Since ancient times people have been using fire for their advantage. But they still cannot fully control it. Sometimes it happens that fire starts burning out of control and becomes a fire outbreak that spares no one. In order to fight with fire, humanity decided to form a team of firefighters located in the fire station. And of course, there are buildings of different ages, some of which are architectural monuments. One such station is located in the town Grodno in Zamkovaya St.

You should know that one of the first mentions of the fire service dates back to Ancient Rome, when the Romans invented the first device of a continuous water supply for fighting fires. In the territory of Russia the first written mention of fire teams refers to the XII century and it is known that they were made of volunteers. This happened for the reason that since ancient times houses have been of wood and, of course, fires have been destroying entire settlements. It is interesting that when the construction of a new capital - St. Petersburg was started Peter I ordered to make houses of stone and at a safe distance from each other.

The history of fire teams in the territory of modern Belarus dates began in the XVIII century when the country became part of the Russian Empire. A number of legislative acts were adopted, providing an organized firefighting in locations. The appearance of organized firefighters   in the town Grodno dates back to 1897 when a watchtower was constructed on the site of one of the largest fire outbreaks to monitor the condition of the city. But as it was not high enough, it was agreed to make it of stone. And in 1902 a fire station with a tower appeared in Grodno, in Zamkovaya St. It was a l-type building with the fire station and tower 32 meters high, from which the entire town was seen. Certainly, there was always a man watching the area and who in case of fire rang the bell to inform about it.

The tower is a six-tier building that is approximately equal to a modern eight-storey house. Cut off sides give the feeling of almost circular cross-section. Different methods of designing can be seen in the structure’s appearance. These are profiled ledgement, window openings of different shapes and figured brick work that makes the building look unusual. The upper tier is a viewing platform. Naturally, it has a hipped roof and wrought-iron fences. It is accessible by means of a spiral staircase. Near the tower there is the four-gate station. The tower and station are connected by means of one-storey structure which has a fresco with images of rescuers dressed in uniforms of different centuries. You will be interested in the fact that the author of the last image depicted a woman who is very similar to the famous Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.

Fortunately, now there is no need for a watchtower there. Today it is a museum complex dedicated to the history of the fire service which is located in the fire complex. There is a figure of a fireman on the top of the tower; and at noon trumpeter in vintage dressing ascends the tower to play a tune called "Belarusian Fanfares", thereby, according to an ancient tradition, he tells the townspeople that the town Grodno is all right.