One of the most famous and grim places in modern Moscow is the pre-revolutionary house of merchant Igumnov, built at the end of the prosperous 19th century. Today, this mansion houses the French embassy, but none of the ambassadors or their families live in the residence, and the staff try not to stay late. The reason for this is the frightening rumors.

Before the revolution, the mansion belonged to the wealthy merchant family of Igumnovs, who moved to Moscow from Yaroslavl. In 1851, they purchased a large plot of land here. In 1888, Nikolai Igumnov began construction of a large mansion, but unexpectedly died in 1893. The official cause of death was tuberculosis, but rumors of his suicide still circulate. After the mysterious death of his brother, Ivan Igumnov, one of the richest men in Moscow, continued the construction, known for his bad and despotic character.

The construction was completed in 1895. The mansion was designed in the Russian style with elements of classicism and impressed with its magnificence. Architectural elements and techniques transformed it into a fairy-tale abode, and the interior was richly decorated with paintings and furnishings from the 17th and 18th centuries. However, soon a bad reputation began to spread around the house. It was said that Ivan Igumnov walled up his mistress, a young actress named Varvara, in a secret room, and she was never seen again. Igumnov himself was later exiled for another crime. In a fit of vanity, he laid gold coins depicting the tsar on the floor and urged people to walk on them.

After the arrival of Soviet power, the building was confiscated, and soon a skeleton supposedly chained was found inside. The worn limbs indicated that the captive had tried to free herself and died in agony. In our time, the ambassador's wife saw a young woman twice: first, she was sitting on her bed, and then she was singing in the kitchen before disappearing. This was also reported by an embassy employee who did not believe the ambassador's wife and stayed overnight in the house. Some guests of the mansion claimed to have stumbled over an invisible obstacle, and one Frenchman saw the latch of the lock rising and falling by itself. Perhaps much of this is exaggerated, but not everyone would dare to visit this place.