Behind the Embassy Doors: The History and Architecture of Moscow's Most Elite Mansions
29.99 €
In stock
Behind the Embassy Doors: The History and Architecture of Moscow's Most Elite Mansions
29.99 €
This book opens the door to what is almost impossible to access: the interiors of 35 embassy and diplomatic mansions, many of which are currently closed to the public or inaccessible to the general public.
Behind the austere facades lie luxurious suites of rooms, stained glass windows and fireplaces, halls where secret negotiations and legendary receptions took place, interiors that inspired Bulgakov, Pasternak, and Shekhtel. Here you can see the house where the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was negotiated, the residence of the American ambassador with the "Ball at Woland's," mansions with authentic Art Nouveau stained glass windows, Gothic dining rooms, Renaissance ceilings, and hidden engineering marvels of the early 20th century.
- One of the houses hosted the receptions that inspired Mikhail Bulgakov's scene for "Ball at Woland's";
- Secret negotiations before the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact took place in the embassy mansion in central Moscow; - Boris Pasternak used the interiors of one of the houses as a prototype for scenes in Doctor Zhivago;
- The architectural "signatures" of masters can be found in the design of many buildings—Kekushev's lions, Shekhtel's symbols, griffins, and mascarons;
- The residences of diplomats from the United States, Italy, France, Great Britain, Spain, and Eastern countries all neighbor on the same block.
The book is accompanied by unique photographs of the interiors, including spaces that are now lost or closed to tours.
This is a rare journey through the ceremonial and secret Moscow—a city of diplomacy, architecture, and stories hidden behind embassy doors.
Behind the austere facades lie luxurious suites of rooms, stained glass windows and fireplaces, halls where secret negotiations and legendary receptions took place, interiors that inspired Bulgakov, Pasternak, and Shekhtel. Here you can see the house where the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was negotiated, the residence of the American ambassador with the "Ball at Woland's," mansions with authentic Art Nouveau stained glass windows, Gothic dining rooms, Renaissance ceilings, and hidden engineering marvels of the early 20th century.
- One of the houses hosted the receptions that inspired Mikhail Bulgakov's scene for "Ball at Woland's";
- Secret negotiations before the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact took place in the embassy mansion in central Moscow; - Boris Pasternak used the interiors of one of the houses as a prototype for scenes in Doctor Zhivago;
- The architectural "signatures" of masters can be found in the design of many buildings—Kekushev's lions, Shekhtel's symbols, griffins, and mascarons;
- The residences of diplomats from the United States, Italy, France, Great Britain, Spain, and Eastern countries all neighbor on the same block.
The book is accompanied by unique photographs of the interiors, including spaces that are now lost or closed to tours.
This is a rare journey through the ceremonial and secret Moscow—a city of diplomacy, architecture, and stories hidden behind embassy doors.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series Moscow. The best city on Earth.