A fire broke out in a late 17th-century mansion in Moscow’s Maly Znamensky Lane. According to the press service of the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Emergencies, the fire started at the following address: Maly Znamensky lane, house 3/5, building 4. Lopukhins’ mansion is here, the Pushkin Museum is across the road.
“Currently, the ignition source has been found: the ceilings between the second floor and the attic are burning,” TASS writes.
The area of fire increased from 10 square meters to 50 square meters. At the time of extinguishing, approximately 40 square meters of ceiling collapsed in the building.
A source from the RIA Novosti agency said, “A firefighter was injured during the extinguishing, he fell under a collapse earlier,” adding that the victim was handed over to ambulance doctors.
According to the agency, the victim had bruises on his shoulder joints and neck, he was taken to the Sklifosovsky Research Institute.
“The senior firefighter of the 33rd fire department, who is an internal service warrant officer, was hospitalized with a preliminary diagnosis of two rib fractures and bruising on the knee,” the 360 edition says.
Traffic on Maly Znamensky Lane was closed due to the fire, the Moscow Ministry of Transport reported.
At 10:16 Moscow time, the fire was completely extinguished. “The fire is completely extinguished, debris is poured and dismantled after it collapses,” TASS said, referring to emergency services.
The Khamovniki inter-district prosecutor’s office noted that it monitors the occurrence of all the circumstances and causes of the fire.
The property of the Lopukhins was recognized as an object of cultural heritage of federal significance. It was built in the 18th century, based on 17th century rooms.
“Employees of the Capital’s Department of Cultural Heritage immediately went to the scene. According to the results of the inspection, the Ministry will issue a warning on eliminating violations of the law and carrying out work to protect the object, ”said the website of the Mayor of Moscow.
Possible causes of fire
The emergency service told the Interfax news agency that a fault in the electrical wiring is being considered as one of the main versions of the fire.
“The mansion of the Lopukhins mansion was closed for reconstruction. It would be part of the “Museum Quarter,” the agency’s source said.
He noted that there was no work in the building at the time of the fire.
“According to preliminary data, the fire may have been caused by a short circuit in the electrical wiring,” the source said.
The agency states that other versions will also be checked, including the human factor.
who owns the building
The Pushkin Museum told Interfax that the Lopukhins estate, where the fire occurred, belongs to the International Roerichs Center.
“The museum delivered it a few months ago,” a representative of the cultural institution told RIA Novosti.
“The building where the fire broke out has nothing to do with the Pushkin Museum. The Pushkin Museum is working as usual,” he said.
However, Alexander Stetsenko, Deputy Head of the International Roerichs Center, told socialbites.ca that their organization was “evacuated from the property by the Ministry of Culture and the State Museum of Oriental Art in 2017.”
“The property is under the operating management of the State Museum of Oriental Art. He did everything to evacuate the Roerich’s headquarters from there. We left there in April 2017, we were expelled by force. So, unfortunately, it has lost all rights to the property for five years as the international headquarters of Roerichs.”
He noted that the Roerichs Center restored this property with private funds to open a public museum in Roerich’s name there. The museum has been operating in this building for over 20 years.
“Of course, the tragedy has shaken us deeply. This indicates that the property has been abandoned for many years. “No one looks after him, no one works with him,” he said.
He pointed out that the 17th-century monument needed constant maintenance, checking all systems, including electrical equipment and wiring.
“If the property belonged to the international headquarters of the Roerichs, then there would be no fire, believe me,” the interlocutor of socialbites.ca was convinced.
About the building
The estate complex was built at the end of the 17th century on the territory of the White City by the father of the first wife of Peter I, Fyodor Lopukhin.
After the October Revolution, the property was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Cheka, and a branch of the Marx and Engels Museum was opened here in the 1960s. In 1993, the Roerich Museum was opened on the property after the reconstruction.
In 2015, the Federal Property Management Agency recognized the property as federal property and transferred the complex to the operational management of the Museum of the East, and in April 2017 the Roerich Center was forced to vacate the building. In 2019, the property was transferred to the use of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, and the Roerich Museum was moved to VDNKh.
In 2020, the commission of the Union of Museums of Russia recognized that the construction of the estate needs urgent restoration. Later, the building was closed for renovations.