Ostashevo Estate

On the shore of the Ruza Reservoir, about 20–21 km from Volokolamsk, fragments of the Alexandrovskoye-Ostashevo estate survive. Prince A. V. Urusov founded the estate in the late eighteenth century; in the early nineteenth it passed (through kinship) to N. N. Muravyov, founder of the Moscow School of Column Leaders; officer cadets trained here, and many Decembrists were among the school’s alumni. Later private owners followed. In 1903 Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich (the poet K. R.) bought the estate as a spacious working seat for a large family. The historic main house is lost; a mid-twentieth-century building of no historic value stands on its foundations. Wings, entrance towers and especially the pseudo-Gothic stables remain the most expressive surviving parts. A separate museum site is the Museum of the Family of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich (a Volokolamsk Kremlin branch) in the former two-class school of 1916 (Shkolnaya 36): displays on the Konstantinovichi and the estate’s history. Do not confuse the school museum with the stables on the estate grounds — related but different stops. Check branch hours and estate-yard access before you go.