The State Palace and Park Museum-Reserve “Ostankino and Kuskovo” is a museum complex that unites two unique Moscow estates.

The Russian estate is a phenomenon of our history and culture. It synthesized the traditions of family and clan, noble and peasant culture, city and province, Russia and the West.

The collection of the State Museum-Reserve “Ostankino and Kuskovo” is based on the family collection of one of the most noble and ancient Russian families — the Sheremetev family. It began with the founder of the count’s branch — Field Marshal Boris Petrovich Sheremetev (1652–1719), who was promoted to count by Peter I in 1706 for suppressing the Astrakhan rebellion (he was the first in Russia to receive this title). He was one of those people in the emperor’s entourage who enthusiastically embraced the turn to Western European cultural traditions.

Kuskovo and Ostankino are the surviving architectural and park ensembles of the 18th century in Moscow, the history of which is inextricably linked with the activities of Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev (1713–1788) and his son and heir Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev (1751–1809).

The creation of a single museum complex made it possible to unite two estates linked by the continuity of generations and love for art, which resulted in the creation of the Sheremetev serf theater — a striking phenomenon in the history of Russian theatrical culture. Having originated in Kuskovo, the Sheremetev serf theater, which operated in the last third of the 18th century, stood out not only among a large number of serfs, but also among professional capital theaters in St. Petersburg and Moscow. It was focused on the best examples of European and Russian drama, opera and ballet art. The development of theatrical history led to the construction of the palace-theater in Ostankino, which today is the only theater building in Russia from the end of the 18th century that has preserved the decoration and structure of the stage, the auditorium, as well as the interiors of the foyer and part of the theater machinery.

The creation of the palace and park museum-reserve “Ostankino and Kuskovo” became an important historical step towards the unification of the Sheremetev heritage and the development of joint museum and exhibition activities of the estates of Kuskovo and Ostankino.