Little Preface

This article has been in preparation for more than three years. For the first time, I found the brick gallery of the historic water pipeline back in 2006, but then, not understanding what it was and not paying attention to the brick walls, I didn’t even go down there, limiting myself to viewing through the hatch. Time passed and I got better and better acquainted with underground Moscow, and now, the moment has come when I remembered the brick vaults I saw three years ago. By that time, I already understood the value of historical brick structures, so it was decided to immediately explore that very gallery. I went down to it in March 2009. Not to say that I was very impressed at that time, due to a number of circumstances, but in front of me was a definitely historical brick tunnel and such a find could not but rejoice. Then I still did not understand what system this tunnel belongs to, and in general I did not have any holistic idea about the water supply of Moscow. But the topic interested me and I began to study the issue, and the further I studied it, the more amazing discoveries I made. By the way, the series of these discoveries does not stop until now.

Unfortunately LiveJournal does not allow publishing large entries, so the article had to be divided into two parts.

People

Before I start the story, I want to talk about a few people:
First of all, of course underground photo , with whom most of the forays into the fresh air and in search of information were made. A lot of the photos in this article are his authorship. See the full photo series in the foreseeable future at underground photo , I think he will share with us :) Alone, I would hardly have mastered all the studies, so the merits underground photo in the preparation of this article no less than mine. (UPD: I will add links to his photo reports here as they appear: Moskvoretsky water pipeline, Delvigovsky plumbing)

Thanks commander y, who recently posted a couple of photos from one of the wells of the historic water supply, and even with threats to start full-scale research. This fact made me hurry up with writing the article and completing the research.

commander , pila_dotoshnaya , kreazot_13 - I promised you to tell the secret of a brick egg in the Bryansk ravine, which is near Victory Park. It's time to:)

kreazot_13 - separate greetings, as an ardent lover of everything historical and brick, of which there are many in this article.

There are several other people who at various stages of one way or another helped in the research, but for various reasons it is inappropriate to mention here. Thanks to them too!

About research

To begin with, we should tell what we actually studied. We studied all the underground and little-known above-ground structures of historical Moscow water pipes. There are quite a few articles about the history of Moscow's water supply on the Internet. There are many worthy ones among them, but they all tell only a general theory, without going into details of underground structures. Moreover, for the most part, they consider the historical water pipes of Moscow as something forever sunk into oblivion (except for the very well-known surviving ground buildings), but this is not so, a lot of structures remained underground in one form or another and have come down to our days.

We were interested in the surviving buildings, and in particular the brick underground galleries. It should be noted that, of course, we did not study the Moscow water supply for all three years in a row without interruptions. As a rule, studies were carried out quite spontaneously and for a short time, and then everything was shelved for many months. It was decided not to publish any intermediate results and findings, so as not to raise the topic once again and not to attract "competitors". It's a paradox, but with all the abundance of diggers in Moscow, no one has ever been seriously interested in plumbing. There were a couple of mentions of attempts to find brick galleries, but most of them were unsuccessful. It can certainly be assumed that someone is now conducting a parallel study or has already done it, but for some reason does not want to share the results, but in some tunnels we were clearly the first in the last few years, so the likelihood of this is small.

As the Samara diggers say, theory and practice in digging are inseparable. Some Moscow diggers may argue with them - they say one practice is enough to climb. This is not the case with plumbing. The biggest difficulty is that all the tunnels of the historical aqueduct are very old. The youngest tunnel, which is described in this article, recently turned 110 years old, and some are already over 200 years old. For literally hundreds of years, many tunnels have undergone a lot of changes. The terrain above and around them changed beyond recognition. Where there used to be a field, now there is a densely populated area with a subway. Somewhere they dug pits, tearing down historical tunnels, somewhere the hatches in the galleries were simply filled up and buried, somewhere the tunnels were washed out with sand and clay. Some hatches in the gallery turned out to be right on the six-lane roadway. All this made the search for historical tunnels extremely difficult. And if it is still possible to accidentally find 1-2 hatches in the old galleries, then it is simply impossible to conduct full-fledged research without theoretical preparation. For three years, a lot of information was obtained from completely different sources. But the information is good, however, sometimes, even with accurate plans and diagrams, it was very difficult to find the tunnels. Perhaps the most eloquent of all will be just dry statistics.

Total trips to various points of Moscow and Moscow suburbs (mainly from underground photo ): about 25-35;
-Kilometers covered within the framework of the study: at least 100, cannot be accurately calculated;
- Hatches open: at least 100, cannot be counted accurately;
- Found galleries (theoretically, the existence and exact location of which is known for certain): 13;
-Of them found actually and fully investigated: 5,
partially explored: 1,
with a high probability found, but it is not possible to study: 2,
no traces found on the surface, but most likely exist: 2,
no traces found on the surface, most likely destroyed: 1,
full-fledged searches were not carried out due to low prospects: 2;
- Found passable bridges and siphons (theoretically, the existence of which and the main characteristics are known for certain): 7;
-From them actually found: 5,
not found: 1,
for sure destroyed: 1;
- Sitting in front of the computer for hours in search, systematization of information, topographic location, etc.: incalculable, damn it.

This does not include statistics on gravity galleries, because they are difficult to enter into statistics, as well as information on all sorts of insignificant or small objects.

The research is not finished, I really hope that over time the numbers in the statistics will change upwards in the "found and fully studied" columns. Maybe someone else will help with this, after the publication of the article :)
But at the moment, I believe that enough information has been accumulated to share it with the public.

About the article format

I hesitated for a long time in what format to write this article. On the one hand, I wanted to do this with a local history approach, that is, to tell all the information that I managed to find, everything in detail and in detail, with names, passwords and coordinates. On the other hand, this is completely contrary to the digger's principles, which say that you need to post a photo, so much so that no one guesses what it is and where it is. In the end, I settled on something in between. In addition, this article is not too detailed, only the basics are described here. If there are any questions and clarifications - they can be left in the comments.

However, I've probably tired of the stories, it's time to get down to business.

There are two water pipes. Mytishchinsky - the first and oldest water supply system in Moscow and Moskvoretsky - more modern and impressive. Now water supply, like many benefits of civilization, is taken for granted by Muscovites. However, 200 years ago this was not the case. There was no running water, and water was needed no less than now. Water was taken from the rivers - the Moscow River, Neglinnaya and Samoteka and from wells. However, these same rivers were also used for sewage drains (by the way, the central sewage system was not so “lucky”, it was started to be built about 125 years later than the first water supply system), and the water in the wells was not clean. The issue of water supply was very acute. Over the past 230 years, the capital's water supply network has been continuously developing and has now turned into a complex structure that supplies clean water to a multi-million city.

Mytishchi water pipeline

The construction of the Mytishchi water pipeline began in 1779, during the reign of Catherine. It was the first city water supply and, in combination, the first communication tunnel in Moscow. Subsequently, the water supply system was overhauled twice, in the first half of the 19th century and then, at the end of the 19th century. Each time the route of the water pipeline was rebuilt almost from scratch, so in fact we have three water pipelines. All of them go from Mytishchi, to the very center of Moscow, and have a length of about 27 kilometers, and a total length of about 80-100 kilometers, which is very impressive. In the diagram below, three different dotted lines show the approximate routing of the water supply from Mytishchi to Moscow.

At present, almost the entire length of the water pipeline is located on the territory of Moscow. However, this was not the case before. Moscow was very small and the water supply ran through the fields and meadows. Subsequently, residential areas, industrial zones, etc. were erected right on its highway. Moreover, if, say, rivers are always preserved and most often under roads, then in this case, the water supply routes go straight through modern residential areas and industrial zones. If you live in the North-East of the capital, then it is possible that right under your house are the remains of a brick gallery, which Catherine herself ordered to build :)

The Mytishchi water pipeline was finally abandoned relatively recently, in 1960, but at that time the old pipes did not function, and water was most likely used only for the northwestern part of the city. Let's now look at the three Mytishchi water pipes in more detail.

Catherine's water supply

For the first time, Catherine thought about building a water supply system. There are legends that once, while driving along the current Yaroslavl highway, Catherine stopped near Mytishchi. At that time, the area was famous for the springs of clean water gushing out of the ground. Catherine was given a taste of the water and she liked the water so much that Catherine decided to build the first water supply system and deliver water from Mytishchi to Moscow. Legends are legends, but it was really decided to build a water supply system.
Development and construction were entrusted to F. Bauer, a well-known engineer of those times. It was decided to build a water supply system in the form of a gravity canal from Mytishchi to Moscow. In those days, it was probably difficult to offer something different. Now all water pipes are of pressure type, that is, the water in the pipes is under high pressure. In those days, it was difficult and expensive to do this. There were no pipes or pumps that could create the necessary pressure. The steam engine is just beginning to appear in practical applications. The canal was built of bricks. Since the water supply was self-flowing, the main requirement was attached to the canal - it had to have a slope towards Moscow throughout its entire length. The canal was built from 1779 to 1804. In 1804, the first water flowed through it. Let's go straight to the specific details of the buildings.

In Mytishchi, special brick wells were built above the springs, in which water was collected and sent to a brick canal. There were about 40 wells, they had different sizes. The picture below shows one of the wells and a brick water supply channel in section.

The channel had a fairly recognizable shape. The inner form was an arch 90 centimeters wide and 135 centimeters high. The canal walls were thick and massive, resting on wooden beams. The vault was relatively thin. The decision to build the gallery on wooden beams was made on the assumption that wood does not rot in water. However, this assumption turned out to be fatal for the gallery in many respects.

Having collected water from all the Mytishchi springs, the canal made a small loop through the territory of modern Mytishchi and headed to the center of Moscow, almost in a straight line. The exact design of the channel throughout is unfortunately unknown, although I am sure that these drawings exist and can be found with a strong desire. The pipeline crossed many rivers. At the intersection with them, aqueducts were arranged, similar to those that were in ancient Rome. Most of these rivers are now underground in sewers, and the aqueducts have been filled in or destroyed, but one of them has survived. This is the Rostokinsky aqueduct. The water pipeline crossed the Yauza twice. Once, almost at the very beginning. There, the crossing was made with the help of a siphon made of two cast-iron pipes passing under the Yauza and exiting into brick pools on both sides of it. Water overflowed from one pool to another according to the law of communicating vessels. The second crossing with the Yauza was near the village of Rostokino. There, the Yauza was larger and flowed in a rather deep ravine, so it was not possible to get rid of the siphon here and an aqueduct was built.

This aqueduct has survived to this day. Much to my surprise, many Muscovites do not even know about him, despite the fact that he is in Moscow, a 15-minute walk from the All-Russian Exhibition Center, and those who do, for the most part, do not know why he is and where he came from. Now the aqueduct is not used for its intended purpose, but performs exclusively decorative functions. It was well restored a few years ago and looks like new. Beautiful lighting was arranged, and a walking path was on top. Who has not been - I recommend to visit, this is a very beautiful place, both in the light and in the dark. Before the reconstruction, the aqueduct stood in a rather obscene form for a long time. In late Soviet times, heating main pipes covered with a reinforced concrete box passed through it.

But back to the gallery. After the aqueduct, it went further towards the center of Moscow, but at some point it turned east and passed through the modern territory of Sokolniki Park. From there, the gallery went to the central streets of the city, where it branched out and went to several fountains for water intake. Initially, the plans were much broader, but they were not destined to come true. I'll quote:

Water was to be diluted by gravity into collapsible pools from Kalanchevskaya Square to Yelokhovo and Nemetskaya Sloboda and, with the help of a fire engine, to rise to the Basmannaya, Myasnitskaya and Meshchanskaya parts. It was necessary to arrange a reservoir on Trubnaya Square, from here to lay water supply with cast-iron pipes with a diameter of 450 millimeters along the Neglinnaya River, where to build: a building with a reservoir of clean water at the Sandunovskaya site, two pools behind the Kuznetsky bridge, several up to Tverskaya street and behind the Voskresensky bridge, laying instead of pipes canal, make a big pool to decorate the city. Water supply to Tverskaya, Bolshaya Dmitrovka and to the Nikitsky Gates was planned from a water reservoir, which was supposed to be installed on a tower near the Trinity Bridge. The rise of water was designed by means of a pump driven by the Neglinnaya River. For firefighting purposes and washing linen, the waters of the Samotyok and Neglinnaya rivers were to be used. For this purpose, a reservoir with a sluice was built on Samotechnaya Square, through which it would be possible to flush the open Neglinny Canal under construction. The width of the latter was planned at 6.4 meters. He was brought to the Trinity Bridge. ....... The water pipeline project was carried out in relation to bringing gravity water to the reservoir on Trubnaya Square and diluting water from here to several water fountains. Assumptions about setting up a fire engine and a water wheel to provide high-lying areas with water were not implemented.

The construction of the gallery was not easy. Since it was necessary to observe a constant large slope, in some places it was necessary to carry out it at a great depth of up to 18-19 meters, which even by today's standards is considered a very rather big depth for collectors. The plumbing began to fail very quickly. The gallery began to sag, cracks appeared. Within a few years, less than 10% of the water flowed to Moscow, in addition, it became dirty and it was impossible to drink it.

After studying all the available materials, the question arose - have any sections of the Catherine's water pipeline survived to this day? On the one hand, according to reports, the gallery began to collapse almost immediately after construction. On the other hand, it was about 25 kilometers long and it was hard to believe that even a short piece was not left anywhere. Initially, I approached the issue with great enthusiasm. With some accuracy, I linked the available water supply maps to modern maps and began to search. However, it quickly became clear that finding the remains of an old gallery in modern areas is no easier than finding a needle in a haystack. For more than 200 years, the area has changed to madness, everything has been dug up many times, many communications have been laid, many houses, roads and other things have been built. And the accuracy of my maps binding was about 200-300 meters in most cases. There was also the issue of hatches. During the construction of the water pipeline, there were no hatches in the modern concept. Ventilation wells were arranged, and, in some places, pools. Have they been preserved for 200 years and were they simply buried, torn down, broken? Realizing the futility of searching for the Catherine's Gallery in the city, the issue was postponed indefinitely.

After some time, new, more detailed data appeared. Some sections of the water pipeline were quite accurately tied to the modern area according to these data. Quite accurately - this is with an error of several tens of meters. And this area was outside of Moscow, near Mytishchi, where the old water supply began. But disappointment awaited us. After walking back and forth for about a kilometer along the alley, under which there was a water pipe and which is still preserved, practically no traces of the gallery were found. As if she had never been here. The fact is that the area has changed a lot over the past few decades and has become swampy. Even if the gallery had survived until it became swampy, now it had no chance. There are also no traces and pools above the keys. More precisely, traces perhaps remained, but there is no trace of the pools themselves. For example, this rectangular pit exactly corresponds to one of the 40 key pools on the map.

In addition, we managed to find a bridge across the local river. From above, the bridge looks modern, but if you crawl under it, you can see the old brick base. This bridge was also marked on the plans we had from the time of Catherine, however, it is impossible to say with 100% certainty that the brick of those times is impossible, although I am almost sure that this is so.

Attempts to find the remains of the Catherine's water pipe in Mytishchi themselves, through which it passed, also failed. Even in those places where it was possible to determine its location with fairly high accuracy, no remains of the galleries could be found. But the story would not be complete, and this article would not have been written if, nevertheless, the surviving piece of the gallery could not be found. Just the other day, we managed to find a needle in a haystack, namely, the remains of the gallery of the Catherine's water pipeline in Moscow. They were found not by chance, but thanks to an accurate and painstaking calculation. Arriving at the place, we underground photo we immediately noticed a hatch, which, in terms of location, was very similar to the one we were looking for. What a surprise and delight it was when, having opened it, we saw a brick gallery!

The gallery was washed up almost to the ceiling. Having been in a lot of water tunnels before, we were expecting something like this, so it wasn't a surprise. I immediately went down into the well and what was my surprise when I looked into the gap between the ground and the vault and found that the tunnel breaks off in both directions in just a couple of meters.

On the one hand, the length of the section was somewhat of a disappointment. Such a gap made it possible to climb the tunnel if the continuation were longer. On the other hand, there was some kind of funny feeling, due to the fact that we managed to get into such a tiny area, because +/- a few meters and we would not have found it.

If I had been initially told that this piece was all that could be found from the Ekaterininsky water pipeline, the oldest communication tunnel in Moscow, I would probably have been very upset. But now, having spent a lot of time and effort searching, I understand that even such a piece is a great success! There are probably more pieces, probably even available. Finding them is not easy, but maybe someone will succeed, I hope so. And of course, if it were possible to approach the issue more thoroughly, one could not try to look for hatches, but simply arrange small archaeological excavations.

For this, about the Catherine's plumbing, I'm finishing. You are probably already tired of the volume of text and indistinct photographs of some washed-out tunnels. Further there will be a little less text and a little more photos of large beautiful tunnels! :)

Delvigovsky plumbing

Due to the fact that the brick gallery of the Ekaterininsky water supply system was actively destroyed, it was decided to build a new water supply system. Unfortunately, I don’t have much data on plumbing in the first half of the 19th century. It is known that during the reconstruction, a steam engine was installed near the village of Alekseevsky, now the Moscow district of the same name and the metro station. The lower part of the water pipeline, from Alekseevskaya to the Center, was rebuilt. Instead of a brick gallery, cast-iron pipes were laid. The system became pressurized, therefore, unlike the brick gallery, the pipes did not loop, but went in a straight line, rising and falling in the profile up and down. At the same time, the first fountains appeared in Moscow on Sukhareva, Lubyanskaya, Theater, Voskresenskaya and Varvarskaya squares, which are partially preserved to this day and which served quite utilitarian purposes - supplying the population with water. For example, the fountain on the Revolution Square is standing and even in a certain sense even now serves utilitarian purposes, but completely different ones. In general, at the moment, perhaps only the most marginal strata of society use fountains as sources of water. While under Catherine it was the main source of clean water.

In the 50s of the 19th century, it was decided once again to modernize the water supply and make it fully pressurized. The construction was entrusted to military engineer A. Delvig. Under the leadership of Delvig, in 1853-1858, a water-lifting station was built in Mytishchi near the springs, and a cast-iron pipe with a diameter of 20 inches (50 centimeters) was laid along the entire length of the water supply. For some reason, there are legends that the pipe was allegedly laid right in the brick gallery of the Ekaterininsky water pipeline. This is not so, the pipe only crossed the Catherine's water pipeline a few times and did not even pass through the Rostokinsk aqueduct. Unfortunately, there is very little information about the Delvigovsky water supply system, less than for all other water supply systems, therefore, in many ways, one can only assume some specific details of the water supply system. For example, it is not known for certain whether the pipe was laid almost all the way into the ground or whether a brick gallery was built in some sections. To this day, at least one section of the water supply has survived, which is a brick tunnel, in which the pipe used to be located. Now the pipe is not visible - it was either pulled out, or it is under a thick layer of washed sand. The same sand does not allow us to appreciate the full scale of the tunnel, but even in this form it is quite large, you can walk almost to your full height there.

A very beautiful domed well leads into the tunnel. From above, the well is covered with a huge stone hatch. Unlike the Ekaterininsky water pipeline, here, for a number of reasons, the original appearance of the hatch has been preserved.

Photo underground photo , see the rest in his journal in the foreseeable future link :)

Also during the time of Delvig, the Thunder Key was built, or rather, not the key itself, but the structure above it.

In addition to the above-ground part, the structure also had an underground one.
Pool No. 1 (Thunder) has the form of a round stone structure with a diameter of 3.60 sazhens, the walls of which are laid below the surface of the earth by 0.63 sazhens, above the ground the walls are covered with a domed vault with a hole at the top covered with a cast-iron grate. Under the dome there is a round pool made of wild stone, 2.50 sazhens in diameter, 0.50 sazhens deep, enclosed by a cast-iron grate.
Because a sazhen is a little more than two meters, then it can be calculated that the underground dome was more than 7 meters in diameter, that is, a rather rather big structure.

Zimin's water pipeline

Another 40 years passed and water was again scarce. Moscow was growing, and the old plumbing was dilapidated. And, once again, it was decided to rebuild the water supply. This time, the construction was entrusted to engineer N. Zimin, by the way, a graduate of the Imperial Moscow Technical School, which is now called Bauman Moscow State Technical University, where I study. Zimin approached the issue radically and in 1880-1892 the entire water supply system was rebuilt, practically from scratch. This time two parallel cast-iron pipes were laid, each 26 inches (62 centimeters) in diameter. In Mytishchi, a water-lifting station was rebuilt, powerful water-lifting machines were installed. A water-lifting station was also rebuilt in the Alekseevskaya area, steam engines were installed, and Krestovsky water towers were built near the modern Rizhskaya. This reconstruction gave Moscow many beautiful buildings, many of which have survived to this day, but alas, not all of them. Perhaps the most beautiful building was the Krestovsky water towers.

I personally believe that if the towers were still standing, they would be one of the most famous buildings in Moscow, and maybe in some cases they would even be shown as a symbol of Moscow. But unfortunately the towers were not destined to survive to this day. In 1940, the towers were demolished in favor of the expansion of the Yaroslavl highway.

But the building of the Alekseevskaya water-lifting station has been preserved. Now it really is located on the territory of the Vodopribor plant and you can normally look at the building only from behind the fence.

But back to the underground. The pipes of the third Mytishchi water pipeline were laid in the ground. However, several brick tunnels of different lengths were nevertheless built. Unfortunately, it was not possible to fully explore them, although I still do not give up hope. The entrances to some of the tunnels are corny filled up, other tunnels are flooded. In the photo below, the tunnel is flooded and silted up almost to the ceiling. Two pipes of the Mytishchi water supply are clearly visible.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to explore this tunnel, only a round brick chamber is available where it begins. In the chamber there is an intricacies of pipes and valves. By the way, these pipes and valves are the only thing on which you can stand, and under you there is more than a meter of ice water. By the way, the pipes for Zimin's water supply were made in the empire, but the valves were purchased from England.

I cannot fail to note that some completely unique atmosphere of antiquity reigns in this small chamber. Brickwork, rusty pipes and old valves, illuminated by floating candles brought with them, and a black mirror of water glaring from below, immediately transfer to 100 years ago. It certainly can't be captured in a photo :)

However, tunnels were built not only for pipes. Sometimes, the route of the water pipeline crossed some streams, and in such cases, aqueducts, bridges were equipped, or the streams were let into pipes. Like the first one, the Ekaterininsky water pipeline, the Zimin water pipeline crossed the Yauza twice. In the Rostokino area, they simply used the old aqueduct, only building a small gatehouse building near it, which is still easy to find from the southern end of the aqueduct, now some kind of construction company has settled there. But in the Mytishchi region, the intersection with the Yauza was designed in the form of a bridge. This bridge has survived to this day, although it is in a deplorable state. being nearby, few people will guess that this is a historical water supply bridge, but a knowledgeable person will immediately notice that it is clearly historical, because riveted metal sheets are a clear sign of venerable age.

Now the bridge is heavily modified. The supports are reinforced with concrete, while they were once completely brick, with ordinary concrete slabs on top and a fence installed. Some pipes still pass inside, but it looks like newer ones. And once, in the project, the bridge looked like this:

Also, for example, an aqueduct was built across the Ichka River. He stayed until 1997. However, either during the construction of the Moscow Ring Road, or during the expansion of the Yaroslavl Highway, the aqueduct was ruthlessly destroyed. Now there are no traces left of him. And there was only one photo left.

It is easy to notice the similarity of the photograph with the drawings.

In some cases, when crossing rivers, it was easier not to build an aqueduct, but to remove the river itself into the collector. So, for example, for one nameless (and later received a curious name) stream, a brick collector was built, as the diggers say - ovoid or, scientifically, ovoid.

The funny thing is that this is the egg we found with underground photo absolutely random and regardless of the search for water supply sites. Then we did not understand where such a brick collector could come from. Brick collectors were built until 1920-1930. The fact is that the rivers were usually removed into collectors in fairly populated areas, that is, taking into account the years - in the current center of Moscow, while this stream by no means can be called flowing in the center. A few months after finding the collector, it finally became clear why he was there.

I would like to note that despite the fact that the third Mytishchi water pipeline is much better studied than the first or second one, it still has white spots. Several tunnels have never been found, although their existence is reliably known, moreover, some of them must be quite interesting and unusual. But alas, numerous attempts to find them were unsuccessful. it remains only to hope that someday luck will smile at us and they will still be found and examined, one way or another.

And now let's move on to the Moskvoretsky water pipeline.

In the second half of the 18th century, Moscow began to approach the type of a Western European city with a developed industry and an increased population density. At the same time, sanitary and hygienic living conditions are also changing for the worse. Nowadays, running water is a common occurrence in our apartments, and before it was built, Muscovites took drinking water from the Moscow River, ponds and wells. The attached engraving shows that a water carrier is collecting water from the river into a barrel right next to the walls of the Kremlin.
In 1778, Catherine II ordered the engineer-general F. B. Bauer to conduct surveys and begin construction
in Moscow water supply - the first in Russia. After many years of construction, on October 28, 1804, the opening of the Ekaterininsky water pipeline took place, and Mytishchi water came to Moscow. Muscovites considered it an undeniable progress that from now on drinking water came to them from water fountains. The first such fountain in the form of a rotunda was installed on Trubnaya Square near the Mother of God-Nativity Monastery. In view of the numerous mistakes made during the design and construction, in 1826-1835, under the leadership of the head of the District of Communications in Moscow, Major General N. I. Yanish, the Ekaterininsky (Mytishchi) water pipeline was reconstructed. In the village of Alekseevskoye, a water-lifting building was erected with two 24-horsepower Watt steam engines, a 10-inch cast-iron water conduit was laid to the Sukharev Tower, which became a water tower in 1829: there was “a very convenient and almost empty room for a separate pool, from which water would flow with different cast-iron pipes to fountains. Each of these fountains received not only its own design, but also its own name: Sheremetevsky (near the Sukharev Tower, in the area of ​​​​modern Bolshaya Sukharevskaya Square), Nikolsky (on modern Lubyanskaya Square), Petrovsky (on modern Theater Square), Voskresensky (in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Manezhnaya Square near the entrance to the Alexander Garden) and Varvarsky (in the area of ​​​​modern Slavyanskaya Square, next to the monument to St. Cyril and Methodius). There were also outlets from the fountains: from Sheremetevsky to the Sandunovsky baths, from Petrovsky to the debtor's prison "Yama" and to the baths of the merchant Chelyshev (the Metropol Hotel now stands in their place), from Nikolsky part of the water went to three reservoirs in China. city, arranged in case of fires, the complex of the Grand Kremlin Palace was supplied from Voskresensky, and the Imperial Educational House from Varvarsky. The main line ended in Zaryadsky Lane with a small fountain, the bowl of which, decorated with a lion's face, was built into the wall of the House of the Moscow Merchant Society.
Despite their "utilitarian" purpose, water-folding fountains were real works of art. Only Petrovsky and Nikolsky have survived to this day, the rest in the late XIX -
were demolished at the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1828, a decision was made to decorate the fountains artistically in such a way that they would correspond to the new look of Moscow, which was reviving after the French devastation. The solution to this problem fell to Ivan Petrovich Vitali (1794-1855), an outstanding master of decorative sculpture in the middle of the 19th century, who devoted more than twenty years of his creative life to Moscow. The first contract with him dates from January 14, 1828. The sculptor receives an order to decorate the Sheremetevsky and Nikolsky fountains (subsequently, Vitali becomes the author of the sculptural design of Petrovsky, Voskresensky and Varvarsky).
The Sheremetevsky fountain, which arose on the site of a “well from the water supply canal of the Mytishchi water pipeline”, was distinguished by its special beauty. In January 1831, cast-iron decorative details for it were cast and delivered to Moscow, "examined by Mr. Vitali and found to be approved." In September, the fountain was installed in front of the building of the Sheremetevsky hospice (now the N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine) “under the supervision of Vitali.” It was the only Moscow fountain made of cast iron. The sculptor, who was afraid of the appearance of rust on it, immediately suggested covering the cast iron with a “greenish bronze-like paint”, which is why the inhabitants considered this fountain to be bronze. He delivered 35,000 buckets
water per day.
The Nikolsky Fountain was named after the nearby Nikolsky Gates of Kitai-Gorod. Vitali worked on its design from 1829 to 1835. Four figures of boys, personifying the Russian rivers Volga, Dnieper, Don and Neva, supported a large bowl of polished red granite. This part of the fountain has come down to us unchanged. A group of three bronze eagles holding a small granite bowl has been lost. Four bronze mascarons (also lost) were placed on the cast-iron pedestal of the Nikolsky fountain, from which water flowed. The high pedestal of the "wild stone" was bordered by a cast-iron lattice with pedestals, copper balls, iron girders and iron curls on pipes for four lanterns. Water entered the upper bowl and four horns of a cast-iron pedestal installed in a pool assembled from separate parts. To parse water with buckets, a cast-iron semicircular bowl was arranged at the bottom of the side of the pedestal. The fountain delivered 26,500 buckets of water per day. It immediately became a favorite place for Moscow water-carriers who filled their barrels here. “Water carriers were waiting in strings<…>queues,<…>and, waving scoops-buckets on long poles over the bronze figures of the sculptor Vitali, they drew water, - wrote V. A. Gilyarovsky in 1873. - Wine farmers gave bribes to the servants of the Nikolsky fountain for receiving water without a queue. Since it was required for dissipating wine in large quantities, a special tap was assigned to the barrels of wine farming at the Nikolsky fountain. An order was given that the ransom should use night time to obtain water. This order was very dissatisfied with both the managers of the ransom and the lower ranks who were at the water supply. The fountain stood in its old place until 1935. During the reconstruction of Lubyanka Square, it was moved to the building of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences (the former Alexandrinsky Palace, Leninsky Prospekt, 14). There he is to this day.
At the request of the chief architect of Moscow, O. I. Bove, Vitali took up the design of Theater Square (until 1829 called Petrovskaya). In 1835, he designed and built here one of the most beautiful fountains in Europe - Petrovsky. On a high cylindrical plinth with mascarons-water cannons there is a group of cupids-putti (Tragedy, Comedy, Poetry and Music). Now the fountain bears the name of the author, on it you can read the inscription: “Ivan Vitali sculpted and made into metal. Moscow. 1835". Cast-iron sculptures were cast by the masters of the Batashevsk factories in Vychug-on-Oka. The fountain delivered 17,000 buckets of water per day. In the 20th century, it did not work for some time. It was restored only in 1995.

I. P. Vitali intended to finish work on the Resurrection Fountain. According to the original project (1833), it was planned to decorate this fountain with figures of three bronze angels standing on a pedestal and supporting a granite bowl with a water cannon. But then, in order to avoid repetition, the project underwent changes. The new project was approved by the chief manager of communications and public buildings in 1835. It was supposed to “place in the pool of this fountain on a granite rock a colossal bronze figure of the Archangel Michael, who performed a miracle in Kolosai and brought thanks to the Lord for this. The water of the fountain can sometimes spurt upwards, and in winter it can flow through a special wide hole from the rock into the pool.” But this project was also in vain. In 1838, another contract was concluded with Vitali. The theme for the sculptures was proposed by the Moscow Governor-General Prince D.V. Golitsyn: “A bronze statue of a youth who rushed into the Dnieper near Kyiv in 968, when the Pechenegs besieged this city.” But in the end, the Mother See did not receive such a “historical” fountain either. The case “On the casting by the artist Vitali of a bronze figure of a youth (Kiev) to decorate the Resurrection Fountain in Moscow” was completed only in 1847, when the idea of ​​​​a fountain that did not have “direct and decent significance for Moscow” and requiring “rather significant costs” was abandoned. The contract with the sculptor was terminated with the consent of the latter. The authorities considered it "most convenient to leave the Resurrection Fountain without decoration." He delivered 21,500 buckets of water per day.
Little information has been preserved about the Varvarsky fountain (22,500 buckets of water per day, dismantled in 1902). Its ornamental design also belongs to I.P. Vitali. The fountain had a round brick deepened base, inside which a water-lifting apparatus was installed. On the base was a cast-iron round pool. In the middle of the pool there was a figured pedestal with three horns pouring water. The pool was surrounded by two rows of cast-iron steps. Excess water came from the Varvarsky fountain to the Imperial Orphanage, where in 1841 house water supply was arranged. Several miles of lead pipes were laid across the estate and the building. Since there was not enough water from Mytishchi, part of the water was taken from the Moscow River. The author of the water supply project for the Orphanage was the remarkable Russian engineer Baron Andrei Ivanovich Delvig (cousin of the poet and friend of Pushkin Anton Antonovich Delvig).
In 1849, the Governor-General of Moscow, Count A. A. Zakrevsky, instructed the director of Moscow water pipelines, P. S. Maksimov, to reconstruct the Mytishchi water pipeline. Maximov was of the opinion that more than 330,000 buckets of water per day could not be obtained from the Mytishchi springs, so he proposed using the water of the Moscow River. A water-lifting building was built below the Babiegorodskaya dam on the left bank, from where water went through pipes to fountains located on Trubnaya, Arbatskaya, Tverskaya squares and at the Pashkov house (at the corner of Znamenka and Mokhovaya). The same water was supplied to two water wells at the Prechistensky and Petrovsky gates.
The painting by A.P. Rozanov “Fair on Arbat Square” depicts the Arbat Fountain, which was an octagonal water well. Inside the building, at the level of the second floor, there was a round cast-iron water tank, in a brick base - a water-lifting apparatus. The fountain delivered 23,000 buckets of water per day. Surpluses of it came to the Alexander Orphan Cadet Corps.
Almost immediately after the start-up of the water supply in 1852, serious shortcomings were discovered. The water turned out to be of poor quality, especially compared to the Mytishchi water, because it rose unpurified, without the use of any filters. In the spring, for a month, due to high turbidity and clogging of pumps, and in winter, due to freezing of pipes, the water supply was interrupted. With the opening on November 1, 1858, the Mytishchi water pipeline, reconstructed according to the project of A. I. Delvig, the need for the Babiegorod river water pipeline disappeared, and Mytishchi water was let into its fountains.

At the end of the XIX century. the center of public self-government in the capital city was the Moscow City Duma and the Moscow City Council. According to the legislation, the mayor headed these two structures. Under his leadership, the members of the Council carried out the decisions of the Duma, compiled cost estimates, and reported on the work of all branches of the city economy.
M.K. Geppener.
Krestovsky water towers. And it was considerable: road construction, transport, water supply, improvement, sanitary condition of the city. Large sums were allocated for social programs - public charity, public education and health care. The brightest periods in the history of Moscow self-government are associated with the names of S.M. Tretyakova, N.A. Alekseeva, K.V. Rukavishnikova, V.M. Golitsyna, N.I. Guchkov - after all, the range of problems discussed and issues to be resolved largely depended on the personality of the mayor.

Under the leadership of these people, who left a significant mark on the history of Moscow, the outstanding talent of the architect Maxim Karlovich Geppener, who worked all his life in the Construction Council of the Moscow City Council, clearly manifested itself. The scope of his activity was mainly the design and architectural design of public utilities - water supply, sewerage, tram network, the construction of schools, gymnasiums and other public and social buildings. Many of the creations of this talented architect have stood the test of time and continue to decorate our city today.

M.K. Geppener.
Sokolniki Police House. Maxim Karlovich Geppener was a prominent representative of the so-called "brick style", which became widespread in Russian architecture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite the fact that a similar appearance is typical for many ordinary buildings of that time, M.K. Geppener introduced individual features:

M.K. Geppener.
Machine Building Main
sewer pumping station. his buildings are imbued with a desire to give beauty and sublimity even to utilitarian structures. For example, it is hard to imagine Moscow without the famous fire tower in Sokolniki. The high slender tower until relatively recently served as the architectural dominant of Stromynskaya Square. Experts refer to industrial buildings and houses for workers of the Main Sewage Pumping Station near the Novospassky Bridge as monuments of industrial architecture. The buildings are decorated with decorative loopholes, voluminous pilasters and arched cornices. But the most ambitious urban planning project of Maxim Karlovich Geppener was his participation in the reconstruction and creation of the most important structures of the Moscow water pipeline: Mytishchi (1893) and Moskvoretsky (1903).

Mytishchi - the village of Alekseevskoye - Krestovskaya Zastava

The first centralized water supply system in Moscow, the construction of which began in 1779 by decree of Empress Catherine II, not only brought clean water to the city, but also presented it with several architectural masterpieces. Initially, at the end of the 18th century, the Mytishchi water pipeline was arranged as follows: clean groundwater that passed through the sandy layers was collected from sources in the upper reaches of the Yauza River. Then the water flowed by gravity through pipes (the natural slope of the relief from Mytishchi to Moscow was used) entered the city fountains, from where Muscovites dismantled it with buckets and barrels.

M.K. Geppener.
The machine building of the Mytishchi pumping station.
Northern and western facades of the machine building.

It seemed that the reserves of Mytishchi water would last for a long time, but the further growth of the city's population, the rapid development of industry in the late 80s. XIX century required a significant increase in water supply to Moscow. This problem became more and more acute. Soon, funds were allocated from the city budget for the reconstruction of the water pipeline: “... In Mytishchi, two versts from the station of the Yaroslavl railway, a water-lifting station was built. Water rose ... from wells, laid at a depth of 15 sazhens, into the machine building. From here, through pipes, it entered the Alekseevsky reservoir, built at a water-lifting station near the village of Alekseevskoye, two versts from the Krestovskaya outpost. From here, water is pumped into water reservoirs enclosed in two Krestovsky towers, and from these towers, from a height of 14 fathoms above ground level, water flows by gravity into the city's pipe network. .
ON THE. Alekseev. By the end of the XIX century. all ground structures of this technically complex engineering complex (in Mytishchi, in the village of Alekseevsky, on Krestovskaya Zastava Square) represented a single architectural ensemble, in the design of which decorative elements of ancient Russian architecture were used: hipped turrets, figured architraves, “melons” and “widths”. “The facades of the main buildings and architectural detailed drawings for them were developed by the architect M.K. Geppener" .

The reconstruction of the water supply system was carried out during the reign of the mayor, the merchant of the 1st guild, Nikolai Aleksandrovich Alekseev. Under him, Moscow grew richer, expanded, its infrastructure developed. Occupying this post, Nikolai Alexandrovich, like no one else, did a lot for the ancient capital. “This man was not an unquestioning executor of the will of the stateadministration to ensure their implementation. He saw his tasks much broader, he was a true creator and patriot of his native city.”

It was N.A. Alekseev allocated the missing amount from his own funds to complete the reconstruction of the Mytishchi water pipeline:

M.K. Geppener. Krestovsky water towers. Krestovsky towers were built mainly with his personal money. Built in 1892 on the Krestovskaya Zastava Square, at the very beginning of the Yaroslavskoye Highway, they immediately became a landmark of Moscow at that time. " Outside, it is partially lined with Tarusa marble ... The buildings are mainly occupied by the premises [in the upper tier] of metal tanks filled with water ... the remaining floors are occupied by offices (technical and plumbing), an archive room, employees' apartments, a repair shop for water meters is arranged in one of the towers ". And the mail of the entire Moscow water supply system came here and was sent from here. Elegant, decorated with white stone "lace" Krestovsky towers symbolized the entrance to Moscow from Yaroslavl. Putnikov was greeted by the image of St. George the Victorious, and those leaving the Mother See were escorted by the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"

M.K. Geppener.
spare tank
Alekseevskaya pumping station. The opening of the new water supply system was a big event for Moscow. In memory of him, a plaque of Italian marble with the gold coat of arms of the city of Moscow, the dates 1890-1893 and the inscription : “This water pipeline, supplying the city of Moscow with Mytishchi water, was built in the reign of Emperor Alexander III under the Moscow Governor-General Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich thanks to the vigilant energy, care of the Moscow Mayor Nikolai Alexandrovich Alekseev and the work of the City Public Administration, the highest commission established under the chairmanship of Engineer Ivan Fedorovich Rerberg, chief engineers of the builders of the water pipeline: Konstantin Gustavovich Dunker, Nikolai Petrovich Zimin, and Alexander Petrovich Zabaev and with the assistance of the architect Maxim Karlovich Geppener " .

The Museum of Water preserved images of invitation cards for this solemn event, which took place on August 22, 1893.

Opening breakfast menu
new Mytishchi water pipeline.The celebration began with the consecration of the water towers at the Krestovskaya Zastava ... at the end of the prayer service, all participants from the Yaroslavsky Station departed for Mytishchi”, where, in the presence of Moscow Governor A.G. Bulygin held a solemn prayer service with water blessing. Further, the festive events moved to the village of Alekseevskoye. The celebrations were attended by Governor-General Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich with Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and other honored guests.

Despite the fact that after the reconstruction the capacity of the Mytishchi water pipeline increased significantly, Moscow still lacked water. Therefore, at the beginning of the XX century. the city authorities decided to build a new Moskvoretsky water pipeline. And if the Mytishchinsky took groundwater already purified by nature itself, then the Moskvoretsky water pipeline took water directly from the Moscow River, 50 miles upstream from the city, near the village of Rubleva. Here, at the Rublyovskaya waterworks, it was artificially filtered using modern technologies, after which it was pumped through pipes into a reservoir on Vorobyovy Gory by pumps through pipes. From here, from the highest outskirts of Moscow, water flowed by gravity into an extensive network of city water pipes. Maxim Karlovich Geppener again became the architect of the new public utilities facility in Moscow.

Moskvoretsky water pipeline specialists
near the walls of the Vorobyevsky reservoir. Photo of the beginning 20th century

A photograph of engineers and builders of the Moskvoretsky water supply system has been preserved, standing against the background of a memorial plaque erected on the facade of the ground pavilion of the Vorobyevsky reservoir. The words are engraved on it: This water pipeline, supplying the city of Moscow with Moskvoretskaya filtered water, was built in the reign of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II under the Moscow Governor-General Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and under the Moscow mayor Prince Vladimir Mikhailovich Golitsyn by the works of the city Public Administration and the Highest approved Commission chaired by engineer Ivan Fedorovich Rerberg, chief engineers Nikolai Petrovich Zimin and Konstantin Pavlovich Karelsky, foremen of work: engineers Ivan Mikhailovich Biryukov, Nikolai Arkadyevich Kuzmin, Alexander Petrovich Zabaev and architect Maxim Karlovich Geppener. In the rosette above the text was depicted George the Victorious (the coat of arms of Moscow) with the imperial crown hovering above him.

M.K. Geppener.
Rublevskaya waterworks.
Water intake. It is interesting that the image of this saint, as you remember, adorned the Krestovsky towers. Until 1917, the same icon was located at the Rublevskaya station, on the facade of a water-lifting building overlooking the Moscow River.

One of the most beautiful places in the city was chosen for the construction of the reservoir on Sparrow Hills. At one time, the architect A.L. Witberg began to build the Cathedral of Christ the Savior here. Participant in the construction of the Moskvoretsky water pipeline engineer I.M. Biryukov writes in his diary: “When digging a foundation pit for this reservoir, the remains (stove tiles) of the burned-out palace of Ivan the Terrible were found, and along the slopes of the Moskva River, parts of the foundation of the Cathedral of the Savior supposed to be built”. If the production buildings of the Mytishchi water pipeline and the Rublevskaya station were built of brick, then the Vorobyevsky reservoir was lined with marble and gray granite.

M.K. Geppener.
Pavilion over the Vorobyevsky reservoir. In the journal of the Highest Approved Commission for Supervision of the Construction of a New Water Pipeline in Moscow dated August 8, 1901, there is the following entry: “ The pavilion above… the chambers is designed by the architect M.K. Geppener ... open ... terraces are made above the cells. Before the eyes of those entering there will be a huge spillway of four water conduits supplying 14 million buckets of Moskvoretskaya water per day from Rublev. ... The area between the entrance to the reservoir and the slope [of the river] can be turned into a flower garden, which can enter ... into the general plan for the improvement of the Sparrow Hills, as a finished building. A fountain can be placed on this flower bed". Looking into the past from today, one never ceases to be amazed at how the builders, engineers and architects of that time took their work responsibly - they thought about how the Vorobyevsky reservoir would not spoil, but decorate one of the favorite places for festivities of Muscovites!

M.K. Geppener. Project of the Krestovsky towers.
Top of the roof. Door grill. Transition bridge.

Many buildings built by the architect M.K. Geppener, exist to this day. Moreover, they often continue to serve people, to perform the same functions that were laid in them more than 100 years ago! This sovereignty can be said about the educational institutions built by this architect. The Moscow water pipeline and other public utilities, due to the development of scientific and technological progress, have a different fate, but still ... One of the oldest water pipelines in our country in Mytishchi continues to operate: it delivers water to Starye Mytishchi, Perlovka, Taininka and other areas cities. In 1903, the production of water meters by the German company "Mainike" was launched at the Alekseevskaya water pumping station, and since 1938, the "Vodopribor" plant was located on its territory. Like 100 years ago, the Rublevskaya waterworks continues to regularly supply clean water to the modern metropolis. The Vorobyevsky reservoir has survived to this day - it is located not far from the observation deck. The building of the Sokolniki police station houses the Directorate of the Main Fire Service of the Eastern Administrative District and Fire Station No. 12.

Since 1896, one of the Krestovsky towers housed the Museum of Moscow City Economy - the predecessor of the modern Museum of Moscow (in 1925 its exposition was transferred to the Sukharev Tower, which was also once part of the Mytishchi water supply system), but now it was called the Moscow Communal Museum.

Destruction of the Krestovsky towers.
In the 30s. 20th century The Yaroslavl highway was expanding towards the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition under construction. This process was hampered by the Krestovsky and Sukharev towers. In 1934, a group of cultural figures, having learned about the intention to demolish the Sukharev Tower in order to expand the roadway, personally turned to Stalin with a request to cancel this decision. From the "leader of the peoples" the answer followed: "TT. Shchusev, Efron, Zholtovsky and others. I received a letter with a proposal - not to destroy the Sukharev Tower. The decision to destroy the tower was made at the time by the Government. Personally, I consider this decision to be the right one, believing that the Soviet people will be able to create more majestic and worthy examples of architectural creativity than the Sukharev Tower. I regret that, despite all my respect for you, I have no opportunity in this case to render you a service. Respecting you (I. Stalin) ". It was not possible to save the unique architectural monument of the Petrine era from destruction. The same sad fate befell the Krestovsky towers - they were dismantled in 1939.

Elena Vinnichek

Catherine II, who, however, loved Moscow much more than Peter I, ordered to build here first in the empire, the city water supply, allocating 1 million 100 thousand rubles for it and 400 soldiers for construction work daily. In the city on the Neva, a water supply system appeared only many years after the construction of the current hero of the day - the Mytishchi water supply system.

The Empress entrusted such a responsible task to a talented engineer lieutenant general Friedrich Wilhelm Bauer(in Russia his name was Fedor Vasilyevich), who headed the hydraulic corps.

The commission headed by him carried out survey work for several years and completed it only by 1779. Members of the commission examined many springs in Moscow and its environs. It was decided to stop at the keys near the village Big Mytishchi north of the city. The water in them was of excellent quality, partly spouting out of the ground, and partly drawn from not too deep wells. It was also taken into account that the terrain allowed the Mytishchi water to reach its destination by gravity ...

The construction of a water supply system in Moscow was also started by Bauer. But, despite the royal Decrees, the construction of the water pipeline went slowly - more than 25 years! Once it was completely interrupted for almost 10 years: Russia was at war with Turkey, and all the soldiers-builders were sent to the army. In addition, the state did not have a lot of money - war is an expensive business ... Bauer did not have time to finish the construction, and the work he started was completed by others. However, the lieutenant general remained in the history of Russia as the first builder of the city water supply.

During this time, not only Lieutenant General Bauer managed to die. The brilliant "age of Catherine" ended, the short reign of her son Pavel Petrovich flew by, and Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, nicknamed the Blessed One, established himself on the throne ... But to the credit of all the rulers of Russia, they not only confirmed by another Decree the need to complete the construction of the Moscow water pipeline, but also gave money for it. In 1797, Paul I (although he did not like his mother's undertakings) released 400 thousand rubles "for plumbing", and in 1802-1803 Alexander I added another 200 thousand rubles for the "completion of work".

Completed the construction of a water supply system (since 1783) engineer I.K.Gerard- Colonel of the General Staff, father of the owner of the Bolshoe Golubino estate, familiar to the residents of the South-West of Moscow.

For the collection of spring and groundwater in Mytishchi, 43 pools with a depth of about 2 m, enclosed with brick walls and covered with wooden roofs, were arranged. Water flowed to the city by gravity along a brick gallery 19 versts long (1 verst - 1.067 m), 3 feet wide (about 1 m) and 4.5 feet high (1.5 m).

The water pipeline passed by the village Alekseevskoe, where at that time the ruins of the traveling palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich still stood, through Sokolnicheskaya grove, Kalanchevskoye field, and from there to Trubnaya Square, where a special water intake basin was built. From it, cast-iron pipes delivered Mytishchi water to the water wells. Twice the water pipeline crossed the bed of the Yauza River. Once this was done with the help of cast-iron pipes laid along the bottom of the river, and in the second case in the area of ​​the village Rostokino(at the end of the current Mira Avenue) a special aqueduct bridge was built. Mytishchi water "flowed" the Yauza through a brick tray lined with lead and arranged in the upper part of the aqueduct. It is curious that in those days this bridge was called the Rostokinsky aqueduct only in official documents, and among the people it was called Million bridge. It turned out so because the amount spent on the construction of the Mytishchi water supply system and the aqueduct, among other things, struck the imagination of the then Muscovites: almost 2 million rubles! This bridge, which has survived to this day, is very beautiful and resembles structures that have come down to us from the time of Ancient Rome: it has 21 arches, its length is 356 meters. Now it is only a monument of architecture and history.

In 1826-1835, the Mytishchi water pipeline was improved.

By this time, the brick gallery had sagged and dilapidated in places, and in some places it had even collapsed. Due to cracks, dirt began to get into the water supply system, and a lot of clean Mytishchi water was lost along the way.

For 7 years, work was carried out by decree of the emperor Nicholas I colonel engineer N.I. Yanish, who then held the position of head of the Department of Railways of Russia. During this time, a brick gallery was repaired, and a water pumping station with Watt's steam engines was built in the village of Alekseevsky. Two pumps, driven by steam engines, pumped Mytishchi water through a cast-iron pipeline into a huge tank with a capacity of about 5 thousand buckets, installed on the second floor Sukharev Tower. Having turned into a water tower, the tower regularly carried this "water service" for a whole century.

At the same time, according to the project of Janish, the first water-folding fountains in the city were built in the central part of the city. Each of these fountains received not only its own design, but also its own name. The fountain, located next to the Sukharev Tower, began to be called Sheremetevsky(it can be seen in the painting by A. Vasnetsov "At the water-folding fountain on Sukharevskaya Square"). The second became Nikolsky(on Lubyanka Square); the third - Petrovsky(on the current Theater Square), the fourth - Voskresensky(near the Alexander Garden), and the fifth - barbaric(current metro station "Kitay-gorod"). Two of them have survived to this day. The Petrovsky fountain stands where it was placed - on Theater Square, behind the monument to Karl Marx, and the Lubyansky fountain, the work of the famous sculptor Vitali, was moved to the former Neskuchny Palace, which now occupies the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Now the fountain is a delight and joy on a hot summer day. And in the old days, Moscow fountains, arranged along the route of the Mytishchi water pipeline, also carried household duties. Fountains, arranged at the water basins, served as a source of drinking water for half of Moscow. Residents of nearby houses carried Mytishchi water from fountains in buckets hanging on rocker arms, and residents of remote areas delivered water in barrels loaded onto carts by Moscow water carriers. They did it not "for nothing", but for money, which not every Muscovite could afford. But for the water taken in "small dishes", they did not take money.

Sometimes, some water carriers harnessed themselves to the cart instead of horses. Remember the picture of the artist V. Perov "Troika"? Two boys and a girl are pulling a sled with a barrel filled with water from Trubnaya Square (where the Mytishchi water supply fountain used to be) up winter Rozhdestvensky Boulevard. Some carried water on themselves and were called water carriers. At the end of the 19th century, about 6-6.5 thousand horse-drawn water carriers and almost 3 thousand water carriers with sledges and carts worked in the Mother See.

When the 19th century passed for half, it turned out that the old Moscow water supply system again "needed improvement", which was carried out by Baron A.I. Delvig in 1853-1858.

Andrey Ivanovich Delvig- cousin of Pushkin's friend, baron, lieutenant general, senator, talented engineer, author of the first Russian "Guide to the installation of water pipes." The formulas developed by the Baron in this book are still in use today. Portrait of A.I. Delvig, painted by I.E. Repin, is in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery. For many years he was an engineer on special assignments under the head of the corps of communications Count Kleinmichel, was engaged in the construction of bridges, highways and railways, hydraulic structures. With his participation, 32 railways with a total length of 11 thousand miles were built! He founded a railway school in Moscow, having bought a house for it at his own expense. Delvig is the author of projects for connecting the Moscow and Volga rivers, as well as the Volga and Don. By order of Nicholas I, Andrei Delvig was appointed chairman of the Architectural Council for the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Among other things, Andrei Ivanovich for a long time was the chairman of the Imperial Russian Engineering Society.

It was under his leadership that water pipelines were built and rebuilt in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and St. Petersburg. And in 1853-1858, according to the project of Delvig, the Moscow water supply system was rebuilt and significantly improved, which had been supplying water to the Mother See for half a century by that time. The old steam engines of the Alekseevskaya water pumping station were replaced with more powerful ones; another tank was added to the existing tank, and a new cast-iron pipe was laid to the Sukharev Tower.

Thanks to the reconstruction made by Delvig, the productivity of the water pipeline increased by 2.5 times, new water intakes were built - 26 fountains, pools and standpipes. At the same time, 15 fire wells were built for the first time, which was of great help to the fire departments. 45 km of distributing networks were laid across the city.

A rare mayor manages to get into history not for his words, but for his deeds. Such people, of course, include the mayor Nikolai Alexandrovich Alekseev. He was elected to this position in 1885, while still quite a young man, and soon became famous for his energy, enterprise and willingness to give his native city not only his work, but also his money.

Nikolai Alexandrovich came from a family of well-known merchants and entrepreneurs Alekseevs and was, by the way, a cousin of one of the founders of the Art Theater K.S. Stanislavsky (Alekseev). The glorious deeds of the mayor include the construction of a new building of the Upper Trading Rows on Red Square (GUM), the City Duma on Voskresenskaya Square (in the Soviet years - the Lenin Museum), the laying of new bridge and asphalt sidewalks on the central streets, as well as the construction of a new Mytishchi water pipeline .

Its construction began thanks to the powerful energy of the mayor in June 1890, and was completed in just 2.5 years - in October 1892. Thus ended the red tape with the supply of drinking water to Moscow, which lasted exactly 20 years (from the day when this issue was "included in the agenda"). The new water supply looked like a real miracle of technology: 116 km of pipes with fire hydrants every 100 m and all the necessary set of facilities. The new water pipeline cost more than they thought - 5 million 883 thousand rubles. The entire amount exceeding the estimate was laid out from his own pocket by Nikolai Alekseev!

Engineer led the design and construction Nikolai Petrovich Zimin. He was educated at the Imperial Technical School in Moscow (now Bauman), graduated with a gold medal for his work on water supply. In 1886-1893, he designed and built a new Mytishchi water pipeline, where he applied many technical innovations, including fire extinguishing. He was both a builder and the manager of this water supply system, having done a lot to improve the quality and increase the amount of tap water supplied to residents.

In 1892, another 50 wells up to 30 m deep were drilled in Mytishchi, connected by a common suction pipe. At the same time, at the Krestovskaya Zastava (the current square in front of the Riga Station), two water towers were built to help the water pump.

Krestovsky towers, like many other structures of the renovated Mytishchi water pipeline, were built in the same style according to the project of the architect M.K. Geppener. They were located on both sides of the Krestovsky overpass and served, as it were, as watchmen at the exit from the then borders of Moscow. They served the city with honor, but by 1940, unfortunately, they were demolished, just as the famous Sukharev Tower, which also served as a reservoir for the Mytishchi water pipeline, had been demolished even earlier.

Mytishchi water was supplied to the reservoirs of the Krestovsky towers, and from them it was distributed throughout the city. The new water pipeline supplied 1.5 million buckets per day.

By 1905, the Mytishchi water pipeline had reached its maximum capacity - 3.5 million buckets per day (almost 3 buckets per inhabitant of the then Moscow). But due to excessive water intake, the quality of water began to deteriorate, and its supply had to be reduced by almost 2 times. It was necessary to look for new sources of water for the growing city.

Now the Mytishchi water pipeline has become history. In old photographs, one can see vaulted brick galleries unearthed by excavations of the early 20th century; is preserved as an architectural monument of the Rostokinsky aqueduct, but the water that flows from our water taps is no longer of Mytishchi origin. However, the jubilee water pipe is still working: its facilities are used to supply water to the city of Mytishchi near Moscow. Nowadays, the water supply of the city is carried out on a completely different scale and according to a different scheme than 200 years ago.

Story

For centuries, the Moscow River has been the main source of water supply for the inhabitants of the Russian capital. After the development of the manufacturing industry in the 18th century, the wastewater from factories began to pollute the water in the river, and it was no longer suitable for human consumption. And a barrel of water in the city center cost 50 kopecks, which was a high price at that time.

Location	River	State
Yaroslavl Highway (Mytishchi)	Yauza river	Destroyed in -2008 during the expansion of the Yaroslavl highway and the construction of an auto junction
Club Street (Mytishchi)	natural stream	Collapsed in the 1910s. As a result of the collapse, a dam was formed, the stream turned into a pond.
Proletarskaya street (Mytishchi)	Natural stream or pond	Collapsed in the 1910s.
Dzhamgarovsky Pond area	Ichka river	Dismantled in the 2000s.
Rostokinsky aqueduct	Yauza river	preserved

Water pipeline route

From the key basins near Bolshiye Mytishchi, water was diverted to a brick gallery. Every 200 m, inspection wells were arranged on it so that it could be monitored and cleaned. The gallery went through all Mytishchi along the left bank of the Yauza, crossed the Ichka and Yauza rivers in the Rostokino area, passed through Sokolniki and Kalanchevskaya Square, and ended at Trubnaya Square, where there was a water-folding fountain. Also, fountains were located on Sukharevskaya and Kalanchevskaya squares. In Bolshiye Mytishchi, a water-folding bowl was installed.

Thunder Key

It was from him (the key basin No. 1) that the history of the Mytishchi water pipeline began. It, according to legend, arose due to a lightning strike into the ground, and then this spring filled. The water from it was tasty and healing. The Thunder Key has served as a place of active pilgrimage for two hundred years.

Second plumbing

Over time, only 236 cubic meters began to reach Moscow. m. of water out of 4300. And in 1823 the gallery near Sokolniki collapsed. But some water still came to Moscow, but from the falconer springs.

Third water supply

Current state

The Mytishchi Ekaterininsky water pipeline has long been forgotten by many, no water flows through it, sections of the gallery have been excavated in some places. Most of the Mytishchi springs have dried up, but some of them now continue to work as intended. Only the Rostokinsky aqueduct and several surviving water fountains remind of a kind of "monument" to Catherine II. Postcards with images of fountains, aqueducts and water supply stations are on display at the Mytishchi Historical and Art Museum, as well as at the Museum of Water in Moscow.

Today, Mytishchi Vodokanal is a large and dynamically developing municipal enterprise that plays an important role in the life of the city and the region.

Vodokanal provides water not only to the city of Mytishchi, but also to the Mytishchi District. About 180 thousand people and more than 1300 enterprises and organizations use water supply and sewerage services. The volume of supplied water is more than 80 thousand cubic meters per day. The length of water supply networks alone exceeds 270 km.

The structure of Vodokanal includes services for water supply and sewerage networks and facilities, a production and technical department, a chemical and bacteriological laboratory for drinking water, as well as a special section for servicing rural settlements. There are 40 artesian wells, 20 water intake units, 43 pumping stations, 11 sewage pumping stations (with a network length of 226 km), 3 treatment facilities and a biological wastewater treatment plant in the enterprise's economy.

Today Mytishchi water is one of the best in the Moscow region. Water quality control is carried out by highly qualified specialists and laboratory assistants with extensive experience.

see also

Literature

• Yu. A. Knyazev “The past of the land of Mytishchi. Villages. Events. fate."
• M. A. Klychnikova, G. F. Melentiev “Mytishchi and environs. Mytishchi volost at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries»
• N. P. Zimin. Description of the structures of the Mytishchi water pipeline: construction period, 1897-1906. Edition of the Moscow City Duma, 1908.