Книга RUSSIA: A WORLD APART

Russia: A World Apart is a haunting evocation of the ruined country estates of the Russian aristocracy of the 18th and 19th centuries. Revolution, civil war, invasion, anarchy and casual indifference have conspired against many of the grand buildings of Russia’s rich and complex past. The architectural riches of Moscow and St Petersburg still exist for everyone to see, but when the photographer Simon Marsden and author Duncan McLaren entered the Russian countryside, away from the obvious tourist trails, they encountered a very different world.

McLaren relates how “The further from Moscow and St Petersburg, the more desolate and derelict the landscape became. Endless pot-holed roads pass through one dead or dying village after another whose vandalized churches are now the refuge of owls and pigeons. This is the plight of modern-day Russia where the countryside is dying and its population declining while the big cities are thriving. Hidden away within all this desolation and chaos, many devastated country estates can be found. The statuary and formal gardens gone forever, replaced by an overgrown wilderness where stray dogs forage amongst the crumbling outhouses, garbage and rotting tyres.”

This book, the result of four trips undertaken by Marsden and McLaren, illustrates a diverse mix of pre-revolutionary buildings and memorials, manor houses, palaces, churches, statuary and tombs, interspersed with more recent monuments from Soviet times. Each picture tells its own tale. In the newly found freedom and optimism of the post-communist era, some of these estates are being restored by individuals and organizations whose immense dedication to rescuing their past is nothing short of inspiring. Others will simply crumble to dust in the face of indifference from the majority of the population making Russia: A World Apart a beautiful and melancholy testament to the glories and grandeur of the past few centuries.

Россия: мир врозь - это запоминающееся воспоминание о разрушенных усадьбах русской аристократии XVIII и XIX веков. Революция, гражданская война, вторжение, анархия и случайное равнодушие сговорились против многих великих зданий богатого и сложного прошлого России. Архитектурные богатства Москвы и Санкт-Петербурга до сих пор существуют на всеобщее обозрение, но когда фотограф Саймон Марсден и автор Дункан МакЛарен вошли в российскую деревню, вдали от очевидных туристических маршрутов, они столкнулись с совершенно другим миром.

McLaren рассказывает, как «чем дальше от Москвы и Санкт-Петербурга, тем пустыннее и заброшеннее становился пейзаж. Бесконечные выбоины проходят через одну мертвую или умирающую деревню за другой, чьи разрушенные церкви теперь являются прибежищем сов и голубей. Это бедственное положение современной России, где сельская местность умирает, а ее население сокращается, а крупные города процветают. Скрытые во всем этом опустошении и хаосе, можно найти много опустошенных поместий. Скульптурные и формальные сады исчезли навсегда, их заменила заросшая дикая местность, где бездомные собаки добывают корм среди разбитых флигелей, мусора и гниющих шин ».

Эта книга, являющаяся результатом четырех поездок, предпринятых Марсденом и Маклареном, иллюстрирует разнообразную смесь дореволюционных зданий и мемориалов, усадеб, домов, церквей, скульптур и гробниц, вкрапленных более поздними памятниками советских времен. Каждая картина рассказывает свою собственную историю. Во вновь обретенной свободе и оптимизме посткоммунистической эпохи некоторые из этих сословий восстанавливаются отдельными лицами и организациями, чья огромная преданность делу спасения своего прошлого является не чем иным, как вдохновением. Другие просто рассыплются в прах перед лицом равнодушия большинства населения, делающего Россию: Мир отдельно красивым и тоскливым свидетельством славы и величия прошлых нескольких веков.

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Contents
Foreword by Peter Hambro of Petropavlovsk 10
Preface by Duncan McLaren 14
Introduction 18
Moscow
Graveyard of the Fallen Monuments, Moscow 24
MjvodevicbyCemeteiy, Moscow 26
Donskoy Monastery and the Old Necropolis, Moscow 30
The Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye Estate, Moscow 34
The Kuzminki Estate, Moscow 36
Tsaritsyno Palace, Moscow 38
Arkhangelskoye Estate, Moscow Region 42
Chernyshev Estate, Moscow Region 44
Goncharov Estate. Moscow Region 46
Joseph Volokolamsk Monastery. Moscow Region 48
Sukhanovo Estate. Moscow Region 50
Taraskovo Estate, Moscow Region 52
The Church of the Smolensk Virgin. Sofrino Estate,
Moscow Region 54
Petrovskoe Alabino Estate, Moscow Region 56
Crebnevo Estate, Moscow Region 58
Pushchino-Na-Nare Estate. Moscow Region 60
Podmoklovo Estate and the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady,
Moscow Region 62
Bykovo Estate. Moscow Region 64
Volynschina Poluektovo Estate, Moscow Region 66
The Church of the Icon of the Virgin. Dubrovitsy Estate,
Moscow Region 68
Polotnyani Zavod Estate. Kaluga Province 70
Stepanovskoye Pavlishchevo Estate. Kaluga Province 72
Avchunno Estate. Kaluga Province 74
Kiritsy Estate. Ryazan Province 76
Aleksina Estate. Smolensk Province 78
Khmelua Estate. Smolensk Province 82
Vysokoe Estate. Smolensk Province 84
The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, Tver Province 86
Monastery of Saints Boris and Gleb, Torzhok, Tver Province 88
Znamenskoe Rayok Estate, Tver Province 92
The Church of the Transfiguration of Christ, Krasnoe Estate,
Tver Province 94
Khrapovitsy Estate, Vladimir Province 96
St Petersburg
The Bronze Horseman, St Petersburg 102
The Winter Palace and Alexander Column, St Petersburg 104
The Summer Garden, St Petersburg 106
The Church on Spilled Blood, St Petersburg 108
New Holland Arch, St Petersburg 110
The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. St Petersburg 112
Peterhof Palace, St Petersburg Region 114
Pavlovsk Park, St Petersburg Region 116
Alexander Park, Tsarskoe Selo, St Petersburg Region 118
Statue of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarskoe Selo. St Petersburg Region 120
Imperial RailwayStation, Tsarskoe Selo. St Petersburg Region 122
Ruined Church, Elizavetino Estate. Leningrad Region 124
Znamenka Estate, Leningrad Region 126
Taitsy Estate. Leningrad Region 128
Costilitsy Palace. Leningrad Region 132
Torosovo Estate, Leningrad Region 134
Wooden Church, Kingisepp 136
Kolty Estate, Kingisepp 138
Marino Estate. Leningrad Region 140
Bibliography 142
Acknowledgements 143
Credits 144

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Foreword
Ever since it was founded in 1994, Petropavlovsk PLC has tried to help in improving the mutual understanding between Russia and its international neighbours, from whom it was isolated in the Soviet era. One way of doing this is to assist those that take an interest in Russia’s cultural heritage, and Petropavlovsk is particularly delighted that it has had the opportunity of sponsoring Russia; A World Apart. Duncan McLaren and the late Simon Marsden have done a wonderful job in bringing these images to life and we are glad to help enable their appreciation by a wider audience.
It is important to us that foreigners have the chance to understand that Russia, the country in which we operate, and where we have grown to become one of its largest goldmining companies, is rightfully viewed as a place where taste and excellence have coexisted for centuries. The photographs in this powerful book demonstrate this perfectly.
For Petropavlovsk the skill of our workforce, the world-class scientific training of our specialists and the care that we take in the sustainable operation of our mining ventures are things of which we are justifiably proud. They also fit within the great traditions of Mother Russia and the excellence imbedded in her past, which need to be better appreciated by her neighbours near and far. Only by nurturing this comprehension can we help to dispel the stereotypes that are a legacy of her more recent past and which can at times weigh against us when the merits of mining companies are measured by investors.
Peter Hambro
Chairman of Petropavlovsk plc

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