Moscow Orphanage
Russian: Воспитательный дом в Москве | |
The Orphanage, January 2018 | |
Interactive map of Moscow Orphanage | |
| Location | Russia: Moscow, Moskvoretskaya Embankment |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 55°44′59″N 37°38′12″E / 55.74972°N 37.63667°E |
| Designer | Karl Blank |
| Type | monument, architectural monument and educational institution |
| Beginning date | 1764 |
| Completion date | 1960's |
The Moscow Orphanage, also known as the Foundling Home, (Russian: Воспитательный дом в Москве or Russian: Московский императорский воспитательный дом) was an ambitious project conceived by Catherine the Great and Ivan Betskoy, in the early 1760's. This idealistic experiment of the Age of Enlightenment was intended to manufacture "ideal citizens" for the Russian state, by bringing up thousands of abandoned children to a very high standard of refinement, cultivation and professional qualifications. Despite more than adequate staffing and financing, the orphanage was plagued, by high infant mortality and ultimately failed as a social institution.
The main building, one of the earliest and largest Neoclassical structures in the city, occupies a large portion of Moskvoretskaya Embankment between the Kremlin and Yauza River, boasting a 379-metre frontage on Moskva River. The complex was built in three stages over two centuries, from Karl Blank's master plan (1767) to its complete implementation in the 1940s. Today, the ensemble of the Orphanage houses the Academy of Missile Forces and Russian Academy of Medicine.