The address of the famous Eliseevsky store in Moscow is Tverskaya street, house 14. You can get to it either from the Pushkinskaya metro station (Tverskaya) or from Red Square.
Still bearing the name of its owner, merchant Grigory Eliseev, it was discovered by him back in 1901. It is still considered the first, if not for the range of products (it’s hard to surprise modern buyers), then for the luxurious decoration of the rooms in the style of Baroque eclecticism with huge crystal chandeliers. Here, as a museum - the "food museum" - often lead excursions. They are especially popular with foreigners.
Meanwhile, the story of the Eliseevsky store in Moscow and the building in which it is interesting is interesting. Let us dwell on this in more detail.
House of Kozitskaya
The house in which the Eliseevsky store in Moscow is located is located on the corner of Tverskaya Street and the former Sergievsky (now Kozitsky) lane. It was designed by architect Matvey Kazakov at the end of the 18th century.
For some reason, it is believed that this mansion was built by the state secretary of Empress Catherine the Great Grigory Kozitsky for his wife. In fact, he died long before the construction, and his wife, Ekaterina Kozitskaya (nee Myasnikova), was engaged in the construction.
The new home was considered the embodiment of perfection and harmony in everything. Seemingly unusually light, the six-column building had luxurious interiors, expensive piece parquet and damask wallpapers.
Later, as a dowry for one of the daughters, the house passed from the Kozitsky family to the Russian diplomat A.M. Beloselsky-Belozersky.
Eliseevsky deli. Opening
Grigory Grigorievich Eliseev, a merchant, once decided to open large shops with colonial gastronomic goods in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The acquired Moscow mansion was hammered with wooden scaffolding, which, in fact, was not practiced, and undertook a major overhaul and reconstruction.
And only on February 5, 1901, the public saw the luxury of the renovated premises. The first floor was connected to the second, increasing the space of the trading floors, luxurious crystal chandeliers were hung, the walls were decorated with rich decor. The carriage drive under the house turned into the main entrance to the grocery store. Before the opening of the Eliseevsky store in Moscow, an invited priest arrived with the clerks, who sprinkled halls with holy water and performed prayers.
The opening was held with fanfare. The first and most famous visitors (among them was the Moscow Governor-General Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife) received invitation cards printed on expensive paper with a gold border. A gypsy choir performed before the public. The general impression of the guests was, of course, admiration. Writer and journalist V.A. Gilyarovsky, also struck by the grandeur of the interior and assortment, wrote:
Mountains rise overseas fruit; like a pile of kernels, a pyramid of coconuts rises, each with a child’s head; immense tassels hanging tropical bananas; colorful inhabitants of the sea kingdom cast pearl, and over all this sparkle electric stars on batteries of wine bottles, sparkle and shimmer in deep mirrors, the peaks of which are lost in foggy heights ...
The new store initially had five departments, not counting the wine cellar: colonial gastronomy, the crystal department of Baccarat, a grocery and a pastry shop. But the largest was the fruit department, because the merchants of the Eliseevs made their fortune by importing fruits. In addition, the store operated many of its own industries.
The store was distinguished by an enviable quality of service - a friendly seller meeting a customer or a clerk could talk to him on any topic.
Soviet Eliseevsky
The house on Tverskaya along with all the property was nationalized in 1917. Like all existing stores of that time, at first he served customers with food cards. Later, thanks in large part to the efforts of its director Yu. Sokolov (subsequently sentenced to death by the councils for taking bribes), the grocery store regained its former "elite" position. And not even because of the assortment and the quality of customer service that changed for the better, he remained a store serving gourmets from among the Soviet ruling nomenclature.
The official name "Deli No. 1", by the way, did not take root, and the people continued to call the store "Eliseevsky." And from one of its walls, Grigory Eliseev himself is still looking at buyers from a portrait made by the artist A. Romanov.
Not so long ago it was - some people still remember the lines at the "Eliseevsky" 80s of the last century, which had to be taken almost from the night. Potential buyers stood in the heat and cold to buy children and relatives living in the province, sausages, oranges, chocolates. In storehouses of the store there were always scarce products, but not for everyone - they were issued to the people in small batches, and from time to time.
Eliseevsky today
In 2003-2004, the interior of the store underwent restoration. Current owners claim that a lot has changed, including the range and corporate standards of service.
Fortunately, as shown here by the photos of the Eliseevsky store in Moscow, the trading floors have not undergone global modernization.
However, judging by the reviews, Yeliseyevsky, still pleasing with abundance, is slowly but surely slipping into the standards of an ordinary supermarket. And more often than not, buyers and visitors come to the Eliseevsky store in Moscow. Wandering around the halls, gawking at the interiors, as the characters of Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita” used to do, breathe the atmosphere of the past. "Beautiful, rich, luxurious, majestic, pompous ..." - and this is also from the reviews. Indeed, the Eliseevsky deli is a living story.