🌳 Vorontsovo Park (Vorontsovo estate)

Воронцовский парк, 3

The former estate of the Vorontsovs and Repnins, where a balloon was secretly built in 1812 to use against the French.

The estate is named after Fyodor Vasilyevich Vorontsa, a boyar of Dmitry Donskoy who owned these lands in the second half of the 14th century.
From 1744 Prince Pyotr Repnin created his "Versailles near Moscow" here: a Baroque house, terraced ponds and a French park.
At the main entrance Field Marshal Nikolay Repnin built a "Turkish fortress" in memory of the capture of Machin in the Russo-Turkish War.
The dirigible balloon was built in 1812 by the German Franz Leppich: it was supposed to lift up to 50 people.
The French learned of the secret construction and captured 26 people in the area; a military court shot 16 of them as "arsonists".
From 1923 the estate served as a prison for privileged inmates — the Left SR leader Maria Spiridonova was held here.
The cascade of five ponds is declared a natural monument; the Ramenka and Kotlovka rivers begin here.
The park, about 48.7 hectares, was restored and opened to visitors on 14 July 2007.