Kyshtym Dynamite Factory

The Kyshtym Dynamite Factory is the ruin of a First World War plant in the forest near Mount Egoza, north of Kyshtym in Chelyabinsk Oblast. Explosions wrecked it more than once, and what remains are walls, spoil heaps, trenches and underground passages; locals call the surrounding woods the Dynamite Forest.

History

The plant was built in 11 months at the expense and risk of the Kyshtym Mining Works Company. Work began in 1915, and the factory started production in October 1916. Dynamite was needed by the army and by the mining industry, and according to local historians the plant was designed for at least 60,000 poods a year.

In early summer 1917 an explosion hit the factory. The official version found no sabotage: the cause was rinsing water with traces of nitroglycerin left standing in the vats. Major casualties were avoided, but the watchman Ilya Ivanovich Zakharov was killed; a metal cross in his memory stands on one of the stone spoil heaps.

During the Civil War the factory was fought over. The Whites tried to seize and blow it up, but it was held. Later another explosion destroyed the plant for good. Sources disagree on the date, giving 1927, 1932 or 1933. S. S. Trofimov, who worked there as a steam boiler fitter, recalled that the blast happened in June 1932.

What to see

The ruins are overgrown, yet the layout of the works can still be traced. Parts of a massive factory wall survive, along with spoil heaps, trenches and the remains of production buildings. Two underground passages, about 46 and 34 metres long, are known on the site.

Nearby are the remains of a water engineering structure and a small factory pond. The Dynamite Spring is a large source about one and a half metres across and up to a metre deep. Its water is clear with a slightly salty taste, and the spring does not freeze in winter.

Legends

The factory has its own legend of the tsar's gold. The story goes that in 1918 a fierce battle between Reds and Whites took place between the factory and Golaya Sopka hill, and the retreating Whites, carrying a train of gold coins, hid it somewhere in these woods. Nothing has ever confirmed it.

Getting there

By car from Kyshtym, head towards the village of Kanifolny; about 3 km past it turn left, then continue on foot along a forest trail. Without a car, take the suburban train to Kuvalzhikha station on the Chelyabinsk to Verkhny Ufaley line and walk through the forest. The factory is often part of a hiking route around Kyshtym together with Mount Sugomak, the Sugomak Cave and Egoza.

Good to know

The ruins are not maintained: expect ditches, pits and broken masonry, and do not go into the underground passages without a torch and experience.