The entire effort was piloted by the Imperial Russian authorities, hence the presence of distinctive features of official, government-sanctioned Russian architecture in all of the accompanying buildings. The railway station in Suwałki presents an outstanding artistic value. Its façades are lined with red brick, much like those of the army barracks and factory buildings of the era; in addition, however, the building features remarkably intricate brick detailing in the form of pilasters as well as dentilled and arcaded friezes. The avant-corps are accentuated with monumental finials and overlapping layers of brick, with the projecting segmental arches above the windows being adorned with decorative keystones. Other railway stations of this kind have survived in a number of locations, including Augustów and Kamienna Nowa.

History

The construction of the railway line leading along the Olita-Suwałki-Augustów-Grodno route was completed in the years 1896-1897; the station in Suwałki was located in the north-eastern part of the city. The opening ceremony was held on 13.05.1899. The railway station was most likely erected during the same period. In September 1939, the railway station was damaged by aerial bombardment. Until the 1990s, the building served as the Railway Transportation Facility, the Freight Transportation Facility, the Rolling Stock Maintenance Facility and the Railway Telecommunication and Information Facility. Today, the structure remains abandoned.

Description

The railway station is located in the north-eastern part of the city, on Kolejowa street. The south-western façade faces the platforms. A number of accompanying structures, residential buildings for railway workers as well as a square with a fountain were erected in the immediate vicinity of the station. The building bears the hallmarks of the official, government-sanctioned architecture of Imperial Russia. It was designed on an elongated rectangular floor plan, with avant-corps projecting from the middle of both the eastern, the western and the side façades. It is a single-storey building with a basement underneath parts of its structure, its avant-corps crowned with decorative roof parapets. It is a brick building, faced with red brick on the outside. The western façade (on the platform side) follows a thirteen-axial layout, with a five-axial avant-corps crowned with a stepped gable projecting from its middle section. The eastern façade follows a fifteen-axial layout, with a three-axial avant-corps projecting from its middle section and incorporating the entrance doors preceded by a flight of steps. The entire building is encircled by a dentil frieze running beneath the crowning cornice. The avant-corps are accentuated with monumental finials and overlapping layers of brick, with the projecting segmental arches above the windows being adorned with decorative keystones. The interior features an irregular layout, with the southern and northern sections thereof featuring two bays each, whereas the central section follows a single-bay layout.

The historic monument can be viewed from the outside.

compiled by Grażyna Rogala, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Białystok, 23-12-2014.

Bibliography

• Kułak A., Budynki użyteczności publicznej, [in:] Perły architektury województwa podlaskiego, Białystok-Bydgoszcz 2010, p. 97, fig. p. 101.
• Piłaszewicz Z., Suwałki. Studium historyczno-urbanistyczne, Białystok 1979, typescript, archive of the Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Białystok.
• Straczyński K., Architektura murowanych dworców kolejowych w województwie podlaskim, “Biuletyn Konserwatorski Województwa Podlaskiego”, 2013, issue 19, pp. 149-150.
• Suwałki miasto nad Czarną Hańczą, J. Kopciał (ed.), Suwałki 2005, p. 141, 724, fig. p. 723.