The building of Loan Treasury is a landmark building in Nastasinsky Lane (near Tverskaya street) in Moscow. Made in the neo-Russian style, it is an object of cultural heritage of federal significance. Since 1941, the State Bank of the USSR has been in the building (now the Central Bank of Russia). The building of the Loan Treasury is depicted on the collection coin 2016 in the denomination of 3 rubles from the series “Architectural Monuments of Russia.”
Precious stones and metals secured loans in pre-revolutionary Russia. The loan treasury in the Russian Empire was established in 1772 according to the plan of the personal secretary of Catherine II, Ivan Betsky. Initially, this kind of credit institution was conceived as an alternative to usury and opened at orphanages in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
The construction of the building of the Loan Treasury in Nastasinsky Lane began in 1913 on the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. The authors of the project, later personally approved by Nicholas II, were the architects Vladimir Pokrovsky and Bogdan Nilus. The building was finally completed in 1916, while the Loan Treasury began work at a new address.
The building of the Loan Treasury was designed in an eclectic neo-Russian style, combining modern elements with the traditions of ancient Russian architecture and baroque architecture. It consists of a two-story square building and rectangular pantries in the left and right wings, stylized as an old Russian tower. The corners of the building are lined with relief masonry, and the central part is equipped with a pyramidal tower on the roof and a massive, covered porch.
The diamond rustication on the façade is reminiscent of the decor of Baroque buildings, particularly the Church of the Sign in Dubrovitsy. The walls and roof are decorated with carved ornaments, relief images of double-headed eagles with crowns and St. George the Victorious. On the facade is the inscription “Russian loan treasury” and the years of construction.
In the production of bricks for the building of the Loan Treasury, egg white was used instead of water.
Nearest metro: Tverskaya, Chekhovskaya, Pushkinskaya.
See also Architecture of Moscow, Palaces and most historic buildings of Moscow.
