Photo: architectural monuments, museums and exhibitions, other places, Teremok in Talashkino, Smolensk

5 photos

Teremok Historical and Architectural Complex: Masterpieces of Russian Culture in the Province

Architectural Monuments • Museums and Exhibitions • Other places

Directions

Eighteen kilometers from Smolensk there is a manor called Talashkino. In the XIX century, it belonged to the Russian noblewoman Maria Tenisheva, once known as a patroness of art who supported popular education and art. All the buildings that remained from her estate are included in the Historical and Architectural Complex "Teremok".

The "Teremok" Complex currently includes a rural school organized by Tenisheva, which has been preserved since the 19th century. You can enter it, sit at a wooden desk and view the books and textbooks of that time. Another sight of the Complex, well-known far beyond Smolensk, is the pyramidal Church of the Holy Spirit with a marvelous mosaic of the "Savior Not Made by Hands" on the pediment of the work of a mystic painter Nicholas Roerich. Inside the temple is also painted by Roerich. However, this church has never been functional as the images of the saints did not meet the canons. Not far from the church there is a two-storey wooden Teremok, built in 1901 and decorated with a patterned carving based on Russian fairy tales. Prominent painters: Vrubel, Korovin, Benoit and Repin were constant guests here early last century. Today the Teremok houses a museum where you can see watercolors and sketches of these artists, as well as old painted balalaikas, prerevolutionary photos and much more. It is known that Princess Tenisheva created a Museum of Russian Applied Art in her estate, being the only in those days. The collection of this museum was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1889 in Paris. Today some of the items of that collection are represented in the exposition of the Teremok. Tenisheva's estate is surrounded by a picturesque park with poplar alleys, a pond and apple orchards.

Teremok Historical and Architectural Complex: Masterpieces of Russian Culture in the Province

Restaurants