This jubilee album is dedicated to the small village
Koltushi. The village is situated 10 km to the east of St. Petersburg, and
is famous, first and foremost, thanks to the I.P. Pavlov Institute for
Physiology of the Academy of Sciences, and the science settlement attached
to it. About a year ago, one of the Wandering Camera's readers recommended
that I visit this place.
But let us first have a look of the Institute's surroundings...
The contemporary Finnish (Lutheran)
Church in common European style. It's surrounded by a small fence, and
inside of it is a small piece of Finland in the form of - apart from the
Church - a toilet, lamps, a barn, and a Finnish doghouse :)
Outside the bounds of this oasis of
civilisation lies an ordinary village.
Actually, Koltushi was in its
time given by Peter I to P.I. Yaguzhinsky, and later, by Catherine II to
G.A. Potemkin.
Later, the estate was bought from the Treasury by N.I. Choglokov, and
remained his and his heirs' property for 90 years. The last
pre-Revolutionary owner was S.A. de Carriere.
It was not by accident that I mentioned
the Finnish doghouse.
Don't you think there is something strange about this building? I
think that it's not that often you see a window in a doghouse,
especially one that is placed this low, on purpose, so that the dog may
lie down and look out :)
Not far away, there is an Orthodox
Church, St. Ioann of Kronshtadt.
It's a new building, but it's in the
fashion of old northern churches. Here also is infrastructure with a
doghouse (see below).
Under the porch lies, for some reason,
the tombstone from the grave of "the Active State Councillor Aleksandr
Pavlovich Choglokov", from 1875.
A.P. Choglokov was the heir (perhaps the son, although the patronymic
doesn't match) of the above mentioned N.I. Choglokov.
Apparently, the faith of the local
clergymen (just like that of everyone else) isn't strong enough to trust
God in the serious question of avoiding lightning :)
In some places, the building resembles
houses in Kizhi and in Vitoslavlitsy, but this is only partially. The
paint ruins the picture...
And here is the promised, this time,
Russian doghouse. I have to say that this one is also an elite one, with
a door and an attic. However, they didn't think of adding a window.
A wagon, a toilet and a cross.
The cross is not a grave. It has an inscription saying something like
"Here will be a temple..." or "In the name of..." I don't remember
exactly.
Now let's go to the main sight in
Koltushi; the science settlement attached to the Institute of
Physiology.
This is the central square with a monument to I.P.Pavlov.
The whole complex - the Institute, the
employees' cottages - was made in 1935.
The style is Constructivist.
The cottages were constructed according to the architect I.F.
Bezpalov's concrete frame system.
The building on the photograph stands out from the general scheme of
things. It was probably reconstructed into a church (judging by the
typical addition on the roof) recently.
In the centre of the square is a
monument to the Academician Ivan Pavlovich Pavlov and a dog. I have to
say that the monument is rather like Pavlov's portrait.
As you may know, Pavlov was a physiologist who researched conditional
reflexes. He did experiments on dogs. He was the first Russian Nobel
Prize laureate (in 1904). He lived (in the summer) and worked in
Koltushi in 1924-26, and the science settlement was built here probably
for that reason. There were various buildings here also before that. For
example, Pavlov in 1929 received a prize from the Soviet government of
100 thousand gold roubles, which he spent on the construction on the
Biological Station building. However, in 1936, just after the new
settlement was built, the Academician died.
Many famous people came to Koltushi,
including foreigners. For example, apart from physiologists, the
physicist Niels Bohr and the writer Herbert Wells stayed here.
Every cottage has two flats with
verandas.
The roofs used to be covered with tiles, but now they are covered in
iron plates.
Now, everything is in a sorry state and a
need of repairs. It is planned to move the cottage dwellers away and
start restoration works. I think it's obvious who will come to live
there afterwards.
This building is newer, probably from the
1950s.
Another cottage.
One of them is supposed to house the Pavlov House Museum, but the
museum was closed this time.
The Ape House. Or more precisely, the
"anthropoid construction for human-like apes".
It appears to be empty at present (the surrounding snow is untouched,
and no motion is visible).
This is the building of the Institute
itself.
The inscription to the left says:
"EXPERIMENTAL GENETICS OF HIGHER NERVOUS ACTIVITY".
The one to the right says:
"POWERS OF OBSERVATION AND POWERS OF OBSERVATION"
Next to the Institute is an avenue with
busts of successful scientists.
Like the cottages and the Institute, they were made by I.F. Bespalov.
The plaques have been removed: probably
they were made from bronze.
Here is how to find the Institute in Koltushi: When you go through the
village (coming from Petersburg), you will see a large shop and a wooden
church on your right hand side. Just across from the, to the left of the
road, you see some smallish gates (two pillars). You have to go through
these to get there.
