Fire brigade in Kostroma

The firehouse is one of the architectural highlights of the historical development of Kostroma. For nearly 200 years it has been standing on Susaninskaya Square in the center of the ancient city, invariably attracting the attention of tourists traveling along the Golden Ring of Russia. This stone evidence of the town-planning art of provincial Russian architects and craftsmen is included in the register of monuments of architecture of the country.

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Video: Firehouse

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Highlights

The building of the Kostroma fire calancha stands between Simanovsky Street and Tekstilshchikov Avenue, with its facade facing Susanin Square, where a monument to the peasant hero has been erected. In 2019, scaffolding was erected around the kalancha to refresh the paint on the outer walls. Today, the tower looks as good as new. Buses, trolleybuses, and shuttles run to this recognizable landmark of the city.

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In the cubic building, on which rises the slender octagonal tower of the kalancha, there is a tour bureau and the Museum of Firefighting. Inside the tower is a narrow spiral staircase leading to the guardhouse on the observation balcony. However, entrance there is closed to tourists.

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History of the fire tower in Kostroma

In the 70s of the XVIII century in Kostroma there was a big fire that destroyed the wooden quarters of the Volga city. The plan of new construction of the provincial center was approved by Catherine the Great herself, and in the following decades in the merchant Kostroma formed a beautiful architectural ensemble, which even today defines the image of the historical core of the city. The central square, framed by the arched carriages of the Gostiny Dvor and trading rows, was decorated with an architectural dominant – a 35-meter high tower of the fire brigade built in 1823-1827. The architects managed to give the utilitarian observation tower of the fire department the function of the center of the composition on the main square. The kalancha became one of Kostroma’s iconic buildings.

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The best advertisement that made the local fire tower famous throughout Russia was a phrase uttered by Emperor Nicholas I, who visited the provincial city on the Volga in 1834. Having seen this remarkable construction, the tsar was amazed to recognize that there is no such a beautiful kalancha even in the capital of the empire. Now this flattering quote is repeated by Kostroma tour guides walking with tourists on Susaninskaya Square. Having examined the building, you will also be convinced that it would fit quite well into the architecture of St. Petersburg.

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The firehouse served its intended purpose until 2005, when the city authorities decided to transfer the building to the Regional Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve. Now the excursion department is located here. Its employees provide travelers arriving in Kostroma with maps and guides, organize informative tours of museums and attractions, trips to the picturesque surroundings of the city.

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Architecture

The project of the firehouse in Kostroma was developed by the talented architect Pyotr Fursov, who served as a provincial architect. The intricate building was erected by artels of Kostroma and Yaroslavl craftsmen – skilled masons, plasterers, plasterers of plaster decorations, blacksmiths who forged beautiful lattices for the balustrades.

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In accordance with classical canons, the elegant facade of the kalancha is decorated with a portico with six white columns. They are shaded by exterior walls covered with mustard-colored plaster, embroidered under squares of voluminous rustic. Behind the columns are two tiers of tall windows framed with stucco decoration. Fire brigades lived here, ready for immediate departure at the guard’s signal. Attached to the walls of the cubic building are two wings of the fire depot with arched gates, where once stood horses, britches with water barrels and pumps, and since the 1900s – fire trucks.

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Above the vault of the main four-story cubic volume rises an octagonal kalancha tower, decorated in the Empire style. It is crowned with a circular balcony resting on retaining brackets, in the center of the sentry platform arranged guardhouse in the form of a glass rotunda. From there the whole pre-revolutionary Kostroma was visible up to the outskirts. At the rotunda hung a bell, which the duty officer used to notify the city about a fire. Now the bell is kept in the museum on the first floor of the calancha.

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Museum in the calancha building

Five rooms in the building of the kalancha are occupied by a fire-technical exhibition, and here local historians have arranged a small Museum of firefighting. Sad martyrologist reports that from the XIII century to the beginning of the XIX century the city 12 times almost completely burned out in colossal fires. After the organization of the fire department, fires did not lead to such catastrophic consequences. The exposition presents old engravings and photographs of fire brigades on horse-drawn brigades, models of fire engines of the beginning of the last century, models of modern machines with retractable ladders, authentic hand pumps of 1917-1930 years of production, a collection of fire extinguishers. The mannequins demonstrate helmets and clothes of firefighters of different years, modern heat-reflective suits.

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The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 16:00. Entrance ticket costs 70 rubles, for students and pensioners – 50 rubles, school-age children are allowed in for free. For photography and videography is required to pay 30 rubles.

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There are several museums and galleries within walking distance of the fire brigade. In the nearby building of the former garrison brig there is an exhibition of weapons, in the building of the Noble Assembly you can see the paintings of the art gallery, watch a performance of the youth theater. The Romanov Museum has a rich collection of exhibits telling about the history of Kostroma. One of the buildings of the Fish Rows houses traveling exhibitions, and in the Flour Rows there is an interesting Bread Museum.

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Where to eat

Fiori Pizzeria and the Russian Traditions restaurant await guests in Mukhny Ryadakh. Opposite Susaninskaya Square is the popular institution “Time for Coffee”, next to it is the tavern “Yerevan” and the Caucasian cuisine restaurant “Old Tiflis”.

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How to get there

Susaninskaya Square, which is decorated with a fire tower and other architectural monuments, is the main transportation hub of Kostroma. Twenty-two city transportation routes stop here.

From the local regional airport “Sokerkino” (Kostromskaya Street, 120), which is 5 km from the city center, to the square run shuttle buses № 13, 21, 99 and bus № 15. From the railway station to the fire brigade you can get by trolleybuses No. 2, 3, 7, as well as by minibus No. 93. From the bus station (21, Kineshemskoye Shosse) to the square go buses No. 1, 2, 9 and all passing shuttle buses. Trolleybuses No. 4 and 9 stop a few steps away from the kalancha.

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