In the very center of Kazan on a hill is a rather unusual building. Almost every resident of the city knows that this is a landmark of the capital of Tatarstan, Kazan - the old Shamovskaya hospital. Tourists love to take a closer look at it, and there are also various rumors about ghosts living there.
History of the Shamovskaya hospital in Kazan
The hospital was built back in 1910 with the money of the merchant of the first guild, or, as they would say now, the grain tycoon Yakov Filippovich Shamov. Construction began in 1907, but the merchant himself did not live to see it finish, and died in 1909.
Initially, he wanted to build an Old Believer church, thereby seeking to atone for his many sins. There are opinions that he wanted to pay off prison in this way. But the comrades who served with him as doctors convinced the merchant that his sins would best be atoned for if he would help ordinary people by building a hospital for them. Therefore, the fact that the hospital now stands on the hill, and not the church, the city owes the merchants' home doctors, namely Konstantin Abramovich Grachev and Vladimir Ivanovich Kotelov.
Shamov entrusted Grachev with organizing the construction, outlining only two conditions: Old Believers should be treated separately from people of a different faith, and the hospital building should be beautiful. But he asked not to swing too much in expenses. Grachev is excellent at getting both conditions fulfilled. The building turned out to be beautiful, and the Old Believers received treatment separately, taking into account the peculiarities of their religion. For Shamov, this was important, since he himself was an Old Believer.
Konstantin Oleshkevich was invited as an architect. It was he who, instead of the initial design of the two-story building, suggested replacing it with a three-story building. Shamov did not agree to spend money on the third floor for a long time. But the decisive factor was that if the hospital was completed with the money of the city treasury, then it would not be given the name “Shamovskaya”. And this was critical for the vain Shamov.
The Shamovskaya hospital is located at: Kazan, st. Kalinina, house 5. From the very beginning, had a connection with the Kazan Medical University. Students came there to practice, there was an exchange of experience between university professors and hospital doctors.
First Clinical City Hospital
Until 2009, the building carried out hospital activities. True, for the past 60-plus years it has been called the City Clinical Hospital No. 1. During the Kazan operation of 1918, the hospital building was badly damaged, and was restored only by 1920. Inside, it was refitted and has since become known as the City Clinical Hospital No. 1. With the same name, it closed.
But, despite this, many out of habit call it Shamovskaya. And after all, not every native Kazan will immediately realize where the City Clinical Hospital No. 1 is located, but if you tell him that this is the same Shamovskaya, he will immediately remember the location.
For a very long time, the hospital was considered one of the best in the whole city. It was equipped with advanced (at that time) equipment. But over time, they stopped pouring big money into it, and many equipment was hopelessly outdated. But people received high-quality medical care there until the close. Getting there was considered luck.
Sight
During a walk in the center, tourists often notice the Shamov hospital in Kazan, because it is located on a hill and can be seen from afar. True, now it’s dangerous to go there due to an emergency condition, officially the entrance is prohibited. But desperate daredevils and journalists make their way there illegally from the back, this can be done if you climb a ravine from the side of Volkov Street, and so get into the hospital yard. If you remain unnoticed until this time and the door is unlocked, you can get inside at your own peril and risk. It is clear that not everyone wants to take such a risk, it is reasonable. Therefore, today it is the attraction that is supposed to be viewed only from the side and on postcards.
Architectural style
From a bird's eye view, the hospital resembles the letter "Sh", and this is no coincidence, this is the first letter of the name of the merchant himself. The architectural style of the building itself is modern. This is a rare example of a civilian building of a special purpose designed in an exquisite architectural style. That is, the building was originally built for hospital needs, but in a seasoned style with decorative elements. Typically, such buildings were built either for cultural purposes, for example, theaters, and such buildings as hospitals were not decorated, but were built purely for unitary purposes. It is this feature that makes the Shamov hospital in Kazan an architectural monument.
Last year, the merchant’s wife was completing the hospital and it was at her insistence that the front of the building was decorated with the inscription: “Shamovskaya hospital”. She tinted in those years with gold paint.
The building has an old attic, accessed via a spiral staircase. And throughout the building you can find ancient levers, with which you can control the room temperature by adjusting the gap in the furnace dampers.
Downtime
The building was in satisfactory condition for several years. It was not restored, but was protected from raids by marauders and the homeless. Which was not always successful, and some of the glass was clearly broken not by the wind, but by people, the forged gratings were bent away with special tools.
There are a couple of cracks on the wall of the building, which, however, are quite repairable. Just until they began to do it. But the walls themselves are so solid and thick that even in winter with a complete absence of heating and the activities of people inside it is relatively warm. The walls during this period were covered with mold, which requires thorough cleaning. Since mold is very dangerous to health.
Description of the Shamovskaya hospital idle period is a separate delight for lovers of mysticism. Through the broken glass, wind seeps, which creates a characteristic sound. Strong walls almost prevented the penetration of moisture, and inside there is a whole furniture, doors hang on hinges, and inside it is quite possible to move around. The paint almost peeled off and flew off. Some rooms are sealed for some reason. After numerous repairs, nothing was left of the decoration of the revolutionary times in the chambers. Inside, these are ordinary hospital walls without any stucco moldings. But the stairwells, high ceilings with patterns, high windows and carved railings with the naked eye show pre-revolutionary greatness. In those days they were built for centuries, in the literal sense of the word, and after proper repair, the building will stand still for another decade.
Legends of ghosts
Since 2009, the building has been empty, but carefully guarded, and outsiders are not allowed there. Since his condition is satisfactory, and not all the windows are intact, the wind, walking around the room, makes frightening sounds. That was the reason for talking about the ghosts that are found in the Shamovskaya hospital in Kazan. Inside, everything remained the same as on the closing day, nothing was plundered. And you can find objects such as medical flasks, old equipment, photographs of wartime. If you walk along the corridors, you can see old signs, dried indoor flowers and even posters. And some rooms are sealed.
All this is almost ready-made scenery for a horror film. Surely for the entire hundred-year history of the Shamovskaya hospital in Kazan, she has seen many painful deaths and suffering. And if you believe those who recognize the existence of ghosts, it is precisely these circumstances that do not allow souls to rest and go to heaven.
Morgue
Most legends about evil spirits are also connected with the fact that next to the main building of the hospital is the former pathological department, or in vain the morgue. Even the guard does not go down there, since there is no need to guard him, and he has long been abandoned. The building is wooden and is in a much more deplorable state than the main one, and there is no longer any hope of rebuilding it into something more worthwhile. It is still worth it only thanks to the solid stone foundation.
Those who got in there notice the sinister atmosphere and the wind whistling through the completely shattered windows. And in the room where refrigeration equipment for corpses used to be, instruments and bubbles from medical solutions still lie on the tables corroded by the elements. Just make horror movies tomorrow. In such a room, any skeptic may be frightened.
Reconstruction
Having endured two wars, perestroika, a change of power and other cataclysms, the hospital did not stop its main activity all these years. But in 2009, it was decided to close it for large-scale reconstruction. This happened at the request of Rospotrebnadzor, as the building was recognized as an emergency. It was foolish to demolish such a property of the city, and the authorities decided to give a second life to the Shamov hospital. And to do this not at the expense of the treasury, but by attracting investors. This experience is not new for the capital. So, several houses, which are examples of wooden architecture, have already been restored with private money. Such projects provide for the transfer of cultural heritage objects at a reduced rate, but with the condition that gratuitous investments in restoration will be made.
According to the last of the approved projects, there will be a hotel. The walls are already cleaned of mold and the building looks bright again. The construction of new buildings and parking began. And at the main entrance there is a huge porch, designed in the general style of the building. Inside the Kazan Shamovskaya Hospital, reconstruction is also in full swing.
In addition to the hospital itself, Shamov’s crypt in the Arskoye cemetery was also recognized as a heritage site, it will also be restored. His crypt is especially valuable for the current Old Believers, it was they who financed its restoration. And the authorities have only supported the initiative to give permission for this.
The main condition of the authorities is that the appearance of the main building does not change dramatically, and it was clear that the building is old. And also, so that clients do not forget about the building in which it was decided to create a hospital museum.
Investors
The first talks about the new owner began a couple of years after the close. Residents were informed that the building is on the statement of the Malaysian company Aliran Adaman. And this was true, but the Malaysian project was rejected due to the fact that they wanted to make glass superstructures, thereby radically changing the appearance of the old building. The project of a private multidisciplinary clinic was put forward for consideration, which also did not find approval from the President of Tatarstan. Then information leaked to the press that the hotel would belong to the young Turkish hotel chain Rixos. But here it did not work out. And in the end they reported that the hotel will be called Kazan Palace.
SPA hotel or medical center
As a result, a spa hotel is planned in the building of the Shamov hospital. This will be a place where you can stop, get treatment and go in for sports. A kind of sanatorium for the wealthy. It is planned to build there:
- suites;
- swimming pool;
- gym;
- parking.
But since the intentions regarding the internal structure have been corrected more than once, it is difficult to hope that this is finally decided.
When will it open?
Since 2014, it became known that a hotel will now be in the Shamov hospital in Kazan. And since then, which dates have not been named. Most of all they expected for the World Cup, which was held in the summer of 2018.
They presented the project twice already: in the winter of 2014 and in the summer of 2015. Each time, President of the Republic Rustam Minnikhanov was pleased with what he saw. But then something went wrong, and conversations about it calmed down. The deadlines for the project were called different and constantly postponed. Initially, it was talked about 2017, and in the last mentions already about 2020.
Opinion of the townspeople
The townspeople themselves know little about at what stage the reconstruction is. But, in their opinion, Shamov himself would be unhappy with what is being built there. They believe that there was a need to leave a hospital for ordinary people. But in fact, not all of them understand how much it costs to restore a building in such an emergency condition. And that such a project is beneficial to both investors and the city.
At first, after the closure, photographers and journalists tried to break into it, someone even succeeded. The local media has a lot of articles about this place. Then the territory was overgrown with weeds, and they gradually forgot about it. But now the townspeople have noticed shifts in restoration and conversations have revived. Bloggers are launching quadrocopters over the hospital, and local media are wondering when it will be possible to visit the new hotel.