Berdyansk was born under a lucky star. As soon as in 1827 on his section of the shore of the Azov Sea was built a wharf, the economy of the city began to develop at a staggering rate of contemporaries. European industrialists willingly invested in the lands of the rising star of the Azov Sea to build several machine-building enterprises. They in turn stimulated the appearance of brick and tile factories, 3 butter factories, a solid fishery, 6 steam mills, confectionery, pasta factory, as well as a dozen wine cellars. Coffee houses, pharmacies, restaurants and stores shone their mirrored windows, demonstrating the wealth and economic potential of Berdyansk to the guests of the resort.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, if merchants and industrialists had money, they became patrons of the arts and trustees of God’s institutions. When in the city was laid the building of the men’s gymnasium,
and the Minister of Education refused additional subsidy, the local nouveau riche willingly took on the financial burden of turning young men into educated and useful citizens.
By the way, the construction of the men’s gymnasium was initiated by the mayor K.P. Konstantinov. He «laid down his bones», but achieved from Minister Kryzhanovsky the allocation of the first stage of construction. It is known from the personal diary of the official, surprised by the activity of Berdyansk mayor. Having approved the estimate, the mayor ordered the project of the future Temple of Science to engineer K. Yelsky, and the general contractors were named well-known in the city builders Solovyov brothers.
Minister Kryzhanovsky, who inspected the construction site, marveled at the high quality of the material used. Brick, wood, stone, cement were the best in Berdyansk district. Every day 50 masons, not counting the helpers, worked at the construction site.
With this approach 25 thousand state rubles were quickly dispersed, but merchants and industrialists, convinced of the goodness of the idea and honesty of the mayor, allocated money for the creation of ceilings, roof, interior decoration and all carpentry works in the premises of the future gymnasium.
In August 1876 the educational institution was solemnly opened and began its work in the field of education. It is a huge two-story building, made in the shape of the letter «P». If it had been a palace, its size would have satisfied the monarch of any European capital. Another feature that united the Berdyansk gymnasium with the dwelling of kings was the pseudo-tooths installed on the perimeter of the roof. Half of the known Norman castles have similar «decorations». The impression of thoroughness of the Berdyansk Temple of Knowledge is complemented by the marked red brick, which has not faded or crumbled to our days.
The only «omission» in the design of the Berdyansk Men’s Gymnasium are the windows. They are arched. If this is the Moorish style, then their role in the building of Norman style is unclear. It would be logical to make them narrow, like loopholes, or fill the window openings not with banal glass, but with stained glass. In this case, Berdyansk educational institution could claim the title of «Beauty Queen» among educational institutions of the world, easily surpassing Harvard, Cambridge and Yale.
The money spent on the gymnasium, gave its fruits. From its walls came out P. P. Schmidt — the famous revolutionary, and Ivan Efremov — the best fiction writer of the Soviet Union. This attraction of Berdyansk suffered a little during the Second World War. Retreating, the Germans set fire to the marvelous Temple of Science. Today, coming on vacation in Priazovye, you can admire the restored building. In the most beautiful city mansion, students of Berdyansk Pedagogical University chew on the granite of science.