Ekaterinburg today is considered one of the most beautiful and comfortable cities in Russia. There is no shortage of attractions, as each era made its architectural gifts to the capital of the Urals. Among them, a special place is occupied at the beginning of the nineteenth century Kharitonovsky Park. Yekaterinburg is replete with green areas, but the Ascension Hill, where the recreation area beloved by many citizens is located, is a completely special place and shrouded in a halo of many romantic legends.
History of the foundation of the park
In 1794, Lev Ivanovich Rastorguev, one of the richest merchants of the Ural region, acquired a plot of land on which he began to equip the estate with a large manor house. After a quarter of a century, his real estate went to a gold-mining son-in-law, and he decided, according to the fashion of that time, to set up an English-style landscape park near the palace. Its arrangement was begun three years later, and soon a small artificial lake was dug on the estate and an island was poured.
The palace and its history
The Rastorguevsky manor house was designed by Italian architect Tommaso Adamini in a classic style. Initially, the complex consisted of a separate palace, two outbuildings, one of which with a gazebo, and a greenhouse. After the estate passed into the possession of Kharitonov, the palace was rebuilt. In particular, the wings connected to the house with one-story passages and decorated the facades of buildings with beautiful stucco molding. However, the new owner did not live in the palace until 1836 - then rumors reached the imperial authorities that he had organized a prison in the palace's dungeon, where he kept the rebellious workers from their factories in custody. Such arbitrariness caused the wrath of Nicholas I, who sent him to Kexholm with his family. The estates that had come to desolation began to surrender as apartments, and after the revolution, the Ural-Siberian Communist University was located in the main building. In the mid-1930s, the palace and the park were thoroughly restored and laid out in the building of the city palace of pioneers and schoolchildren. Today, the buildings again require major repairs, cosmetic restoration of the main facade, which was carried out at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization 6 years ago, was clearly not enough.
Grotto ruins
Kharitonovsky Park (Yekaterinburg) during its heyday impressed numerous guests of the estate with miracles, which the hosts showed them with pleasure during the invited parties held on a grand scale. Among them, the most famous was the grotto, from which only the brick foundation has survived to this day. According to the notes of contemporaries, a wooden gazebo was built over it , resembling Chinese temples in outline, and a wine cellar was built in the basement and ice cream was being prepared. When the hosts brought the guests, a tray with a cold treat rose in a special elevator from the grotto, which led them to amazement.
Rotunda
Although today the symbol of the park and one of the most famous architectural sites of Yekaterinburg is the famous rotunda, it has nothing to do with the Kharitonov-Rastorguev. The fact is that it was built only in 1935 and a fountain was built nearby, which has not been working for many decades. In addition to this rotunda of the Soviet period, until 1990 there was another in the park - an old one, which burned down during a fire.
Legends
According to old-timers, Kharitonovsky Park - with secrets. Even before the revolution, there were rumors in Yekaterinburg that the first founder of the estate, the merchant Lev Rastorguev, began to suffer from a persecution mania under his old age . Being an Old Believer, he was afraid of persecution all his life, so he ordered to dig an underground passage leading to an artificial lake under his palace. As it turned out, people were gossiping for good reason. The fact is that in 1924, a failure occurred in front of the palace and a long tunnel opened in front of the amazed passers-by. Immediately a new legend appeared, according to which Kharitonovsky Park (Yekaterinburg) is located above the adits in which the Rastorguevs mined gold. It is unlikely that it is true, as, for example, the story of the drowned daughter of the owners of the estate, which allegedly did this because of an unhappy love for the serf. It is known that the girl got married, followed her husband into exile and lived a long life.
But the story of a deceived prisoner, whom the merchant bought from the Tobolsk prison and forced to develop a project of underground passages, most likely happened in reality. Also, folk rumor has preserved to our days the legend of the gypsy Stesha, who, being the mistress of the “pious” merchant, who arranged an underground chapel under the building, once suspected him of treason and threw the gentleman out the window. By the way, famous Russian writers also wrote about the Kharitonov-Rastroguev palace. For example, Bazhov in his notes mentions that the wedding of one of the merchant daughters lasted for almost a year, during which all Yekaterinburg residents who came to congratulate the young people were treated to Rastorguev’s money for free. The story of the Kharitonovs, more precisely, of their gold, which became a byword, is also among A. N. Tolstoy, and Mamin-Sibiryak described the estate in his novel "Privalov millions."
Birds of Yekaterinburg (Kharitonovsky Park)
In a modern big city, wild animals and birds have a hard time. However, the feathered Yekaterinburg was incredibly lucky. After all, on an artificial island in Kharitonovsky Park, they can calmly nest without fear of being ruined. In particular, there are many ducks that visitors like to feed.
Restoration of Kharitonovsky park
By the early 1990s, a fire destroyed the old rotunda, which was located on the top of the Ascension Hill. And a few years later it became clear that soon nothing would remain of the park. This situation aroused concern among the authorities of Yekaterinburg, who in 2005 ordered a project for the reconstruction of the Ascension Hill. Unfortunately, it was frozen, as the park was transferred from municipal to federal property. However, in 2011, volunteers took up the matter, who not only painted the rotunda, but also put benches along the lake, and later built a playground on the territory. This project was called “Love Park”, and for its implementation, money was collected, as they say, by the whole world. In addition, one of the major advertising agencies decided to use the rotunda of the Ascension Hill as a place for photography and restored it at its own expense, making an excellent gift to the townspeople. It is hoped that the Kharitonov Garden (Yekaterinburg) will finally be in the center of attention of the federal authorities and the project for its restoration will be successfully implemented in the very near future.
Reviews of tourists and residents
Those who have already visited Kharitonovsky Park (Yekaterinburg) claim that this is the best place in the city to wander in silence and forget that you are in the center of a city with a half-million people. In addition, they all unanimously advise you to take a camera with you on an excursion, since Kharitonovsky Park (Yekaterinburg) in winter or autumn is an absolutely incredible sight that should be captured for memory. Why is there only a snow-white rotunda surrounded by lindens, which are more than two hundred years old, reflected in the waters of an artificial lake.
During a trip to the capital of the Urals, be sure to visit Kharitonovsky Park Garden (Voznesenskaya Gorka) - a place that remembers sentimental young ladies suffering from hopeless love, and an old-believer who built himself a palace, which was envied by St. Petersburg nobles. Perhaps you will be able to solve its many secrets hidden behind the entrances to the underground passages walled up in the 1930s.