Good morning, dear subscribers! 😊☕️

The factory on the Nejwa (at that time it was called Newja, which is reflected in the name) was founded at the beginning of the 18th century on the orders of Peter I. The founding date of Newjansk is considered to be December 15, 1701, when the first cast iron was produced here. Already in March 1702, the Newjansk plant was transferred from state ownership to the blacksmith Nikita Antufjew – the founder of the famous Demidov dynasty.

Demidov transformed the Newjansk plant into the largest and most modern metallurgical enterprise in Russia and even Europe at that time. In those years, Newjansk produced the best iron, and it housed the largest blast furnace in the world.

The Newjansk iron, as the best in the country, was exported abroad for the first time in the history of Russia. Until that time, metal had been brought from abroad to Russia.

The main attraction of the city is the leaning tower of Newjansk. This is the most famous architectural landmark of the Sverdlovsk region and the Urals.

The tower still holds many secrets. Starting with the fact that it is not known who built it and in what year (commonly 1725 is given), to an acoustic room and legends about underground passages where silver and gold from Altai were allegedly secretly melted.

The tower has a noticeable tilt. This tilt occurred during the first construction phase due to ground movements. This is evident in that the lower part is more tilted, while the angle of inclination decreases upwards, as attempts were made to align it.

The height of the tower is 57.5 m. Its deviation from the vertical at the top is 2.2 m to the southwest. The tower is crowned with a roof on which a weather vane and a ball ("the sun") are located, which also served as a lightning rod (they were installed a quarter of a century before the official invention by B. Franklin).

The tower was a multifunctional building. It housed the factory archive, the treasury, a prison, and a laboratory ("testing furnace"). The tower also had a watch function, and the clocks on it showed the exact time.

On the leaning tower of Newjansk, the clocks from the English manufacturer work perfectly. The clock mechanism is located on the 7th floor. Using metal wires, the clocks are connected to the bells on the next floor. The innoscription has been preserved on the bells: "Richard Phelpsi Lonpini Fecit 1730", which translates from Latin as: "Richard Phelps, made in London, 1730". Richard Phelps was a master of the foundry in London, and the bells he made are also installed on the clocks of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The circumstances of the acquisition of the clocks by the Demidovs are unknown. In total, there are 10 bells of English origin and one (the central one), which was cast in 1732 at the Newjansk plant.

During the Soviet era, the clocks broke down. In the 1970s, a local craftsman was able to restore them. Every quarter of an hour, a small bell chime sounds, and every three hours, an excerpt from the opera "Ivan Susanin" by Mikhail Glinka is played. Previously, they played other melodies.

The greatest interest of tourists is in the so-called "acoustic room" with an unusual acoustic effect. It is located on the sixth floor of the tower. At first glance, it is an ordinary room, but if two people stand facing the wall in opposite corners of the room and one of them speaks softly, the other will hear him clearly. This effect is explained by the vaulted ceiling. The sound glides along a narrow line over the arch, without reflecting or being absorbed on its way.

📍 Coordinates of the location (map point) available here

💥 Our channel: @node_of_time_EN