Moscow news
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08-Jul-2007
Metropol hotel history
Built just before the Revolution of 1917, the Metropol used to host the richest Moscow guests and a couple of years later the hotel started accommodating the Bolshevik elite. The Metropol's fate has always been to welcome the rich and famous. Hence, after a thorough reconstruction in the 1980s, the Metropol's doors have swung open for Moscow's honoured guests yet again.
Art or profit?
The author and sponsor of the building was the entrepreneur and patron of arts Savva Mamontov. Previously, the space on the corner of Teatralnaya Square and Okhotny Ryad was occupied by middle-class furnished rooms called "Chelyshi", with baths and a tavern. In 1899, soon after the deal between a former master of Chelyshi and Savva Mamontov was struck, Moscow newspapers reported that a new theatre was to appear on Teatralnaya Square. It was true: Mamontov, known as the patron of many talented artists, sculptors and opera singers, initially intended to erect a centre for creative arts on the grounds of the former Chelyshi.
Among the architects who offered projects for the future arts center were Kekushev, Voeykov, Zholtovsky, Shekhtel and other well-known specialists. However, the facade project by William Walcott was announced to be the winner and soon the work began. When the building was close to completion, Mamontov was accused of embezzlement and imprisoned. He went out of business and could not complete the construction work without introducing considerable changes. It was decided that a more profitable facility, such as a hotel and restaurant, should be constructed instead of the arts centre. It's likely that the current restaurant hall is a would have been a theatre. Although the stage in the hall was preserved, it has never been used for theatre and was turned into a small estrade instead.
Still, Mamontov didn't give up on the modernist style of facade decoration. So the former arts center and the oncoming hotel turned out to be a real modernist manifesto. Most of the facade decorations have successfully survived all the perils of the 20th century and are still there to delight the eye.
Under the new regime
Because of its position by the side of the Kremlin, the Metropol was turned into a battle ground during the course of the military actions of November 1917. Inside the hotel's gracefully decorated interiors the struggle broke out between the Junkers that were based there and the Red Army troops. In 1918 the Bolshevik government moved from Petrograd to Moscow. Since the members of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee had no place to live and work in Moscow, the Metropol partly became the so-called Second House of Soviets. Luxurious rooms were occupied by commissars - gloomy people in black leather jackets. Depending on the rank of a particular revolutionary activist, his family could claim a whole apartment or only a room, or even half of a room in Metropol. Activists, together with members of their families, were getting 3 meals a day in the former restaurant. However, the menu was rather simple at first: porridge, cabbage-soup (schi) and rye bread.
The family of the prominent Soviet economist Yury Larin occupied one of the luxurious 3-room apartments on the second floor for several years from 1918. A round table in his living room was the location for frequent gatherings of all the authors of the Soviet state planning system, including Lenin. Right under Larin's apartment was the apartment of Bukharin and in the late 1920s Larin's daughter married her neighbor. Unfortunately, the marriage turned into a tragedy for the young lady: after Bukharin was executed in 1938, his wife was imprisoned.
In June 1941, WWII began. Soon after Nazi bombers began attacking Moscow, an anti-aircraft defense post was set up on the Metropol's roof. During the war the Metropol was mostly inhabited by correspondents of Western newspapers and magazines.
In fact, permanent boarders remained in the Metropol till the late 1950s. When they left, they had the opportunity to buy out pieces of furniture - but in those days Art Nouveau was not a popular style so most of the hotel's interiors were left untouched.
HISTORY VS PRAGMATISM
In the late 1980s the Metropol underwent a thorough reconstruction. Considering that the Metropol had not undergone large-scale repairs for nearly 90 years, the reconstruction was a great challenge for contractors. Among the tasks were: strengthening the grounds and foundations, changing wooden ceilings for concrete ones, restoring wall and ceiling paintings as much as possible and modernizing the sewage system. The aim of the reconstruction was to preserve and bring out the Metropol's authentic aura and at the same time make the hotel compatible with modern 5-star requirements. The reconstruction lasted 4 years and ended in 1990. Luckily, the works were finished by the time of the USSR's disintegration, otherwise they might have never been finished. It should be said though, that some experts expressed dissent with the changes, arguing that they were too large-scale. For example, the new main entrance was built on the same level as the car park, so a new gro?und-floor hall was constructed ins?tead of the former premises. Changing wooden ceilings to concrete ones was also disapproved of by restorers and architectural theorists as inauthentic. Still, one can see that the aura of Art Nouveau luxury has been preserved, and all modern facilities were introduced to make the Metro?pol a state-of-the-art hotel. It now includes a fitness center, conference halls and swimming pool. "We accommodate people, thus we cannot be turned into a museum," a Metropol official said. The best examples of this are the vintage tables that are covered with glass so that guests can use them without fear. One can even spill coffee on them - nothing bad will happen.
By Anton Razmakhnin
The Moscow News