Description of the attraction
The fire tower is an outstanding architectural monument of the 19th century, which is located on the Susaninskaya square of the city of Kostroma and is its compositional dominant.
The fire tower is one of five buildings that are part of the head complex of the Kostroma Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve. Today, this building houses the excursion department of the museum-reserve, as well as storage funds.
The fire tower was erected on the initiative of the governor K. I. Baumgatren. At the end of 1823, the architect P. I. Fursov developed a project for this building and an estimate for the construction. In April 1824, the design documentation was reviewed and approved in St. Petersburg; and on May 3, 1824, a contract for the construction of the Fire Tower was already signed. Construction work was carried out in the period from 1824 to 1825 by A. Stepanov; finishing work was carried out by the artel of plasterers A. P. Temnov based on sketches by P. I. Fursov, as well as the sculptors from Yaroslavl S. F. Babakin and S. S. Povyrznev in 1825-1827.
When Emperor Nicholas I visited Kostroma in 1834, the watchtower aroused his admiration, it was after this that the name of the best fire tower in the Russian province was assigned to it.
In the second half of the 19th century, the tower was rebuilt several times. In the 1860s, wide side wings were attached to the Fire Tower for the needs of the fire station. In the 1880s, the "lantern" of the guard tower lost its original appearance - it was greatly simplified. But in the 50s of the 20th century, restorers returned it to its original appearance.
The entire period of its existence, the Kostroma Fire Tower was used only for its intended purpose, until recently this building housed the fire department for the Kostroma region. In 2005, the Fire Tower was transferred to the Kostroma Museum. The tower lantern is now used to install cellular antennas.
The building was erected on the model of an antique temple in the late Classicism style with a portico, which consisted of six tall columns with Ionic capitals and a high pediment. The facade, located behind the columns, was decorated with round rosette windows, in the center of the pediment there is an image of a two-headed eagle. The building of the Fire Tower consists of two floors, it is quite spacious, it housed all the necessary premises of the fire department of Kostroma: guardrooms and living quarters for the fire brigade and workers, sheds for barrels of water, stables.
The construction of the Fire Tower is crowned by a rather high observation tower, on which there was a gazebo-flashlight. The HSE can rightfully be considered a separate piece of architectural art thanks to its carefully thought out and elaborated details. The octahedron of the tower is covered with small rust, which makes it not look massive at all, but on the contrary, delicate and light.
The tower seems to "grow" out of the octagon of the base, which is surrounded on four sides by small Tuscan porticoes. The construction of the Fire Tower is crowned with a lantern, around which there is a bypass balcony.
When the bell tower of the Assumption Cathedral was destroyed in 1930, the fire tower became the highest point in the center of Kostroma.
