French Hill, located in the vicinity of the city of Miass in the Chelyabinsk region, is a unique place reminiscent of the ruins of an ancient castle. The name of this place is interesting, and its history is even more intriguing.

Mount French rises near the Miass River, reaching a height of 445 meters above sea level. When approaching this place, the first thing that catches your eye is the stone stairs that suddenly appear in the middle of the forest. Then the opening of the shaft with a wooden support at the bottom becomes visible, going to a depth of about 15 meters. Next, the remains of structures made from local stone and scattered rocks that were mined here earlier appear.

The most impressive of the remaining structures is a large and tall building, nicknamed the "French Castle". It still stands in its place for more than a century, with impressively thick walls. In some sections of the walls, remains of iron parts are visible, which have not yet been dismantled by metal miners. Over the years, the entire site was gradually overgrown with trees.

From the “castle” a clearing leads up the mountainside, along which the road rises to the top. At the top there are flooded quarries where asbestos-containing rock was mined, as well as a processing plant. The factory was built directly on the deposit, which allowed saving on rock transportation. At the beginning of the 20th century, asbestos was in great demand in various industries due to its heat-resistant properties and resistance to alkaline environments.

The scale of the buildings and the nature of asbestos mining caused surprise and bewilderment, which led to the emergence of a legend that the French secretly mined gold on French Hill. When alleged information about gold mining reached the authorities, the enterprise was closed.

### History of the French Hill

From the documents available to the employee of the State Archive of the Chelyabinsk Region, Elena Rokhatsevich managed to reconstruct the real history of the French Hill.

On November 13, 1898, noblemen from Livonia, Bernhard Karlovich von Schubert and Reinhold Eduardovich von Kloth, approached the Russian Ministry of Finance with a draft charter for the joint-stock company of asbestos factories "Izolyator". Minister of Finance of Russia S.Yu. Witte approved the charter of the company, and it began its activities with the acquisition of an asbestos plant in St. Petersburg and the Talovsky asbestos deposit in the Southern Urals. The area where French Hill is located was previously part of this deposit.

It took several years to build the factory and begin development of the deposit at the Kholmisty mine. Asbestos production started at the end of 1907. Asbestos mining took place in several quarries located on various hills. Workers did hard work, using blasts and tools to break out the rock, and then transport it along rails in trolleys.

The management of the mine was organized under the leadership of Ilya Fedorovich Rozhkov and Alexander Vilgelmovich Shtraukhman. Work in the mine was dangerous, and accidents, including deaths, sometimes occurred.

However, despite initial hopes, the mine operated for only 2 years due to unprofitability. The Izolyator joint-stock company itself continued its activities, but the further fate of its assets remains unclear. The deposit was never developed during Soviet times.

Kenaboxisa

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