Description of the attraction
The Ostrovsky Baths are the first capital balneological facility in the city of Zheleznovodsk. The hydropathic establishment is located in a public garden between V. I. Lenin and the railway station. On its facade, entwined with ornate Arabic script, there is an inscription on which the name and years are spelled out - “Ostrovsky Baths. 1891-1893.
By its appearance, the structure is very similar to the palace of the eastern sheikh. It was built according to the project of the St. Petersburg architect P. Yu. Suzor. The younger brother of the great Russian writer and playwright MN Ostrovsky, the then Minister of State Property of Russia, also took an active part in the implementation of this unusual project. It was in his honor that the building of the hospital was named.
After M. N. Ostrovsky approved the site for the construction of a hydropathic establishment, he organized a competition in Zheleznovodsk for the best project for the construction of baths, as a result he was interested in the idea of the architect P. Yu. Suzor. The construction was supervised by the mining engineer A. V. Conradi. The construction of the baths was completed at the end of the healing season in 1893. Experts highly appreciated the buildings: in technical and aesthetic qualities they were compared with the best similar buildings in Europe.
In May 1894 the regional newspaper "North Caucasus" announced the opening of a new bathroom building in Zheleznovodsk. At the same time, it was decided to give the name of the Ostrovsky Baths to the new building. The facade of the building is decorated with high windows with Moorish arches, red horizontal stripes, unusual round metal domes, shimmering brightly in the sun, columns at the entrance and, of course, Arabic script.
Ostrovsky's baths were completed and modernized, and 85 years later they were restored. They were equipped with shower compartments, which were supplied with water directly from wells. In 1972, the opening of the Zheleznovodsk balneological mud baths took place here, which to this day provides all comers with mineral and mud procedures.
The Ostrovsky Baths are a striking landmark of the city of Zheleznovodsk, without which it is already difficult to imagine this resort.
