Barvikha

Geography

The village lies on the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye road leading to the west from Moscow, just outside the Moscow Ring Road and the boundaries of the city of Moscow. There is a Barvikha rail station on a spur of the Belarus direction of the Moscow Railway, first opened at the current site in 1927.{{cite web

Barvikha is surrounded by a zone of pine forest nature preserve on the south bank of the Moscow River.

History

Two villages, Lutskaya (Луцкая) and Shulgina (Шульгина) existed in the area where modern Barvikha now stands. Later they grew and merged into a settlement, which was originally called Samynki (Самынки), after the Saminka River, on which the settlement stood. Over time, the name changed to Borikha (Бориха) and later—to Barvikha. By 1890, the population of the village consisted of almost 100 people.

Sanatorium

Barvikha contains the Barvikha Sanatorium, a well-equipped medical center which treated several Russian leaders. The sanatorium was designed by architect Boris Iofan,{{cite news |script-title=ru:История санатория Барвиха

In 1961 the American singer Paul Robeson was treated there for several months.

Today the sanatorium is owned by the Administration of Affairs of the President of the Russian Federation.{{cite web |script-title=ru:Клиничексий санаторий "Барвиха" |script-title=ru:Санаторий "Барвиха" |access-date=2007-12-25}} From 1996 until his death in April 2007, his primary residence was the Gorki-9 (Горки-9) presidential dacha on the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Road, not far from Barvikha.{{cite news |script-title=ru:Адрес главы государства: Девятые Горки для первого Президента |url-status=dead

Dachas

The Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Road, colloquially known as the Rublyovka, has long been a site for dachas. During the Soviet period, prominent officials and intellectuals often used state-owned dachas in the vicinity of Barvikha. Writer Aleksey Tolstoy and his family occupied a state-owned dacha in Barvikha from 1938 through his death in 1945.{{cite book

Development

Beginning in the late 1990s, Barvikha has become a popular site for the dachas of wealthy residents of Moscow. In contrast to the traditional wood-built dachas, these new, privately owned cottages are often much larger and include mansion-like residences with full amenities and private security.{{cite news |url-status=live

The Barvikha Luxury Village, a high-end shopping center including Ferrari and Harley-Davidson dealerships, opened in 2005.{{cite news

Deposed national leaders

In December 2012, the town was called a "magnet for deposed leaders given asylum in Russia" by a writer for The New York Times, who suggested that Barvikha might become the new home of Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad. Former leaders in the town reported by the NYT included Askar Akayev, formerly the president of Kyrgyzstan, Aslan Abashidze of Adjara, and the wife and family members of Slobodan Milošević. After fleeing his country in the wake of the Euromaidan protests in 2014, former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych reportedly moved into a $52 million residence in the town as well.

References

References

1. Ryabikova, Victoria. (2020-11-22). "Welcome to Rublevka, the most expensive area in Russia (PHOTOS)".
2. Kramer, Andrew E.. (December 28, 2012). "In Russia, Exile in Comfort for Leaders Like Assad". [[The New York Times]].
3. Wilson, Andrew. (2014). "Ukraine Crisis: What it Means for the West". Yale University Press.