Castle of Richard the Lionheart

Where: Str. Andrew's Descent, 15

Richard Castle since the idea of its creaiton was surrounded by mystery and intrigue. The main mystery - it's up to now unknown identity of the architect, to build a castle. But the historian M.Kalnitsky discovered a fun fact - in the late XIX - early XX century it was had to build a building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the island of Apothecary of St. Petersburg. This building is one to one similar to Richard's Castle. Academician Robert Marfeld was to manage the project, but for some reason, the building was never built. Perhaps because it was built in Kiev? ...



A twin of unrealized building of the Interior Ministry somehow occurred in Kiev. Now historians agree that the design of the house was stolen by Kiev building contractor Dmitriy Orlov. In 1902 he bought a piece of land at the iconographer Malenko for the construction of the apartment building. Architecture of the building copies Petersburg unrealized project with the exception of the facade: in order of saving money the last one has been simplified. After the construction Orlov managed in the house not for a long time: in 1911 he was shot, and the contractor's widow was forced to sell the building. Then, the castle changed owners three times, until in 1920 it was nationalized by the Soviet authorities. Up until 1983 it housed the communal, but a quarter of a century building was empty.

Ill fame haunts the house since its emergence. It all started with a fire during construction. Flames broke out before the end of work, allegedly it was the fault of the workers. Rumors began to crawl in the capital. Perhaps because of them Orlov did not get expected profits: people just did not want to settle in a house. A thin trickle of customers completely had dried up after tenants began to tell that they heard weeping and hysterical laughter from the tower and chimneys. A riddle was opened by Academician Stepan Golubev: he found in the chimney pots and eggshells - they moaned and sighed at the slightest movement of air. It was a "gift" of angry workers, who did not get the complete payment from Orlov.

At the mention of the castle, some people of Kiev or cunning guides report a brave English King Richard the Lionheart lived here. This version does not hold any criticism: the king had died in the 12th century, and the building appeared in 19. The fact is that at one time Richard Yurevich - a brilliant storyteller and joker lived in the house. He kept a shop with a variety of goods (even condoms could be found here!). Artists and writers often visited the shop. There he met Viktor Nekrasov. Being the oldest inhabitant of the castle, Richard could tell a lot: e.g. legends of the house such as at the time of the occupation by the Nazis Jews were hidden in the basement and other stories. The writer called his friend Richard the Lionheart, and later, in the essay about Bulgakov's house, he appropriated the name of a nearby building. This way the castle began to handle the name of the English king.







Comments