On his return from Petrovskoyé the visitor may make a short detour to a place which was once more remarkable than it is at present. The Petrovskoi Palace (in Russ Petrovskoi Dvorėts) is a clumsy Gothic building, situated at the distance of two versts, or about a mile and a quarter, from the St. Petersburgh gate of Moscow (the Tverskaya Zastáva); and was erected in the year 1776 by order of the Empress Catharine II. From the time of its completion till the French invasion, the sovereigns of Russia, on their journeys from St. Petersburgh, were accustomed to halt a day or two, before making their solemn entrance into Moscow. During that event it was the temporary residence of Napoleon. It was afterwards burned; but the greatest part of the walls remain entire, and have been covered over to preserve them against the weather. In Clarke's Travels the curious reader will find an excellent view of this palace, as it was before the invasion; and he will remark another among twelve views which were published by Ackermann. James's Travels contain a representation of it taken after the conflagration of Moscow. It was rumoured by some that it is to be rebuilt in its former style, but I should hope not, as in many parts it exhibits the ne plus ultra of bad taste, and the pillars of the portico are of so non-descript a kind as to bafile explanation, and so ugly that I was glad to turn my eyes from them. It was said by others that it was to be altogether demolished. By doing so the Emperor would show good sense, for its situation on a plain, and backed by sombre woods, is by no means inviting, and there are hundreds of more eligible sites for an imperial palace. I shall now conduct my readers to the opposite side of Moscow. Kuskóvo, also sometimes named Spasskoyé Sélo, is well known to the natives of Russia. There, according to Karamzin, the hero Sheremétof, and the contemporary of Peter the Great, reposed upon his laurels; there Count Peter Borissovitch Sheremétof entertained Catharine II. and Count Falkenstein (i. e. Joseph II. of Germany) and thither, every Sunday, from May to September, the flower of the Moscow nobility rode to the country-house of a Russian noble ! ! Kuskóvo afterwards belonged to the late Count Nikolai Petróvitch Sheremetof, and now appertains to his son and heir Count Dmitrii Nikolaivitch; to both of whom I have already alluded in the descrip tion of Ostánkovo. Kuskóvo is eight versts to the south-east of Moscow, and lies upon a plain where Nature has done little for its embellishment. The noble mansion-house is very commodious, is built in a good plain style, and rises amidst lawns and gardens, woods and pastures. Its interior is arranged with much neatness, taste, and splendour. The apartments are spacious, finely painted in fresco, and well finished. The furniture, urns, vases, chandeliers, lustres, and many other ornaments, are costly and elegant. Here is a small collection of paintings by the most celebrated masters, and worthy of attention. In a large saloon is an extensive and fine collection of European and Asiatic fire-arms, sabres, and horse-trappings; among which is the saddle of the King of Sweden, Charles the Twelfth, which was taken with his horse at the battle of Poltava.* There Peter the Great did * Vide p. 212, in the description of Ostánkovo. himself immortal honour, and verified his own saying, made many years before that ever memorable event, that his brother Charles, by defeating them so often, would teach the Russians to vanquish him. In the extensive and regularly planned garden, which is surrounded on three sides by a deep canal and high rampart, and on the fourth by a stone wall, a marble obelisk is elevated to the Empress Catharine the Second. In this garden are found cedars bearing fruit, and in summer laurels, lemon-trees, orange-trees, &c. which are removed from the orangeries. The embellishments of this garden are innumerable. Among them, are a square labyrinth; two theatres, one of them in the open air; a grotto adorned with beautiful and valuable shells; temples built after the Chinese, English, Dutch, and Italian styles; hermitages, a karousal, or kind of regular circus, and other edifices, constructed in an elegant manner, may be mentioned. Here is also a park which contains many wild animals, and foreign races of wolves; ponds well stocked with fish, and a small lake, provided with a quay, on which a yacht rides, armed with cannon, besides various small sailing and rowing boats. On Sundays and festivals, there is a gulanyé, or promenade, at which are generally present the most distinguished nobles, merchants, and common people. On these occasions, sometimes, splendid entertainments are given. Indeed Kuskóvo is surpassed by few pleasure-seats in Europe, in grandeur and magnificence. Although I speak in the present tense, I may say, such had been the state of Kuskóvo for at least thirty years. After the death of the late Count Sheremétof, in the year 1809, the estate fell into some disorder; but as the young Count lately came of age, there is every probability that under his care it will regain its former splendour. The reader will perhaps be astonished at my descriptions of such fine estates in the neighbourhood of Moscow, and in a country by many deemed not yet demi-civilized, but still barbarous. But the arts of architecture and gardening may have made greater progress here than other arts, or than the sciences. Besides, in a country like Russia, where every thing is of mushroom-growth, it no more follows that a fine house should contain a polished gentleman, than that a stable erected in the English style should contain English horses. Vassilovskoyé, the charming villa of Prince Nikolai Borissovitch Yusûpof, from its magnificent situation on the elevated banks of the Moskva, is seen from many points of the ancient capital, and calls forth the curiosity of the traveller. It lies about a verst, or nearly a mile from the Kalúga barrier, or about half-way between it and the farfamed Sparrow-hill. The house has nothing magnificent in its appearance; indeed, it is a very plain building. It is only two stories in height, but has something very majestic in its air from its situation, and being surmounted by a fine belvidere, from which a splendid view both of Moscow and of the surrounding country is obtained. It stands on the very brow of the acclivitous bank of the river, which is here of considerable breadth, and flows beautifully at the foot of the hill. The views from every side of this estate are highly deserving of at tention, and the visitor will not regret his labour; but as the scenery is the same which has been so often described, as seen from the Sparrow-hill, I shall not describe it. When Prince Yusûpof himself resided here, there were some good paintings. They have all been removed; and indeed of late years, the house has been let as summer-quarters, and generally to rich mer chants. Vassílovskoyé formerly belonged to Prince Dolgorukii-Krimskii, who obtained the latter epithet in consequence of repeated victories over the Turks in the Krimea, and of the conquest of that peninsula. At the time Coxe visited Russia, nearly fifty years ago, he remarked in the gardens, models of several fortresses which had been besieged and taken by the prince, particularly those of Yenikalé, Kertch, and Pérekop. In passing through the apartments of the house, and especially on surveying the portrait of the princess Catharine Dolgorukii, so pathetically described by Mrs. Vigor, the various reverses which befel her family forcibly occurred to my recollection.* The princess's own fate affords one of the most affecting stories in the annals of history. After having been torn from the person she loved, she was betrothed, against her inclination, to the Emperor Peter II. On his decease she became a momentary sovereign, but she was almost as instantly hurried from the palace to a dungeon, where she languished during the whole reign of the empress Anne. She was released, however, at the accession of Elizabeth, married Count Bruce, and died without leaving any issue.† The Pustinya, hermitage, or small convent, of Catharine, deserves the notice of the curious, because it illustrates the superstition of the Russians. It was built, after the testamentary disposition of the Tsar Alexei Michailovitch, about the middle of the 17th century, because when that sovereign was there for the enjoyment of the chase, “the great martyr Catharine appeared to him in a vision, while he was asleep, and in the same night God gave his Majesty a daughter, who was named Catharine.". The Russian history sufficiently evinces the riveted superstitions of the natives as to good and evil spirits, the protection of saints, the second sight, an evil eye, lucky and unlucky days, &c. and not only among the rude peasantry, but also among the merchants and the nobles; and perhaps these are all surpassed in credulity by the lower clergy. Catharine's convent is in the Nikitskoi district, and is about forty versts, or twenty-seven miles, from Moscow. Michálkovo Sélo is a village and country residence, which appertain ed to the late Count Peter Ivánovitch Panin, a Russian nobleman of the first distinction, who signalized himself in the war against the Turks, by the taking of Bender, and afterwards by the defeat and capture of the celebrated, and for a while successful rebel, Pugatchef, who caused extreme uneasiness to the Empress Catharine the Second. It afterwards came into possession of his son and heir Count Nikita Petróvitch Panin, one of the ablest statesmen and best-informed individuals Russia ever produced. It was reported by many that he acted an important part in the downfal of Paul, but whether true or false I + Vide Coxe's Travels. * Letters from Russia, by a Lady. am unable to determine. It is certain, after that event, that he, in some way, incurred the displeasure of the Emperor Alexander, and that for many years past, when the Dowager-Empress, a most striking example of conjugal attachment, comes to Moscow, this nobleman as regularly withdraws from the city. The Empress could never bear the sight, nor even to hear the name, of any of the persons who were concerned in the tragic deed to which I have just alluded. Count Panin, of late years, has generally resided near Viasma, alternately occupied with rural sports, and the acquirement of general knowledge. The latest accounts of him reported that he had gone to Italy, having obtained his sovereign's permission, and after having sold Michálkovo to a Russian merchant. This estate is situated in the district of Moscow, and is ten versts distant from the capital. Though not embellished by any magnificent stone buildings, yet it displays a great deal of taste in a number of neat wooden edifices, and in the arrangement of the gardens, lawns, and woods. What may be its fate in the hands of the Russian merchant I cannot pretend to know, but most likely he has a speculation in view, and has already calculated his profits. Perérva deserves to be mentioned. During my rambles in the neighbourhood of Moscow, I had frequently remarked a fine golden dome rising from the middle of dark woods opposite to Kolómenskoyé, and on the bank of the Moskvá, about five miles south-west of Moscow; and at length I determined to visit it. Here I found a cathedral and a monastery: hence the place is sometimes called the Perérvinskoi Monastery, which was built by the patriarch Adrian, and is dedicated to St. Nicholas. There is nothing remarkable in its structure. Here I also found a seminary, for the education of clerical students, which I believe is connected with the Zaikonospasskoi monastery at Moscow. At Perérva, the late Platon, the metropolitan of Moscow, used at times to reside; and here it was that Dr. Clarke had an interesting interview with this divine.* Lyublina, the country-seat of the deceased Mr. Durássof, is about eight versts, or five miles, from Moscow, and not far from Mélnitsa, already described in my Second Sketch. During Mr. Durássot's life this villa was quite the temple of pleasure; balls, concerts, plays, masquerades, dinner-parties, cards, billiards, &c. &c. continually took place, and a vast sum of money was thus expended, which, I believe, ultimately caused numerous difficulties to the owner; an extremely common occurrence among the Russian nobles, many of whom are deeply involved in debt. The house consists of a central building, with four wings or branches stretching out from it like a cross; and the whole is enclosed by a circular colonnade. The situation is agreeable: a number of surrounding buildings, among which is a theatre, attract notice. Here national plays were acted by the proprietor's servants: à la Russe, tailors, lackeys, musicians, &c. became the actors. * See p. 215, and Clarke's Travels in Russia. THE CHARMED FOUNTAIN. O'ER the stream a willow tree Each one bending like a bride, Whence his richest tones come sweeping, Like a lute's delicious weeping, What time the pale moon discloses His seraglio of wild roses, While the falling dewdrops gem Each sultana's diadem. But 'tis not for its fair flowers, Though they breathe of June's first hours, Not for its blue violet wreath, For its gale's Arabian breath, For its sunshine, for its shade, Not for the sweet music made By the song its tenants sing, Would you seek that grove-hid spring. But a curious sprite, whose dwelling L. E. L |