The houses of Volkov, Osipov or Morozov. In every Russian city, merchant houses have been preserved, which today, in addition to historical value, perform some other function. It can be a museum, a house of creativity, a library. Merchant houses form entire residential streets. Built "on the conscience" many years ago, they are still suitable for living today.
Urban Merchants
This is the class of people involved in trade. They were the link between production and the market. Accumulating capital on the resale of purchased products, they developed the Russian economy. All merchants were divided into three guilds, depending on the size of the state.
In large cities, we althy merchants, striving for self-assertion, built mansions and started the atmosphere of a lordly life, imitating the nobility. In small towns, solid manor houses were built on the central streets. Until now, in small towns, as a reminder of the past years, there are merchant houses of Volkov, Peskov or Kutakov.
Merchant names
But no matter what qualities and talentsthe “manufacturer” was not endowed, no matter how connoisseur of works of art he was, no matter what cultural baggage he possessed, he was far from immediately, if not never at all, was accepted “on an equal footing” among the nobility.
We know many merchant families that have remained in history, thanks to the nobility and generosity of their owners. These are Demidovs, Morozovs, Tretyakovs, Mamontovs and many others. And, nevertheless, for their purchase of mansions that previously belonged to noble families, such unkind epigrams went around the cities:
This castle brings a lot of thoughts, I involuntarily felt sorry for the past:
Where the Russian mind once reigned, Factory savvy now reigns.
Maybe it was simple envy. Indeed, in small towns, the construction of merchant houses, of course, is simpler, also did not cause delight for the majority of residents. But these houses today are the history of the city.
The surname Volkovy is very common in Russia, it was often found among the merchants. Each city had its own merchants and the houses of Volkovs with the same name. Let's get acquainted with some of them.
Volkovs from Vologda
Brothers Pavel and Alexander, merchants of the 1st guild, were active in trade in the 19th century. Alexander Evstafievich was engaged in charity work: he donated money for the church, for the care of the wounded and sick, and built a hospital. For this he was awarded a gold medal, was elected to the provincial Assembly, to the City Duma, was the City Head.
His sons, Nikolai and Sergey, continued the workfather. Nikolai Alexandrovich entered the service of the City Duma, and from 1893 he held the post of City Head. Under him, a telephone, water supply, electricity appeared in the city, a sequential numbering of houses was introduced.
The main income, of course, he received not from public service, but from trade, which allowed him to widely engage in charity work. Nikolai Aleksandrovich, his brother and the whole family are registered as hereditary honorary citizens of the city of Vologda.
The family had several houses in the city, one of which was stone. To this day, only one Volkov house in Vologda has survived, which is a monument of wooden architecture of the 19th century.
Volkovs from Novozybkov
The small town of Novozybkov in the 19th century received a powerful impetus to progressive growth, and then to fame, when the match industry began to actively develop here. Its founders were F. Maryutin from Vyazma and a local merchant Maxim Markovich Volkov. The match factory (pictured) and the Volkov & Sons trading house soon became known throughout Russia.
Annual production growth, which means jobs and profits, made Novozybkovsky uyezd the largest matchmaker in the empire by the end of the century.
Maxim Markovich is the inventor of the incendiary mass of matches without phosphorus. To ignite the mass, you need to draw it over a rough surface. Soon, his products began to be delivered abroad, and in 1908 the Volkov trading house in Novozybkov, together with the Osipov manufacturers, created a match shop. Russian monopoly "ROST". Of course, they were all benefactors of the city.
Volkov's house in the photo, built by the owner of the factory in 1904, adorns Lomonosov Street today. Chopped from logs, decorated with carved decor, it is a T-shaped composition in plan. Since 1948, it has housed the city museum of local lore.
Volkovs from Glazov
Sending his heir son Alexander on a trip to Russia in 1837, Emperor Nicholas I told him: "It is impossible to govern a country that you do not know." On that long trip, the future Emperor Alexander II also passed through the Udmurt districts of the Vyatka province.
Although Nicholas I ordered, "to see things as they are," every city was preparing for the arrival of the heir. So it was in Glazov: roads were hastily repaired, transportation across the Cheptsa River was prepared, and villages were cleaned up.
They entered the city at night, and the heir immediately went to the apartment, to Volkov's merchant's house. Izhevsk was the next city to visit.
On the porch the Mayor met Alexander with bread and s alt, and in the house - the whole merchant family. The table was set for dinner, in the center were two Chepetsk sterlets, which struck the heir with their size.
When leaving, the Tsarevich presented the merchant with an expensive ring and gave 300 rubles for the poor residents of the city of Glazov. And the house of the merchant Ivan Volkov, who gave the night to the future"Tsar Liberator" still stands today. He is almost two centuries old.
About the Volkovs
Merchant houses of the Volkovs have been preserved in many cities of Russia: Omsk, Kainsk, Saratov, Nizhny Tagil. There is a house-museum in Finland. Each of these merchants has its own story to tell. In some cities, only wooden or stone houses remained, associated with the name of the last owner, and somewhere there was a good memory of the deeds for their native city.
