Merchants Koznov’s apartment building

The complex of the Northern Insurance Company houses facing Bolshoy Cherkassky Lane was built in 1899 -1900 by the architect O.G. Piotrovich.

Northern Insurance Company was founded in St. Petersburg in 1872. Seven years later, the company moved to Moscow, and in 1880 started to sell fire insurance policies, which was a very profitable business. It was one of the largest insurance companies, that invest surplus funds in the construction of apartment buildings and business centers. The former possessions merchants Koznovs suffered the least amount of changes. The first structure appeared on this plot at the end of XVIII century and were capitally reconstructed in 1875 by the architect G.P. Ponomariov in the " brick " business style.

Koznovs came from Penza merchants. Interestingly, that the festive dinner in Honor of Pugachev that took Penza on August 2nd, 1774 was given in Koznov’s house in Penza. They owned the largest woolen mill in Ryazan. Since the factory was not in Moscow and its surroundings, Koznovs were not affected by the Napoleonic invasion, and in the first half of the XIX century the factory maintained a leading position in the industry. Since the end of the XIX century the largest tenant of Cherkassky Lane buildings was Ivan Baskakov, one of the largest manufacturers of wool yarn, as well as one of the largest Moscow homeowners at the beginning of the XX century.

In 1930 the former premises of apartment building were occupied by editorial houses of magazines "On land and in the sea" and " Sport". Currently the entire complex is occupied by top state institutions and organizations such as the Office of the President of Russia, the Russian Constitutional Court, the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, and others.