OJSC POLOTNYANYI ZAVOD PAPER FACTORY

May people may know that the Polotnyanyi Zavod is the estate of the Goncharovs family which Natalia Goncharova, Pushkin’s wife, belonged to, and that Pushkin himself used to come and stay there more than once. But not everybody knows that next to the tree-storey manor built yet by Natalia’s great grandfather – Afanasiy Goncharov – are factory unit buildings. Inside these buildings, people are doing the same as was done here in the times of Pushkin.

This is what historians write about those times…

The Polotnyanyi Zavod Paper Factory is one of the oldest industrial enterprises of Russia and is part of the Holding “Paper Factories Association”. It was founded in 1718 under the nominal Decree of Peter I. The factory is located in a picturesque place – the Goncharovs’ estate, 17 km from Moscow.

Early ХVIII century. Russia is setting up its fleet. The fleet needs sails. March 7, 1718, Peter I issued a decree in which he ordered a merchant from Kaluga – Timofey Karamyshev – to take care of the following: "For manufacturing sail canvas factories shall be built in the places that are found suitable, using the tribute payment for the mill standing in that place; and the capacity of that factory shall be increased; and as many workpeople as possible shall be employed for that factory and necessary supplies shall be bought.”

You can view the history of the factory here.