Ostankino Palace

The Ostankino palace-theater was build in the 1790s by order of count Nikolai Sheremetev. One of the wealthiest noblemen in Russia, a close friend of Emperor Paul I, he was a well-educated person, connoisseurs of arts and musician. "I put the whole soul and represented all my knowledge and taste in the Ostankino palace", - wrote the count in his testament to the son. The construction of palace has begun in 1792 and was completed in 1797. A whole group of architects participated in making plans and drawings of the palace: Russian architects (Starov, Mironov) and foreigners (Camporesi, Brenna), as well as serf architects of count Sheremetev. The palace embodies all the architectural features of classicism. It appears as a monumental stone structure, when actually it is constructed from wood and trimmed in stucco. Wood was chosen as a building material due to acoustic requirements and low price. Most of the decoration of the palace certifies that this is a theatre palace. The theatre occupies the central part of the building. The composition of the palace is subordinated to the principle of strict symmetry and comprises three parts. The central one is a theater itself and the dress circle' foyer. Two other parts on both sides are the Italian (West) and the Egyptian (East) pavilions.