Essentuki Mud Clinic

Mud clinic - a medical building in the city of Essentuki , the region of Caucasian Mineral Waters , Russia ; one of the most famous architectural monuments of the resort town. It consists of four two-story connected buildings, occupying half a block in the very center of the city, a stone's throw from the Resort Park . The address of the hospital is 10 Semashko Street.

Building
Mud clinic named after Semashko
A country	Russia
City	Essentuki
Architectural style	neoclassicism
Project Author	Eugene Shretter
Building	1913 - 1915

In 1911, the St. Petersburg Society of Architects announced a competition to create a mud bath project for the Essentuki, a young, growing resort. Of the many projects, the project of Eugene Schretter was selected for execution. His idea to give the mud baths the appearance of antique terms - public baths - won ^[1] .

The construction of a mud bath began in 1913 and was very active, despite the outbreak of war . July 22, 1915 the grand opening of the mud baths, named Alekseevskaya in honor of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich , the heir to the Romanov throne, took place . It was not ruled out that a sickly boy would someday take procedures in her. In 1923, the mud bath received the name of N. A. Semashko , the first people 's commissar of public health.

The main therapeutic method is the application of the healing mud of Tambukan Lake . For a hundred years of the mud baths, the procedures have not changed. 12 types of therapeutic mud are used; at the same time, up to 220 people can be treated in 62 cabins; the general design capacity of the hospital is 2500 procedures per day. New methods were added: since 1918, at the suggestion of Professor A. A. Lozinsky — electrolysis through mud; since 1921, Professor A. I. Lebedev began to use the treatment of gynecological diseases with mud swabs; during the years of World War II, O. Yu Volkova and A. L Shinkarenko, having proved the bactericidal properties of dirt, came to the method of cold application of mud to open wounds; in 1956, I.V. Kotler developed the method of mud inductionothermia ^[2] .

The mud bath building is built in the style of antique neoclassicism . The architect's intention was to give him the likeness of the ancient Roman Therma of the 3rd – 4th centuries with their monumentality and sophistication. Like the terms, the building was designed in two parts - male and female.

The building was built of local stone , concrete arches under the tiled roof , made according to Roman models. Outside, the walls are finished with roughly processed rusticated Kislovodsk dolomite , mined in the Alikonovsky gorge . Each block cut down is given the appearance of a block of wild stone.

The main facade is decorated with a portico with two rows of ionic columns . Sculptures of ancient Greek gods - the god of healing Asclepius and his daughter, the goddess of purity and health of Gigeya (sculptors L.A. Dietrich and V.V. Kozlov ) are installed on either side of the main entrance on high pedestals .

Gentle ramps guarded by two sculptural figures of lions lead to the entrance. Lions press paws of snakes, which is intended to symbolize a person’s victory over diseases.

On the facades of the hospital there are bas-reliefs on the themes of medicine and health , also made by sculptors Dietrich and Kozlov. The bas-relief at the front door depicts the god Poseidon , giving people water .

Upon entering the hospital, patients enter the large rectangular lobby, and then into the Central building - the vaulted dome Atrium with columns and a light lamp 15 meters high , decorated with bas-reliefs and mythological sculptures. In the mud bath, old black oak furniture was preserved, which was also developed according to the sketches of E.F. Stetter himself. In 1978, the building was decorated with stained glass windows , organically blending into the existing ensemble.

In the basement of the building, the architect designed pools for storing dirt (their total capacity is more than 4.5 tons ), premises for heating it, water and steam equipment, engineering ventilation systems for medical cabins. Heated mud is fed to the upper floor using an electric lift and transported by trolleys to the cabins. In the back of the yard you can see the tall pipe of the boiler room .