Marfino is a

rural locality In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically describ ...

(a '' selo'') in Fedoskinskoye Rural Settlement of

Mytishchinsky District Mytishchinsky District () is an administrativeLaw #11/2013-OZ and municipalLaw #198/2004-OZ district (raion), one of the thirty-six in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located in the center of the oblast just north of the federal city of Moscow. The ...

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located several kilometers northeast of the town of

Lobnya Lobnya () is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located north west of Moscow. Population: 30,000 (1970). History Lobnya was founded in 1902 and granted town status in 1961. Krasnaya Polyana in the Battle of Moscow The German attack starting ...

, on the right bank of the

Ucha River The Ucha () is a river in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is a left tributary of the Klyazma. The construction of the Moscow Canal has separated the upper course of the Ucha from its lower course. The Ucha is 42 km in length, with a drainage basin ...

. The ''selo'' is notable for an old aristocratic estate.

History

Marfino has been known since the 16th century. It originally belonged to the Golovins, then was sold to '' dyak'' Semyon Zaborovsky in 1650, and in 1698, Boris Golitsyn, a mentor of the future Emperor

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

, bought the estate. The earliest surviving buildings in Marfino originate from the Golitsyn's period, between 1698 and 1714. Golitsyn also was the one to rename the village Marfino, after his wife Marfa. The son of Golitsyn sold the estate in 1729 to Count

Pyotr Saltykov Count Pyotr Semyonovich Saltykov (; 21 December 1698 – 6 January 1773) was a Russian statesman and a military officer, promoted to the rank of field marshal on 18 August 1759. Saltykov is one of the finest commanders in Russian history. The e ...

. Much of the existing ensemble of the estate, which includes buildings and a park, was designed during the period when the Saltykovs owned the estate. They also turned the estate into a cultural center and organized stage and music performances which attracted visitors from Moscow. In 1805, the estate owner died and the estate started to decay. In 1812, during the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the Continenta ...

, it was looted by the French army. Subsequently, it was restored and changed hands several times. In the 1840s, the house was rebuilt as a medieval Gothic castle by the architect Mikhail Bykovsky. After the

revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, the estate was nationalized. In 1933, it was transferred under the Ministry of Defense and currently hosts a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

Architecture

The Marfino estate contains a landscape park and a number of buildings constructed in different styles. The oldest remaining building is the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos, built in 1707 by the architect Vladimir Belozerov. Belozerov was a

serf 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. It developed du ...

of Golitsyn who sent him to France to study architecture. He built a church in a style close to European

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

. Golitsyn was not content with the church and had Belozerov to be whipped. A

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

, a pavilion, and two symmetrically located

kennel A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made o ...

s survive from the Saltykov's time. The main house (sometimes referred to as a palace) was built in the 18th century, but was completely rearranged by Bykovsky in the 1830s in the Gothic revival style. The brick house has two floors and a rectangular shape. Two more houses are located at the sides. A staircase descends from the palace to the pond, and the bridge over the pond, originally built in the 18th century, was also remodeled by Bykovsky. In addition, Bykovsky built the landscape park.

Transportation

Marfino is connected by a paved road with the A104 Highway, which connects Moscow and

Dubna Dubna ( rus, Дубна́, p=dʊbˈna) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It has a status of '' naukograd'' (i.e. town of science), being home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international nuclear physics research center and o ...

via

Dmitrov Dmitrov () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Dmitrovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Dmitrovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to the north of Moscow on the Yakhroma River and the Mosc ...

. Bus routes connect Marfino with Lobnya,

Mytishchi Mytishchi ( rus, Мыти́щи, p=mɨˈtʲiɕːɪ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Mytishchinsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, which lies 19 km northeast of Russia's capital Moscow o ...

, and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

( Altufyevo metro station). The closest railway platform is Katuar several kilometers to the west. It is a part of the Savoyolovsky suburban direction of Moscow Railway.

References

{{Authority control Rural localities in Moscow Oblast Buildings and structures in Moscow Oblast Tourist attractions in Moscow Oblast Mytishchinsky District