Baku’s “insured” buildings – PHOTO REPORT |
From the editor: The history of the place where he lived has always been interesting for people. The history and fate of everything is important to us, from the streets we walk through every day, to the buildings, walls, and buildings we pass by and touch. Pressklub.az starts a new column called “Izim gala”. In this section, research, reports and interviews will be published about the historically important places and objects of our country, the capital Baku.
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Buildings were insured against fire from the end of the 17th century. In London in 1666, which lasted five days fire as a result, about 13 thousand private and public buildings burned down. After this event, insurance companies started to be established. This process passed from England to Europe, and from Europe to Tsarist Russia.
The first insurance company in Tsarist Russia was established in 1827: “The first insurance company of Russia”. Insurance of buildings continued until the 1960s.
Each insurance company has its own sign. These plates are usually made of copper or bronze and are placed on the facade of the building around the door. The name of the company that insures the building is written on the boards. Sometimes there is also a year on the plates. This shows the date the company was established.
So far, I have found nine insured buildings in Baku and one in Ganja. These buildings were insured by various companies: “The First Insurance Company of Russia” (1827), “Salamandra” (1846), “Moscow” (1858), “St. Petersburg” (1858), “North” (1872), “Russia” (1881) etc.
Sometimes it happened that I went to the addresses mentioned in the articles I read about insurance plates in Russian. But I could not find the boards. Either the building has been demolished or the plaques have been removed during conservation and restoration work.
Although the insurance plates have no value as an enterprise nowadays, they must be preserved as an exhibit.
Photos are by the author
Literature used:
- ourbaku.com site
- “Fire marks, or warning boards in Russia” (V.N. Borzykh)