Alakirjola (in Finnish – Alakirjola / Lower Kirjola) is an estate located on the shore of the Vyborg Bay, within the territory of the modern village of Landyshevka in the Vyborg district. The estate has been known since the 16th century and is named after the village of the same name. The toponym originates from the surname of local peasants, Kirjonen. For a long time, this was Swedish territory until in 1708 Peter the Great’s troops occupied the estate and destroyed it. After that, the owners of the estate changed one after another until in 1894 the coastal part of the village was acquired by Edla Konstantinovna Nobel (Edla Constantia Collin Nobel), the widow of Ludvig Immanuel Nobel. A couple of years later, she bought the Lahti estate (the northern part of the property) for 50,000 marks. Edla Nobel’s estate then covered 1008 hectares. In 1908, she also annexed the Pikku-Kirjola manor (Little Kirjola) to her estate. In 1905, the manor “Agnela” nearby, along with its estate, was purchased by Edla’s daughter — Dr. Marta Nobel-Oleynikova. Edla Nobel settled in the old manor house, which by that time had already begun to fall apart. She tried to repair the building, but one day, entering the dining hall, she pierced the rotten floor through with her cane. After that, the lady ordered a new mansion to be built. In 1903, she invited Gustav Nyström, a senior architecture lecturer at the Polytechnic School and an academician who designed the Helsinki State Archive and the Estate Assembly buildings, to work on the project. Professor Nyström’s main work in Kirjola was a new original brick building with a tall tower, constructed in 1903-1904. The bel étage housed a grand hall with mirrored walls, a magnificent dining hall, and several richly decorated reception rooms. In total, the house had 24 rooms. To the local residents, the Nobel mansion looked like a royal palace. The Swedish flag flew on the tower, as the Nobels were Swedish citizens.
The garden was designed by the St. Petersburg park architect Regel. Until 1917, the Nobel family came to Kirjola only in summer; later, they settled there permanently.
In 1910-1911, a new brick stable appeared on the estate. It housed thoroughbred racehorses, which were fed from large faience service bowls, and for drinking, a special fountain shaped like a bear’s head was installed, from whose mouth spring water flowed. All the buildings formed a unified architectural ensemble. In the half-hectare garden, 400 decorative trees, shrubs, and flowers brought from abroad were planted. To the locals, Mrs. Edla Nobel was remembered as a kind-hearted woman who cared about the needs of her neighbors. She built a school in the village at her own expense and supported the teachers. There were 15-20 students, but due to lack of other support, the school had to be closed after a few years. In 1906, Edla founded a home economics school for girls in Alakirjola. Before the October Revolution in Russia, the Nobel family came to Kirjola only in summer. They spent winters in Petrograd. In 1917-1918, Kirjola became their refuge from the Bolsheviks. In 1921, Edla Nobel moved to Stockholm, where she passed away, while Georg and Marta Oleynikov (the daughter of Ludvig and Edla Nobel and her husband) remained at the estate. From 1921, Georg became a co-owner of the Kirjola estate.
On the “Doctor’s” island near the manor house, he created a small garden surrounded by a high (2-3 meters) stone wall measuring 50 by 30 meters. On the southern side, glass windows were embedded in the wall. The structure was a semi-open greenhouse. A small conservatory was built into it, where grapes, peaches, and corn were grown. The garden on the island played a tragic role in Oleynikov’s life. On a frosty January morning in 1937, the doctor went to the island to check his greenhouse. On the way back, the ice cracked beneath him, and Georg found himself in icy water. His cries for help went unheard as it happened far from the shore. The one-armed disabled man was unable to get back onto the ice.
Georgy Oleynikov was buried in the cemetery of the village of Vaahtola.
On November 30, 1939, the war began. On December 4 and 5, residents of the surrounding villages gathered their belongings and headed to evacuation points and further inland. Kirjola also became deserted. The estate was used as a headquarters. When in February 1940 the front line approached Kirjola and the retreat of Finnish troops became inevitable, the last units burned the village down. Such was the cruel tactic of war — to leave no valuables or buildings to the enemy. The magnificent Nobel mansion, mined in advance, was blown up just before the arrival of the Red Army. There is no information about Alakirjola during the interwar period of 1940-1941. In 1942, the former residents returned to the village.
But no one ever came back to the ruins of Kirjola.
The estate park still preserves a well. It was built by landscape architect Arnold Eduardovich Regel at the request of the widow of engineer Ludvig Nobel — Edla Nobel. The well is part of the Alakirjola estate. It is still in use. Locals draw water from it. The best-preserved buildings are the utility structures, which are still in use.
The stables, which until recently were still used for their intended purpose. Unfortunately, a very sad story is connected with them. When the entrepreneurs who started a business breeding thoroughbred horses ran out of money, the horses simply began to die of starvation. Concerned locals raised an outcry, involved television, and the surviving horses were confiscated by decision of the Vyborg court. Surprisingly, the tragedy is not felt at all in the stables. The spacious, clean, bright rooms with stoves remain.
Under the Nobels: “A stone stable was built for keeping thoroughbred racehorses, where faience bowls were used for feeding the horses, and the animals drank from a fountain with spring water shaped like a bear’s head. The grooms lived here as well, in special apartments on the second floor.”
And what about the manor house itself? Only fragments of the luxurious castle remain, inaccessible for general viewing as they are located on private properties. Two plots are located on the foundation of the Nobel house. On one of them, a fragment of the exterior can be seen behind a fence.
Sources:
https://vk.com/@go_primorsk-usadba-nobelei-v-landyshevke
https://otzyv.ru/review/163377/
https://dzen.ru/a/YRjRmVvg2Uzf5NqW
https://sovetskiy.vbglenobl.ru/turizm/ala_kirola_usadba_semi_nobel/ala_kirola/istoriya_usadby
