Barvikha

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Barvikha platform on the Moscow Railway
Barvikha platform on the Moscow Railway

Barvikha (Russian: Барви́ха) is a village west of Moscow and site of the Barvikha Sanatorium, the health resort of the President of Russia. During the Soviet era, Barvikha was known as the site of the most desirable state dachas for government officials and leading intellectuals, and many of Russia's wealthiest individuals have built private luxury dachas here since the late 1990s.

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[edit] Geography

Barvikha is located at 55.7416667° N 37.2786111° E[1], in Odintsovo Raion, Moscow Oblast. The village lies on the Rublevo-Uspenskoye road leading to the west from Moscow, just outside the Moscow Ring Road and the boundaries of the City of Moscow. There is a Barvikha station on a spur of the Belarus direction of the Moscow Railway, first opened at the current site in 1927. [2]

Barvikha is surrounded by a zone of pine forest nature preserve on the south bank of the Moscow River.

[edit] Sanatorium

Barvikha contains the Barvikha Sanatorium (Russian: "Барвиха" медицинский центр УДП РФ), a well-equipped medical center which has treated several Russian leaders. The sanatorium was designed by architect Boris Iofan,[3] [4] and completed in 1935. It was designated as a clinic for leading government officials suffering from illnesses of digestion and metabolism; it was there that Bulgarian leader Georgi Dimitrov died in 1949. [5] Today it is owned by the Administration of Affairs of the President of the Russian Federation.[6] The sanatorium provides deluxe accommodations and high-quality medical services. Its grounds include a lake that offers fishing and swimming in the summer.[7]

The first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, made frequent stays at the Sanatorium during his second presidential term and retirement.[8] From 1996 until his death in April 2007, his primary residence was the Gorki-9 (Russian: Горки-9) presidential dacha on the Rublevo-Uspenskoye Road, not far from Barvikha.[9] This allowed quick access to the Sanatorium's medical facilities.

In 1944 and 1945, writer and Communist Party official Aleksandr Shcherbakov was treated at Barvikha for cardiac illness. He died of heart failure in 1945. In 1952, Shcherbakov's death became one of the issues in Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic Doctors' Plot investigation. The deputy director of the medical department of the sanitarium, Roman Ryzhikov, was arrested and interrogated, but later released. [10]

[edit] Dachas

The Rublevo-Uspenskoye Road, colloquially known as the Rublyovka, has long been a site for dachas. During the Soviet period, prominent officials and intellectuals often used state-owned dachas in the vicinity of Barvikha. The writer Aleksey Tolstoy and his family occupied a state-owned dacha in Barvikha from 1938 through his death in 1945. [11]

[edit] Development

Beginning in the late 1990s, Barvikha has become a popular site for the dachas of wealthy residents of Moscow. In contrast to the traditional wood-built dachas, these new, privately-owned cottages are often much larger and include mansion-like residences with full amenities and private security. [12] The rapid development has substantially increased property values and has generated some friction with long-term local residents.[13]

The Barvikha Luxury Village, a high-end shopping center including Ferrari and Harley-Davidson dealerships, opened in 2005. [14]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Barvikha, Moskva, Russia. Retrieved on 2007-12-25.
  2. ^ Blyumin, Georgiy. Barvikha (Russian). Terra Real Estate. Retrieved on 2007-12-25.
  3. ^ Blake, Peter. "The Soviet architecture purge", Architectural Record, September 1949. Retrieved on 2007-12-25. 
  4. ^ Hoisington, Sona Stephan (Spring 2003). ""Ever Higher": The evolution of the project for the Palace of Soviets". Slavic Review 62 (1): 41-68. 
  5. ^ История санатория Барвиха (Russian). Administration of Affairs of the President of the Russian Federation. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  6. ^ Клиничексий санаторий "Барвиха" (Russian). Administration of Affairs of the President of the Russian Federation. Retrieved on 2007-12-25.
  7. ^ Санаторий "Барвиха" (Russian). Курортный магазин. Retrieved on 2007-12-25.
  8. ^ ITAR-TASS news agency. "Yeltsin on the mend, say doctors", BBC News, December 12, 1997. Retrieved on 2007-12-25. 
  9. ^ Mitronov, Nikolay. "Адрес главы государства: Девятые Горки для первого Президента", Новые рубежи, October 10, 2007, p. 5. Retrieved on 2008-01-03. (Russian) 
  10. ^ Brent, Jonathan; Vladimir Pavlovich Naumov (2003). Stalin's last crime: The plot against the Jewish doctors, 1948-1953. HarperCollins. ISBN 0060933100. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 
  11. ^ Lovell, Stephen (2003). Summerfolk: A History of the Dacha, 1710-2000. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801440718. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 
  12. ^ Arnold, Chloe. "Russia: Consumers Clamor To Buy Luxury Goods", Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, June 1, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-25. 
  13. ^ Parfitt, Tom. "Fear and resentment as Moscow's rich grab land for luxury homes", The Guardian Unlimited, February 22, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-25. 
  14. ^ Kishkovsky, Sophia. "A revolution in retail beyond Red Square", The International Herald Tribune, November 23, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 

[edit] External links

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