès
Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès, baron was a French military officer and politician. Despite his later career as a senator under the Second French Empire, d'Anthès's name is most famous because he killed Russia's greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin in a duel.Born in Colmar to a French royalist...
. Here he met with his friend Konstantin Danzas
Konstantin Danzas
Konstantin Karlovich Danzas was a Russian Major General, a friend of Alexander Pushkin, and his second in a duel with d'Anthès....
, who was to serve as a second at the duel. Pushkin had a glass of water or lemonade (Danzas didn't remember exactly) and they left. In less than an hour, Pushkin was mortally wounded by d'Anthès. A few days later, at the same place Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
read aloud the poem Death of a Poet by young Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", became the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837. Lermontov is considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest...
.
In 1858, a bookshop opened on the ground floor of Kotomin House. It became well known beyond the Saint Petersburg, and existed until 2001. Next to it, Pyotr Elisseeff, the founder of the merchants Elisseeff's dynasty
Eliseyev Emporium (Saint Petersburg)
Elisseeff Emporium in St. Petersburg is a large retail and entertainment complex constructed in 1902-1903 for the Elisseeff Brothers. Located at 56 Nevsky Prospekt, the complex consists of three buildings, although the corner one is the structure that is referred to as Elisseeff’s store or shop...
, opened his first store selling "foreign wines and colonial goods".
The confectionery was closed in late 1840s. In 1877 F. Leiner open a restaurant in the Kotomin House. It was located at the second floor facing the Moika. And while confectionery was frequented by literati, Leiner's restaurant was popular in the theater circles. Its habitués included Mamont Dalsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
and Fyodor Shalyapin.
According to the legend, on October 20, 1893, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
asked for a glass of water in the restaurant. "Sorry, we don't have boiled water" was the answer. Tchaikovsky replied - "Then bring the coolest raw water". He was served raw water, and left after single sip. In a few days the composer died
Death of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
On ,Russia was still using old style dates in the 19th century, and information sources used in the article sometimes report dates as old style rather than new style. Dates in the article are taken verbatim from the source and therefore are in the same style as the source from which they come...
from cholera, and rumors swung that the water was poisoned.
In 1978-1981 Kotomin House was reconstructed. The lodges with four columns (previously concealed in 1846) were restored. In 1983 the Literary Cafe opened at the same location as Wolf et Beranget Confectionery. Carrying the tradition, besides being a restaurant, the place also organizes evenings of poetry and Russian romances.