The history of one photo - an old merchant's house, bell tower

This photo is over 50 years old, made in the 60s. The house on the photo is located in the town of Bolkhov, Oryol Region at ul. Lower Frunze, 26. At present, it also exists, but it has been altered and it looks different, and the street already has a different name.

I took a photo of my husband as a child. He was 7 years old when he was fascinated by photography. Mom bought him all the photo accessories, a book and he learned to take it off.

The history of the old house.

In ancient times it was a merchant's house. It was built before the 1917 revolution. The house was taken away from the merchant by the Bolsheviks. It was altered for the local intelligentsia into 4 small apartments, each representing a small kitchen with a stove and a living room. The floor is a common corridor for two apartments, and there is a space for storage rooms in it. You go into the apartment - a tiny entrance hall, if you can call it the place where the clothes hanger was, and you immediately get into the kitchen, and next to the living room.

Before the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, a female medical assistant lived in one of the apartments on the top floor. Downstairs, one apartment was occupied by the family of a civil engineer. About other families is unknown.

After the war, a military commissar and a district police officer lived on the top floor. At the bottom - a local security officer and continued to live the family of a civil engineer

The house in all the apartments had stove heating, so a lot of wood was harvested for the winter. They were stored in a barn (in the photo on the right). It was one room, which was also divided by partitions into four families.

The amenities were all on the street. There was also no water supply, for the water went into the column at a distance of 300-400m, and under the hill there and back with buckets of water was already on the hill. Bolkhov is called the “city on seven hills,” since it was built on high ground.

Furnaces built by a merchant were lined with beautiful tiles. On each floor there was such a furnace. And in the new version they were located in the corridors. "New" stoves in rebuilt apartments are ordinary Russian stoves with a stove bench. All families in the house had samovars on the coals. At that time, everyone liked to drink tea with sugar. Large sugar heads pricked with a large knife. Brewed tea mainly from herbs. The delicacy was considered to be the Three Elephant welding, which was hard to get.

Each family had a house plot, just behind the barns. They mainly grew potatoes, cabbage and cucumbers. The times were hungry.

History of one ancient bell tower.

In the background of the photo on the right you can see a rather tall bell tower built in 1827. Before the revolution, the church (1735 built) of St. Nicholas the Potter was located next to it. She was then destroyed by the Bolsheviks, in her place built a dining room. But the bell tower survived.

In the 70s of the 20th century, on orders from above, local authorities decided to demolish the bell tower. The brickwork of the bell tower was very strong. The workers, who climbed to the very top, began to dismantle the masonry and could not beat a single piece from it. One worker even broke down and fell. After that, they decided to blow up the bell tower. At the same time, a young employee of the local museum of local lore tried to preserve the bell tower as a historical monument. She went to Moscow to get permission for her safety. Although she achieved this, she did not have time to return when the bell tower was still blown up.

During the explosion, the brickwork of the bell tower fell into large pieces, it was impossible to break them into small pieces. The old men told me when they built this bell tower, they were preparing a lime mortar with the addition of egg whites.

Large pieces of brickwork were loaded into cars with an excavator. When loading was done, the excavator buried a large slab on the ground with a bucket and moved it from its place. Under it was a room that was lined with coffins. Work immediately stopped. The local authorities rushed to the regional center for instructions - what to do next. A local archive has been raised. It turned out that the bell tower and the previously destroyed church, which was located next to it, were built in honor of the burial of high church dignitaries. After that, the plate was set back into place. Removed the remains of the brickwork. Banned in this place any construction. At present, a flat, unbuilt place has survived without any coatings. Located on Lenin Street. Previously, this street was called B. Nikolskaya.

So just one photo, but it turned out the whole story.