One of the most significant 18-19th century architectural monuments in Ekaterinburg, the largest and oldest mansion ensemble of the city.
Rastorguyev-Kharitonov’s mansion ensemble is a true architectural gem of Ekaterinburg. The estate occupying the entire northern slope of Voznesenskaya Gorka (Ascension Hill) includes the main house, wings, fences and gates, stables, and a large park.
It’s known that the construction here started in 1794 and was done in several stages, although it’s not clear who order the construction. According to one version, it was a factory owner Peter Demidov, who went bankrupt with all his property including Kyshtym mining district passed on to merchant Lev Rastorguyev (1769-1823). According to another version (which was confirmed by documents) Rastorguyev bought the unfinished house from the provincial secretary Isakov’s widow. The architect's name is also unclear; however, considering the fact that the mansion was being built for about 30 years, supposedly, several architects contributed to the project. Mikhail Malakhov participated in the final stage of the construction.
Rastorguyev died whenthe construction was not yet over (1824), and the mansion (along with Kyshtym factories) passed on to his daughters – wives of P. Kharitonov and A. Zotov. The house stood empty for a long time due to heirs' disputes, and at the end of the 19th century parts of the building were rented out as apartments and offices. After the revolution Ural-SiberianCommunistUniversity was placed there, and in 1937 (after a major renovation) the building became the Pioneers' Palace.
The large park near the mansion was laid out in 1826. The layout of the park combines principles of regular and natural scenic landscape. The artificial pond with an islet and rotunda at the center is surrounded with alleys, winding paths and artificial hills. All the trees planted in the park were brought from the forest and were already 30-40 years old at the time, already grown and formed. This park has always been open for the public: in 1836 it became the first public garden in Ekaterinburg.
INTERESTING FACT
There’re a few local legends about the mansion. One of them talks about old underground passages under the park; one of those was revealed in 1924 after a landslide. The legend says Rastorguyev feared persecutions for being an Old Believer and dug escape passages from his house across the park to the City Pond. According to another version, the passages are remnants of secret mining adits where Rastorguyev produced gold.
The beats of quartz gold veins can actually be found on Voznesenskaya Gorka, gold was also found in Melkovka river that used to flow by the northern slope of the hill. However, nobody could find a genuine gold vein of an industrial value here after Rastorguyev.