Former Volzhsko-Kamsky Commercial Bank (Moscow)

 office building, Eclectic (architecture), interesting place, 1890_construction, object of cultural heritage of regional importance (Russia)

The first mention of representatives of foreign countries is the Ambassador's order by Ivan the Terrible regarding free trade for the English and the establishment of the Old English Court on Varvarka Street in 1556. An early reference in Russian annuals dating to 1601 describes the area now occupied by Ilinka 8 and 10 and perhaps 12 as the Ambassadors' court. Russian rules for presenting one's credentials required that foreign diplomats or agents be confined until the tsar arranged for their reception at the Kremlin, usually in the Palace of Facets. A Polish diplomate residing there in 1678 described the building, constructed on order of Aleksei Mikhailovich as being three stories high of brick with four turrets at the corners and a rectangular central courtyard. The main beauty of a building was a tall and graceful tower that served as its entrance and the multiple balconies.

When the capital moved to St. Petersburg, the Ambassador's Court was abandoned and in 1706 linen factory occupied the building. Then in 1717 court confidants Apraksin, Shafirov and Tolsoy operated a silk factory on this site until the fire of 1737 destroyed it. Later it was the location of the largest private cotton mills in Moscow. Towards the end of the 18th century the land passed to N. Kalinin and A. Pavlov. Between 1785 and 1790, Matzei Kazakov built for them a three-story rental property, originally in neoclassical style, with shops on the lowest level and apartments above. Some time in the 19th century the site was divided into two parts, Ul. Ilinka 8 and 10.

In 1889 the architect B. Friedberg remodeled this part for the Volzhsko-Kamsky Bank, one of the largest commercial banks in Russia prior to the 1917 Revolution. Master sculptor, Mikhail Dmitrievich Kutyrin (1855-1923) and his workshop designed the high quality and detailed ornamentation. Note the two composite Baroque domes on the towers at either end of the building, the platbands and window decorations, the Corinthian pilasters, the narrow balconies and arched windows at the street level.