History of the Italian Embassy in Moscow

The Italian Embassy in Moscow is situated at Denezhny Pereulok, which is in the heart of Arbat. This is probably the most Muscovite place in Moscow and the onetime haunt of the country's aristocracy and other dignitaries. The original atmosphere of the ancient capital seems to have been preserved in the narrow streets that characterise the area. Known as Berg Palace or Mansion, the imposing structure is among many typically Muscovite buildings. It embodies a multitude of styles and reflects the colouful history of both Italian representation in Russia, and the city of Moscow itself.
The Berg Mansion exists for nearly a hundred years and has been witness to a number of historic episodes. The building has seen everything from the tragedy of Minister Mirbach-Harff to the first activities of the Comintern and the work of Italian diplomats in the Soviet Union.
There is certainly a striking contrast between the brilliance of life at the beginning of the century, the feverish, dramatic events of 1918 to 1923 and the more subdued existence of the Italian Embassy. The building itself is made up of a contrasting mixture of architectural styles ranging from the Neoclassical and Second Empire to the Wiener Sezession and a Russian version of Art Nouveau.
The earliest documents relating to the site are to be found in the city's archives and they date back to 1806. The papers are a surveyor's plan of the entirely wooden house, property of H.E. the Countess Katerina Petrovna Zotova. The villa was destroyed in the great fire of Moscow during the war of 1812 and restored in 1824 to its former splendour. The house changed hands many times. Every new owner altered its appearance, following his own tastes and the fashion. In 1897 the house was bought by rich, cultivated industrialist, an engineer and a "hereditary gentleman" Sergey Pavlovich Berg. He demolished the old wooden house and built a great stone mansion, designed by architects Piotr Boytzov and Flodini. The prevalent styles are Neo-classical and Neo-baroque. The interior decoration of the mansion was going on till a few years before the Revolution.
In eclectical Moscow centre the Berg Palace lives in its own period, conforming to the fashions of the late nineteenth century, when architecture looked back to Classic styles for inspiration.
In 1918 the German Minister, Count Wilhelm von Mirbach-harff, took up residence in Moscow in the Berg Mansion where he was murdered in the main drawing room by two agents of the secret police (Cheka).
In 1919 the house in Denezhny Pereulok (later Uliza Vesnina) was allocated to the Executive of the Communist International. The Berg's electrically lit apartments were now occupied by the likes of Zinovyev, Trotsky, Radek and Bukharin. Although she had her office elsewhere, Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, was a frequent visitor, and Lenin himself appeared there on important occasions. European delegations came and went at the former Berg residence, the italians also made the pilgrimage. A delegation of socialists and representatives of cooperatives attended the second congress of the International. The delegation includes Serrati for the PSI, Bombacci and Graziadei representing the Italian parliament and D'aragona and Colombino for the Confederazione Generale del Lavoro.
After a period of complex and strained relations, Italy had agreed to exchange ambassadors with the Soviet Republic; the residence in the Denezhny Pereulok became the headquarters of the Italian diplomatic mission. The first Italian Ambassador Conte Manzoni together with his wife Contessa Manzoni and other members of the corp managed to create a permanent "Italian island" in Uliza Vesnina, one of the centres of aristocratic life in old Moscow. The mental openness and western attitudes of Georgy Chicherin (People's Comissar for Foreign Affairs) and the diplomats of his school prompted them to seek the company and intellectual challenge of western diplomats and the Italians in particular.
At the late twenties that special form of cultural diplomacy with its romanticism, collective manner and wordly visitors had come to an end.The beginning "age of steel" in the USSR reduced all the types of contacts and revolved the relations between the Embassies and the Soviet world mainly around protocol. Despite this, Italian Embassy managed to find resources to overcome isolation and come into contact with the Russian world. Many people from Italy visited Russia. They were not only reporters and intellectuals, but also technicians, engeneeres, economists and financiers.
At the "Italian island" find respite the survivors of an Italian community on their way to Italy in deference to Stalin's expulsion orders issued against all foreigners.
After the War had broken out, the Berg Mansion, together with state property and goods belonging to individuals, was put into the hands of the Japanese Ambassador to Moscow, General Tatekawa.
In 1944 the USSR had recognised the goverment of Salerno and an agreement had been reached over the exchange of official representatives. But only on December 1st 1949 the Embassy offices were finally able to return to Uliza Vesnina.
The chilly wind of the Cold War made relations with the Soviet world strictly official until 1955, the time of famous "thaw". During the Khrushchev years the introduction of fast communication methods changed the system of work for the diplomats in Uliza Vesnina.
Although the outward appearance of the Berg Mansion is still a Russian villa, much refurbishment went on inside. Just as before, the Berg Mansion is still a residence on the ground floor and a chancellery on the top floor. Under the terms of an agreement between Italian and Soviet goverments, drawn up at 1989 in Rome, the Italian State takes over ownership of the Berg mansion and purchases a plot of land in Uliza Vesnina.

 

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