Residence of the Master Chief of the Ural Range Mining Plants

The position of the Master Chief of the Ural Range mining plants was instituted in 1825. Included within his authority was the implementation of government-owned plants and monitoring private enterprises. The Ural Mining
Administration was given into his full command. Meanwhile, the Mining Master
Chief himself was accountable only to the Emperor, the Senate, and the Minister
of Finance.
The residence of the Mining Master Chief originally was located in Perm, but
after Vladimir Glinka was appointed to the position, who, by the way, was a former member of the secret Decembrist society, the “headquarters” were moved
to Ekaterinburg. Specifically for this purpose, the treasury purchased a private
estate on the right shore of the city pond and fundamentally rebuilt it – under
the immediate guidance of Mikhail Malakhov, who was the person that the original building project belonged to. From this moment on, the manor on the shore
became the primary venue for attracting Ekaterinburg upperclass society.
It housed loud balls and esteemed guests and celebrities stopped by there from
out of town as well. In particular, it was in the luxurious interiors of the Master
Chief residence where the crown prince of the Russian Empire Aleksandr (future
Emperor Aleksandr II) settled in with his mentor, poet Vasily Zhukovsky, during
the days of their visit to the city.
Today one of the most beautiful buildings of Ekaterinburg hosts Regional
Hospital No.2.

Photo: yaplakal.com