Krasnov Nikolai Petrovich - an architect with a capital letter. Master of Architecture, creator of the Livadia Palace. He was also a city planner of Yalta. What else did Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov discover in Crimea? We will talk about this further.
Krasnov is an architect, creator, honorary member of the Academy of Arts. In Yalta, he was the chief architect (1888-1899) Nikolai Petrovich emigrated to Yugoslavia in 1920.
N.P. Krasnov erected numerous palaces commissioned by the Romanov family. They are located on the south coast of the Crimean peninsula. The names of some of them are Livadia palaces and Kharaks, the portal of urban bathing houses and so on.
This talented architect was a bright creator of his time. In his luxurious complexes, in elegant mansions, the creator combined different types of architectural art. Most of all he liked Gothic, Romanesque style and neo-Renaissance. He later came to Art Nouveau.
Childhood. Student
The famous creator was a peasant son. The biography of Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov began in 1864. They baptized him in the Novinsky monastery. The future creator of the palaces lived in the village of Khonyatino. When Nikolai was only 12 years old, in 1876 he decided to study on a prestigious course in architecture in the capital of Russia. At the School of Painting and Architecture, he enters solely on his own and finishes it with a silver medal. In 1883, he presents his first drawing of the building “Theater not subject to fire”, and receives a silver medal for him, still Small from the Moscow Art Society. Thanks to this flattering award, Krasnov could no longer pay all 30 rubles for his university studies. All the time he studied at the Academy, the future academician lived in Moscow with his mother. They lived quite poorly, trying to save modest means.
His next project was not awarded the Big Silver Medal. The most sought after palace builder in Crimea was then rejected by academics due to the ambiguity of his design. In 1885, Nicholas still receives the coveted Grand Medal. His project, entitled "Gymnasium", was liked by architects. Such an honorable award conferred upon him the title of artist of the third degree. Nikolay Petrovich could continue to work independently and create building projects. After 10 years of work by profession, the artist could also receive personal honorary citizenship of the country.
Yalta town planner
In 1887 he moved to Yalta. At only 23 years old, he is declared the chief urban planner of Yalta.
Architect Krasnov Nikolai Petrovich immediately begins to improve the city. It expands the promenade, paves the sewer. Krasnov also erects two gymnasiums - male and female. Near the women's educational institution, he established a playground for games. In the Florentine direction, Nikolai Petrovich creates a boarding house, in the Renaissance genre - a church, as well as a gymnasium hospital.
The architect is building an entertaining building not so far from the male gymnasium. It belonged to the historian, scientist A. L. Berthier-Delagard. The mansion consists of two floors, built in the French style. The mansion is painted in classic yellow - cream color. It is distinguished by white decor; above the windows you can see colored murals of the plant genre.
Architect Mansions
An outstanding researcher of the Crimea Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov designs independently and two houses belonging to him. His first house is on Pushkin Boulevard. It was built in the architectural form “Neo-Greek” in 1888. The second two-story mansion is located on Nikolay Street, Zarechye. There is also a caretaker's house, a barn and a stone outhouse on one floor. In this mansion, Krasnov often created and received eminent guests and customers.
Country houses
In 1907, at the invitation of Felix Yusupov, the architect reconstructed country houses in Koreiz. So, the “Pink House” from a fortress turned into a palace. The manner of construction evokes the Italian Middle Ages. Windows - arches of the second floor are framed with a toothed decor. This building is a vivid example of secular buildings in Italy dating back to the 12th-14th centuries.
In 1899, Krasnov became a member of the commission for the restoration of the former palace of the Khan in the city of Bakhchisarai.
Palaces and apartment buildings
The architect took photographs of the ancient Tatar constructions of the city, drew them, made drawings. He gained great experience and then applied it in the construction of many palaces: the mansion of the painter G. Yartsev, the Yalta estate of the Bulgakov family.
On the embankment of Yalta, the architect built to order from Russian industrialists prestigious hotels, trading houses. This is the apartment house "Marino", a three-story hotel "St. Petersburg" (built according to the canons of the Italian Renaissance).
The architect collaborated with Count A. A. Mordvinov, for whom he created a complex of tenement houses. He completed the project in a strict "neo-Renaissance". Currently, the buildings are hotels, shops.
Shopping arcade
In the center of the embankment, Krasnov established malls for the merchant from the capital, N.D. Staheeva. The rows are made in the architectural renaissance configuration. For the same merchant, he also designed structures in Alushta, near the Demerdzhi river. The exterior finish included mostly marble-like limestone. The sophisticated building stands to this day among the Himalayan cedars and looks very organic.
Dear personality. Significant works
What else did Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov do for the Crimea? In 1913, the architect sent a list of his creations to the Academy of Arts in order to receive the title of academician. The list was more than 60 works.
Among the works featured the mansion of Professor Batuev in the direction of modern architecture. On the southern coast of Crimea in the same style are other palaces. These are works of architectural art, such as Kuchuk-Lambat, the Ksenia mansion, akin to Northern Art Nouveau, etc.
Nikolai Krasnov admired the architecture of the Renaissance. In the spirit of the Renaissance, the famous Livadia Palace was built by order of the emperor. And from the appearance of the mansion of Princess Baryatinsky, the era of the Renaissance blows.
In general, the creations of the architect, like many architects of his time, are made in the spirit of eclecticism. It incorporates the characteristics of many styles. A striking example of this is the home of the Mutual Credit Society.
The great architect did not stop only at secular buildings. Many Yalta temples were built by him. He is the main builder of the Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky. His project belongs to P.K. Terebenev. All the interior decoration of the temple, icons, paintings are made according to the sketches of Krasnov. He himself also became the author of the chapel of St. Nicholas in the old Russian style, which is located on the embankment of Yalta. And in the XX century. Nikolai Petrovich supervises, as the author, the construction of a Catholic church. The church was built according to all the neo-Gothic canons.
This outstanding figure worked in the Crimea for about thirty years. He achieved the title of Architect of the Supreme Court of His Majesty. Academician of the Academy of Arts of St. Petersburg, in 1917 he also became a real state adviser.
During the revolution
But all these merits did not help Krasnov to stay in the country. After the October Revolution, some Russian migrants lived in Malta. Academician Nikolai Krasnov was also found in the 1920 lists. In a small profile of the famous migrant you see the grief of a talented creator. He left the peasants, worked hard, but was forced to flee the revolutionary homeland.
“Sailed to Malta on the Bermudian.” Date - May 1919 Arrived with the family. Anna Mikhailovna, wife, 55 years old; daughters Olga (30 years old) and Vera (24 years old); son-in-law Horvath Leonid, 29 years old; grandson Vladimir 6 years of age. He lived permanently in Yalta. Papers, shares left in a Moscow bank; lack of material resources; I wish to work by profession; I would like to go to Crimea after improving the situation. Location: Malta Island, refugee refuge. Date: June 25, 1920."
A refugee from revolutionary Russia lived and worked in Belgrade, from 1922 until the end of his life (1939). In this city he built a large number of palaces. Many places of worship and public buildings were built under his supervision. At home, the architect was undeservedly forgotten. Its buildings were condemned, their artistic and architectural value was called into question. Nikolai Petrovich was buried in the New cemetery of Belgrade, in the Russian part. His grave is located next to the monument to Emperor Nicholas II, who often ordered works of architecture from him.
