Basements of a complex of apartment buildings of a Moscow merchant society. Apartment house of the Moscow merchant society "White Lady" from the merchant's tower

THE DECREE REMAINS IN FORCE (SPEECH AT THE SOLEMN MEETING OF THE ALL-RUSSIAN EXTRAORDINARY COMMISSION FOR THE ELIMINATION OF ILLITERACY AND THE PRESIDIUM OF THE CENTRAL AND MOSCOW COUNCIL OF THE "DOWN WITH ILLTERACY" SOCIETY) LIFE DICTSComrades, when it comes to, for example,

The structure of merchant self-government bodies has its roots in the distant past. In the Moscow state by the 16th century. the population was organized into hundreds and settlements, which were self-governing Traction Unions. But even then the embryo of self-government appeared - the General Meeting of sotskys and elders of all hundreds and settlements began to be convened. From this board came petitions to the Orders or directly to the Tsar regarding their needs.

In the 18th century, starting from the reign of Peter I, merchants were divided into guilds. Even then, a new body arose in Moscow, uniting merchants of all 3 guilds - the “Guild of Moscow Merchants” (GMC). It existed until April 1785, when, by City Regulations, Catherine II granted the merchant class new rights and advantages, allowed them to gather in Classes and form Societies; instead of the posad, she introduced citywide self-government - by creating the "Gradsky Society" she gave merchants the right to be elected to positions that could be passed on by inheritance. In the Guild, executive functions belonged to the Presence of all guild elders and elders, and administrative functions belonged to the Civil Council, the meeting of all merchants. All guild merchants could appear at them, so representation in the assembly was unstable and fickle. This order changed in 1805, when "GMC" was transformed into the "Merchant Department of the House of Gradsky Society." The meeting of the City Society in Moscow actually replaced meetings in the Guild; the councils of the Merchant Society began to be chaired by the mayor, as a rule, from eminent merchants.

By 1863, the MKO not only managed the affairs of the merchant class, but also actually replaced the completely atrophied City Duma, which from the beginning of the 19th century. I stopped gathering altogether. In 1863, the merchant class achieved complete self-government. At the head of self-government were elected merchant councils and an assembly of elected representatives of honorary citizens and merchants. In 1918, the MKO suspended its functions, and was revived by an initiative group in 1995.

The territory inside Kitay-Gorod was traditionally considered a merchant area in Moscow - from time immemorial there were numerous rows and markets, shops, warehouses and wholesalers' offices. At the beginning of the 19th century, a plot of land between Cherkassky Lane and the Kitaygorodskaya Wall near Lubyanka Square belonged to retired lieutenant N.D. Pashkov, who donated it to the Moscow merchant society. The merchants along the perimeter built the courtyard with stone two-story shops, which rented them out. On September 15, 1881, there was a strong fire, which they could not put out - the glow of the fire obscured the street lamps even in Zamoskvorechye. In 1882, on the site of the fire, stone buildings were erected according to the design of the architect B.V. Freudenberg, using old German Gothic motifs of Hanseatic trade buildings in their design. Later, the complex of buildings on the side of the courtyard facades was built on one floor while maintaining the general pseudo-Gothic style. Apartments were rented out in the new premises.

Market on New Square. On the left, behind the colonnade of the Church of St. John the Evangelist is the house of the Moscow Merchant Society (before the superstructure), on the right are the shops built on the inside of the Kitai-Gorod wall.

It should be noted that Stalin’s redevelopment of the city in the early thirties played a cruel joke on the building. At that time, the Soviet press especially emphasized the appearance of a new spacious avenue, which arose on the site of the demolished Kitai-Gorod wall and ran from Lubyanka to Varvarskaya Square. But the front side of Freudenberg's building faced the alley, and its rear part was closed by a wall! Now, the wide Lubyanka Square faces the four rear buildings of this complex with a complex layout, one of which, moreover, is plastered and painted beige instead of brick red. This architectural absurdity is partly compensated for by the neighboring house, which also belonged to the Moscow Merchant Society. It was built in 1909-1911. Fyodor Osipovich Shekhtel, and he clearly demonstrates the change in artistic tastes at the turn of the century - the building is decorated in the spirit of Art Nouveau and is one of the textbook examples of this style within the architecture of public buildings.

The neighboring MKO house, built by Shekhtel.

The front facade from Bolshoi Cherkassky Lane. Part of the building belongs to the Central Election Commission, and smiling FSO employees politely asked me to erase the photographs. I pretended to do the laundry :)

I remember how back in the eighties, luxurious Gothic lamps (even if they were no longer working then) hung on figured cast-iron brackets in pointed arches, which have now disappeared to God knows where.

The Trading House of the Moscow Merchant Society is a building in Moscow, built in the rational modernist style by the architect F. O. Shekhtel in 1909-1911. Located at Maly Cherkassky Lane, building 2.

In the 1920s and 30s, the building housed the People's Commissariat of Health.

The building was built in the style of rational modernism, and in its appearance one can see elements of future constructivism and formalism. The composition of the facade is based on rhythmically changing vertical and horizontal divisions in the form of large windows and semi-elliptical vertical pilasters.

The windows occupying most of the façade plane were made possible thanks to the use of the frame structure of the building. The vertical pilasters located between the windows at the fourth floor level are decorated with metal strips with relief and are crowned on the top floor with arched niches in which sculptural antique masks are located.

The last, fifth floor is slightly smaller in height; the building ends with a cornice with rounded corners.

December 4th, 2013 , 01:15 pm

This review is about a complex of apartment buildings at the address: st. Solyanka 1/2, as well as about the legendary system of historical dungeons located underneath them. The history of the quarter goes back to the origin of the street name. Around the 17th century, on the corner of the current street. Solyanki and st. Zabelin, a huge, by those standards, stone commercial building with trading pavilions and a large courtyard was built. The place quickly gained popularity among residents and received the name “Salt Fish Yard” among the “people.” The shopping arcades were repeatedly rebuilt and expanded, but due to the lack of comprehensive renovation, they became dilapidated over time. The merchant society bought the entire salt yard, which by the beginning of the 20th century was falling apart, since each premises was owned by a specific entrepreneur and the local government could not collect funds from everyone for the repair of the entire building (a typical situation for shopping arcades of that time, the same situation was with Upper shopping rows).
In 1913, the courtyard was completely dismantled down to the foundations, and on the site of the former Salt Rows, multi-storey apartment buildings were erected for the Moscow Merchant Society in the neoclassical style. Spacious basements with high vaults were built under the houses. An interesting fact is that colossal amounts of money were required to strengthen the old foundations, so the layout of the basements in some places was not changed. The main difference between old basements and current ones is the absence of sectional divisions. In the salt yard, each shop had its own fenced-off cellar.
Initially, the spacious premises were used for household and food warehouses, but later underground garages and workshops for the needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were located here. However, due to increased dampness, the dungeons were abandoned over time. Empty basements have become a habitat for looters and car thieves. Cars and motorcycles stolen from city streets were sorted out in former underground garages. After the advent of perestroika, the system was abandoned again and gradually became cluttered with garbage brought here from the street, and was flooded due to the negligence of utility services - communications here were not repaired for a long time.
In the early 2000s, they suddenly remembered about basements and even showed a number of reports on television. From that time on, a new leaf of history began - the dungeons caused a stir among the newly minted “researchers”, with a light hand receiving the laconic name “Solyanka”. Groups of young people gathered here several times and even illegal squats were set up. The garbage that had accumulated over decades was repeatedly set on fire by drunken teenagers, thereby causing outrage among residents of the surrounding houses. Around 2008, the outrage reached its peak - the last straw was the burning of a smoke bomb. The governing bodies took radical measures. The system was literally mothballed, sealing numerous descents from the lower floors of houses and holes from the street.
For many years, the basements remain difficult to access for illegal visits. Recently I was able to visit the renovated Solyanka. What I saw was very different from the state in 2008, when the system was stinking and damp, and the garbage in some places reached almost to the ceilings. The main galleries were radically cleaned, the vaults were strengthened and communications were rebuilt. Some of the spaces are now used for storing specials. equipment, and lighting is working in all main galleries.

Dome on the roof of Solyanka 1/2, building No. 2.

Recently, the entire complex of apartment buildings was thoroughly taken care of. Work was carried out to measure all the premises, and then, based on them, the exact layout of the complex was recreated. The next stage was the strengthening of existing structures and relocation of outdated communications. Now the main work is taking place on the surface - restoration of building facades is underway.

Crossing Podkolokolny lane. and st. Solyanka.

Any passerby can see the building from the outside, so let's hurry down to the underground galleries.

This is what the main entrance to the basement system looks like.

Right outside the gate. Once upon a time, there were no gratings or thick sheets of iron here. The descent was accessible to everyone from the courtyard.

The first thing we meet on our way is a small Belarus brand tractor with a trailer.

The tractor turned out to be in working condition, but with an empty tank :) Nearby there are locked gates leading to a lighted room - inside there are various special equipment. machinery and equipment.

The basements have a height of 5 m, a two-level, and in some places a three-level structure. In the underground part of the building there are roads where oncoming cars can pass freely.

Over the past 5 years, the passages in the system have become noticeably cleaner. Previously, the level in some galleries reached almost vaults.

However, in the distant parts of the dungeons the former “atmosphere” is still preserved.

Almost all the doors and gates were dismantled and now the basements look much larger.

New water pipes stretch under the arches.

The remains of the body of a car stolen back in Soviet times.

Fortified vaults.

In one of the corners of the system, several rooms were fenced off with a net.

In the basements the pump runs periodically.

Kingdom of the Web.

In their current state, basements are accessible approximately one and a half times less than after the construction of the house. Many premises are occupied by shops and offices from above, some of the passages are walled up or closed.

White "hall". This part of the room got its name due to the presence of decoration. Previously, these rooms housed office archives.

Stairs leading to another level.

Of course, I couldn’t get into the system and get around everything at once, so I decided to repeat the walk with my friends. They, in turn, decided to make a sudden surprise. The quiet hum of ventilation and leaking pipes suddenly replaced the loud mechanical noise!

Has there been anything similar in the last 10 years? :)

That's all.

You can spend hours admiring the dimensions of the central galleries, the numerous passages, empty abandoned rooms, and sometimes finding exits to other levels.