Whatever historical good fortune Otrada had built up was enough to last it another few years.
The Orlov-Davydovs were forced to flee, but the estate’s century-and-a-half worth of accumulated art, books, and family archives were still remarkably intact in 1920, at the end of all the looting and destruction accompanying Russia’s Civil War.
Many of the more valuable objects had already been shipped off to the Museum of History in Moscow, but in 1920 whatever was left became the basis for a museum at Otrada.
Drawing Room.This museum was regarded as one of the best in the Moscow countryside, but
in 1925 most of these country museums were dismantled, their collections ‘centralized’ under Stalin’s orders. Many of Otrada’s artworks were divided between the Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, where you can still find them. The estate library—which included some rare works dating back to 1650—went to the Lenin Library. Some of the more notable objects once at the estate were Lomonosov’s telescope and relics, Orlov’s Rembrandt painting “Christ” (which not surprisingly was already missing by the time people came to look for it in 1917, but then it turned up in a Moscow safe in 1919 and was sent to the Pushkin Museum, from which it was stolen in 1927. Dug up (literally) in 1931 and restored, it eventually found its way back to Holland).
The family archives turned out to be almost limitless. Beginning in 1935, researchers spent the next 30 years going through them, finding correspondences from Voltaire, Rousseau, Leibnitz, Cervantes, Walter Scott, Catherine the Great, Turgenev and others. Like many of the other major estates in Russia, Otrada had been cultural beacon on the murky seas of the Russian provinces.But after 1925 Otrada finally fell out of favor; I don’t know what happened in the ensuing years. Its history picks up again in 1977, when a sanatorium opened on the estate grounds. The sanatorium occupies modern buildings, but during the mid 80’s put a substantial effort into restoring the palace.
History, however, was working against it now. In 1991 the Soviet Union foundered, taking with it the estate’s funds for restoration. Otrada once again lies in disrepair, a ghost ship on the sea of history.
So who owns this sanatorium? Who is this “no less mythic” owner? Maybe you’ll enjoy the story of how I found out.
I knew the estate was located on the territory of some sanatorium or other, but this was really all I knew.
Tiled furnace. See image 10-11There aren’t any details on the Internet. Actually, there are, but not many, and I’d even read them, but forgot.
During my scouting trip I happened to walk past one of the estate’s auxiliary buildings, obviously still in use. The sign by the door read “FSB Kindergarten” (the FSB is the kinder, gentler KGB). This amused me a little, since I didn’t know their agents began at such a tender age, but I kept walking and didn’t think much more about it.
The next day I was in the palace, setting up my camera when two guys in camouflage walk by, giving a couple ladies a little tour. They walked past me, but after a few steps turned around and started to ask some questions. Like, what exactly are you doing there and who are you anyway? Does security know you’re here? You probably snuck in through a hole in the fence, huh? And so forth. Here I did a bit of explaining, to the effect that no, I had not ‘snuck’ in, but had entered quite casually through one of the many gaping windows and that I didn’t have anyone’s permission since by the looks of things, there wasn’t anyone to ask for said permission in the first place; I figured the building was ownerless. But as it turns out, there is an owner and that owner is the FSB. The guys said I would need to go see the head of security and let him know exactly who I was, why I was there, and why he should believe me that I’m not a spy. I said I’d certainly do that and they walked on.
But they came back very shortly. They said it’d be better for me to wait there; they’d send someone. Then they walked off again.
But again, not for long. This time it was the ol’ “Come with us.”
