House of the Commander-in-Chief of the Black Sea Fleet in Mykolaiv: Naval Administration and Residence
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Ukraine
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Russian
- Site type
- Civic
- Remains
- Palace
On this page7 sections
History
The House of the Commander-in-Chief of the Black Sea Fleet in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, is an eighteenth-century palace in the Classical style, built between 1792 and 1794 for the administration of the Black Sea Admiralty, a naval institution responsible for maritime affairs in the region. Architect Petr Neelov designed and supervised its construction. The building later became the residence and office of senior naval commanders and military governors, giving it a central role in the administration of the Black Sea Fleet.
Admiralty Residence and Command Office
After the building was completed in 1794, Admiral M. S. Mordvinov moved in with his family. From 1794 to 1900, the house served as the residence and workplace of the commanders-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet. The commander-in-chief was the senior officer responsible for the overall direction of a military force. The building also accommodated the military governors of Mykolaiv and Sevastopol.
Among the admirals who lived and worked there were I. I. de Traversay, A. S. Greig, M. P. Lazarev, B. von Glasenap, and M. A. Arkas. Other senior naval officers, including F. F. Ushakov, P. S. Nakhimov, V. O. Kornilov, V. I. Istomin, F. F. Bellingshausen, and G. I. Butakov, visited the house in connection with their official duties. An admiral is a senior naval commander, and these associations reflect the building’s use within the fleet’s administrative leadership.
Later Uses and Museum History
After the October Revolution, the building was successively used as a dormitory for teachers of the People’s Commissariat for Education, a children’s home, a vocational school, and a boarding school. These changes followed the end of its earlier function as a residence and office for naval and military administrators.
The house was restored from 1972 to 1978 under a project prepared by the Ukrainian Specialized Scientific and Restoration Production enterprise of the State Construction Committee of Ukraine. On 10 October 1973, the Mykolaiv Regional Executive Committee decided to establish a Museum of Shipbuilding and the Fleet in the building. Regional museum researchers and artists from the Mykolaiv branch of the Ukrainian Art Fund took part in its creation. In 1981, the museum’s creators received the Taras Shevchenko State Prize of Ukraine. The building is recognized as an architectural monument dating from the eighteenth century to the first half of the nineteenth century.
Remains
The surviving complex consists of a rectangular wooden main building in the eighteenth-century Classical style, with wings and household premises added beside it by the beginning of the nineteenth century. Its dimensions are given as 7 by 28 sazhen, using a historical Russian unit of length whose conversion into modern measurements is not specified here.
Main Building
Wooden Palace
The principal structure is a palace built of wood on a rectangular plan. Its design follows Classical principles, an architectural approach that deliberately draws on forms and ideas associated with ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The building was designed by Petr Neelov and constructed between 1792 and 1794 for the administrative needs of the Black Sea Admiralty.
Household Wings
Wings and premises intended for household needs stood beside the main building by the beginning of the nineteenth century. They formed part of the developing complex around the rectangular palace and extended its domestic and service functions.
