The building of the Alexandrov trading house
In pre-revolutionary Balakovo, in the Art Nouveau style, not only estates were built, but also trading houses, of which there were also plenty here, which is no wonder - the village (and since 1911 the city) was a trading place. To get acquainted with the pre-revolutionary trading houses of Balakov, let's walk a little along Zaovrazhnaya Street and turn left: onto Sovetskaya Street (formerly Nikolskaya). Three blocks later, at the intersection with 20 Let VLKSM Street (formerly Mariinskaya), our first goal.
Building number 59 is a former trading house. Some sources note that this is the former trading house of Alexandrov, but Alexandrov is indicated as the last owner, and the builder of this expressive building with an airy corner bay window topped with an elegant turret is named merchant A. A. Kuznetsov. Balakovo local historian Yu. Kargin, having studied archival documents, proved that there was a mistake with Kuznetsov and that this house was built by the same Alexandrov, who died in 1912. At the time of the owner’s death, the building housed a wine and gastronomic store, as well as clothing, shoe and hat stores. In the house, which has been well restored, which is, generally speaking, a rarity for Balakov, an ancient cast-iron staircase has been preserved.
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In the city of Balakovo, the most interesting from an architectural point of view has always been the old town. In it you can still find nineteenth-century buildings with their inherent individual provincial charisma and architectural solutions.
One of them is an architectural monument, the Schmidt trading house, built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the Art Nouveau style,
It especially attracts the eye, forcing you to pause - it stands out with its sculptural high reliefs and helmet-like roof.
It is located at the intersection of 20 Let VLKSM and Chernyshevsky streets.
Merchant Shmidt Andrei Andreevich was one of the largest merchants in the Samara and Saratov provinces, who had shopping malls in many cities and villages. He traded in agricultural implements and guns, textiles and haberdashery.
The Schmidt House is an architectural monument built at the beginning of the 20th century and once served as the trading house of the Russian German A. A. Schmidt.
Revolvers, hunting rifles, gunpowder, sewing machines, Leitner bicycles, Badovsky mowers, Continental tires, Gargoyle gasoline and oil and much more were put up for sale there.
It is also known that in the workshop of I. Zudin, from whom V. Chapaev studied carpentry and joinery, seeders and winnowers were made for the merchant Schmidt.
The variety of Schmidt's product range can be judged by the high reliefs placed in niches on the façade of the trading house.
His house is still one of the main historical and architectural monuments, under state protection. The eastern and northern facades of the Schmidt trading house, built in the Art Nouveau style, are connected to each other by a central semicircular risalit, ending with a scaly hemispherical dome. The main entrance to the trading house was here, but subsequently the doorway was blocked and a window was made in its place.
Above the main entrance on the second floor there is a figured balcony,
and in the niche of the rhizolith to the left of the balcony there is a high relief of the god Mercury, the patron of trade, depicted with small wings on his heels, helping him to move at high speed in the trading world.
In the niche to the right of the balcony there is a high relief of the goddess Diana, the patroness of hunting and fertility, depicted with a bow and arrows. There were also additional entrances to the trading house in the middle of the eastern and northern facades, but currently the entrance on the eastern side, like the central one, is blocked.
Above each of these entrances on the second floor there are light and beautiful balconies called bay windows. Everything is unusual in this house: unusually shaped domes, balconies, door and window openings.
In the niches of the second floor above the semi-ellipsoidal window there are high reliefs of a sower and a reaper, full of movement and plasticity.
The niches above the high reliefs are decorated in the form of majolica multi-colored caps. Majolica niches are also placed on bay windows. The interior layout of the trading house is reminiscent of the St. Petersburg “Passage”. On the second floor there was only an open shopping gallery running along the walls. Customers entering the store could already see from below what they were selling there. From under the dome, a large ball hung from the ceiling, reminiscent of a modern New Year's ball, covered with mirrors. It was possible to climb up the stairs running along the walls of the semicircular central projection and walk around it. Currently, almost everything has been preserved, except for the statue of Zeus, which was installed above this rich trading house, and the inscription along the horizontal belt separating the first and second floors, indicating its affiliation with the trading house.
Over the years, the building housed a two-level school, a pedagogical college, and a secondary school. The building has fallen into relative disrepair. Now there is an auxiliary boarding school here (26 Chernyshevsky St.).
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Hotel and shopping complex of merchant A. V. Smirnov
We pass another block along Sovetskaya Street and on the right we see a complex of buildings facing Lenin Street. These two-story, solid houses were built, connected by a one-story “lintel” in the familiar brick style. This is one of the largest architectural ensembles of old Balakovo: a hotel and shopping complex of the merchant A.V. Smirnov. It was erected at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when, as you might guess, there was a construction boom in Balakovo. In the main building of the complex there was a hotel on the second floor, and a store traditionally operated on the first floor. It is known about Alexander Vasilyevich Smirnov that in Balakovo he was highly respected for his business and human qualities. In addition, in the history of Balakov he remained as the first merchant to receive a guild certificate after the transformation of the village into a city (before such certificates were not allowed to be issued here). This happened in December 1914. Strictly speaking, it was Smirnov who became the first “official” Balakovo merchant.
The building of the trading house of A. A. Schmidt
Finally, we definitely need to see the building of the trading house of A. A. Schmidt, which is one of the architectural symbols of the city. It is located on the corner of 20 Let VLKSM and Chernyshevsky (formerly Samara) streets. Construction - 1912, obvious Art Nouveau, one of the best examples of this style in Balakovo. The latter fact allows some authors to claim that F. Shekhtel took part in the design of the building, who was visiting Balakovo at that time to supervise the construction of the Trinity Church.
A. A. Schmidt was one of the largest traders in the Samara and Saratov provinces; he specialized in the sale of agricultural implements, textiles, haberdashery, and weapons. A list of goods presented in his Balakovo store has been preserved - among them: revolvers, hunting rifles, gunpowder, Singer sewing machines, Aitner bicycles, Badovsky mowers, Continental tires, Gargoyle gasoline and oil, etc. Internal the layout of the building, according to contemporaries, was reminiscent of the St. Petersburg “Passage” - the second floor was an open shopping gallery. The interiors of that time, unfortunately, have not been preserved, but the external appearance of the building has remained unchanged: the figured balcony, bay windows with turrets, the unusual “curvilinear” window of the northern facade and sculptures placed in niches are especially beautiful here: the characters of the sculptures were selected to emphasize the purpose of the building, - this is the god of trade Mercury, the goddess of hunting and fertility Diana, as well as the sower and the reaper.
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