Visit to the Old English Court

About exhibition

The chambers of the Old English Court are one of the oldest buildings in the capital. This monument of civic architecture was erected in the early 16th century, and its history is closely connected with the history of Zaryadye and the emergence and development of Russo-English relations, whose heyday falls on the reigns of Tsar Ivan IV and Queen Elizabeth I. In 1555 the Muscovy Company was established in London; in 1556 it received a courtyard on Varvarka Street in Moscow as a gift from Ivan the Terrible. In 1994, with the participation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a museum was opened within the walls of the ancient chambers. Today the museum's visitors can see an exhibition dedicated to the life of the English merchant house on Varvarka in the 16th–17th centuries and to the beginnings of relations between England and Muscovy. In the recreated interiors visitors are greeted by copies of old books and documents, as well as reconstructions of household items that accompanied the English on their travels through Russia and on perilous sea expeditions that brought the two powers closer during the Age of Discovery. In the museum's white-stone cellar the #Podklet project is implemented — a series of exhibitions devoted to exploring events, personalities and artifacts that have left a mark on Russia's history and culture.