Malaya Morskaya St., 10-4, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191186
The House of the Queen of Spades (also known as the House of Chamberlain Prince S. V. Gagarin, the House of Princess N. P. Golitsyna, the House of Minister A. I. Chernyshev, etc.) is a mansion in Saint Petersburg at 10 Malaya Morskaya Street, where Princess N. P. Golitsyna (née Chernysheva; 1741/1744–1837) lived.
In 1790, the Golitsyn princes settled there, Vladimir Borisovich and Natalya Petrovna, whose daughter Ekaterina was the wife of the former owner of the house, Stepan Apraksin. The Golitsyns moved to Petersburg from France after the revolution.
From autumn 1832 to May 1833, living next to Princess Golitsyna at 26/14 Bolshaya Morskaya was A. S. Pushkin. There is a legend that the poet used to visit her house.
According to researchers, the character of the countess in the story is a composite, but details of her biography and the house were borrowed from Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna. In city folklore, the mansion at the corner of Malaya Morskaya and Gorokhovaya streets is called the “House of the Queen of Spades,” and the intersection where it stands is known as the “Queen of Spades Crossroads.”
Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna was one of the most influential ladies not only in Petersburg but in Europe. In her youth, she shone in society and was known as the Russian Venus. Among her close acquaintances were the Austrian Empress and the Queen of France. During her lifetime, the princess saw five monarchs on the Russian throne, and her word could ease the fate of even a rebellious Decembrist.
Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna, by Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (1757-1825), Russian Museum
…He found himself on one of the main streets of Petersburg, in front of a house of ancient architecture. The street was lined with carriages, coaches rolling one after another to the illuminated entrance. From the carriages, at intervals, emerged a slender leg of a young beauty, a rattling boot, a striped stocking, and a diplomatic shoe. Furs and cloaks flashed past the majestic doorman. Hermann stopped.
— Whose house is this? — he asked the corner watchman.
— The countess’s ***, — the watchman replied.
The mustached princess, drawing by A. S. Pushkin
In old age, she grew a mustache, for which Golitsyna was nicknamed behind her back the Mustached Princess (Fr. Princesse moustache). However, this physical peculiarity did not hinder her in the least; at that time, the high-ranking lady had reached the heights of power. Observing recognition from the royal family, all of Petersburg came to pay homage to Golitsyna. There was nothing flashy about her receptions; in old age, the princess was frugal. However, her favor was highly valued.
After the publication of “The Queen of Spades,” on April 7, 1834, Pushkin wrote in his diary: "My 'Queen of Spades' is very fashionable. Gamblers bluff on the three, seven, and ace. At court, they found a resemblance between the old countess and Princess Natalya Petrovna and, it seems, are not angry..." Close friends of Pushkin, the Nashchokins, recounted that, according to Alexander Sergeyevich himself, the main plot of the story was not fictional. The old countess is Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna, who really lived in Paris as Pushkin described. Her grandson Golitsyn told Pushkin that once he lost at cards and went to the old lady to ask for money. She did not give him money but told him the three cards assigned to her in Paris by Saint-Germain. "Try," said the grandmother. The grandson placed the cards and won back his losses. The further development of the story is fictional.
In Petersburg mythology, the Queen of Spades has another house, the former mansion of Princess Yusupova at 42 Liteyny Prospect, but it was built 22 years after Pushkin’s death.
