Lines, colors, light, textures

.. this one has it all.

It's mid-afternoon and this is the roof of the Cambodian embassy in Moscow. It's a beautiful structure - high ceilings, tall windows, classic colors.

The building was previously a city mansion belonging to succession of nobles. One of them, Ivan Alexanderovich Fonvizin, whose brother Mikhail was one of the Decembrists (the group of officers who revolted against Nicholas I in 1825), was born here in 1789. Ivan reportedly owned 1,000 serfs and inherited a further 2,000 when his brother was exiled to Siberia. He spent his working life in the army (including service in the 1812 war) and resigned in 1821 to get married and settle in a village declaring himself 'всей душой посвятив себя единственно семейной и домашней жизни' ('devoted solely to family and home life'). Reportedly he visited Moscow only rarely therafter.

Interesting to see in those days that people tried 'to get away from it all'.

LARGE