Rublyovka

Rublevka or Rublyovka (Russian: Рублёвка) is the unofficial name of a prestigious residential area in the western suburbs of Moscow, Russia, located along Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway, Podushkinskoe, 1st Uspenskoe and 2nd Uspenskoe highways. The name derives from the name of the highway: Rublyovskoye shosse. There is no official administrative unit called "Rublyovka", but this name has become popular in society and in mass media. The area features good ecology and rather clear air (in comparison to Moscow and the rest of its suburbs).

Many Russian government officials and successful businesspeople reside in the gated communities[1] of Rublevka. Real-estate prices there are among the highest in the world.[2][3]

History

Rublyovskoe Highway has been a place for the privileged ever since it was the Tsars road in the 16th century: for the entire Romanov dynasty. Russian rulers Mikhail Fyodorovich, Aleksey Mikhaylovich, Peter the Great and Catherine the Great made pilgrimages to the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery by this road. Also this picturesque area was always the favorite place for the royal falcon hunting. Here, near the sovereigns, the Russian nobility also made their homes, particularly the Princes Yusupov, Shuvalov and Golitsyn.[4] At the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Zubalov family owned the estate Rubllevka.[5][6][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]

The area was where the dachas of Lenin, Stalin were located,[lower-alpha 4] as well as the summer residences of all the subsequent general secretaries, from Nikita Khrushchev to Mikhail Gorbachev. Their sidekicks also settled here (Anastas Mikoyan, Felix Dzerzhinsky, Nikolai Yezhov) – side-by-side with famous scientists, artists and writers (Mstislav Rostropovich, Andrei Sakharov, Dmitry Shostakovich), and foreign diplomats. And they all lived on a small stretch of highway that is only 35 kilometers long. During the Soviet period, General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev may have gone for a walk and encountered Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who was being hunted by the KGB and hiding out at Mstislav Rostropovich's dacha. "Now President Vladimir Putin should he wish to venture beyond the wall of his residence and take a walk in the park, could well bump into the wife of Khodorkovsky, the mutinous oligarch that he has left to rot in jail".[8]

In the mid-1990s, Rublyovka, which borders on the pristine and well-forested bank of the Moscow River was swiftly privatized by stars of show-business, the demi monde, officials and industrial magnates, and turned into a kind of a ‘millionaires’ ghetto’, or a Russian Beverly Hills, "where it is outrageous not to be good-looking". Here you can find the most expensive market in the world, and the most expensive sports club, as well as the most exclusive boutiques and the highest fences, with an army of thousands of security guards".[8]

Geography and amenities

The district is 40 minutes to Moscow via a two-lane paved road; however, the road is sometimes closed due to travels by Vladimir Putin and other important Russian officials. There is a high-end shopping mall, Barvikha Luxury Village, where such brands as Prada, Gucci, and Dolce & Gabbana are offered.[9] The mall includes Bentley and Ferrari/Maserati dealerships. There is also a wedding palace and a concert hall. Gated communities include Tagankovo.[1]

Notable residents

The area is known for its residents' high net worth. It was revealed in January 2020 that Mikhail Mishustin and his wife own a property in Rublyovka. Mishustin was named by President Vladimir Putin in January as the nominee to become the next Russian Prime Minister. His Rublyovka home and downtown apartment have a combined value of $10m (£7.6m).[10]

Notes
  1. The richest Moscow oil magnate, Lev Zubalov (Russian: Лев Зубалов) was a Georgian who purchased the estate in 1904 from Sergey Pavlovich von Derviz (Russian: Сергей Павлович фон Дервиз), the eldest son of Pavel Nikolayevich von Derviz (Russian: Павл Николаевич фон Дервиз) a railroad baron that built the mansion in 1884 for his son Sergey.[5][6] Zubalov was formerly known as Levan Zubalishvili but Russified to Lev Konstantinovich Zubalov and died in 1914.[5]
  2. Rublevka can be translated as the place of Rubles or the rich which after the Russian Revolution Rublevka was renamed by the Bolsheviks to the Red Gate (Russian: Красные Ворота) and Zubalov Olga Ivanovna, the widow of Lev Zubalov, gave the mansion to the Rumyantsev Museum.[6][7].
  3. Meindorf, who were relatives of the Zubalov's, owned the Barvikha estate.[6]
  4. Zubalovo-2 was Mikoyan's estate and Zubalovo-4 was Stalin's dacha.[6] Both Stalin and Mikoyan had organized strikes against the Zubalov's oil refineries at both Batumi and Baku.[6]

References
  1. Neil MacFarquhar (July 8, 2015). "Russian Belts Tighten, Affecting Tastes for the Finer Things". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2015. ...Rublovka is a patchwork of gated communities….
  2. http://articles.dailypress.com/2005-05-10/features/0505100001_1_russian-version-moscow-billionaires
  3. http://www.dw.de/revealing-film-on-russian-elite-faces-mysterious-roadblock/a-3005097-1
  4. Блюмин 2015, Chapter 27.
  5. Жолобова, Мария (Zholobova, Maria); Сотников, Даниил (Sotnikov, Daniil); Баданин, Роман (Badanin, Roman) (6 February 2020). Шоссе в никуда. Путеводитель по Рублевке, главной дороге России [Highway going nowhere. Rublevka guide, the main road of Russia]. Проект Медиа (Proekt) (in Russian). Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  6. Блюмин 2012, Chapter 6.
  7. Jonka (5 December 2009). Зубаловы, семья - нефтепромышленники, меценаты, коллекционеры [Zubalovs, family - oil industrialists, philanthropists, collectors]. Наш Баку (Our Baku) (in Russian). Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  8. "Rublyovka. Where power and money are at home". Literary Agency Galina Dursthoff. Retrieved 19 February 2020. Review of Russian language book by Валерий Панюшкин (Valery Panyushkin) Рублевка: Player's handbook, 2013. Publisher: Манн, Иванов и Фербер. ISBN 9785916578539
  9. "Barvikha Hotel & Spa". barvikhahotel.com. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  10. Roth, Andrew (16 January 2020). "Putin critics ask how his PM choice acquired expensive properties: Russian president's supporters praise Mikhail Mishustin as technocrat and self-made man". The Guardian. Moscow. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  11. Жолобова, Мария (Zholobova, Maria); Сотников, Даниил (Sotnikov, Daniil); Баданин, Роман (Badanin, Roman) (6 February 2020). Виктор Золотов. Глава Росгвардии [Victor Zolotov. Head of Rosguard]. Проект Медиа (Proekt) (in Russian). Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  12. Navalny, Alexey (7 April 2016). Штрихи к портрету гвардейца Путина: имущество на 663 млн рублей, дача Микояна и кинофильмы [Strokes to the portrait of Putin's guardsman: property worth 663 million rubles, Mikoyan's dacha and movies]. Navalny.com (in Russian). Retrieved 19 February 2020.

Books

See also

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