{{coord, 55.580899, N, 37.556112, E, source:self_region:RU_type:landmark, display=title Znamenskoye-Sadki is one of the oldest country estates of Moscow. It lies in the southern section of

Bitsa Park Bitsevski Park (russian: Битцевский парк), or Bitsa Park, is one of the largest natural parks (forests) in Moscow, Russia. The park, traversed by the Chertanovka River and the Bitsa River, sprawls for some 10 km from north to sou ...

in the South-South-West of Moscow, outside today's

MKAD The Moscow Automobile Ring Road (russian: link=no, Московская кольцевая автомобильная дорога, Moskovskaja koltsevaya avtomobilnaya doroga), or MKAD (), is a ring road running predominantly on the city border ...

. Since the middle of 18th century and almost until the October Revolution (1917) this estate belonged to the

Trubetskoy family The House of Trubetskoy (English), Трубецкие (Russian), Трубяцкі ( Belarusian), ''Trubecki'' (Polish), ''Trubetsky'' ( Ruthenian), Трубецький (Ukrainian), ''Troubetzkoy'' (French), ''Trubic'' (Croatian), ''Trubetski'' ...

. In the second half of the 18th century the main house, the church and the other buildings were built. At that time the system of ponds was constructed there. Znamenskoye-Sadki was visited by many prominent men of letters and arts, the Grand Princes and Tsars. In 1787, Empress

Catherine II of Russia , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

came there with her grandsons. One of them was the future Emperor

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son of ...

Pyotr Vyazemsky Prince Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky ( rus, Пëтр Андре́евич Вя́земский, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐnˈdrʲejɪvʲɪt͡ɕ ˈvʲæzʲɪmskʲɪj; 23 July 1792 – 22 November 1878) was a Russian Imperial poet, a leading personality of t ...

and

Fyodor Tyutchev Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Тю́тчев, r=Fyódor Ivánovič Tyútčev, links=1, p=ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪt͡ɕ ˈtʲʉt͡ɕːɪf; Pre-Reform orthography: ; – ) was a Russian poet and diplomat. ...

used to stay in the estate. On the second day after their wedding, the future parents of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

visited there. They were married in the church of Yasenevo on 9 July 1822. Historian

Mikhail Pogodin Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin (russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Пого́дин; , Moscow, Moscow) was a Russian Imperial historian and journalist who, jointly with Nikolay Ustryalov, dominated the national historiography between the death ...

stayed and worked there in the 1820s. He spent a lot of time in the large library of the estate. In 1918 the main house of Znamenskoye-Sadki estate passed to a workers' cooperative. In 1929 the church was dismantled. Currently the estate is a neglected park with remaining ponds, the central house and ruins of the stables. In the restored central house there is the Institute of Nature Preservation. The constructions are closed for the general public as of 2010.

Sources

* Усадебное ожерелье юго-запада Москвы. М.:Мосгорархив, 1997 * Двинский Э. Кольца и радиусы Москвы. М:Московский рабочий, 1986. * Романюк С. По землям московских сёл и слобод. М.:ЗАО «Сварог и К», 1998. Buildings and structures in Moscow Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow