Sviyazhsk is a unique landmark of Tatarstan! Cathedral of Our Lady "Joy of All Who Sorrow". Monastery hotel "Pilgrim's House"

The main attractions of the island-town of Sviyazhsk are, of course, the monasteries. There are three of them on the island. In addition to their inspection, there will also be a walk around Sviyazhsk and, as usual, a lot of photos.

Continuation of our walk around Sviyazhsk. Beginning in the article: where I wrote in detail about the history of Sviyazhsk, how to get to it from Kazan and about the Mother of God-Assumption Monastery, located at the entrance to the island city.
It's time to look at the sights that are located in the depths of the island.

It is interesting that until 1917 it was female, and from 1917 to this day it is male.
The monastery was founded in the 16th century, giving it the name Rozhdestvensky. At first the buildings were made of wood, then of stone and brick, but ancient buildings lost due to frequent fires (1795 and others) and rebuilding.
Active work was carried out in 1796, when the bell tower and St. John the Baptist chapel of St. Sergius Church appeared.
The monastery was going through hard times under the Soviet regime, in 1919 it was closed. However, its entire territory is declared a museum-reserve of history and architecture, in 1959 the central cathedral is being restored.

The red brick domes of the Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" are visible from afar to all guests of the island. architectural features reminiscent of the Kronstadt Cathedral in St. Petersburg, which also has a dome in the shape of a hemisphere.

The construction of the cathedral was carried out from 1898-1906. according to the project of F.N. Malinovsky, luxury building made in the neo-Byzantine style.

The restored interior of the Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow". The painting is mostly done with oil paints.

Trinity Church, Sviyazhsk.

The most ancient building on the territory of the monastery and the whole of Sviyazhsk is the Trinity Church, made of wood in 1551. This temple is one of the most unique objects of historical and cultural significance. Minor reconstructions were carried out only in the 19th century, when an iron roof and dome and a tessel roof appeared instead of a hipped roof. The interior decoration has preserved the iconostasis in three tiers of carved wood, although most of the iconographic treasures in Soviet times were taken to museums or in an unknown direction.

The history of the construction of the Trinity Church is very interesting: along with the materials for the construction of the Sviyazhsk fortress, logs for this church were also brought in 1551. They assembled the church within one day, as they say, "without a single nail."

Legends call the founder of the Trinity Church Prince Nikita Serebryany, a contemporary of Grozny. There is evidence that Ivan the Terrible prayed here on the eve of the capture of Kazan.

On the territory of the monastery there is another ancient building - the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, or briefly St. Sergius Church with one dome and a small belfry, built in 1604. The temple belongs to the type of refectories. Its special value is explained by the frescoes preserved on the porch, which depict Sergius of Radonezh and Alexander Svirsky. The fresco is unique, as it is an enlarged wall copy of Andrey Rublev's work "Trinity".

Churches, temples and cathedrals of Sviyazhsk.

Sergius Church. The two-storey white-stone church was consecrated in 1604 in the name of Sergius of Radonezh. This building has an unusual layout: during the construction period, utility rooms and monastic rooms were located on the first floor, and the actual church premises were located on the second floor. The church has three altars, each altar is in its own chapel. Inside the church, you can see a well-preserved fresco painting of the 17th century depicting the Trinity, Patriarch Nikon and Sergius of Radonezh.

Cultural and natural landscape of Sviyazhsk.

Comprehensive restoration and reconstruction work in the fortress and cathedrals has been carried out in Sviyazhsk since 2010 under the Revival program, at the same time the city housing stock is being updated, new premises for cultural institutions, hotels, etc. are being built.

In 2017, an application was submitted for inclusion in the list of objects under the protection of UNESCO, the Assumption Monastery and the Trinity Church.

Sviyazhsk today.

There are many buildings in Sviyazhsk that appeared in the 20th-21st century, but are stylized in antiquity. Due to the large number of new buildings, the so-called "remake", the island city cannot receive the status of a historical and cultural museum-reserve.

Hotel "House of Merchant Kamenev".

On the territory of Sviyazhsk, some buildings of the 19th-20th centuries have been preserved.

The territory of the island is landscaped and beautiful, visitors feel like in a fairy tale on Buyan Island.

The historical and reconstruction complex "Lazy Torzhok" is a shopping arcade, craft shops.

Church of Constantine and Helena, Sviyazhsk

Near the shore is the parish church of Saints Constantine and Helena. It is visible in the first place when you sail on a boat to the island.
The church was built at the end of the 17th century. At first the belfry was separate standing building, but over time it was connected to the church, adding a refectory between them.
In Soviet times, the church did not work, it was opened only in the 90s. 20th century as a venue for exhibition events. Baptisms are currently taking place in the church.
In the foreground is the building of the women's gymnasium, built in 1913-14, which still houses the school.

Sviyazhsk is a sparsely populated rural settlement. In 2016, its population was only 259.

Sviyazhsk houses.

In Sviyazhsk, as well as in many cities of Tatarstan that are of historical value (Bolgar, Chistopol, Yelabuga, Bugulma, etc.), there is a project "Cultural heritage: the island city of Sviyazhsk and ancient Bolgar", in accordance with which it is allowed to build new houses only according to 5 standard projects: a house with an attic, a house with a mezzanine, a one-story house with 5 windows to the street, etc.

The appearance of Sviyazhsk should correspond to the historical one, the houses should have dimensions and proportions in the spirit of ancient buildings.

In the process of developing other typical projects that will not limit the inhabitants of the island, but will help maintain the unity of style ancient city.

And behind the golden gates of the Skazka children's leisure center, interesting games and quests are held for children of preschool and school age.

Museum of Sviyazhsk.

The "Devka's Head" cannon, recreated from old images, is installed in front of the entrance to the Museum of the History of Sviyazhsk. The museum has rich expositions dedicated to the history of the island, including a story about the activities of the saints revered here, about the archaeological and military history. The museum has halls for interactive classes, they are equipped with a soldier's hut, an official's office, a monastic cell, a gymnasium classroom, models of old houses and steamships, etc. All exhibits of the interactive space are available to visitors who come here for thematic classes and game meetings.

At the end of the street is the Gateway Bell Tower in the Sviyazhsky Assumption Monastery, which means that we have circled around Sviyazhsk and are returning back to the car.

We leave the island of Sviyazhsk - an amazing museum-reserve. On the map of the Republic of Tatarstan, this is just a small dot, but in the history of our country it is an important and eventful period.

Sviyazhsk official site.

Detailed information about the city, excursion routes And travel companies posted on

The unique city-fortress was founded by decree of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1551. As a unique integral historical and cultural territorial complex of the 16th-20th centuries, in 1990 Sviyazhsk was included in the new List of Historical Cities and Places of the Russian Federation; in 1996 included in preliminary List World cultural heritage UNESCO in six categories: history, urban planning, architecture, icons and frescoes, archeology, natural and anthropogenic landscape.

There are 21 monuments of federal significance registered on the island.

in the 16th century between the Kazan Khanate and the growing Moscow kingdom there was a fierce struggle for dominance in the Middle Volga region. The capital of the Khanate was - for its time - impregnable fortress. In addition to the fortress walls, the city was protected by a deep moat, and surrounded on three sides by water - the Kazanka and Bulak rivers. Two campaigns of Ivan the Terrible Kazan ended in failure. Having overcome a long and difficult transition, in a foreign land, the Russian army was cut off from communication with Moscow and could not undertake a long siege of Kazan. After another such campaign, during the retreat in the autumn of 1550, the Russian army, led by the tsar, camped on the Volga bank, at the confluence of the Sviyaga River, at a distance of a day's march from Kazan. The attention of the king and governor was attracted by a round mountain with a flat top and steep steep slopes - a very good place for the construction of fortifications. It was decided to lay a fortress city here. In addition, it was a fairly deserted place, which was located at the junction of the Chuvash, Mari and Tatar lands (already in Soviet times, the borders of three autonomous republics lay near Sviyazhsk). The wilderness, which reigned around, made it possible to install hail unnoticed by the khan's scammers.

These decisions were preceded by special mystical events described in the words local residents unknown chronicler ("Kazan History", chapter 29, Anonymous author, 1564-1565):

And, grieving and complaining, our elders (centuries of the mountain Cheremis) living near Sviyazhsk told the tsar and governors what they knew well and in detail: “Five years before the construction of this city, when this place was still deserted, and the city Kazan was at peace, we heard here the church bell ringing often according to the Russian custom. And fear fell upon us, we were perplexed and marveled, and many times sent some quick-footed youths to get to that place and see why this was happening. And they heard beautifully singing , as during a church service, voices, but they did not see the singing themselves; they only saw your old karatun, that is, an old man (with Mari Kart- family elder Tatar cards- old, ancient), walking around that place with an image and a cross, and blessing on all sides, and sprinkling holy water, as if he was admiring this place and measuring where to put the city. The place was filled with fragrance.

Many times the young men sent by us, daring, waited for him to bring him to Kazan and interrogate where he comes from to this place. He didn't give it to them. They also shot arrows at him from bows in order to shoot him and grab him, but he became invisible. Their arrows did not reach him and did not hit him, but flew up, and descending, broke in half and fell to the ground. And, fearful, the young men fled away. We were surprised and thought to ourselves: "What does this sign portend for us?"

And we told about everything to our lords - our princes and murzas. They, having gone to Kazan, told our queen and the Kazan nobles about everything. The queen and the nobles were also surprised and horrified at the appearance of that old man.

(Sviyazhsk Island - from the side of the Tatar Mane - Assumption Monastery)

Uspensky monastery

The mouth of the Sviyaga - a pier on Sviyazhsk

In the winter of 1550, a thousand kilometers from Kazan, on Upper Volga, in the Uglich forests, axes rang. The management of the construction and drawing up drawings of the fortifications of the future city was entrusted to the famous master, clerk Ivan Grigorievich Vyrodkov. To spring wooden city with walls, towers and churches was ready. Then all the logs were marked out, dismantled and loaded onto ships. In April 1551, as soon as the ice melted, a caravan of ships "carrying with them a hail of wooden ... of the same summer is new, cunningly created", set off down the Volga to the chosen place. At the same time, the sovereign's army marched from Moscow to Kazan; with him moved the armies of Prince Khilkov from Meshchera, Prince Silver from Nizhny Novgorod and Bakhtiyar Zyuzin from Vyatka, who blockaded Kazan, blocking waterways and occupying crossings across the Volga and Kama.

Upon the arrival of the ships at the mouth of the Sviyaga, feverish work began. The mountain was cleared of the forest, leveled, and in four weeks a city was built from the logs brought. At the same time, the Trinity and Nativity churches were erected.

The construction of Sviyazhsk is a unique case in the history of Russian urban planning. In terms of their area, the fortifications of Sviyazhsk surpassed those of Novgorod the Great, Pskov and even the Moscow Kremlin. The fortress was surrounded by a wooden wall 2550 meters long, made up of gorodni - rectangular log cabins filled with earth and stones inside. Throughout the walls were strengthened by eighteen towers. Gates were built in seven towers to enter the city. The Christmas gates, facing the northeast, towards the Volga, were the main ones and had a lifting grate. They were crowned with a six-yard tower, which housed a large self-made clock with a bell. The impregnability of the fortress was ensured by its exceptionally advantageous position: on three sides the city was covered by the navigable river Sviyaga, Lake Pike and the river Pike. For supply drinking water in case of a siege, several secret passages, through which it was possible to get through both to the Pike and to the Sviyaga. During the spring flood, the round mountain with the fortress turned into an island.

View from Sviyazhsk towards the Volga

In the Assumption Monastery

The chief architect of the island of Sviyazhsk is giving us a lecture...

Trotsky's house (it was here during the Civil War)

Then we walked around the island to the church of St. Constantine and Helena is the only parish church in Sviyazhsk (all the rest are monastic). The ascent to the temple was decorated with an old stone staircase. This staircase was specially built in honor of the arrival here of Empress Catherine II, who admired the beauty of these places when she traveled along the Volga. The island was also visited by her son, Emperor Pavel, who also especially noted the Makaryevsky Monastery. This monastery (especially the bell tower), by the way, is clearly visible when you climb the mountain along the above stairs. The emperor left significant contributions for the maintenance of the monasteries, which at that time (when the monastic lands were already secularized) was a good help for them.

Stone church in the name of the saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helena is very harmoniously combined with the surrounding landscape, this is especially noticeable when you swim up to the island from Kazan. It was built at the end of the 17th century along with a separate bell tower. At the beginning of the 18th century, the temple and the bell tower were united by a common refectory. On the site of this stone church there was a wooden temple, built as early as 1551 (according to the entry of 1568 in the cadastral book of the city of Sviyazhsk and its county). Now the church in the name of Constantine and Helena is a three-part pillarless church, the quadrangle of the temple under the box-shaped vault is crowned with a small cupola on a deaf drum.

(Church of St. Constantine and Helena is the only parish church on the island)

In the north of the island stands the Assumption Monastery - the convent stone wall of the monastery comes right up to the shore, which in many places has crumbled and overgrown with former grounds. WITH north side the island was bordered by the river Pike, which flowed into the Sviyaga and was an excellent natural protection for the city. From the north-east, a view opened up to Lake Pike, where earlier there were rich fisheries of the inhabitants of Sviyazhsk. After the flooding, everything became a single floodplain of the Volga - one could guess about the old one from the islets and sandbars, which differed well in clean water. These places also had abundant water meadows, which had an important economic importance for the inhabitants of the city, the value is no less than fertile arable land or timber.

Near the ancient walls of the monastery, we once again stopped, the guide told us the sad new history of the monastery. Behind these walls in the 20s and 30s of the last century there were alternately located a camp for prisoners of war, concentration camp for the "counter-revolutionary element" and a transit prison. At the same time, for the first time, we learned some very startling facts. So, as a prisoner of war of the Austro-Hungarian army, Joseph Tito (the future leader of Yugoslavia) was here for some time, who even later married a local native. As a political prisoner there was Prince Obolensky, who died here and was buried in mass grave on this island. For some time, Princess Obolenskaya was also imprisoned here, but thanks to her ability to embroider beautifully, she managed to survive this prison and the hungry years of war hard times. How many died here ordinary people- Only God knows, probably, the bill goes to tens of thousands. The whole of Sviyazhsk is a huge cemetery, almost everywhere there were burials at different times. Directly opposite the entrance to the Assumption Monastery stands a stone cross - in this place in 1918 the Bolsheviks shot the monastery brethren.

The monastery was founded at the end of the 16th century and was originally located in the northwestern part of cathedral square Sviyazhsk. However, after strong fires in 1753 and 1759. The John the Baptist Convent was transferred to the premises of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, abolished in 1764, founded in 1551.

(A thunderstorm with a downpour is approaching Sviyazhsk)

To the right of the Trinity Church - St. Sergius Church. It was arranged on the second floor of the refectory of the monastery, built in 1604. The main shrine of the temple was the miraculous icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh. The icon was brought to Sviyazhsk in 1551. Now it is kept in Kazan in the church of the Yaroslavl miracle workers, which is at the Arsk cemetery (where, by the way, the son of Joseph Stalin, Vasily, is buried).

(Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh - Pskov style of architecture)

Our Vyatka friends take a blessing from a local priest

spiritual conversations about the meaning of life...

the oldest fresco of Sviyazhsk - the Holy Trinity by Andrey Rublev

Among the surviving monastic buildings, the most ancient is the Trinity wooden church, which is the oldest surviving Orthodox church on the territory of Tatarstan. The temple was built in 1551 simultaneously with the Sviyazhsk fortress in the Uglich forests, then transported by water and assembled in a new place. Although the temple was repeatedly rebuilt in the 19th century, having received, for example, instead of a tented onion completion, it retained its main features. This temple is a real window into the past. As you enter it, you feel that time has moved back half a millennium. This very much reminded us of the Kizhi churchyard on Onega lake. Inside, everything is made of wood: a crate made of ancient logs, wide benches, a darkened and sooty board on the ceiling, an old iconostasis. It was here that the Russian Orthodox Tsar prayed fervently before the decisive campaign against Kazan. Until recently, his battle armor was kept here.

(the entrance to the courtyard of the monastery is on the left, and on the right is the first church of Sviyazhsk - the Trinity wooden church made of larch...)

The view of the monastery is completed by the huge Cathedral in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow". It was built in 1898-1906. designed by architect F.D.Malinovsky. The aisles were consecrated in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov and the prophetess Anna. This is a large four-pillar cross-domed temple, built in the neo-Byzantine style with elements of eclecticism.

House of merchant Kamenev

In the museum of the island of Sviyazhsk - this is how the temples looked before the revolution

An old photo of the Makaryevsky Monastery, where we will have a camp - on the banks of the Volga

INFORMATION ABOUT THE TREASURE ON SVIYAZHSK ISLAND:

A scattering of 79 copper coins of the 18th century was discovered by employees of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) in Tatarstan. At one of the excavations near the foundation of a residential building under construction on Rozhdestvenskaya Square in Sviyazhsk, archaeologists were lucky enough to find a real treasure of copper coins in denominations of "polushka" and "money", minted in the period 1730-1770.A large-scale project is being implemented in full swing in the republic to revive the unique monuments of history and culture of Orthodoxy and Islam - the island-town of Sviyazhsk (Zelenodolsky district of the republic, 30 km from Kazan) and the ancient city of Bolgar (Spassky district, 120 km from Kazan), reports

non-commercial information project"Island-city of Sviyazhsk". History of Sviyazhsk. virtual walk around the island. Scientific articles, journalism, photographs, videos and stories of travelers.

Presumably, in the pre-Christian era, the place on the Round Mountain at the mouth of the Sviyaga River (30 kilometers up the Volga from Kazan), where Sviyazhsk is now located, was a pagan temple (an ancient site). In the vicinity of Sviyazhsk, after the founding of the fortress, mammoth bones were found.

By the XIII-XIV century refers to the first mention of the Sviyazhsk remnant in the Bulgarian chronicles of Sharafetdin bin Khisametdin al-Muslimi al-Bulgari under the name "Kara kirmen" ("Black Fortress").

walled city

The border of the Kazan Khanate lay only 20 kilometers west of its capital, along the Sviyaga River, and Ivan the Terrible needed a well-fortified fortress, since the Moscow troops, cut off due to difficulties in communication with Moscow, could not besiege Kazan for a long time.

In 1551 after another unsuccessful campaign against Kazan, Ivan IV's troop set up its camp at the mouth of the Sviyaga at a distance of a day's march to Kazan. In order, "in order to make the Kazan land cramped," the tsar needed to find a place for a support base near the khan's capital. The Nikolskaya chronicle says that the Tatar princes, led by Shah-Ali, supporters of Moscow, pointed to the Round Mountain, overgrown with forest - a high hill with a flat top and steep slopes, washed by two rivers - the Sviyaga and the Pike. Around the hill there were swamps that did not dry out after the flood, which excluded the possibility of a sudden attack on the fortress. Here, 26 versts from Kazan, they decided to build a fortress city. But it was not so easy to do this, because the Russian army was on enemy territory. Therefore, the king ordered to cut down the entire city in the coal forests, 1000 km from the alleged fortress.

Winter 1550-1551 on the Upper Volga, work began in the forests. The management of the construction and drawing up drawings of the fortifications of the future city was entrusted to the famous master, clerk Ivan Grigorievich Vyrodkov in the city of Myshkin (modern Yaroslavl region). To spring wooden kremlin with walls, towers and churches was ready.
Fragment of the icon "Sergius of Radonezh with his life" (mid-7th century, Yaroslavl Historical and Architectural and Art Museum reserve):

Then all the logs were marked out, disassembled and tied several of them rafts.
In April 1551 as soon as the Volga opened up from the ice, caravan of ships “bring with you ready a hail of wood ... the same summer is new, cunningly created”, went down the Volga to the chosen place.

At the same time, the sovereign’s army marched from Moscow to Kazan, the armies of Prince Khilkov from Meshchera, Prince Serebryanny from Nizhny Novgorod and Bakhtiyar Zyuzin from Vyatka moved, blocking Kazan, blocking the waterways and occupying the crossings across the Volga and Kama.

May 24, 1551 Russian troops took up a position off the coast of the Sviyaga. Work began on the island: the mountain was leveled and cleared of forests. The royal people fished out rafts with a dismantled city downstream near the mouth of the Sviyaga, and from the finished logs in just 24 days a fortress was erected on Mount Kruglyaya, surpassing the Moscow Kremlin and Novgorod in size. 75 thousand people worked day and night. At the same time, the Church of the Nativity was built. Initially, the city-fortress was named Ivan-gorod in honor of the tsar, but soon they began to call it "Novgorod (Novograd, new city) Sviyazhsky."

In 1552 became the base of Russian troops during the siege of Kazan.

“Go, fools,” the Tatars mocked the Russians, “to your Rus', don’t work in vain; we will not surrender to you; we will take away Sviyazhsk!”

Meanwhile, Russian troops surrounded Kazan and a protracted siege began. Before the assault, in the Russian regiments, all the soldiers were ordered to confess and take communion, the Sovereign himself spent part of the night with his confessor. And when the morning of the assault came, Tsar John ordered not to stop worship even in the midst of the battle: “If we listen to the service to the end, then we will receive perfect mercy from Christ.” And then it resounded powerful explosion(Russian sappers made a secret dig into which barrels of gunpowder were laid), which destroyed the gate and part of the wall. Soon there was a second explosion, even stronger. Then the Russian people, exclaiming: "God is with us!" - went on the attack. Tatars greeted them with a cry: “Mohammed! We will all die for the yurts!” When the Tsar arrived, Russian banners were already fluttering on the walls.

By order of the Tsar, half of the royal squad dismounted from their horses; gray-haired, sedate boyars, the youths surrounding the tsar, stuck to her, and all together moved to the gate. In their brilliant armor, in bright helmets, the royal squad cut into the ranks of the Tatars, defeating them. Prince Vorotynsky sent a message to the Tsar: “Rejoice, pious Autocrat! Kazan is ours, its tsar is in captivity, the army is exterminated. Thus, the robber Khanate of Kazan was liquidated. (Russian line)

Having fulfilled its main function, the city did not fall into decay.

In 1552 In Sviyazhsk, on the way to Moscow, Queen Syuyumbike stopped with her son Utyamash.

In 1606 there are unrest of "walking people" led by Ileika Muromets (Gorchakov).

In 1610-1911"rebellious people" besiege the city, but the rebellious tsarist troops defeated the rebels.
In 1612 the Kazan militia with the icon of the Kazan Mother of God passed by Sviyazhsk to save Moscow.
Late 17th - early 18th century Sviyazhsk retained only the functions of the first Christian city in the former Kazan Khanate with functioning monasteries. Economic, political and administrative functions gradually retreated to Kazan.

In 1710 built a stone one.

In 1734 the stone parish church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built.

In 1735 built a stone parish Sofia (Tikhvinskaya)
church.

In 1754 on central square city ​​built a stone Cathedral of the Nativity.

In 1764 the closing of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.
In 1781 the coat of arms of the city of Sviyazhsk was established.
Coat of arms description:
"In a blue field, a wooden city on ships on the Volga River, and in that river there are fish"

monastery city

In 1798 Emperor Paul I stayed in Sviyazhsk.

In 1829, a draft regular plan for the development of the city of Sviyazhsk was completed.

In 1833 A. S. Pushkin stayed in Sviyazhsk.

In 1836 Emperor Nicholas I stayed in Sviyazhsk. the time of his tenure as heir to the throne.

In June 1847 Taras Shevchenko passed through Sviyazhsk on his way to Orenburg while traveling on the steamer "Prince Pozharsky", which he mentioned on September 14, 1858 in his Diary.

In 1871 Emperor Alexander II stayed in Sviyazhsk. the time of his tenure as heir to the throne.

Engraving after a drawing by M. I. Makhaev (mid-18th century)

In 1896 adjustment made in Sviyazhsk master plan the city of Sviyazhsk (population 3.5 thousand people).

In 1902-1904 Professor DV Aynalov examines the frescoes of the Sviyazhsk cathedrals.

In 1906 a cathedral was erected in honor of the icon "Joy of All Who Sorrow", architect F. Malinovsky.

Destruction of monuments

In 1918V Sviyazhsk is sent by Leon Trotsky, whose goal is to fight the Whites. On his orders, the extermination of the clergy began:
the abbot of the Dormition Monastery of the Mother of God, Archbishop Ambrose, was brutally murdered because he refused to hand over the monastery's grain supplies and church valuables;
the priest of the St. Sophia Church, father Konstantin (Dolmatov), ​​a dilapidated old man, was shot because he allegedly fired from a machine gun at the Red Army from the bell tower of his church;
nuns Predtechensky Monastery shot without any charges.

“The newspaper Le Journal reports: “The Danish writer Galling Keller, who returned from a trip to Russia, says that he was present in Sviyazhsk on opening of the monument to Judas Iscariot. The local council of deputies discussed for a long time who to put the statue on. Lucifer was recognized as not fully sharing the ideas of communism, Cain was too legendary a person, and therefore they settled on Judas Iscariot as a completely historical person, presenting him to his full height with his fist raised to the sky ”(from the book of Prince N. Zhevakhov“ The Jewish Revolution ”) .

In 1922 there was an autopsy of the relics of St. Herman by authorized Kazan OPTU.

In 1923-1924 Assumption and John the Baptist Monastery were closed.

In 1926 Sviyazhsk finally falls into disrepair and receives the status of a village in the Verkhneuslonsky district.

In 1928 in the premises of the Assumption Monastery, a children's colony was opened with forced labor with the eviction of all guests and residents from the monastery.

In 1929 the labor colony will be transformed into a labor commune for homeless teenagers in order to be re-educated by forced labor.

From 1929 to 1930 were :
gate church of the Ascension of the Assumption Monastery;
Germanovskaya Church of the Assumption Monastery;
parish Nikolskaya church;
Cathedral of the Nativity;
parish Church of the Annunciation;
parish Sophia (Tikhvin) church.

In 1933 they closed the colony-commune with the transfer of its economy to the jurisdiction of the NKVD of the TASSR.
In 1936 the colony was transformed into a prison with a limit of 200 people.
From 1937 to 1948 during the functioning of the political prison of the Gulag, 5 thousand repressed people died.

V. Golitsyn. Indicators for the day according to ITK No. 5 (sketch for the stand).
V. Golitsyn. “Daddy, come to dinner!” (picture on the back of the sketch for the stand).
1942 ITK No. 5, Sviyazhsk.
Wrapping paper, colored pencils, watercolor.
Museum "Creativity and life of the Gulag" at the International "Memorial"

Vladimir Mikhailovich Golitsyn (1901-1943), artist. He was arrested three times for a short time in 1925, 1926 and 1933. In 1930 he was expelled from Moscow with his family. Arrested on 10/22/1941, imprisoned in penal colony No. 5 in Sviyazhsk near Kazan. Died of pellagra

Photo 2.

On February 12, 1550, Tsar Ivan IV of Moscow laid siege to Kazan. The siege lasted eleven days, with many dead on both sides. On February 25, the king retreated. Returning home, the Russian troops stopped on the right steep bank of the Sviyaga. Here, Ivan IV liked the forested island “Round Mountain”, which, towering above the Volga, made it possible to control river routes, roads and Kazan itself.

Photo 3.

The tsar decided to build a fortress town here, which would help him capture the capital of the Kazan Khanate. He instructed the military engineer, clerk Ivan Vyrodkov, to draw up drawings of the fortress and begin construction, but not at the chosen place, but in the Uglich forests, in the patrimony of the boyars Ushatykh. All winter, a thousand kilometers from Kazan, they cut down a city with walls, towers and churches. In the spring of 1551, after a trial assembly, all the buildings were dismantled, loaded onto ships, and floated to the mouth of the Sviyaga.

Photo 4.

The city was founded on May 24, 1551. The top of the mountain was hastily cleared of the forest, but it turned out that the material brought was enough for only half of the city, the rest had to be cut from local wood. An unprecedented case in the history of architecture - in four weeks on the Round Mountain, washed by the Sviyaga and Pike rivers, a whole wooden fortress city with powerful oak walls, golden-domed churches, painted huts, high towers and bell towers grew up. The city was named in honor of the founder Ivan-gorod, later they began to call " New town Sviyazhsky”, and soon the short name Sviyazhsk was fixed - from the Sviyagi River.

For almost 500 years of its history, Sviyazhsk has experienced a lot: ups and downs, poverty and wealth, fame and obscurity, reverence and desecration…

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The powerful fortress after the conquest of Kazan turns into a large administrative and commercial city, where foreign embassies and foreign merchants arrive. Later, Sviyazhsk is a monastic town where life is simple, quiet and filled with grace, then it is a county town of the Kazan province, which in 1781 established its coat of arms - the shield depicts a city sailing on a ship, and under it are fish. This is a tribute to the miraculous construction of the city, brought from the Uglich forests. After the revolution, Sviyazhsk is a plundered, desecrated temples, which housed prisons and correctional institutions ...

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Cathedral of the Nativity Holy Mother of God, early 18th century

Today the fortified city is being revived. As in the old days, the traveler is greeted by white-stone monastery walls, golden domes of churches, as before, people live here, perhaps the descendants of those who created this fabulous miracle, whose name is Sviyazhsk. hospitable island visited by many tourists from all over the country.

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And immediately on the high coast of the island we are met by a modest white church with a low bell tower - the Church of Constantine and Helena, built in the 16th century. It is visible from all sides and surprisingly harmoniously fits into the natural environment of the island. This is the only posad church preserved in Sviyazhsk. Once it separated the upper part of the city - the fortress and the lower part - the settlement, where artisans lived.

And on the site of the border there was the Christmas Gate - the main entrance to the city. On both sides of the Rozhdestvensky Gates there was the main town square. From the side of the settlement on the square there was a guest yard and shops. Trading rows descended to the Sviyaga River, there was a pier where ships with goods moored. Fairs were held annually on July 8 and September 25 (old style) on the day of patronal feasts in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Sviyazhsk.

The city was known for its merchants, who built wonderfully wooden and stone houses here for everyone. The first floor is a bakery, trading shops, shops, the second floor is living quarters for the merchant's family.

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Walking along the streets of Sviyazhsk, it is impossible not to admire the wooden lace in which merchant houses. Bizarrely shaped balconies, intricate architraves, graceful entrance gates - all this creates unique look Russian town. Here, every house, every building has its own history. And the further we move along a narrow path deep into the island, the further we plunge into the depths of centuries, at a time when Sviyazhsk was, above all, a spiritual center. And here we have the Holy Gates - the entrance to the territory of the female John the Baptist Monastery.

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author Alexander Rachuk

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Sophia Church, late 18th century.

Excavations and restoration on the island continues to this day.

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And here interesting place built for tourists. Ethnographic complex - Lazy Torzhok. Here you will be introduced to the traditions and life of the locals. The name "lazy" came from the fact that there was a market in the old days, but they traded somehow slowly and lenovo. Not at all in the rules of a market economy.

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Pretty impressive and colorful place

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Here are folk crafts for you. A real blacksmith makes his product right in front of you.

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But the guys are preparing for the reconstruction of the historical battle.

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The total weight of the simplified armor is 15-18 kg.

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On the left side is a warrior of the Russian principality in a mask, and on the right is a warrior of the Tatar Khanate. The guys immediately warned us that the fight was not staged and they would do their best to reconstruct it according to historical canons.

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In the course were swords and shields and legs and head. The warrior of the Moscow principality won.

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It was interesting to turn the elements of combat armor in the hands. In the museum, everything is under glass, and here, although a replica, it is accessible.

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A separate pavilion where they learn to shoot from a bow and crossbow. I tried to "shoot" with a crossbow, but in my opinion everything flew into milk. Gotta get used to it.

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We go out to the embankment and go towards the monastery.

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The oldest building of the monastery is the wooden Trinity Church - the only structure that has survived to this day from those that were cut down near Uglich and delivered to the mouth of the Sviyaga in the spring of 1551. For almost five centuries, the history of this church has been a witness to many events that took place in Sviyazhsk. Fires and time spared her, and now she is a unique example of ancient Russian architecture. The shape of the Church of the Holy Trinity resembles a cross - a symbol Christian faith facing east. Inside the church is more like a village hut. Wooden benches, massive doors, calm lighting, the aroma of unpainted wood create an atmosphere of home comfort. All the bustle of the outside world suddenly recedes. One gets the feeling that after long aimless wanderings, you have finally returned to a place where you are loved and expected, where everything will be understood and forgiven, warmed with affection and care.

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This is the peculiarity of Russian wooden churches. A felled tree seems to continue to live here - it warms in winter and gives the desired coolness in summer. The feeling of something native, close enhances the subtle, barely perceptible smell of candle wax, which is soaked through the ancient walls. The simple decoration of the church is complemented by a four-tiered carved iconostasis, striking in its beauty. The Royal Doors are decorated with icons depicting the Annunciation and the Evangelist Apostles. Attention is drawn to the bright clothes of the saints and Latin inscriptions - alien to the Orthodox church. The origin of the iconostasis has not yet been established and is one of the mysteries of the Trinity Church.

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The youngest temple of the John the Baptist Monastery is the Cathedral Mother of God"joy to all who mourn." It was laid down in May 1898. The architect Malinovsky built it in the false Byzantine style common in those years. Decorated with a majestic dome, the cathedral still towers over the ancient monastic buildings. Anyone entering it, the temple strikes with a huge interior space. sunlight penetrates through the many windows that adorn the dome and arched ceilings of the cathedral. In the center of the temple, the sun's rays meet and bestow God's grace on everyone who enters from open heart and pure soul.

On the territory of the John the Baptist Monastery, the cells where nuns have long lived attract attention. Simple and unhurried was their life in the monastery. The modest decoration of the cells: a narrow bed, a table, a beveled lectern, helped to renounce worldly concerns and fully devote oneself to serving God. A little further away is the building of the abbess - a simple building that served as the home of the mother superior of the monastery.

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In the center of the monastery is the Sergius Church - the first stone building on the territory of the monastery. The thick walls of the temple are lined with hewn white stone.
The building has two floors. Below were the cells for the monks, and above the church. At the temple there was a refectory, where the parishioners waited for the beginning of the service, treated themselves. The pilgrims who came to the monastery from afar on the days of great holidays were also accommodated there, this part of the temple was also used for funeral rites and for reading royal decrees.

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This is how the ensemble of the St. John the Baptist Convent has survived to this day. And in the southern part of the island, travelers can see, perhaps, the most famous Assumption Monastery in Sviyazhsk.
It was founded in 1555 by Archbishop Gury. There are two preserved unique monument from the time of Ivan the Terrible - the Assumption Cathedral and the Nikolskaya refectory church.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 1560 from white stone. The temple was built by Pskov masters with the participation of Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shiryai. A small temple delights with the harmony of lines. Fanciful architectural details give the Assumption Cathedral airiness and lightness. It seems that we have before us a fabulous tower, descended from a painting by an unknown artist.

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Immediately after the construction, the Assumption Cathedral was painted inside and out. Unfortunately, the exterior painting of the temple has not been preserved. But the interior of the cathedral makes an indelible impression, and for a long time remains in the memory of anyone who once opened a heavy door and found himself under the arches. ancient temple. Amazing, fantasy world frescoes excites with its splendor, it breathes from them distant antiquity. The caring hands of an unknown master breathed life into them, it seems that human suffering, dreams, joys and experiences are not alien to them.

The artists who painted the Assumption Cathedral drew plots for their colorful compositions not only from canonical books, but also from the Apocalypse and apocryphal legends (the story of the first people in paradise, etc.). On the dome we see the image of the god Sabaoth. Dressed in white robes, shimmering with transparent pink and light green tones, Sabaoth sits on a golden throne on two pillows - green and red. He creates, blessing everyone with both outstretched hands. The fiery red circle behind the throne symbolizes the "impregnable light" in which the Lord lives.

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The blue band around the circle represents the sky and is filled with images of cherubs and two-winged angels. The footstool on which the feet of the creator rest, as well as the legs of the throne, also stand on a blue stripe. Looking at this image, you involuntarily recall the lines of Holy Scripture: "Heaven is my throne."

A little lower, the seven Archangels and the Guardian Angel appear. This heavenly host is the keepers of the Lord's throne. They have been given the right to mediate between heaven and earth.

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On the walls of the Assumption Cathedral you can see interesting frescoes dedicated to the theme "Days of Creation". The artist develops the plot of the painting, moving along the wall from left to right, following the sunlight. One gets the impression of involvement in the events depicted by the ancient master. Bright colorful frescoes tell us about the creation of the world - step by step, day by day, in the same sequence as the Lord did.

Many frescoes are dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the lives of saints, the apostles, biblical events and, of course, the life of the Virgin Mary. The temple fresco “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary” strikes with the richness of colors, brightness, clarity of lines.
She tells us about the last journey of the most holy woman in Orthodoxy, the Virgin Mary. It is in honor of this event that the Assumption Cathedral was consecrated.

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There is also a fresco in the temple telling about the overthrow of Satan and his army, which is a rare image for Orthodox churches. Fallen angels cast down from the sky fly, unnaturally bent, head down.
You can talk endlessly about the splendor of the interior decoration of the temple. But only once, having seen it with your own eyes, you can feel the attractive power of ancient frescoes.

The temple painting of the Assumption Cathedral is understandable and close to everyone. Some, looking at vivid, memorable images, strengthen in their faith, others, who first came to an Orthodox church, involuntarily freeze, experiencing sacred awe and reverence for the extraordinary power of the talent of the ancient masters who managed to convey to us the majestic beauty of the interior decoration of the House of God. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Sviyazhsk frescoes: after all, this is the only complete cycle of murals of the 16th century that has almost completely survived to this day.

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Reluctantly leaving the Assumption Cathedral, we find ourselves in the monastery courtyard, where we can see the St. Nicholas Church - the oldest stone building in Sviyazhsk. It was founded in the autumn of 1555 almost simultaneously with the Assumption Cathedral. A year later, the construction was completed. It was necessary to build this small church, because the newly founded monastery urgently needed a room for church services, and the construction of the Assumption Cathedral, which had begun, could not be completed quickly due to the large amount of work.

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A bell tower was erected next to the church. Exactly this tall building Sviyazhsk has a height of 43 meters. A steep staircase leads upstairs, along which the ringer once hastily climbed to breathe life, fill it with strength, and make five heavy bells speak. The bells called the monks to prayer, announced the end of the service, glorified the name of God. Their merry chime, long-drawn-out, mournful voice or disturbing tocsin brought joy, sadness or news of a fire to the inhabitants of the monastery walls.

From the lower tier of the bell tower, through the underground passage, there was an exit to the bank of the Sviyaga. Who used this secret passage? Maybe those unfortunates who, by the will of fate, ended up in an “earth prison” to pacify and correct disobedient monks and who somehow managed to get out of there and resort to the help of the Sviyazh brothers? Or maybe, using a secret passage, the monks could notice the enemy army approaching Sviyazhsk in time and, having warned the brethren, prepare for defense ... The true purpose of this passage is still one of the mysteries of the Assumption Monastery.

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And on the territory of the monastery we can see a lot more interesting buildings: fraternal cells, rector's chambers - permanent and summer, hospital cells. These buildings live their own special life, each building here has its own history. We can touch the silent, cool stones and seem to be transported several centuries ago, to the times when the Assumption Monastery flourished, ranked seventh in the list of 1105 monasteries of the Russian Empire.

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A significant part of the territory of the monastery was occupied magnificent garden- a symbol of paradise. In the summer heat, he gave the desired coolness to the inhabitants of the monastery. It was possible to take a break from everyday worries in a beautiful gazebo covered with wood chips and decorated with carved details. And in autumn, the garden gave rich harvests, being a source of food for the monastic brethren. The garden served the same purpose, where there was a greenhouse for growing early vegetables and seedlings.

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A little further away you can see the old monastery cemetery. For many years, the inhabitants of the monastery found peace here. This cemetery became the last refuge for the martyrs who died in Sviyazhsk in the post-revolutionary period. Those years were a difficult test for the wonderful island of Sviyazhsk and its inhabitants. The destruction of temples, desecration of ancient shrines, constant arrests and executions are one of the sad pages in the history of the island. But, despite this, Sviyazhsk managed to preserve its originality - the appearance of an old Russian town with golden domes of white stone churches, slender bell towers, intricately decorated with merchants' houses.

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Today, the ancient shrines of the island - the city of Sviyazhsk - are being revived. Since 1997, the Assumption Monastery began to operate again. The brethren, led by the rector Father Cyril, took responsibility for the reconstruction of the temples and buildings of the monastery, which are architectural gems Sviyazhsk.

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Surrounded on all sides by water fairy island like a magnet attracts travelers. A person who once set foot on the holy land of Sviyazhsk, full of unsolved mysteries, will forever keep in his memory that special atmosphere something sublime, indestructible, which, as it were, envelops the island, turning it into a miracle city.

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And here is the Grad Sviyazhsk small rocket ship, built at the Zelenodolsk Plant named after A. M. Gorky, armed with Caliber missiles

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historical text sources: