Old English Court

The Old English Courthouse is one of the oldest buildings in the capital. This monument of civil architecture was erected at the beginning of the XVI century and its history is closely connected with the history of Zaryadye, with the birth and formation of Russian-English relations, the heyday of which falls during the reign of Tsar Ivan IV and Queen Elizabeth I. In 1555 in London was established trading "Moscow company", which in 1556 received a gift from Ivan the terrible court in Moscow on Varvarka street.

In 1994, with the participation of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, a museum was opened in the walls of ancient chambers. From 2013 to 2014, large-scale restoration work was carried out in the building. In January 2016, the museum presented an updated exposition dedicated to the life of the English merchant house on Varvarka in the XVI-XVII centuries and the origin of relations between England and Muscovy. In the recreated interiors, guests are greeted with copies of ancient books and documents, as well as reconstructions of household items that accompanied the British on trips around Russia and on dangerous marine expeditions that brought the two powers closer together in the era of Great Geographical Discoveries. Today, the Old English Courtyard, located in one of the most picturesque parts of Zaryadya, is the object of the park. The centuries-old history of the building, inextricably linked with the district, allows you to organically fit the museum into the excursion routes and event program of the park.