Like in a movie: where legendary treasures were found in Russia

Science and culture 3 January, 2024 19:32

People in turbulent times always hid valuables, hoping to use them later. But circumstances were often such that the caches remained untouched for centuries. Read about the most famous treasures, some of which can be seen in the Historical Museum, in the RIA Novosti article.

When was it hidden the most?

“As a rule, the desire to hide something is associated with turning points in the history of the country,” said Alexey Levykin, director of the State Historical Museum, at the opening of the exhibition “Treasures. Hidden History.”

This is the largest treasure in Russian history, the Naryshkinsky one, brought to Moscow for the first time. Family silver from the noble Trubetskoy-Naryshkin family was found in St. Petersburg in 2012. Now it is part of the collection of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve.

The story of the discovery of the treasure resembles a movie plot. A policeman on duty during night duty noticed that something was being loaded into a car from a construction site on Tchaikovsky Street, house number 29 - in the Trubetskoy-Naryshkin mansion. I decided to find out what was in the bags. It turned out that workers found antique silver in the ceilings between the second and third floors.

“On an area of about six square meters, more than two thousand silver objects were found, including silverware, orders, medals, and household items,” lists Tsarskoe Selo director Olga Taratynova.

The items were arranged in cloth soaked with vinegar to prevent rust and wrapped in newspapers, which indicated the date of the treasure: 1917.

“We started to look up the archives. At that time, the mansion was owned by Natalya Vasilievna Naryshkina, who married the captain of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, Sergei Sergeevich Somov. According to documents, they left for France in 1917. Apparently, they made this cache with the intention of returning,” explains head of the museum-reserve.In the Historical Museum you can see small and large tea sets, candelabra, a nail care kit, a glove holder and other household items of the Russian aristocracy of the mid and late 19th - early 20th centuries.