Glinki Estate, Federal cultural heritage estate in Losino-Petrovsky, Russia.
The Glinki Estate is a symmetrical three-story palace-style manor in Losino-Petrovsky, with a pale yellow facade, a light blue hipped metal roof and a central columned portico. Three wings form the front court; one is called the storeroom, another Bruce's laboratory. The main house has paired Corinthian columns on its north loggia, and its keystones are carved as demonic masks with protruding tongues.
Yakov Bruce bought the village of Glinkovo from Prince Dolgorukov on 24 April 1727 and retired here, bringing astronomical instruments from St. Petersburg. After his death in 1735 the estate passed to his nephew A. R. Bruce, then to his son Yakov, who died in 1791. In the early 19th century it belonged to Count Musin-Pushkin-Bruce, head of the Astrea masonic lodge; after his death the dilapidated estate often changed owners, mostly merchants. Interiors were lost in an 1889 fire, and restoration began in 2018.
Local lore long held that Bruce, reputed a magician, received a fire-breathing dragon through his window at night, and that on a hot July day he turned the park pond into a skating rink for his guests. The three-storey main house has a pale yellow facade, a light blue hipped metal roof and a columned portico; its keystones are carved as demonic masks with protruding tongues.
The estate lies in Losino-Petrovsky, near the Monino station, where the Vorya meets the Klyazma. Access to the grounds and the museum is by prior booking for guided tours. Restoration of the park and several buildings is ongoing, so some structures and interiors remain closed.
The keystones of the main house are carved as demonic masks with protruding tongues, a detail linked to Bruce's reputation as a magician and blacksmith. A wooden tower once rose above the roof, but 1981 research by V. Yakubeni and M. Karpova showed the house was originally single-storey, so it could not have served as his observatory.
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