Kolomenskoye

Kolomenskoye, locality and former royal estate, on the right bank of the Moskva River, since 1960 part of the southeastern sector of the city of Moscow, western Russia. The village of Kolomenskoye developed around an estate first mentioned in the 1339 will of Ivan Kalita, prince of Muscovy and Vladimir. In the 16th century Kolomenskoye became a favourite grand ducal and imperial summer residence. In the 17th century Kolomenskoye was the site of many political disturbances. It served as the headquarters for Ivan Bolontniknov, the leader of a peasant rebellion, in 1606. In 1648, crowds of Muscovites went there to voice opposition to the increased salt tax instituted by Tsar Alexis Mikhaylovich. His decree giving copper coins the same value as silver coins resulted in the 1662 Copper Mutiny, during which many protesters were massacred in the village of Kolomenskoye. Alexis expanded the royal estate and in 1667–71 built a magnificent wooden palace. His son, Peter I the Great, used Kolomenskoye as a refuge during the Streltsy Uprising, which in 1682 sought to unseat Peter I and give the throne to his half brother Ivan V. In 1767, Catherine II demolished the wooden palace built by Alexis.

The grounds of the former estate are today part of a 160-acre (400-hectare) conservation area with notable 600-year-old oak trees. The main gate, the clock, and water towers, part of the original palace complex, have survived. The five-domed Kazan Church, a prison tower from Siberia, and a mead brewery transported from the village of Preobrazhenskoye date from the 17th century. The log cabin in which Peter I the Great lived while in Arkhangelsk also has been moved to Kolomenskoye. The most striking structure is the Voznesenie (Ascension) Church (1532; see photograph) built in the old Russian red brick and “tent” roof style. The Kolomenskoye Estate Museum, a branch of the State Historical Museum since 1923, houses exhibits depicting the peasant war of 1606–07 and the 1662 Copper Mutiny.