160 kilometers from Penza, on the Bank of the Khoper river is the famous estate of Sergey F. Golitsyn. A unique monument of architecture of the eighteenth century, immortalized in the paintings of famous artists and the stories of contemporaries, today is a dilapidated building, vaguely reminiscent of the Palace.

The history of the estate begins in 1776, when the Empress Catherine II gave land to the Volga Prince Golitsyn for military exploits and perfect service. The sprawling estate was located in the Balashov district, Saratov region, on a huge hill with a century-old grove and many springs. In the 1780s the years we have built a Palace and Park complex, which included: a three-storey stone Palace with adjoining wings (theatre and cooking), Transfiguration Church with a burial-vault of the Golitsyns, the chapel, the bell tower and decorative Tower in the Gothic style. In the Park between avenues were built, the fountains, gazebos, three miniature house (Chinese, kids and tea) and, complementing the beauty of the architectural ensemble, was a pool.. The unique authorship of the Palace complex, for lack of documentary evidence, most researchers attributed to two great architects - And.E.Starov and D.Quarenghi.

In the estate hosted a lot of famous people: I. E. Krylova, G. R. Derzhavin, A. N. Radishcheva, P. A. Vyazemsky, M. Yu, Y. P. Polonsky. The Golitsyn family was famous for his charity work and in the nearby village of Zubrilovo were built for farmers: school, hospital, hospice and a care home for children. But the Prince's estate failed to avoid "senseless and merciless" peasant rebellion, and the fall of 1905, all the buildings of the architectural complex were looted and burned. By the time direct heirs was gone and destroyed the manor was transferred to the state.

In the late 1930s, was restored Palace for rest houses of political workers, and in 1948 the estate was located in a tuberculosis sanatorium. In 1979 the basement of the sanatorium were flooded by groundwater, which led to the closure of institutions and the further desolation of the estate. In the 1990s, was partially restored Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral and the necropolis of the princes Golitsyn.