At this place in 1794, immediately afterthe foundations of the city, planned to build a military hospital, but did not work out. Then the representatives of the Polish nobility owned by themselves. But the wide fame, as well as the modern name of the building - the Shah's palace, is connected with the residence of a real Iranian monarch in it.
More than half a century after the founding of Odessaone Polish tycoon, Zenon Brzhozovsky, wanted to build an estate in the beginning of Nadezhdinskaya (formerly called Gogol Street). Work on the project, he instructed his compatriot, the architect Felix Gonsiorovsky, who finished it in 1852.
The estate was at the disposal of the dynasty of Brzhozovskyuntil the year 1910. They preferred to rent it out. So, for a while, one of the guests was Fyodor Rafalovich, the chairman of the Bessarabia-Tavrichesky Industrial Bank.
The new owner of the already beloved OdessaJosef Shenbeck, also a Polish by nationality, becomes a mansion, but he, like his predecessor, did not intend to personally reside in the estate. The palace apartments are again rented out. It was in 1910 that the fugitive Iranian monarch, Mohammed Ali, settled in them.
Gonsirovsky was a supporter of unificationdifferent styles. The Shah's Palace is a tandem of Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance. The latter style is distinguished by its craving for symmetry, the division of facades. Rich towers, pointed arches are a tribute to the neo-Gothic. The building itself is built from the traditional for Odessa material - shell rock. Facing is executed with luxury - from the Inkerman stone. White color creates the impression of airiness.
The place on the edge of the slope itself was also chosennot by chance. From the sea side, the mansion looked impressive: the towers of the towers were drowned in the greenery of the trees. The Vorontsov Palace, built three decades earlier, stood on the opposite side of the Military Descent. It seemed as if both buildings competed silently among themselves.
The palace complex was a massive archgate with a wicket in the form of a lifting bridge - such an imitation of a medieval castle. They stood across the street Gogol. True, they were demolished in the 1960s. That arch, which now crowns the entrance to the palace, is the creation of today's days, although it looks quite organic along with the entire palace ensemble, which is more than 100 years older than it.
The creation of the Polish architect was to my likingresidents of Odessa. Such a building was not in the city at that time, nor later. So, in the guidebook of the year 1867 the house of Brzhozovsky (just as the Shah's palace was called at the time, and its present name was received much later) was declared as one of the sights of the Southern Palmyra.
Symbiosis of cultures and nationalities is just inthe spirit of Odessa. Who here just did not live - and Jews, and Arnauts, and Armenians ... And when in Iran there was a coup d'état, the deposed Shah decided to settle for the time in Odessa.
As a decent apartment he likedthis unusual mansion. And he safely settled in it with all his retinue. By the way, Mohammed Ali brought with him neither more nor less, but only 50 concubines, and they all lived together in this estate. Whatever you say, even for a sighted Odessa it was a curiosity. Sometimes the inhabitants of the city observed how the guilty concubines were exposed through the door directly from the balcony of the ground floor.
But, unlike previous owners, Polishgentry, who were arrogant and withdrawn people, quickly fell in love with the shah. He led an active public life, often walked through the streets of the city, communicated with residents. There is evidence that generous and open Mohammed Ali was inherent in occasion of and without an occasion to give gifts to ordinary passers-by. The former estate of Brzhozovsky gradually became known only as Shah's palace. And although Mohammed Ali lived there only 10 years, and in 1920 he left Odessa, having left for San Remo, the name behind the mansion was permanently fixed.
With the advent of the new power, the Shakhsky Palace in Odessabecame the House of Folk Art and was it until the collapse of the USSR. In these years, all the rich interior decoration was plundered. And in general, from the old interiors little is left, except that the lobby and the main staircase. Inside the floors were covered with parquet, in the halls stood fireplaces, the walls were decorated with marble. But all this has already gone into oblivion because of the deplorable state in which the mansion was located before the beginning of the 1990s. Not surprisingly, I had to do a restoration, which lasted from 2000 to 2004.
The building is located on Gogol Street, 2.Anyone from Odessa will easily show the way. It is easy to get there: from the monument to Duke pass along the Teshchinoy Bridge to the Boulevard of Arts, which rests on the Shah Palace. Near it are a few more attractions: Corner of the old Odessa, the monument to Orange, House with the Atlanteans.
This building is a must see in the list of attractions of the city. It contains not only architectural, but also cultural value.
So, being in Odessa and not visiting this landmark place is simply inexcusable. Especially since it is in the heart of the city.
