The Golitsyn estate in Maly Znamensky Lane. Old Golitsyn estate

The history of the construction of any building is closely connected with its owners, and the older the building, the more complex the stages of its formation and development, the more interesting it is to learn about the people whose destinies are intertwined with it. To find out the history of the creation of an ancient house, it is necessary to carry out a huge amount of research work, requiring attention, patience, and specific knowledge about various subjects, such as ancient forms of writing. Almost all information about the owners of Moscow houses is stored in city archives, but, unfortunately, not for all houses they are equally complete and accurate, so archival research does not always give the desired results. To supplement the information, other available sources are analyzed: published memoirs, drawings, drawings, photographs.

The history of the mansion on Volkhonka is famous for its antiquity. Over more than 300 years of existence, it has changed many owners, among whom were famous people and famous government educational institutions. But, like all ancient buildings, the Mansion is in no hurry to reveal its secrets, forcing researchers to solve ingenious and intricate puzzles.

Much information about the house and its owners was obtained in the 1990s. researchers from the Spetsproektrestavratsii Institute as a result of painstaking work on a complex restoration project. In accordance with these materials, the first known owner of the house was considered to be a comrade-in-arms of Peter I, Pyotr Efimovich Lodyzhensky, a major general, from 1714 to 1725. Arkhangelsk vice-governor.

In 2012, in the process of in-depth archival research, new materials were discovered that shed light on earlier stages of the territory’s development and changes in the social status of the people who lived here. The main sources of study were the Register and Census books of Moscow of the 17th and 18th centuries, which contain a lot of information about Moscow landowners of this period of time. From the analysis of fragmentary information found in these and other publications, a mosaic of events is formed that determined the conditions for the formation of the historical territory of the property.

By comparing archival data, it was possible to discover the first owners - the Naryshkin family, close relatives of Peter I, who built the most ancient part of the Mansion - stone vaulted chambers, preserved inside the building to this day.

The Naryshkins are first mentioned in the text of the “mortgage”, that is, a document on the pledge of property, 1701: “the steward Fyodor Samsonov’s son Buturlin borrowed 2000 rubles from his uncle Fyodor Emelyanov’s son Buturlin; having founded the Moscow courtyard in the White City, between Prechistenskaya and Znamenskaya streets, in the parish of the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos of Rzhev, in the boundaries (borders): near the courtyard of the steward Andrei Fedorov, son of Naryshkin, and near the church land of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which is on Turygin, on the white land" .

In the “Mining Book of the Zemsky Order on the Collection of Bridge and Lattice Money, 1694 to 1699.” on the white lands”, the yard of the steward Andrei Fedorovich Naryshkin is indicated, the diameter (i.e. the size along the external passage) of which was 23 fathoms and a quarter (1 fathom = 2.13 m). In the same book, two courtyards of Fyodor Emelyanovich Buturlin with a total diameter of about 15 fathoms are shown side by side. In addition, in the same “Mining Book” on Bolshaya Prechistenskaya Street, that is, on modern Volkhonka, the yard of the steward Andrei Fedorov, son of Naryshkin, is also indicated.

Of particular value is the text of the deed of 1722, which says that P.F. Volkonskaya is selling her yard with “the purchased places of Fyodor Poluektovich of his wife - the widow Avdotya Petrovna and the children of Vasily, and Andrei Fedorovich Naryshkins.”

Having compared all the available written documents and the physical dimensions of the property with the existing ancient boundary plans, the researchers came to the conclusion that the owners of the territory under study, who built the first stone buildings, were the Naryshkin family. It follows from the text of the deed of sale that the yard designated in previous documents for A.F. Naryshkin, was essentially in common ownership with his brother Vasily and mother Avdotya Petrovna Naryshkina.

Andrei Fedorovich Naryshkin (1650s - 1716) in 1686-1692 was a steward (courtier) of Tsar Peter I, who was his cousin. In 1692, he was appointed governor, first in Verkhotursk, and then in Tobolsk, where he served until 1698. His conflict with Metropolitan Ignatius (Rimsky-Korsakov) of Siberia and Tobolsk, caused by the confrontation between secular and ecclesiastical authorities, is known. Metropolitan Ignatius, an active opponent of the pro-Western reforms of Peter I, considered Tsar Naryshkin’s relative “a great libertine, robber and barbarian.” The Metropolitan repeatedly addressed him with written and oral admonitions, but, not seeing the governor’s desire to obey, he excommunicated him and his entire family from the Church for six months. Perhaps the governor’s mother’s commitment to the old faith, which Metropolitan Ignatius fought so hard, also played a role in this story.

A.F. Naryshkin and his family returned to Moscow in 1698 and lived in chambers on Volkhonka until his death in 1716. Between 1719 and 1722 the property was sold by his widow Evdokia Mikhailovna Naryshkina to the wife of the aide-de-camp, Princess Proskovya Fedorovna Volkonskaya (in her first marriage to Andrei Andreevich Naryshkin, the son of the owner of the estate) and annexed to the neighboring property that belonged to her.

In 1722 P.F. Volkonskaya sold her combined property with “every stone plated courtyard structure” to the boyar Pyotr Efimovich Lodyzhensky, who at that time held the post of Arkhangelsk vice-governor. The yard was sold for a very significant sum of 2,600 rubles, which confirms the presence of capital stone buildings in it.

P.E. Lodyzhensky was the owner of the estate until the mid-18th century (the exact date of his death could not be found). After the death of his father, the courtyard was inherited by the collegiate adviser Ivan Petrovich Lodyzhensky, who in 1754 transferred the property as a dowry to his daughter Anastasia, who married Major Prince Vasily Sergeevich Dolgorukov. The Dolgorukovs owned the estate for 20 years, and during this time the house from ancient chamber chambers was transformed into a real European palace in the Baroque style, which attracted the attention of Empress Catherine II.

In 1774 the property was purchased by the treasury and became part of the so-called Prechistensky Palace, built for the arrival of Catherine the Great in Moscow to celebrate the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace treaty with Turkey.

Before leaving, Catherine granted the hero of the Russian-Turkish war, the outstanding Russian military leader Count P.A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, along with the Dolgorukovs' house, received a lot of gifts: “Mr. General Field Marshal Count Rumyantsev is most mercifully complained of a letter of commendation with a description of his service in the last war and at the conclusion of peace, ... for reasonable military leadership, a commanding staff or mace decorated with diamonds; for brave undertakings - a sword lined with diamonds; for victories - a laurel crown; for making peace - an olive branch; as a sign of the royal favor for this - the cross and star of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, showered with diamonds; in honor of him, the field marshal, and his example as an encouragement to posterity - a medal with his image; for his amusement - a village [of] five thousand souls in Belarus; to build a house, one hundred thousand rubles from the office; for his table - silver service, for the decoration of the house - paintings" (from the decree to the Senate of July 10, 1775).

The new owner is “field marshal general, senator of Kiev, Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky, governor general, lieutenant colonel of the Life Guards cavalry regiment and colonel of the cuirassier regiment of the military order; all Russian orders, the Prussian black eagle and St. Anne's Knight" Count Pyotr Aleksandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky lived in the house for several years, rebuilding it in accordance with new fashionable trends in architecture. In 1788, after a severe fire, he sold “his burnt stone house with all the stone and wooden buildings in that house” to the wife of the foreman, Princess Fedosya Petrovna Volkonskaya, for a very small amount for such a property - 8 thousand rubles. This indicates that the fire had very serious consequences. Seven years later in 1795 F.P. Volkonskaya, without carrying out serious restoration work, sold the property to foreman Fyodor Andreevich Lopukhin for the same amount - 8 thousand rubles. In turn, the enterprising F.A. Three years later, Lopukhin resold the building to the treasury to set up barracks for the Astrakhan regiment. Apparently, during this time F.A. Lopukhin added a third floor and a mezzanine to the building, since the plot had already been sold for 45 thousand rubles. From that time on, the building belonged to the state for more than two hundred years.

After being purchased for the treasury, the building remained ownerless for a long time - it turned out to be not very convenient for barracks. In 1804, it was handed over to build a house for Asian envoys, but then, after some delays, it was handed over for reconstruction under Moscow provincial gymnasium.

The issue of transferring the building to the gymnasium and allocating funds for reconstruction was finally resolved only by the beginning of 1817, when work on its arrangement began. Classes at the gymnasium began in 1819. In 1824, the site of the then demolished St. Nicholas Church in Turygin was added to the building. On this site in 1827, a two-story building was built for laundry and other household needs.

After the revolution, the 1st men's gymnasium was closed from 1918 to 1925. the building housed the Forestry Institute; from 1925 to 1930 - University of Chinese Workers (UTK) named after. Sun Yatsen. Later the building housed:

since 1930, one of the institutes of the Red Professorship; from 1938 to 1981 - Higher School of Marxism-Leninism, as well as various institutions, including the Ministry of Forestry; from 1981 to 1989 - Ministry for the Production of Mineral Fertilizers; from 1989 to 2010 - OJSC Agrokhiminvest.

Golitsyn Estate

The ancient estate on Volkhonka, which belonged to the princes Golitsyn since the 18th century, is a witness to many cultural and historical events of the Mother See. Its ensemble consists of a main house, a courtyard wing and an entrance gate. The house, built at the turning point from Baroque to Classicism, was built according to the design of a Russian architect who worked mostly in St. Petersburg, Savva Chevakinsky, the author of the Naval Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Subsequently, the building was rebuilt several times. The impressive gate, crowned with the princely coat of arms of the Golitsyns, is the only thing that has survived to this day in its original form.

The property was bought by M. M. Golitsyn (junior), president of the Admiralty College. (This probably determined the connection between the customer of the estate and Savva Chevachinsky, who actively collaborated with the Admiralty Department.) At the time of the purchase of the plot, there was a large hay hut on it, built on the site of the stone chambers shown in the so-called “Peter’s drawing” of the late 16th century century. This hut was demolished, and during the construction of Golitsyn’s house, part of the walls of the ancient chambers may have been used. The gate has survived intact to this day. Their two pylons, connected by a smooth arch, are processed with rusticated blades and completed with a multi-stage attic, where the stone coat of arms of the Golitsyn princes was placed. They are flanked on both sides by stone gates with the same stepped finish as the gate. The gate, like the façade of the main house, faces the alley.

The estate was turned into an alley, where a massive gate still opens. The layout of the estate was typical for the first half of the 18th century: in the depths of it there was a house, separated from the red line by a front courtyard - a cour d'honneur with a flower garden in the middle; there were outbuildings on both sides of the house. The entire estate was surrounded by a fence. At first the fence was solid, made of stone, only at the end of the 19th century its remaining part was replaced with a forged lattice between rusticated pillars. The first floor of the right wing retained, on the end façade facing the alley, decorative baroque processing in the form of panels in which the windows were placed. The facade facing the main house was completely redone in the 70s of the 18th century. All that remains of the left wing is a small two-story part, which was heavily rebuilt in the second half of the 19th century.

The main house in the middle of the 18th century was a two-story massive volume with risalits, identical on both the main and courtyard facades, apparently with equally decorated complex-shaped window frames and, possibly, panels. But the house did not last long in this form - about 13 years. After the death of the owner, the estate passed to his son, also Mikhail Golitsyn. This owner is associated with a stay in the house of Empress Catherine II
Having concluded the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace with Turkey, Catherine II was going to Moscow for solemn festivities. Remembering the everyday inconveniences of the Kremlin and not wanting to stay in it, on August 6, 1774, she turned in a letter to M. M. Golitsyn with the question: “... is there a stone or wooden house in the city in which I could fit in and belong to the courtyard? it could be located near the house... or... isn’t it possible to quickly build a wooden (structure) anywhere.” Naturally, M. M. Golitsyn offered his house. At the same time, under the leadership of Matvey Kazakov, a project was made for the Prechistensky Palace, which included the Golitsyn house, the Dolgorukov house (No. 16) and a large wooden part on the site of the current gas station. The houses included in the palace were connected by passages, and behind the main house there was a wooden building with a throne and ballroom, a living room and a church. Catherine II stayed in the estate for almost a year.

As for house 14, Kazakov preserved the entire volume of Golitsyn’s house, expanding only the left courtyard projection towards Volkhonka, and built mezzanines on the upper floors of both projections (their windows are still visible). A representative of the era of classicism, M. F. Kazakov endowed the facade of the house with its indispensable features: in the center there was a six-pilaster portico of the solemn Corinthian order, completed with a flat, smooth pediment. In the middle part of the portico, the rhythm of the pilasters is interrupted: three high windows with a semicircular arch above the middle window of the second, front, floor and elegant panels above the windows of the first floor are united by a wide balcony. Its graceful parapets with flowers inscribed in circles still decorate the main, eastern facade of the house. A more modest balcony is symmetrically located on the courtyard, western facade. In this way, special expressiveness was achieved in the architecture of the mansion. And the risalits remaining from the Baroque building enlivened the volume of the house and created a rich play of light and shadow on the facade.

In 1812, the estate witnessed the war with Napoleon. At that time, the headquarters of Napoleonic General Armand Louis de Caulaincourt, who served as the French ambassador to Russia before the start of the war, was located here. He was personally acquainted with Golitsyn, and during the fire it was thanks to his efforts and the efforts of Golitsyn’s servants who remained in the house that the estate and neighboring buildings were saved from the fire.

The walls of the house have seen many famous people. At one time, A.S. Pushkin also appeared at the luxurious balls held at the Golitsyn estate. At first, he was even going to get married to Natalya Goncharova in the house church of Prince Golitsyn, but in the end the wedding ceremony was arranged in the bride’s parish church at the Nikitsky Gate.

At the end of the 19th century, the left wing was converted into furnished rooms and was rented out to tenants, receiving the name “Princely Court”. Here lived A. N. Ostrovsky, prominent representatives of the leading socio-philosophical movements of that time - Westernism and Slavophilism - B. N. Chicherin and. S. Aksakov, V.I. Surikov, A.N. Scriabin and others also stayed for a long time at the “Princely Court”. E. Repin, and in the 20s of the 20th century B. L. Pasternak settled in one of the apartments.

The Golitsyns collected Western paintings from generation to generation, and part of the once famous Golitsyn Hospital Museum became part of the home collection of Prince Sergei Mikhailovich, which was then replenished by his nephew, diplomat Mikhail Alexandrovich. At that time, a free museum was located in the five main halls of the house, where rare paintings and books were exhibited. However, soon Sergei Mikhailovich (the second) became the new owner of the palace, who sold the entire artistic part of the collection to the St. Petersburg Hermitage.

Having come under the jurisdiction of the Pushkin Museum. Pushkin in the late 20th century, the building was reconstructed, today it houses the exhibition building of the Gallery of Arts of Europe and Asia of the 19th - 20th centuries.

The ancient estate at 14 Volkhonka Street, the façade of the main house facing Maly Znamensky Lane, belonged to the family of princes Golitsyn from the 18th century.

The ensemble of this city estate today consists of a princely mansion, the right wing and a fence with an entrance gate.

Photo 1. The main house of the estate of the princes Golitsyn

The main house, which was built during the transition of Moscow architecture from the Baroque style to classical forms, was built according to the design of the architect Savva Ivanovich Chevakinsky, who is better known for his buildings in St. Petersburg.

Subsequently, the estate complex was rebuilt more than once, and since then only the massive gates, decorated with the princely coat of arms of the Golitsyn family, have survived unchanged to this day.

Photo 2. The city estate is located on Volkhonka street, 14, and its

the main entrance faces Maly Znamensky Lane, 1

The first owner of the estates from this famous family was Admiral General Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn (the younger), who served in the then capital on the Neva as President of the Admiralty Collegium. This, most likely, was the reason for attracting the St. Petersburg architect to the construction.

At the time of purchase, an impressive-sized hay hut was located on this site, which was erected on the site of ancient stone chambers, which were indicated on the “Petrine Drawing” of the late sixteenth century. Most likely, the architect Chevakinsky used ancient walls during the construction of the Golitsyns’ main house.

Photo 3. Front gate of the Golitsyn estate on Volkhonka

According to the original design, the mansion was a massive volume with a height of only two floors with risalits arranged: both from the side of the main entrance and from the side of the courtyard. They were decorated in the same style and decorated with exquisite window frames, as well as panels.

The two gate pylons were connected by a main arch and decorated with rusticated blades. They ended in the form of a multi-stage attic, on which was placed the coat of arms of the princely Golitsyn family, carved from stone.

On both sides of the gate there were stone gates, the pillars of which completed the same multi-stage attics on top.

The gate and façade of the main entrance faced Maly Znamensky Lane.

Photo 3. The right wing of the estate from the front yard

It is worth noting thatplan of the Golitsyn estateon Volkhonka, 14 was typical for city estates of the first half of the 18th century: in the depths there was a mansion, removed from the “red line” of the street by a front yard (court d'honneur) with an obligatory flower garden in the center. There were two side wings on both sides.

A solid stone fence that surrounded the entire site was also mandatory. True, in the Golitsyn estate it was replaced by the end of the 19th century with forged gratings, which were located between rusticated pillars specially arranged for them.

The first floor of the side right wing has preserved to this day, from the end facing the alley, elements of baroque processing of window openings in the form of panels. The facade of the building, which overlooked the main house, was redone in the 1770s according to the design of Matvey Fedorovich Kazakov, as was the left wing, which was then radically rebuilt at the end of the nineteenth century.

Photo 4. The right wing of the estate from the side street preserves the style,

in which all the buildings were made according to the design of the architect Chevakinsky

Kazakov’s participation in the reconstruction of the house happened already under the son of Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn, also, by the way, Mikhail, and is associated with the stay of Empress Catherine II in the Mother See.

After the conclusion of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty with Turkey, the reigning lady gathered in Moscow to hold solemn festivities. Not wanting to stop at, she turned to M.M. Golitsyn and asked the question: “... Is there a stone or wooden house in the city in which I could fit in and the yard accessories could be placed near the house... or... is it possible to whip up a wooden house somewhere?».

Naturally, Mikhail Golitsyn offered his house at 14 Volkhonka Street for living, for which he hired the architect Matvey Kazakov. The Prechistensky Palace for the Empress included the mansion of Golitsyn himself and a vast neighboring area with Dolgorukov’s house (Volkhonka, 16) and the place under the current gas station.

As for the mansion itself, the architect Kazakov preserved almost the entire volume of the Golitsyn house unchanged, only expanding one of the courtyard projections towards Volkhonki Street, and also adding mezzanines to both.

Qualitative changes occurred only in the decor of the facades of the Golitsyn estate, after which it acquired its classic forms.

In the center of the building, the six-pilaster portico of the Corinthian order, which ended with a smoothly plastered flat pediment, was especially highlighted. In its middle part, the rhythm of the pilasters was interrupted by three high window openings, and a semicircular arch was built above the middle one, located on the second level. The windows on the first floor were decorated with elegant panels.

This is what the main house of the Golitsyn estate on Volkhonka, 14 became after the implementation of the project of the architect Kazakov. From the former Baroque style, only risalits remained, but they also served to enliven the facade, creating on it a certain play of light and shadow.

The history of the house is connected with the presence in it during the war of 1812 of the headquarters of Armand Louis de Caulaincourt, a French general who, before Napoleon's attack on Russia, was the French ambassador to our country. Due to his duty, he knew Golitsyn long before these events, and, to tell the truth, this estate was not damaged only through the efforts of both, as well as Golitsyn’s servants, who defended the estate buildings from the fire.

Over the years, many celebrities have visited these walls, among whom was Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He even intended to marry Natalya Goncharova in the owner’s house church, but in the end these celebrations took place at the Nikitsky Gate, which was the parish for the bride’s family.

The history of this house is also connected with the revolutionary events in Russia in 1905 and after 1917.

In July 1905, a congress of zemstvo and city leaders took place here, the participants of which proclaimed themselves a constituent assembly and created a kind of provisional government. In the then capital they knew about this, but did not create any special obstacles: at the very beginning of the gathering, the police came here, drew up a protocol, which is mandatory in such cases, and at the end asked everyone to disperse. The demands were not met, the police left, but the delegates dispersed after the meeting without any consequences for themselves and the country as a whole.

The estate of the princes Golitsyn of the museum town of the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin has changed its appearance several times over the three centuries of its history. The author of the original project was the famous St. Petersburg architect Savva Chevakinsky. In 1774, the estate was rebuilt and became the central part of the Prechistensky Palace, designed by Matvey Kazakov for Catherine II.

The walls of this house have seen many famous people. A.S. appeared at luxurious balls more than once. Pushkin. Alexander Sergeevich was even going to get married to Natalya Goncharova in the house church of Prince Golitsyn, but the wedding ceremony was arranged in the Church of the Ascension of the Lord at the Nikitsky Gate. In 1877, Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky settled in the main house. Here he completed the play “The Last Victim”, wrote “Dowry”, “Heart is not a Stone”, “Talents and Admirers”. In 1885, the neighboring apartment was occupied by Ivan Sergeevich Aksakov, one of the leaders of the Slavophile movement.

In 1865, a free museum consisting of family collections was opened in five halls of the main house of the Golitsyn estate. The museum had three sections: Western European painting, sculpture and decorative arts; ancient monuments; library. The picturesque collection of the owners of the house included works by Bruegel, van Dyck, Veronese, Canaletto, Caravaggio, Perugino, Poussin, and Rembrandt. A year later, due to financial difficulties, the museum’s collection was sold to the Hermitage. After the revolution, in the late 1920s, the main house of the estate became the Communist Academy; it was built on two floors, as a result of which the pediment was lost. The impressive gate, crowned with the princely coat of arms of the Golitsyns, is the only thing that has survived to this day in its original form.

After the reconstruction is completed, in the former building of the central building of the Golitsyn estate, a Gallery of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Art will open, which will exhibit works by outstanding masters of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries: Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Cezanne, Gauguin, van Gogh, Matisse and Fauvists, Picasso and Cubists, originating from the collections of the famous pre-revolutionary Moscow collectors S.I. Shchukin and I.A. Morozova.

The city estate is located on Volkhonka Street, 14, and its main entrance faces Maly Znamensky Lane, 1.

Operating mode:

• Wednesday-Sunday - from 13:00 to 22:00;
• Monday, Tuesday - closed.

First Moscow Gymnasium(provincial) was organized on the basis of the Moscow Main Public School that existed since September 22, 1786. At the end of 1803, after exams, students of the Main Public School were transferred to the newly formed gymnasium. 45 people were selected to be transferred to class I, and 27 to class II. The grand opening of the Moscow Provincial Gymnasium, as it was named, took place on January 2, 1804. The gymnasium was provided with the premises of the abolished Moscow Main Public School - the house where the Justice College with the Judgment Order was previously located on Varvarka, near the Varvarsky Gate, near Ipatievsky Lane.

Soon, at the beginning of 1806, a decision was made to provide the gymnasium with a building on Volkhonka, purchased by the city from foreman F.A. Lopukhin (house of Prince G.S. Volkonsky). But in 1810 the house burned down and stood unfinished; in 1812 it burned down again; The building on Varvarka also burned down. Director of the gymnasium
P. Druzhinin left for Nizhny Novgorod; the pupils, including “32 students and boarders with their teacher, court councilor Nazaryev,” were evacuated to Kolomna, then to Ryazan and back to Kolomna; They returned to Moscow on December 16, 1813. The teaching began in a rented stone outbuilding belonging to the merchant Friedrich N. Lang on Sredny Kislovsky Lane, on the 3rd and 4th floors.
Only by May 1819 was the restoration of the burnt premises completed, and the gymnasium moved to its house at the Prechistensky Gate on Volkhonka and remained there until the end of its existence.

Name first the gymnasium did not immediately receive: until 1830 it was called provincial, then - second Moscow, since on March 28, 1830, with the abolition of the Moscow University Noble Boarding School, the 1st Moscow Gymnasium was created. This 1st gymnasium in 1833 began to be called, and the Second (formerly provincial) received the name “First Moscow Gymnasium”; By this time, the trustee of the Moscow district, Count S. G. Stroganov, having discovered the overcrowding of the gymnasium, made a representation to the Minister of Education about the need to open a 2nd gymnasium in Moscow, which was carried out in 1835 (see 2nd Moscow gymnasium).

In the period 1804-1831, the gymnasium was guided by the Charter of 1804, pursuing two goals: first - preparation for the university and second - teaching “primary, but complete sciences for those who, without the intention of continuing their studies at the university, could acquire the information necessary for a well-educated person." The number of students in the gymnasium during this period was small. For example, in 1804 - 79 people, in 1811 - 90, in 1815 - 120. The smallest number of students was in 1807 and 1808 - 60 each. By 1831, the number of students had grown to 263. Until 1819, education was free.

To enter the university, one could pass exams corresponding to the faculty; Having received at least a “3” and having an overall average score of more than “3.5”, the graduate received the right to be enrolled in the university. During the first period of the gymnasium’s existence, 179 students graduated from the course; of these, 158 were awarded the title of student. For a simple matriculation certificate, grades of at least “3” were required, but not all graduates received certificates. However, having passed the exams, a graduate of the Moscow Gymnasium could receive the right to the rank of XIV class and even have the right to teach in educational institutions.

In July 1831, the transformation of the gymnasium began, according to the new Charter of 1828. According to this Charter, gymnasiums were intended for the children of nobles and officials; a seven-year course of study was introduced in them. In October 1831, a decree was issued on the purchase of the house of the wife of Catherine’s former favorite, Major General Elizaveta Mikhailovna Ermolova, for the gymnasium, on its reconstruction and alteration; it was purchased in December.