In 1996, the construction of this palace was initiated in one of the scenic areas of the Moscow region adjacent to the grounds of an ancient estate.

The palace was supposed to become part of a resort that was owned (and still is) by the Russian gas company Gazprom. But since those were some turbulent years, something went wrong and the construction works were put on hold.

The best experts from Russia and Turkey were invited to participate in the project, and top quality imported equipment was purchased and partially installed, including vent systems, conditioning, compression pumps and water pumping units.

Circling the building we see numerous staircases, doors and windows, and also a few great two-level balconies with pillars.

In places where the pillars lack finishing, it is possible to see that they are made of iron pipes.

Avoiding the sealed doors, we get in through an open window. After looking at about a dozen rooms we realize that there’s nothing to see there, and take the concrete stairs in order to get to the central halls of the palace.

While inside, we finally manage to find the central entrance of the building and the main staircase. There are some blue tanks lying around near the entrance that look like bearing elements of a boat bridge.

After coming up the main stairs we find ourselves in the central hall of the building beneath a huge dome.

The dome is more than 25 m (82 ft) in diameter

It feels exciting to be standing under it, and everything around you is flooded with light.

In the center of this drum-shaped room there is a round hole. A pool and a fountain were supposed to be there.

It is possible to appreciate the size of the room while standing in one of the multi-level balconies. An impressive sight indeed!

Besides the central one, there are 4 more domed structures in the building, but smaller in diameter

The surface of the domes here is not smooth; they consist of several sectors, like an umbrella.

We go upstairs to get a top view of all this

And finally, the fourth of these drum-shaped halls greets us with crude brick walls and a unique feel

The vent systems of the building

And then we finally discover an exit to the roof

A bit later, we find stairs leading down on the ground floor — the building has a basement!

There are lamps switched on in the basement as well as in the attic

As for structure, the basement is a ring-shaped hallway with the base of the fountain in the center and utility rooms all along the outer circle

In one of the rooms we come across a pressure pump of a small elevator and a document journal concerning that same elevator

The elevator itself is on the ground floor waiting for someone to come in

We continue exploring the basement and looking at the typical basement rooms with pipes, valves and pumping units

The industrial air conditioner is also located in the basement

Also, there are lots of large reservoirs

All of the identifying nameplates have 1996 for the manufacture date. The construction was also started at that time, and the equipment was probably the best out of all that was available, because you know, it’s Gazprom, after all!

All these rooms in the basement reminded me of the underground lab from the popular Breaking Bad show (right now I’m finishing watching it)

After exploring the basement, getting cold and soaking our feet we headed to the exit, since there was nothing more to see in the palace

Images @ lana sator