The Rastorguyev–Kharitonov Palace is arguably the grandest palatial residence in the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...

. This Neoclassical

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

was commissioned in 1794 by Lev Rastorguyev, an

Old Believer Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow bet ...

merchant and landowner. The main house was built on the so-called Annunciation Hill in

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

. The nearby Annunciation Church was built at the same time. The palace takes its present name from Pyotr Kharitonov, Rastorguyev's son-in-law. He inherited the property in 1824 and employed architect Mikhail Pavlovich Malakhov to connect the buildings with a series of covered passageways. An

English park The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

on the grounds was also commissioned by Kharitonov. His harsh treatment of the

serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

gave rise to a bevy of legends about a network of underground chambers and passages where his peasants were

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d. In 1837 Kharitonov was officially censured for his cruelty, put on trial and condemned to life imprisonment in Kexholm Fortress. The palace fell into disuse. It was repaired in Soviet Time in the late 1930s to house a local

Pioneers Palace Young Pioneer Palaces or Palaces of Young Pioneers and Schoolchildren were youth centers designated for the creative work, sport training and extracurricular activities of Young Pioneer A pioneer movement is an organization for children op ...

. After USSR and pioneers system fall, it continued to function as children's

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...

Pyotr Latyshev Pyotr Mikhaylovich Latyshev (russian: Пётр Михайлович Латышев) (30 August 1948 – 2 December 2008) was the Presidential Envoy to Urals Federal District, Russia. Latyshev was born in 1948 in Proskurov (now Khmelnitskiy), Uk ...

, the

Presidential Envoy The Presidential Executive Office of Russia or the Presidential Administration of Russia ( rus, Администрация Президента Российской Федерации, Administratsiya Prezidenta Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the ex ...

Urals Federal District Ural Federal District (russian: Ура́льский федера́льный о́круг, ''Uralsky federalny okrug'') is one of the federal districts of Russia, eight federal districts of Russia. Its population was 12,080,523 (79.9% urban) ...

, planned to take over the palace in 2000. Corresponding

Presidential Decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

was issued. But protests of art school children's parents sparkled, one of them—politician Anton Bakov—appealed to

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and later

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

where he won. Local political tensions also took place, they were later described in a 2014 documentary novel "Eburg" by writer Alexei Ivanov. Alexei Ivanov "Eburg" book , 978-5-17-084802-7

References

External links

* {{Coord, 56, 50, 43, N, 60, 36, 40, E, region:RU_type:landmark_source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title Houses completed in 1794 Palaces in Russia Neoclassical architecture in Russia Neoclassical palaces Buildings and structures in Yekaterinburg 1794 establishments in the Russian Empire Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Sverdlovsk Oblast