Anglican Church

In Voznesensky Lane, against the background of low buildings, a slender tower made of red brick with elongated Gothic windows and pointed ends at the corners looks bright. Here you can freely plunge into the atmosphere of England, which has been reigning within these walls for many years.

Despite the very long history of Russian-English relations, which began in the middle of the 16th century with the expedition of the navigator Richard Chancellor, immigrants from Foggy Albion who lived in Moscow did not have their own church building for many years. Living together with other natives of Western Europe outside the city, in the German Quarter, the British used the premises of the Reformed Church, in which a room was allocated for them. After the fire of 1812, the community moved closer to the center, renting the house of Princess Anna Mikhailovna Golitsyna on the corner of Tverskaya and Maly Gnezdnikovsky. But already in 1829, a land plot with a house was purchased from the heirs of the guard ensign Naumov in Voznesensky Lane near Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, which, after perestroika, turned into an Anglican chapel. However, in the late 1870s, due to a significant increase in the British colony in Moscow, it was decided to build a full-fledged church that could accommodate all members of the community.

The project was ordered to the English architect Richard Neil Freeman, but he did not even come to Russia, he simply sent one of his standard designs for a church in the Victorian Gothic style. The practical implementation of what was conceived by the Englishman was entrusted to the Moscow architect B.V. Freidenberg. Construction began in 1882 and was completed just two years later. In January 1885, Anglican Bishop Titcombe visited Moscow, consecrating the new church and giving it the name of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. It was symbolic: on the one hand, the Scots made up a large part of the British colony in Moscow (the rector of the church, Harry Bernard, also belonged to them), and on the other hand, the main order of the Russian Empire was named after St. Andrew the First-Called. In addition, the Russian Navy both then and now uses the image of the St. Andrew's Cross as a flag.

The building is a single-nave pseudo-Gothic basilica with a red brick tower topped by four small pointed turrets. There were no bells in the tower, so it was used as a parish library, an archive, as well as a repository of valuables, for which there were safes in it. The entrance to the church is decorated with two terracotta figurines of angels holding a thistle in their hands - its one Scottish symbol. According to some reports, these elements were specially brought from England.

A little later, in 1894, the ensemble of the Anglican community's estates was supplemented by a stone fence with small shields bearing English and Scottish crosses, as well as a pastor's house. The latter appeared at the expense of Jane McGill, a representative of a well-known Scottish family in Moscow, who owned cement, mechanical and iron foundries. The construction of the pastor's house was Jane McGill's memorial to her late husband Robert - the corresponding inscription in English still adorns the house today. A stylized four-part coat of arms flaunts above the commemorative plaque with symbols of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom (rose - England, thistle - Scotland, clover - Ireland), as well as St. George the Victorious - the coat of arms of Moscow.

It was in Voznesensky Lane that Jane McGill found her last earthly refuge: in the winter of 1918, the new authorities expelled her from her own house on Spiridonovka, after which the parishioners of the community sheltered their benefactor in the house of the pastor of St. Andrew's Church. However, the widow McGill could not survive the shock of the eviction and died very soon.

During the fighting in Moscow in October-November 1917, St. Andrew's Church was at the epicenter of events: the Bolsheviks took the neighboring building of the governor-general's house and used the church tower for machine-gun fire. The rector of the church later recalled that after the end of the fighting, there were pools of blood in the yard, and the ground was covered with shell casings. Valuables from the safes in the tower were soon seized. The last event in the life of the community was the marriage of the parishioners of St. Andrew's Church, Frank Albert Weil and Elena Balakova, on April 11, 1920 - at this point, the records in her documents break off. After the termination of services, the building began to be used as housing, then various offices were located here, until in the 1960s the spacious premises were transferred to the all-Union company Melodiya - many famous records were recorded here. In the 20th century, the temple suffered losses: for example, during the Great Patriotic War, as a result of German air raids, the stained-glass windows were completely lost. There are no murals, a historical organ. At the same time, a unique wooden ceiling with pseudo-Gothic slits has been preserved, which today creates good acoustics in the church.

In a “veiled” guise, the Anglican Church of St. Andrew flashes on the pages of Ilf and Petrov’s novel “The Twelve Chairs”: there is not a word about the temple in it, the tower has turned into an “embassy of a tiny power”, but its location is opposite the “dormitory named after the monk Berthold Schwartz”, decommissioned from the dormitory that actually existed in Voznesensky Lane, leaves no doubt.

The revival of services in the church of St. Andrew began in 1991: the first service was held on July 14, and two years later a permanent priest was appointed here. Shortly after the visit of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain to Moscow, the building was completely transferred to the new Anglican community. Today, services are held here every Sunday in English, and organ concerts are also organized.

In this house in 1826-1844. lived the poet E.A. Baratynsky. He visited A.S. Pushkin, P.A. Vyazemsky, D.V. Davydov. The poet A.P. lived in this house in his childhood (until 1732). Sumarokov. L.N. also visited here. Tolstoy.
In Soviet times, this house housed the workshop of the architect I.V. Zholtovsky.

According to the census of Moscow courts in 1716, it was owned by "solicitor with a key" Pankraty Sumarokov, grandfather of the famous playwright. Already in the 1760s. in the center of the plot stood the current stone house on the foundations of a 17th-century building. It was acquired in November 1808 by Ekaterina Engelhardt, the wife of Major General Lev Engelhardt, an associate of Potemkin, Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky and Suvorov. E.A. married the daughter of Engelhardt Anastasia. Baratynsky. The wedding took place on June 6, 1826 in the church of Kharitonia, in the parish of which he lived at that time. The young people soon moved to a rented apartment in Malov's house (No. 14) in Stoleshnikov Lane, but later they lived here, in Bolshoy Chernyshevsky Lane.

In 1836, the Baratynskys moved to the estate they bought on Spiridonovka, but the house in Bolshoi Chernyshevsky Lane. does not cease to be associated with famous cultural figures. The brother of the poet and philosopher N.V. Stankevich, biographer T.N. Granovsky, writer and public figure Alexander Stankevich (Bolshoi Chernyshevsky Lane was named “by mistake” in 1922 - the Moscow authorities thought that they were naming it in honor of Nikolai Stankevich, a progressive writer, head of a literary circle).

A well-known philosopher and historian, a friend of the house B.N. Chicherin, who often visited this house, recalled that with his assistance, Stankevich had a small but good art gallery, where there were works by Guido Reni, Gvercino, Bellini, and Dutch masters. An intellectual circle gathered here, which included N.X. Ketcher, S.M. Solovyov, I.K. Babst, I.E. Zabelin, V.P. Botkin, K.D. Kavelin. As Chicherin wrote, “a select circle of people of more or less the same direction gathered, exchanged thoughts, talked about all the issues of the day ... We welcomed the new era with the same feelings and lamented together about the subsequent decline of literature and society. We were equally outraged by the servile arrogance of Katkov and the frivolous enthusiasm of the Social Democrats.”

According to memoirs, after the concerts at the Conservatory, the participants often met at Stankevich's house. Somehow, musicians gathered at dinner, including N.G. Rubinstein, P.I. Tchaikovsky, singer Desiree Artaud. During dinner, a toast was enthusiastically addressed to Pyotr Ilyich and Artaud - "to the bride and groom!" The proposed marriage, however, did not take place.

They lived here in the early 1840s. surgeon F.I. Foreigners, in the 1850s. THEM. Sechenov, then a university student, from the mid-1890s. until his death in 1907, microbiologist and public figure G.N. Gabrichevsky, and already in our time, in the 1920-50s. Soviet party and statesman V.P. Antonov-Saratovsky; in 1920-59 the house housed the reading room of the Central State Historical Archive of Moscow, which moved in 1977 to a new building on Profsoyuznaya Street.

House in Bolshoy Chernyshevsky per. preserved in the "clothes" given to him in 1853 (this date is depicted on the attic).

An object of cultural heritage of federal significance.

W St. Hotel Petersburg in St. Petersburg is located in the Admiralteisky district at the beginning of Voznesensky Prospekt, next to Isaakievskaya Square and the Admiralty, just a 5-minute walk from Palace Square, the Neva embankment, the State Hermitage and the Admiralteiskaya metro station (purple line). Moskovsky railway station is a 15-20 minute drive from the 5-star hotel in St. Petersburg.

The W St. Petersburg has 137 rooms, including 10 suites, including four W suites, three Fantastic suites, two Wow suites and one E-Wow suite. The rooms are designed in the Faberge style by the famous designer Antonio Citterio.

Since the beginning of 2016, the Kokoko restaurant of musician Sergei Shnurov and his wife Matilda has been operating in the St. Petersburg hotel. A breakfast buffet is served in the restaurant in the mornings, while Russian cuisine is served during the day and in the evening. From May to September on the roof of the W St. Petersburg open terrace, where a bar is open daily during the summer and a variety of events are held.

On the minus ground floor of the W St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg there is a SPA zone with unique procedures for beauty and general tone, consisting of a swimming pool and a fitness room. The world-famous Bliss brand is represented in Russia exclusively at the W Hotel. The design of the treatment rooms echoes the design of the hotel rooms. Guests can visit the modern FIT sports center equipped with ergonomic fitness equipment.

At the W St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg for business events, lectures, seminars, conferences, presentations and banquets there is a conference room "Studio 1" with an area of ​​170 sq. meters for 55 seats, conference hall "Studio 2", as well as the Strategy meeting room and the Wounge lounge for 60-100 people with a view of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Admiralty.

Prices and rooms of the W St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, no taxes

I found it very interesting. About how projects are actually born.

Building Anatomy: Quadruple First

The authors of this project succeeded in something that no one had done before in Russia: to open the country's first hotel of the newfangled W brand, and in it the first restaurant of the great Alain Ducasse, the first Bliss spa, to conclude the first contract with Porsche for servicing hotel guests ...

Alexander Gubsky
Vedomosti

Application "Real Estate. Walls of business”, 12/13/2011

When more than six years ago the development company R.E.D. received the right to resettle a communal building in the center of St. Petersburg and build a hotel in its place, the developers faced the question: what kind of hotel to build? It is clear that it had to be high-class and expensive - it made no economic sense to build anything else next to St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Admiralty. It also made no sense to build a classic grand hotel - after all, the famous Astoria was nearby and the chic Four Seasons was already under construction across the road.

In truth, R.E.D. and it was not possible to build a grand hotel: the area of ​​​​the site, surrounded on three sides by standing buildings, was such that it was impossible to organize either a large hall obligatory for a grand hotel, or underground parking. The hotel was to be built on the site of a residential building to be demolished: as many as 116 families lived in it in 28 apartments; it was bordered by existing buildings on three sides, the façade overlooked the narrow beginning of Voznesensky Prospekt—only two traffic lanes in each direction.

According to Dmitry Vorobyov, who answered in R.E.D. for the project of creating and opening this hotel, it was originally supposed to be a small family hotel, perhaps even without an international operator. But in the process of developing the concept of the hotel (it was done by a British company), it turned out that more than 100 rooms were obtained - it already made sense to apply for cooperation with international brands. “I wanted to be different not only from my neighbors, not only from hotels in St. Petersburg, but also in Moscow, to do something new, interesting and unusual on the Russian market,” recalls Vorobyov. “And the only brand that met those criteria was W Hotels. It is a brand of the international chain Starwood, [it has] more than 1000 hotels, a strong reservation system.”

At the same time, there was a smooth process of resettlement of residents, it took 1.5 years. “We decided that we would not sue or expel anyone, but we would find acceptable solutions for everyone,” says Vorobyov.

“St. Petersburg, along with Moscow, is a priority for us in Russia for all our brands,” Roland Vos, Starwood President for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, said in an interview with Vedomosti. — And we have nine of them, and this is our competitive advantage: there is no need to focus a new project on any one brand. When I arrived in St. Petersburg, there was a ditch where the hotel used to be. And we did a lot of research to predict how the market will develop in the next 15-20 years and which of our brands will be the most successful surrounded by luxury hotels already existing and under construction in St. Petersburg. And we decided it was the W Hotel because it's unique."

W Hotels is a designer brand that originated in the US 12 years ago. It targets younger customers than classic grand hotels (vos says the current 30-year-old generation will overtake today's post-war Baby Boomers in terms of spending in the coming years, Vos says). There are currently more than 40 W-branded hotels and resorts in different parts of the world, and by the end of 2012 this number should grow to 50.

Like any serious hotel brand, W has a list of recommended architects and designers for partners who are going to open these hotels.

When the Bulgari Hotel opened in Milan in 2004, Vorobyov was one of its first guests, bringing investors from the St. Petersburg hotel there: "We fell in love with this place - fashionable, but at the same time comfortable." The Bulgari Hotel was designed by Italian designer and architect Antonio Citterio and his company Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel Partners.

“There were four people on the originally recommended list of W designers, Citterio was not there,” Vorobyov recalls. - I met with everyone, and it seemed to me that we were not ready for their work. I wanted to muffle the pressure of the W brand in the design that exists in America. In New York, in London, W design is on the edge. You need it there, because there are many hotels there. For St. Petersburg, we decided, it’s too early: W needs to be adapted for Russia, and even more so for St. Petersburg, where they are sensitive to everything new.”

“Then the process of persuading Citterio began,” continues Vorobyov. - The first answer was: “I have everything scheduled for two years, I just can’t.” I didn’t know that he was negotiating with Barvikha Luxury Village in parallel - Citterio himself told me about this later. ” Nevertheless, an agreement was reached with Citterio, his candidacy and the candidacy of architects (St. Petersburg architectural bureau "Grigoriev and Partners") were approved by the owner of the brand.

As a result, a new 5-star hotel with 137 rooms - 9600 sq. m on eight above-ground and one underground floors. Investments in the project amounted to about 4 billion rubles.

On the minus first floor of the St. Petersburg W there is a SPA complex of the American brand Bliss, there was no longer enough space for underground parking. “Ideally, I would like to make two underground floors, so that there is a parking lot on the minus second floor, and a SPA on the minus first floor, but even the professors we attracted could not find a solution to design a minus second floor. There was no point in sacrificing the SPA for parking,” says Vorobyov.

He says that the interaction between investors, designers and the hotel operator was not easy, sometimes conflicting - everyone defended their own vision and their own interests - but as a result, constructive.

“I personally enjoy working with demanding customers – good ideas are born in disputes with them,” says Antonio Citterio. “Starwood was no doubt a demanding customer, but in a positive way: they knew exactly what they wanted.”

“The hardest part of this project was the building itself,” continues Citterio. — The main thing in a hotel is space, you need a spacious first floor, rooms and windows. This hotel is in a fantastic location, but space is limited and we have gone to great lengths to make the spaces interesting and not boring. We worked a lot with different materials, colors, light.”

W is a luxury brand, but targeted at a younger audience. Meanwhile, W in St. Petersburg is located in the historical center of the building, next to architectural monuments and classic grand hotels. Citterio decided to create a link between classics and modernity through finishing materials, their texture and colors. For example, the beds in the rooms are of modern design, but the upholstery of the headboards is made of dense gold fabric with classic patterns (like the curtains), which creates a connection with the views that open from the W windows - St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Admiralty. “Finding a balance between modern and classic was really hard work,” admits Citterio.

According to Vorobyov, the most difficult part of the St. Petersburg W project was the restaurant. “By W standards, a hotel restaurant is always run by a third party,” he explains. - In many hotels, restaurants are often empty, because for them it is a side business: breakfasts, dinner for those who are too lazy to go out into the city. W makes sure that the restaurants in each hotel of this brand are popular not only among the guests, but also among the residents of the city, often attracting local restaurateurs. There are several big bands in St. Petersburg that have popular restaurants, but W wanted to do something different. So I suggested Alain Ducasse. First to my investors, then to Starwood. They said: "Let's try, although Ducasse will probably refuse."

At that time, the cooperation between the Ducasse restaurant group ADE and Starwood was just beginning: the first Ducasse Adoure restaurant was opened in St. Regis in New York, and there was no mention of any miX brand yet. In parallel, Ducasse had contacts with Moscow restaurateurs, but, fortunately for the St. Petersburg project, the French chef did not agree with Muscovites.

“Imagine: Ducasse with his schedule and his vision, plus Citterio with his schedule and his vision - it was difficult even to combine their schedules, set a meeting date,” says Vorobyov. And when the discussion of the concept began ...

Discussions between chefs, investors and designers on the balance between kitchen space and dining room space were really heated (even though the stoves weren't on yet): the chefs wanted all the equipment they could possibly need for the kitchen, which required more space. Investors naturally insisted that priority should be given to the dining room, reminding that business is for guests, not chefs. The designers had their own requirements and wishes. “Ducasse personally participated in the meetings, but, of course, he is not the only one – he has a very strong team,” says Vorobyov. The result is a restaurant with approximately 100 seats. It was decided to open it under the miX brand, and not Spoon - the most famous Ducasse project - because there was a restaurant with that name in St. Petersburg for several years (Ducasse had nothing to do with it) and left a bad memory of himself.

The SPA of the American fashion brand Bliss, which opened in W in St. Petersburg, was also the first in Russia. “Bliss is also a third-party operator, but it was a little easier with them because they don’t have such a public face like Alain Ducasse who can come in and say: “This is my name, and everything should be my way.” But Bliss is also a serious corporation with its own clearly defined standards,” says Vorobyov.

And the W Hotel contract with Porsche was largely formed from Vorobyov's personal connections: “I have been a Porsche client for a long time, and we have developed good relations with both the St. Petersburg dealer and the Moscow representative office. I wanted to be different from other hotels that mainly use the cars of the big three Germans and managed to negotiate with Porsche.”