The former salt office building is a historic mansion at Rozhdestvenskaya Street, 8 in Nizhny Novgorod, connected to the trading history of the Lower Posad. It is known above all as the site where, in 1864, a major fraudulent scheme was carried out — one that entered the local history and regional studies tradition under the name "the Salt Swindle."[1] The mansion stands on Rozhdestvenskaya Street — the main street of the Lower Posad, which grew up alongside a market established in the 13th century at the mouth of the Pochaina River and runs from People's Unity Square below the Kremlin to the square by the Blagoveschenskiy Muzhskoy Monastery.[2][3]

The Salt Swindle of 1864

In 1864, near the salt office building on Rozhdestvenskaya Street, a fraudulent scheme was carried out that later became a symbol of Corruption. The details of the operation were recorded in local legends and the regional studies tradition; the building itself became a toponymic marker of the event. Those involved in the swindle were the head of the salt office, the nobleman Verderesvky, the salt-stores warden Terskiy, and the merchants Blinov and Bugrov: the salt warehouses along the Oka bank had been emptied before the spring flood that was used to explain the shortage; Verderesvky and Terskiy were stripped of all their rights, subjected to "civil execution," and exiled to Siberia with an obligation to reimburse the losses, while the merchants bought their way out.[4][1]

Rozhdestvenskaya Street and its commercial significance

Rozhdestvenskaya Street, on which the building stands, is one of the oldest in Nizhny Novgorod. Its name derives from the The Church of the Nativity (Stroganov Church). The street came into being in connection with the market established in the 13th century at the mouth of the Pochaina, and for several centuries remained the main street of the Lower Posad.[2][3] Its position along the Volga embankment made it especially advantageous for trade: during the Nizhny Novgorod Fair, Rozhdestvenskaya Street and the Oka embankment became part of a single fair organism.[3] According to local historian and regional studies scholar Tatyana Kucherova, an unbroken line of hotels, restaurants, and bathhouses developed along the entire length of the street, and in the early 20th century a business district took shape here, with numerous steamship and notary offices and large bank buildings.[2][3] In accordance with the Betancourt–Heste plan of 1824, the buildings on Rozhdestvenskaya Street were constructed in stone with ornate facades; Ivan Yefimov developed a distinctive type of two-story stone house with a mezzanine and a carriage passage to the courtyard, most of which have survived virtually unchanged.[3]

Memory of the building

In 2012, the coordinators of Christmas Side announced the installation near No. 8 Rozhdestvenskaya Street of a monument called Monument to Merchant Greed." The memorial was conceived in memory of the Salt Swindle and as a symbolic reminder of corruption — both historical and contemporary.[1]

The building at Rozhdestvenskaya, 8 was erected in the mid-18th century in connection with Peter I's introduction of a state monopoly on the salt trade in 1705: Nizhny Novgorod became the main storage point for this commodity, and the salt office on Rozhdestvenskaya Street distributed salt throughout the empire.[5]

The monument was unveiled on November 3, 2012, and consists of two cast-iron galoshes of size 58 on a concrete pedestal, with a concrete sack of salt beside them — positioned so that anyone who wishes can try them on.[4]

In official documents the building is listed as a "tenement house (former salt office)" at the address Rozhdestvenskaya, 8a and is a protected cultural heritage site; in 2022, 4.8 million rubles from the regional budget were allocated for the capital repair of its roof.[6]

Sources

  1. KP — Nizhny Novgorod — Ghosts, the salt swindle, and the dosshouse from Gorky's play: what secrets of the past does Rozhdestvenskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod hold (archive)
  2. KP — Nizhny Novgorod — Ghosts, the salt swindle, and the dosshouse from Gorky's play: what secrets of the past does Rozhdestvenskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod hold (archive)
  3. opentextnn.ru — Kucherova T.V. Rozhdestvenskaya Street — OPEN TEXT (archive)
  4. Vremya N — Nizhny Novgorod residents learn about the "Salt Swindle" — Those involved in the "Salt Swindle" of 1864 were the head of the salt office, the nobleman Verderesvky, the salt-stores warden Terskiy, and the merchants…
  5. V gorode N — Rozhdestvenskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod: history and archival photographs — The building at Rozhdestvenskaya, 8 was erected in the mid-18th century in connection with Peter I's introduction of the state…
  6. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Five Nizhny Novgorod cultural heritage sites to be repaired for 40 million rubles by the end of 2022 — In official documents the building is listed as a "tenement house (former salt office)" at the address…