Among the great variety of 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 Nizhny Novgorod railway station.
Location
On the territory of the city, in the immediate vicinity of the metro bridge, there is the Romodanovsky railway station, which today has lost its original functionality. It is located at Kazanskaya Square, 1, which is 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 private transport, moving from the Kanavinsky bridge to the right along the lower embankment. In a modern city, these streets are slightly busy, mostly residents of nearby areas meet here, and only then tourists come. However, during the years of active operation of the station and the port, traffic along the route was constant.
Currently evaluate the building from otherviews other than the façade will not succeed because it has the status of private property. But thanks to the preserved appearance, interest does not dry out even with such a condition.
Creation idea
The history of the Romodanovsky railway station dates back to an 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 planned plan, the paths ran along the Oka, without crossing the river, and the station was located near the pier, here were also the mills of the merchants Bashkirovs and Degtyarevs.
The construction of the Romodanovsky 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 the new section of the railway was laid. In those days, the settlement was considered quite large, which very quickly affected the significance of the new site. Even before the official completion of the construction of the Kazansky railway station, in 1903, the station acquired the status of a transport hub.
Appearance
The architecture of the building was very different from the first day, and therefore stood out from the usual facades. The name of the author of the Romodanovsky railway station in Nizhny Novgorod has not been preserved in history, the sources only mention the name of the engineer who presented the project - Tolmachev. The construction of the station was supervised by a man whose name and regalia are also not recorded in the archives. His surname is Voronov. The building is made in the style of classicism and today is one of the mostbeautiful.
The modern appearance completely repeats the original idea of the architect, during the reconstruction the smallest details were restored, which were refined according to the photographs that have survived to this day. Maintaining accuracy when recreating the domes was the most difficult process, they were corrected three times. For the work done on the renovation of the Kazansky railway station, the authors were awarded at the festival "Architecture 2005".
Main destinations
The geographical location of the station between a river and a mountain teeming with landslides did not allow to lay a sufficient number of railway tracks to implement all the ideas for passenger and freight traffic. Therefore, in the early years, trains went 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 Ruzaevka, and then to the suburban Kudma and Pavlovo. Trains to Kazan from Romodanovsky Station started running in the second half of the 20th century.
The increase in the number of trains and destinations is also due to the presence of a whole mill complex here. During the years of active work of the station, one freight and one wagon depot functioned, transshipment to river vessels was also carried out from the berth.
Features of the railway line
The area through whichthe rails were laid, not distinguished by calmness. Groundwater provoked frequent landslides long before the construction of the railway. To solve this problem, throughout the entire section "Romodanovsky railway station - Myza", drainage adits were made in the mountain, designed to release dangerous waters. The structures can still be found in their place today.
Such a landslide containment system was once awarded a silver medal at 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 that involved connecting the two city stations with a tunnel that was supposed to pass under the Oka, but it did not advance beyond the idea stage. And the events that took place some time later made the final adjustments.
Ending 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 its effectiveness. During the existence of the Romodanovsky railway station in Nizhny Novgorod, landslides occurred repeatedly, but they did not cause significant problems for the functioning of the station.
With all this, the gradual washing away of the banks by the waters and the steepness of the slope played their role, and the elements still prevailed. In February 1974, a severe landslide blocked the railway line, overturning a tram, which caused the station to close. At that time, a bridge had already been built connecting two city stations,therefore, we decided to carry out further communication without the participation of a dangerous stretch of track.
The rails between Myza and Gorky-Kazansky were dismantled, and the previously crowded station building soon fell into disrepair.
Glory about the Kazan railway station
The railway line "Timiryazevo - Nizhny Novgorod" with an unusually beautiful building at the end point of the route lasted 70 years from the date of official opening until the end of direct activity. However, his fame is captured not only in archival data.
For the first time, the Romodanovsky station in Nizhny Novgorod was mentioned in the essay "Volga and Kama" by LN Andreev in 1902, where he described his journey, which began just from here. For the 110th anniversary, a book about the history of the architectural monument was published, the authors of which are V. Semiletov and I. Savina. Vladimir Krupnov, the current owner, spoke about the business and its connection with the station, its main building more than once.
In addition to literature, the station building also made its way into the cinema, where the shooting of the TV series based on the work of A. Tolstoy "Walking through the torments" was carried out. At the time the film was made, the station was no longer working, but in the frame the railway comes to life again.
New life
The stoppage of the entire station had a negative impact on the adjacent buildings, they quickly fell into disrepair. After 19 years, the building was officially given the status of an architectural monument, but it was only possible to return to its former appearance by 2003. Contributed to this Vladimir Krupnov, creatorplastic card business. He chose the former railway station as his company's office in 2001 and began renovating it.
Restoration was carried out by Viktor Zubkov, the initiator of the detailed preservation of the building's appearance. Through his efforts, it is possible to feel the spirit of history more than a century ago. Today, on the territory of the former Romodanovsky railway station, there is an office of the NovaKart company, which is a private property. Tours are not conducted here, so with the exception of the facade, it is not possible to get acquainted with the interior of the architectural monument.
