Peter The Great And My City: Historical Outlook
The House on Pochainskaya Street
Should we take a stroll down the quiet bystreets of Nizhny Novgorod and follow our path up the Rozhdestvenskaya Street passing the Holy Myrrhbearers Church, we will find ourselves on Pochainsky Boulevard, and then, walking a bit further, finally reach the Zapochainye Side. And this is where we come across the living Russian fairytale – an astonishingly beautiful example of white-stone artisanship worthy of the palaces owned by the prosperous merchants of the past. Standing next to the facade of this two-story building, we notice a memorial sign – a high relief inscribed with “To the Russian Fleet Founder Peter I. 1696 – 1996. People of the Nizhny Novgorod”. It is the oldest house in the city and it was a residence of the Russian merchant Efim Chatygin in the second half of the 17th century. And it was there that according to the legend one bombardier of the Preobrazhensky Life-Guard Regiment who called himself Peter (young monarch Peter I preferred a more European pronunciation to his name) took a stay during the march on Azov in 1695. Let us turn now to the Nizhny Novgorod folklore book “Kuma-Charodeika” as it goes: “Volga (river) was overflowing and our sovereign judged that sailing onward on small boats was perilous and made a decision to put his artillery carried by 40 barges on 9 river lighters. That decision held Peter in Nizhny Novgorod for a week. During his stay the monarch chose to reside at Chatygin’s house on Pochainskaya Street”. Rich-looking place adorned with stone-made dressings and colorful tiles had a massive foundation, thick walls and narrow windows – perfect to accommodate the head of the state and also being close to Volga, Kremlin, local market and ever crowded Pochainskaya Street. “As a part of his concerns, the tsar visited the Chernorechensky boatyard on Oka (river). By his decree the boatyard set out to build wooden vessels suitable for river and sea navigation. (…) The fleet left Nizhny Novgorod on May 22”, - following the book “Nizhegorodskaya Starina” by D. Smirnov. The house saw several owners through its long and rich history. It belonged to the Dokukin merchant family in the 18th century, it served as a history museum in the 19th century, it was a night shelter, it was a property of the Society for Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, etc. In order to arrange regional exposition in 1890, the house was renovated by N.P. Ivanov, the architect, at the initiative of historian and ethnographer A.S. Gatsisky. The west side of the building had been furnished with the porch inspired by the architecture of the 17th century. The pillars of the porch were dressed with the tiles previously decorating the ancient Sergievskaya Church. As the exposition was moved to the Dmitrievskaya tower of the Kremlin in 1896, the indoors still served as storage of antiquities. The old photo made by Maksim Dmitriev shows that the north side of the building had a gallery carved to it. There were days when Pochainskaya Street was bustling with tradespeople, for everyone in Nizhny Novgorod was in anticipation of the distinguished guest – townsmen paved streets and procured supplies for Peter’s army. And maybe crowds were gathering to welcome their ruler. But today it is a restful place reminding us of the tales of the old. Let us step closer to the house, close our eyes and imagine: there he was, the great tsar making his way down the stone steps and sharply gazing into the distance – what were his thoughts? Surely, he was thinking of the forthcoming glorious deeds and victories. But for the time, the hard work lay ahead: a week to load the artillery on bigger ships, to repair riverboats, to supply men with provision. And that week made it into the history of Nizhny Novgorod. Your majesty, our respect to you. 