How the shop of the merchant Eliseev became the main store in Moscow: The whole truth about "Gastronome No. 1"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On February 5 (January 23, according to the old calendar), 1901, in Moscow, at the junction of Tverskaya Street with Kozitsky Lane, at exactly 12.00 in the presence of a huge number of spectators, a significant procedure for opening a large trading enterprise, which was called "Eliseev's Store and Cellars of Russian and Foreign Wines", took place. This enterprise still exists today. Moreover, it is one of the visiting cards of the main city of Russia.

The mystery behind the wooden scaffolding

The accumulation of a large number of people during the opening procedure of the Eliseevsky store was explained by the fact that for three years people wondered what was hidden behind the scaffolding enclosing a rather large area. The writers of that time confidently asserted that no one knew about the future store, except for the people involved in the construction of this facility.

And how was it to be found out? The architect, brought by the owner of the future store himself, sewed up the house with wooden planks so tightly that there was not even a crack between them, into which one could look.

This wooden box stood for three long years, and Muscovites tried to bypass it. And what is surprising? Indeed, according to the stories of the old-timers, it was in this place that all evil spirits used to be found.

Legends were made about the mysterious construction site, which were passed from mouth to mouth, acquiring new details. There were even daredevils who, despite strong walls and serious protection in the form of watchmen and large steppe shepherds, penetrated inside, and then put forward their versions of what was happening.

Some said that an Indian pagoda was being built behind the fence, others argued that it would be a Moorish castle, and still others - the temple of Bacchus. By the way, the latter turned out to be the closest to the truth. Finally, one fine day, the barriers were removed, and the huge building shone with thousands of lights through the large mirrored windows. The fence was removed in the morning, and the opening of the grocery store was scheduled for noon. Of course, no one was allowed into the building itself, but the onlookers crowding around it were happy to look through the windows to the chic interior and the rich assortment of the store. True, they managed to do this only until noon, because closer to twelve the police pushed the street observers back.

The opening procedure of the Eliseevsky grocery store was magnificent and solemn. There was everything - a prayer service, a festive dinner, and even a performance by a gypsy choir. Important guests were present at the opening of the store, invitations for whom were printed on laid stamps paper with a gilded border. The list of invitees included Sergei Alexandrovich - the Grand Duke - with his wife Elizaveta Fedorovna, representatives of the Moscow Duma and the Orthodox Church, as well as the founder of Russian wine production, Lev Golitsyn.

The history of the Eliseevsky grocery store

The merchant Eliseev spent a long time choosing a mansion for his store. Options for buildings on Petrovka, Old Arbat and Bolshaya Dmitrovka were considered. In the end, the merchant listened to the recommendation of the representative of the Moscow City Duma, Guchkov, and chose the mansion of the widow Kozitskaya on Tverskaya Street.

The house was built in the eighteenth century by order of the widow of Grigory Kozitsky, who served as secretary of state under Empress Catherine II. When the widow died, the mansion was inherited by her daughter, Princess A. G. Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya. By the way, it was she who became the primary source of rumors about the appearance of "evil spirits" in the house. According to the princess herself, she repeatedly heard terrible sounds in the house and even saw ghosts. Unable to endure such horrors, Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya left her mansion.

After a while, it turned out that all the ghosts were nothing more than a gang of robbers whose purpose was to evict the princess from the mansion. They achieved their goal, and after the flight of Belozerskaya settled in her dwelling. It should be noted that the attackers were soon captured, and the princess returned to her house.

In the nineteenth century, the mansion passed into the possession of the daughter of Belozerskaya and s Volkonskaya, the wife of the brother of the famous Decembrist Sergei Volkonsky.

The princess was known for her creative nature, and therefore she often arranged intellectual evenings in the mansion, which were attended by such celebrities as the great poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Denis Davydov and Vasily Zhukovsky.

Zinaida Volkonskaya lived in the mansion until 1829, after which she left for Italy. After that, the house changed many owners.

Temple of Bacchus

People who were lucky enough to see the inside of the store on the opening day said that it was something fantastic. In the process of creating his store, the merchant Eliseev connected the mezzanine with the first floor, destroying the hall and large living rooms of the former Volkonskaya mansion. Moreover, in order to make way for the famous Eliseevsky wines, the new owner broke the marble staircase, which was considered the main attraction of the mansion.

The interior of the trading floor gave a strange impression - a large amount of gilded stucco moldings, and in the depths - a dark niche, reminiscent of a mysterious box. The picture was completed by a large English clock with a gilded pendulum, which moved silently and therefore it seemed that the clock was not running.

The new store had three large rooms with a total of five departments. The largest was the fruit sales department. In addition to him, the store had a colonial gastronomic, grocery and pastry department. And the last - the fifth - the owner specially set aside for the sale of Baccarat crystal products.

In addition to sales departments, the Eliseevsky store had its own mini-enterprises for the production of food products - a small confectionery and bakery, salting, smoking and oil extraction shops, as well as a sausage production shop.

Subsequently, it was necessary to make a separate entrance for the trade in wine products, which was located on the side of Kozitsky Lane. The fact is that at that time the trade in alcoholic products was allowed at a distance of at least one hundred meters from the functioning churches, while from the main entrance of the Eliseevsky grocery store to the Passion Monastery it was only 90 meters. By the way, this very entrance was called "black" in Soviet times, that is, it was intended for shopping during the shortage of "necessary" people.

Eliseev paid special attention to window dressing. By the way, they say that it was he who invented the method of displaying goods in the form of pyramids. This gave the appearance of abundance, although abundance was present in reality. Such an assortment as in the Eliseevsky store was not in any trading enterprise of that time. And it was here that wealthy Muscovites first saw such delicacies as anchovies, truffles and olive oil.

The Eliseevsky store enjoyed incredible success among the residents of the capital. And then his owner decided to create a network of his stores, opening outlets in the largest cities of the Russian Empire - St. Petersburg and Kiev. All of them looked like a Moscow store, and in all there was an abundance of products that could not be found in other trade enterprises.

Eliseevsky and the Land of Soviets

After the Great October Revolution, the Eliseevsky store was closed, and the huge signboard was torn down. And only in the early 1920s, after the adoption by the Russian government of the New Economic Policy, the Eliseevsky store continued to exist. However, it was now called "Gastronome No. 1".

Hard times for "Eliseevsky" came in the late eighties, when the KGB opened a case against the head of the grocery store Yuri Sokolov. The security cameras installed in the office of the store manager helped to establish the fact of bribery and the release of goods "past the checkout".

At the end of 1982, Sokolov, along with other leading employees of the grocery store, was arrested on charges of bribery and embezzlement on an especially large scale. Sokolov was sentenced to death, and in 1984 he was shot.

We have not forgotten about the Eliseevsky store today. At the beginning of 2016, the facade of the building was renovated, which received the status of a cultural object. It should be said that the repair work was carried out without stopping the work of the trading enterprise. The restorers did a great job. And now the famous Eliseevskaya shop appeared before Muscovites in the same grandeur in which it was seen when it opened in 1901.