Industrial East of Moscow region. Orekhovo-Zuevo.
I continue the last series of posts on the Industrial East with a report about Orekhovo-Zuevo. I visit this place rather frequently by different necessities. Orekhovo-Zuyevo is an industrial city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located 85 kilometers (53 mi.) east of Moscow, in a forested area on the Klyazma River (a tributary of the Oka). Formed in 1917, through the amalgamation of several industrial villages, Orekhovo-Zuyevo was one of the largest textile-manufacturing cities in Russia, specializing in cotton. Chemicals and engineering were also important, and peat was extracted in the area.
The first known facts about what is now Orekhovo-Zuyevo date back to 1209. The place was mentioned in the Moscow Chronicles as "Volochok," where the battle between Vladimir's prince Yury and Ryazan's prince Izyaslav took place. The name "Volochok" (or, as it was later called, "Zuyev Volochok") is derived from the Slavic word for "portage": a place where wooden ships were carried by land from one river to another. In this place in particular, the ships were usually moved by land between the Klyazma and Nerskaya Rivers. The villages Orekhovo and Zuyevo were mentioned in the chronicle several more times during the Middle Ages.
In 1797, a serf peasant named Savva Vasilievich Morozov opened his first silk factory in Zuyevo. Morozov eventually became a textile magnate. This peasant serf and Old Believer worked as a weaver for a local merchant, and borrowed a large sum from his employer to buy his way out of army service. The merchant was very glad to get a debt slave... but a couple of years later Savva Vasilich fully returned the debt. He married, and opened his own textile factory. The products of the factory were personally sold by him in Moscow. In 1823, the profit from his business allowed him to be freed from serfdom. In 1830, he moved his factories to the opposite bank of the Klyazma River, to the place later named Nikolskoye.
In 1797, a serf peasant named Savva Vasilievich Morozov opened his first silk factory in Zuyevo. Morozov eventually became a textile magnate. This peasant serf and Old Believer worked as a weaver for a local merchant, and borrowed a large sum from his employer to buy his way out of army service. The merchant was very glad to get a debt slave... but a couple of years later Savva Vasilich fully returned the debt. He married, and opened his own textile factory. The products of the factory were personally sold by him in Moscow. In 1823, the profit from his business allowed him to be freed from serfdom. In 1830, he moved his factories to the opposite bank of the Klyazma River, to the place later named Nikolskoye.
For almost two centuries, the economy of Orekhovo-Zuyevo was built on the textile industry, growing up around Savva Vasilievich Morozov's textile production. Cotton production in Orekhovo-Zuyevo made the city the third largest industrial textile center in Russia by the beginning of the 20th century. After the Revolution of 1917, Morozov's textile mills were nationalized, becoming known as "Orekhovo-Zuyevsky Khlopchato-Bumazhny Kombinat" (the Orekhovo-Zuyevo Cotton Center). Textile production continued until the 1990s, when the Soviet textile industry collapsed due to poor management and the inability to compete with imported textiles, which were of better quality and cost less. Almost all production was shut down, and the factory halls were turned into market areas and trading centers, or were abandoned.
In this post, I want to begin to post photos from the east to the west of the town. My first photos from the area were taken near the railway station "Krutoe". I frequently visit Orekhovo-Zuevo for personal reasons, and have many photos from there.
The architecture of old industrial towns is very beautiful in its strictness. There are plenty of brick, red and white colors here. These are the buildings of one of local schools, built in the beginning of 20th century.
Exhibition centre.
Like in other old industrial towns there are many examples of Soviet constructivist architecture in Orekhovo-Zuevo.
A common local feature is the monuments made of granite in different parts of the town.They are monuments to local revolutionaries who had worked in the factories of Orekhovo-Zuevo during the Tsarist era.
In 1885, Morozov's textile factories in Orekhovo-Zuyevo became the site of the first and largest Russian workers strike. Times changed, and the strengths of "business in the old believer's style"--in a well-coordinated, half-closed community with great social obligations and mutual trust--increasingly turned into its weakness. The economic crisis also affected the area. Since the beginning of the 1880s, social care for workers was sharply diminished by the Morozovs. Unwritten rules of mutual aid for the workers’ community diminished, but the wages did not rise. During the same time, a system of fines was established, and it forced some of the workers to earn only enough to pay off their debts to the company. The last straw was the cancellation of days off for one of the holidays, during the winter of 1885. The industrialists suddenly and unexpectedly were faced with a large and well-organized strike at their factories. The leaders of the strike, Petr Moiseenko and Vasily Volkov, had filed a claim. It demanded a return to earlier, higher salaries, a maximum of 5% for fines on workers, salary compensations, permission for workers to choose supervisors in their cooperatives according to old believer laws, and revision of some other rules in the labor laws of the Russian Empire. The strike was soon suppressed by soldiers and Cossacks, and salaries did not rise, but the scale impressed not only Morozovs, but even the Tsar himself. As a result, the fines for several months were compensated for workers, and even some legislative concessions were initiated. The Morozov family was again engaged in the social help sphere, and many other manufacturers, at least for a while, realized that it was better not to anger workers.
The monument of those events was erected in 1923.
And another one was built later, next to the building of local administration.
The old factory nearby is mostly abandoned, but partially transformed into a shopping mall. Generally, many buildings in the industrial area are abandoned.
You find only graffiti, destruction, and complete chaos inside. The building is in very bad condition. Most of the windows on the first floor have barbed wire barriers to prevent attempts to get inside, but they don't help. The factory is a popular place with local teenagers, and in the summertime homeless people frequently visit it.
The original pre-revolutionary stairs. The steps were removed in order to prevent people from accessing the tower on the factory’s roof.
You can take many depressive photos here, and the entire area evokes sadness.
The rust and feeling of loneliness everywhere.
This time, I go to another side of Orekhovo-Zuevo, by the pedestrian bridge over the railway.
The old water tower here resembles the tower on a medieval castle, with clocks on all four sides. Underneath it is an artesian well, drilled in 1895 to a depth of 123 meters, with a capacity of 150,000 buckets per day. The tower served as the basis of life support of the working area. Metal tanks were installed in the upper part, from which water poured to the barracks. From an architectural point of view, the tower fits perfectly into the complex of theater street buildings, as all of them, including barracks, hospital, and Winter Theater were made in the Art Nouveau style. This style of architecture was common during the era of its construction. Now the water tower is abandoned, and those who went inside say that the condition in there is very bad.
There is pre-revolutionary barracks of workers on another side of the street.
The Winter Theatre, built in 1911. Like many other facilities in Orekhovo-Zuevo, it was built by the initiative of Savva Timofeyevich Morozov, the grandson of the founder of the Morozov dynasty of entrepreneurs, Savva Vasilyevich Morozov, about whom I've written above. In a difference from his father, he took good care of the workers in his factories, and they repaid him with trust. He abolished the penalties and fines imposed by his father, and provided high-quality medical care for the workers. He was the first of the Industrialists who introduced money benefits for pregnant women working in the factories. Like some other Morozovs, he wasn't only a businessman, but also a philanthropist. He donated money for the construction of hospitals and maternity shelters. He gave money for the publication of books, and gave financial support for the creation of the Moscow art theatre.
Front side of the Winter theatre.
The hospital Church of St. Ksenia of Petersburg. Some people say that in the beginning of 1990s local mobsters helped with the restoration of this church. Orekhovo-Zuevo was one of the most criminal towns of Moscow region during that time.
And the hospital. The infrastructure of the town was very good at the beginning of 20th century.
There is also another interesting medical facility in the town. That’s the tuberculosis
This house was private property before the revolution. In the Soviet era it became one of the buildings of the tuberculosis hospital.
All these photos I've taken very quickly. I’m afraid of anything connected with the word
The main building.
The abandoned building. Just look at this lovely porch.
left the territory of the hospital and went to see the building of the church nearby. The church was built next to the Nikolskoye School, which was established by Timofei Morozov (one of sons of Savva Vasilievich Morozov), in 1864. In Soviet times, the building of the church housed a gym for the school № 3. The domes were demolished. For many years after the end of the USSR, the church was abandoned. In that time it was a favorite place for local drug addicts. Several years ago, it was returned to the church, and now it's been intensively restored by the local orthodox community.
The land around Orekhovo-Zuevo was populated mainly by old believers before the revolution. Different groups of them had their own praying houses in the town, but only one has remained. This church was built in 1884. It was without any decoration elements because old believers in Russian empire couldn't built temples before 1905. In 1905, those limitations were cancelled. The dome and the bell tower were built, and the building ultimately became to look like a church. In 1936, the church was closed, but the icons and books were kept by believers in secret places. Part of the collection was transferred to Daugavpils when the Church of the old believers burned down there. The building for many years housed the flying club, then warehouses of DOSAAF (a paramilitary sport organization in the Soviet Union).
And the biggest temple of Orekhovo-Zuevo is the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Built in 1890 and closed in 1939, but during the war, in 1943, returned to believers. It was a time when many closed churches were opened again. Stalin was a cruel dictator, but he wasn't a fool. He understood that just an abstract "working class" could not fight successfully against the Germans, but a Soviet nation united by ideas shared and understood by most Russians, could.
Military fighter Su-17. It's situated in front of the plant that produced oxygen and fire equipment for the needs of aviation.
There are still many Soviet symbols on the streets.
The part of the town on the left side of the Klyazma River, covered mainly by blocks of flats built in Stalin’s time and afterward. The name of the house in the photo above is "a house with a spire". I don't know where the spire is now, though. Maybe it was removed due to terrible rust. Among all the buildings in the area from Stalin’s time, this one is in the worst condition.
This is the last photo from Orekhovo-Zuevo that I have. It was a residential house for engineers, technicians and medical staff at the Nikolskaya factory.
The old water tower here resembles the tower on a medieval castle, with clocks on all four sides. Underneath it is an artesian well, drilled in 1895 to a depth of 123 meters, with a capacity of 150,000 buckets per day. The tower served as the basis of life support of the working area. Metal tanks were installed in the upper part, from which water poured to the barracks. From an architectural point of view, the tower fits perfectly into the complex of theater street buildings, as all of them, including barracks, hospital, and Winter Theater were made in the Art Nouveau style. This style of architecture was common during the era of its construction. Now the water tower is abandoned, and those who went inside say that the condition in there is very bad.
There is pre-revolutionary barracks of workers on another side of the street.
The Winter Theatre, built in 1911. Like many other facilities in Orekhovo-Zuevo, it was built by the initiative of Savva Timofeyevich Morozov, the grandson of the founder of the Morozov dynasty of entrepreneurs, Savva Vasilyevich Morozov, about whom I've written above. In a difference from his father, he took good care of the workers in his factories, and they repaid him with trust. He abolished the penalties and fines imposed by his father, and provided high-quality medical care for the workers. He was the first of the Industrialists who introduced money benefits for pregnant women working in the factories. Like some other Morozovs, he wasn't only a businessman, but also a philanthropist. He donated money for the construction of hospitals and maternity shelters. He gave money for the publication of books, and gave financial support for the creation of the Moscow art theatre.
Front side of the Winter theatre.
The hospital Church of St. Ksenia of Petersburg. Some people say that in the beginning of 1990s local mobsters helped with the restoration of this church. Orekhovo-Zuevo was one of the most criminal towns of Moscow region during that time.
And the hospital. The infrastructure of the town was very good at the beginning of 20th century.
There is also another interesting medical facility in the town. That’s the tuberculosis
hospital near the center. Its buildings were built before the revolution and most of them
are wooden.
This house was private property before the revolution. In the Soviet era it became one of the buildings of the tuberculosis hospital.
All these photos I've taken very quickly. I’m afraid of anything connected with the word
"tuberculosis". Actually it's an irrational fear, because I obviously meet people every day
who are ill, and I just don't know about it. The ability of organisms to resist infection
depends on the individual features of the person and their general health. So, let's all
participate in sports as much as possible and try to lead a healthy lifestyle. Anyway, I feel
fear from tuberculosis even now, like I’m afraid of HIV and Hepatitis, so I wanted to leave
the hospital area as soon as possible.
The main building.
The abandoned building. Just look at this lovely porch.
left the territory of the hospital and went to see the building of the church nearby. The church was built next to the Nikolskoye School, which was established by Timofei Morozov (one of sons of Savva Vasilievich Morozov), in 1864. In Soviet times, the building of the church housed a gym for the school № 3. The domes were demolished. For many years after the end of the USSR, the church was abandoned. In that time it was a favorite place for local drug addicts. Several years ago, it was returned to the church, and now it's been intensively restored by the local orthodox community.
The land around Orekhovo-Zuevo was populated mainly by old believers before the revolution. Different groups of them had their own praying houses in the town, but only one has remained. This church was built in 1884. It was without any decoration elements because old believers in Russian empire couldn't built temples before 1905. In 1905, those limitations were cancelled. The dome and the bell tower were built, and the building ultimately became to look like a church. In 1936, the church was closed, but the icons and books were kept by believers in secret places. Part of the collection was transferred to Daugavpils when the Church of the old believers burned down there. The building for many years housed the flying club, then warehouses of DOSAAF (a paramilitary sport organization in the Soviet Union).
And the biggest temple of Orekhovo-Zuevo is the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Built in 1890 and closed in 1939, but during the war, in 1943, returned to believers. It was a time when many closed churches were opened again. Stalin was a cruel dictator, but he wasn't a fool. He understood that just an abstract "working class" could not fight successfully against the Germans, but a Soviet nation united by ideas shared and understood by most Russians, could.
Military fighter Su-17. It's situated in front of the plant that produced oxygen and fire equipment for the needs of aviation.
There are still many Soviet symbols on the streets.
The part of the town on the left side of the Klyazma River, covered mainly by blocks of flats built in Stalin’s time and afterward. The name of the house in the photo above is "a house with a spire". I don't know where the spire is now, though. Maybe it was removed due to terrible rust. Among all the buildings in the area from Stalin’s time, this one is in the worst condition.
This is the last photo from Orekhovo-Zuevo that I have. It was a residential house for engineers, technicians and medical staff at the Nikolskaya factory.
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