Among the great many attractions, architectural monuments are always of great value. And the richer the history of the object, the higher its significance for posterity. One of these is the building at the railway station of Nizhny Novgorod.
Location
On the territory of the city in the immediate vicinity of the metro bridge is the Romodanovsky railway station, which today has lost its original functionality. It is located at Kazanskaya square, 1, at the end of the street. Chernihiv on the right bank of the Oka.
You can get to the former station both by public and by personal transport, moving from the Kanavinsky bridge to the right along the lower embankment. In the modern city, these streets are slightly lively, mainly residents of nearby areas are found here, and only then tourists come. However, during the years of active work of the station and port, traffic along the route was constant.
At present, it will not be possible to evaluate the building from other angles, except for the facade, since it has the status of private property. But thanks to the preserved appearance, interest does not run out even with such a condition.
Idea of creation
The history of the Romodanovsky railway station dates back to the industrial and art exhibition held on the eve of the 20th century, after which a project was developed to create a railway line connecting Nizhny Novgorod with Kazan. According to the plan, the paths ran along the Oka without crossing the river, and the station was located near the pier, there were also mills of merchants Bashkiry and Degtyarev.
The construction of the Romodanovsky railway station building dates back to 1900-1904, while the first train passed along the rails of the line already in 1901. The object got its name from the village, where they laid a new section of the railway. In those days, the settlement was considered quite large, which quickly reflected on the importance of the new site. Even before the official completion of the construction of the Kazan station, in 1903, the station acquired the status of a transport hub.
Appearance
The architecture of the building from the first day was very different, and therefore stood out among the usual facades. The name of the author of the Romodanovsky railway station in Nizhny Novgorod has not been preserved in history, only the name of the engineer who submitted the project is listed in the sources - Tolmachev. The station was supervised by a man whose name and regalia were also not recorded in the archives. Surname of his Ravens. The building is made in the style of classicism and today is one of the most beautiful.
The modern appearance completely repeats the original idea of the architect, during the reconstruction the smallest details were restored, which were clarified by photographs that have survived to this day. Maintaining accuracy when reconstructing domes became the most difficult process; they were corrected three times. For the performed work on updating the Kazan station, the authors were awarded at the festival "Architecture 2005".
Main directions
The geographic location of the station between the river and the mountain, abundant in landslides, did not allow to lay enough railway tracks to implement all the ideas for passenger and freight traffic. Therefore, in the early years, trains departed only to Kharkov, Timiryazev, located in Mordovia, and the regional Lukoyanov.
Gradually new trains and routes appeared. So, in the 30s, trains were added in the direction of Arzamas and Ruzayevka, and then to the suburban Kudma and Pavlovo. To Kazan, trains from the Romodanovsky train station began to travel from the second half of the twentieth century.
The increase in the number of compositions and directions is due, in addition, to the presence of a whole mill complex here. During the years of the station’s active work, one freight and one car depot functioned; transshipment to river vessels was also carried out from the berth.
Features of the railway line
The terrain through which the rails run is not calm. Groundwater provoked frequent landslides long before the construction of the railway. To solve this problem, drainage adits designed to release hazardous waters were punched in the mountain throughout the Romodanovsky Station - Manor section. Buildings can be found in place today.
Such a landslide containment system was once rated the silver medal of the Paris World Exhibition. The work was carried out manually, the length of the deepest adit exceeds 1.5 km. Much later, a project was discussed, involving the connection of two city stations with a tunnel, which was supposed to pass under the Oka, but he did not move beyond the stage of the idea. And the events that happened after some time, made the final adjustments.
Completion of the story
Even in the days of the first passenger traffic, local residents were wary and distrustful of this section of the road, but gradually the drainage-adit system proved to be effective. During the existence of the Romodanovsky station in Nizhny Novgorod, landslides occurred repeatedly, but they did not pose significant problems for the operation of the station.
With all this, the gradual washing of the coast by the waters and the steepness of the slope played a role, and the element nevertheless prevailed. In February 1974, a severe landslide blocked the railway line, overturning the tram, which was the reason for the closure of the station. At that time, a bridge connecting two city stations had already been built, so they decided to carry out further communication without the participation of a dangerous stretch of track.
The rails between the points "Manor" and "Gorky-Kazan" were dismantled, and before the crowded building of the station soon fell into disrepair.
Glory about the Kazan station
The Timiryazevo-Nizhny Novgorod railway line with an unusually beautiful structure at the final destination followed for 70 years from the date of its official opening until the completion of direct activities. However, his fame is captured not only in archival data.
The Romodanovsky railway station of Nizhny Novgorod was first mentioned in the essay “Volga and Kama” by L. N. Andreev in 1902, where he described his journey, which began just from here. A book on the history of an architectural monument, authored by V. Semiletov and I. Savina, has been released for the 110th anniversary. Vladimir Krupnov, the current owner, has repeatedly talked about business and its connection with the station, its main structure.
In addition to the literature, the station building also got into the cinema; here the series was shot based on the work of A. Tolstoy's "Walking through the agony". At the time the film was made, the station was no longer working, but in the frame the railway came to life again.
New life
The shutdown of the entire station had a negative effect on the adjacent buildings, they very quickly fell into disrepair. After 19 years, the building was officially awarded the status of an architectural monument, but it was possible to return to its former appearance only by 2003. This was facilitated by Vladimir Krupnov, creator of the plastic card business. He chose the former train station as an office for his company in 2001 and began to rebuild it.
Restoration was carried out by Viktor Zubkov, the initiator of a detailed preservation of the appearance of the building. His efforts have the opportunity to experience the spirit of history more than a hundred years ago. Today on the territory of the former Romodanovsky railway station is the office of the NovaCart company, which is a private property. There are no guided tours, therefore, with the exception of the facade, it is not possible to get acquainted with the inside of the architectural monument.