Tenement Building of V.K. Chirikov

Tenement Building of V.K. Chirikov

Rostov-on-Don is a million-plus city, and, beside new residential estates and modern architecture, you can see buildings in its streets that are amazing in their elegance and beauty. The regional capital has numerous architectural monuments built before the October Revolution. There are a lot of buildings constructed in various styles: Baroque, Neoclassicism, Art Nouveau, Renaissance and others.

At Budennovsky Avenue, 46, there is a building which now accommodates Police Station No. 4 of the Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Rostov-on-Don, the Southern Operational Customs House, a penitentiary office. The building was built by architect Leonid Eberg for Vladimir Chirikov, an owner of a confectionery factory and a member of the city council. The five-story tenement building was constructed in 1914 in the Art Nouveau style with some elements of the Renaissance style.

The building is an impressive piece of architecture with a multigabled roof, having a symmetrical façade formed by two rectangular bay windows. Two columns adorn the building, they appeared thanks to the customer’s insistence. Harmony and grandeur of its proportions, elegant details, finishing touches and ornaments of its cornices, medallions and emblems above the double windows brought the building out among buildings nearby. The tenement house of V. S. Chirikov became an integral city-making element of Rostov’s old center.

In addition to the exterior beauty, the building boasted state-of-the-art conveniences: hot-water heating, electric lighting, telephone, an elevator connecting the basement and the floors and a summer garden on the roof. Shops were on its first floor. Apartments of the tenement house had 4,5, 6 and 7 rooms.

During the Russian Civil War, the building housed a hospital for the wounded of Denikin’s White Army. Later, the Soviets nationalized the building, preserving shops on the first floor. In the early 1920s, the building caught fire, which seriously damaged the building. It stood empty for several years, and only in 1927, a project and cost estimates were presented for its restoration. The building was not put in commission until 1929. Its façade retained its original appearance; however, practically no traces remained of the interiors of the former tenement building.

During the Great Patriotic War, despite frequent bombing of the city’s center, the building survived and was restored to life at a time of restoration of Rostov-on-Don from 1946 through 1953. Currently, the tenement house of V. K. Chirikov is on the regional cultural heritage list.

You can admire the architectural monument at Budennovsky Avenue 46, Rostov-on-Don.