VODKA FACTORY

Short version for information plate:

The building was built in the late 19th century as a distillery with outbuildings in the
yard.

During the Khotin Uprising, the factory was home to a military headquarters headed
by Latiev (Latii). Generally, the factory was looted and destroyed by rebels. Since
1940, the corps was occupied by the Romanian military mountain battalion, after the
war - by Soviet military units, and since 1959 the building was transferred to the
ownership of the agricultural tekhnikum.

Extended version for the website:

Building of the premises began in the last two decades of the 19th century. The
distillery worked on local raw materials and fitted perfectly into the economic
complex of Khotyn county, as sugar was brought here from the Zarazhansky sugar
factory, the main raw material for alcohol production was wheat and apples, which
were vivaried and distilled through huge vats, and were grown in the vicinity of the
city. Water was delivered from the southern part of the city, where the subsidiary
production was operating from a healing spring enriched with silver. The products of
the factory were delivered for export to Mogilev-Podolsky and Kitsman, where
special trains were reserved for sale.

Interestingly, the plant operated under a trust system. The founder was a Jewish
financial group headed by Shabelman, lending was provided by the Rice banking
family and the management and administration were in the hands of the Executive
Council of the City Council. Thus, we have an example of successful economic
cooperation not only between different nationalities, but also between local
governments and business elites.

During the Khotin Uprising, the factory was home to a military headquarters headed
by Latiev (Latii). Generally, the factory was looted and destroyed by rebels. Since
1940, the corps was occupied by the Romanian military mountain battalion, after the
war - by Soviet military units, and since 1959 the building was transferred to the
ownership of the agricultural tekhnikum. Finally, in 2018, a major overhaul was
carried out here and an exhibition hall of folk history was located.

The architecture of the exterior corresponds to the industry of the time with elements
of eclecticism. The structure has a T-shaped central-axis composition. The main
building is three-storey, while the side single-storey wing is two-storey. The profiled
cornice on moulded consoles and the interstory denticule cornice imitating the
defensive wall of Khotinskaya fortress have been preserved. The windows of the one-
storey buildings are beam-shaped and decorated with "shafts" at the top. In a three-
storey structure, the windows have a classic rectangular layout with semi-circular
niches.

The factory has two wells: one under a garage attached to an old utility building and
the other in an enclosed stone tower covered with a four-roofed gable roof. The
building of the wells is earlier than the factory. Water from the wells was used to
produce finished products.