Description of the attraction
Opposite the Radishchevsky Museum, facing Teatralnaya Square, there is a three-story building with a memorable architecture, in which the Saratov City Hall is located in our time.
The house, built in 1867 by the merchant I. G. Kuznetsov, caused a wave of indignation because of the nondescript facade on the very central square of the city. In response, Ivan Gerasimovich only laughed. The owner of many land plots and houses in Saratov, the richest merchant had no bad taste and could not miscalculate. Immediately after the construction, the house was willingly rented by merchants for a commercial space (on the ground floor) and a hotel (on the upper two floors).
In 1902, the first floor was rented by the industrialist A. I. Bender, one of the richest people in the Volga region. The production and sale of cotton fabric (sarpinki) brought Andrei Ivanovich a considerable income, and in 1911 he bought the entire building from Kuznetsov.
In 1913, under the leadership of architect V. Karpenko and sculptor N. Volkonsky, Bender turned a nondescript building into an architectural landmark. The entire facade was decorated with stucco - wreaths, mascarons, and a figurine of Mercury (the god of trade) was located above the entrance. Facing Teatralnaya Square above the cornice of the house (in the attic) there was a sculpture of a lion wrapping a sarpine around the globe. So A. I. Bender showed all the power and wealth of the owner of the house.
1917 - revolution, turmoil and chaos drove the prosperous Bender out of Saratov. His further fate is unknown.
In 1918, the building began to be occupied by city services. Over the past almost a hundred years, the building has undergone many internal redevelopment, but the facade of the building has remained intact. Today the house belongs to the administration of the city of Saratov and has the status of an architectural monument.
