THE NOBILITY CONGRESS BUILDING

THE NOBILITY CONGRESS BUILDING, is a historical and architectural monument of the 19th century. Located in Ufa (14 Lenin street). Was built in 1856 by architect A.A.Gopius (according to other data, by arch. Khabarov). A two storey P shaped stone building, in whose architecture one can see a decorative approach to classical traditions. The simplicity and severity of decorative artistic facades of the lower floor (rectangular windows, rustic style) are harmoniously combined with the elegant upper (arched windows framed with arcature). In 1970, a new building was added to the right wing along Pushkin Street. In the 90s the Nobility Conference Building was reconstructed: from the side of Lenin Street and the central entrance to the building was recreated. In 2001, from the side of Sovetskaya Square, a new entrance to the building was opened, while the lobby, the corridor, the dining room and the student theater (by architects M.V.Pavlova and O.V.Proninа) were decorated.

At the beginning of 1885, the building was leased to the Society of Singing, Music and Drama Aficionados. In 1890s the socalled Novikovsky Hostel of Noble Maidens was located here, and starting in 1918 it was a boarding school for children evacuated from Moscow and Petrograd. In 1919, the building was transferred to the club of trade employees. Between the 1930–1940s, it housed the A.­Z.Validi National Library. During the Great Patriotic War it held the Central Party Archive of the USSR, evacuated from Moscow; and in 1945, it housed the School of Arts. Since 1968, the building has been housing the Arts Institute. In 1890 in F.I.Shalyapin performed there and, in 1919 the Supreme Ruler of Russia, A.V.Kolchak made his announcement in it.