Where is Sviyazhsk From the church you can go down to the River Station. On the map marked all the points that will be discussed below

Remember how Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich?

Here the prince opened his eyes;
Shaking the dreams of the night
And wondering in front of you
He sees a big city
Walls with frequent battlements,
And behind the white walls
Church tops gleam
and holy monasteries.

Roughly the same can be said about Sviyazhsk. The city is on an island. It was built by Ivan the Terrible during the capture of Kazan. A wooden church, built in 1552 without a single nail, has been preserved here. There are monasteries with stone walls 3 meters thick. We will not paint the history of the island, everything is written in the links below. We highly recommend reading it. We will tell you how to get there on your own and what to see, as well as show optimal route so that everything can be seen. And, of course, how much does it all cost. For convenience, the narration will be conducted on behalf of one of the members of our team. Well, Kazan took, now Sviyazhsk?

How to get to Sviyazhsk from Kazan on your own

On a boat: route Kazan - Sviyazhsk. and how to buy tickets.

By train: Suburban Train Station Kazan, western direction of electric trains (for example: Kanash, Bua, Albaba, railway station Sviyazhsk), then by car 15 km. There are no buses from the station, only taxis. The cost is approximately 150-200 rubles. Schedule to Sviyazhsk station and prices.

By bus or car: Federal highway M7 "Volga" (Gorkovskoe highway). Kazan - Sviyazhsk (up to 70 kilometers, after the bridge over the Sviyaga River and the police post following it (Isakovo village), an automobile interchange was built - turn left, then signs.

You will find a little history of what Sviyazhsk is and what it is eaten with on Wikipedia or a short note on MyJane. We will tell you about the best route around the island in order to have time to see everything and be satisfied.

Sailing to Sviyazhsk on a boat

So, the beginning of the journey is at the box office of the river port. After paying for the ticket, we moved to the pier. Why did you choose this mode of transport? It’s elementary, because it’s possible to get there in just 2.5 hours. Flights are regular, according to the schedule, they are not often canceled. Here is a detailed map for you to navigate at the box office of the rechport:

Having bought a ticket and boarded a pleasure boat, we went to Sviyazhsk. The journey takes about 2.5 hours by water. If you do not feel like sleeping, the path looks somewhat tiring. On the way, the boat stops and drops off and picks up people from various coastal villages. Therefore, it is better to think in advance what you will do.

Upon arrival in Sviyazhsk, we are met by a pier and a renovated port. In 2013, a complex of restoration works was carried out on the island, and the entire island was restored and finished. For today, all the work has already been completed and you will see a new, updated city on the island.

Walking route in Sviyazhsk or how to see everything and not forget anything

We will immediately show the plan-scheme of the island with decoding. And the most pleasant travel route, although you can make your own. To differ, we think, it will be little than. The red line marks the route itself. Yellow markers are stops to see temples, museums and monuments.

What can be seen on the island:
1. Assumption-Bogoroditsky Monastery. a) Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin (1560). b) St. Nicholas Church (1556). c) Rector's Corps (XVII century). d) Fraternal Corps (XVII-XVIII centuries). e) Monastery school (XVII-XVIII centuries).
2. Economic yard of the Assumption Monastery of the Mother of God (XVII-XVIII centuries).
3. John the Baptist Monastery. a) Trinity Church. b) Sergius Church (XVII century). c) Cathedral of the Icon of Joy of All Who Sorrow (1896-1906). d) Monastery refectory (1890). e) Corps of abbess (1830). f) Cells (1820). g) Chapel and cells (1897).
4. Treasury, government offices, prison castle (1838-1840).
5. Barracks of the Sviyazhsk escort team (XIX century).
6. Complex of the Zemsky hospital (1870s).
7. The building of the county school (1830s)
8. The complex of buildings of the Sviyazhsk vocational school and the fire wagon train (mid-19th century).
9. House of Merchants F.T. and V.F. Kamenevs (late 19th century)
10. The building of the city gymnasium (1913-1914).
11. House of Illarionov - Brovkin - Medvedev (beginning of the 19th century).
12. Church of Constantine and Helena (late 16th century).
13. House of the Mayor F. M. Polyakov (end of the 19th century).
14. The building of the almshouse (end of the 19th century).
15. Wall of the Communards: Place of execution of the Red Guards on August 6, 1918.
16. The grave of prisoners who were shot on the island of Tatarikha.
17. Temples destroyed in the 1930s.

Of course, it is better to visit such a corner with a guide or a guide who can show you the best delicacies and tell the history of the island. Believe me, there is something to listen to. You can book an excursion to Sviyazhsk with ours, or take part in a group tour from any travel agency.

We will post some photos and a couple of comments so that you can admire the beauty of the old Russian city and decide whether you should go there or not.

The port meets. First Church

As noted above, the port of the island is new. It houses a cafe and ticket offices on the way back (although most often a ticket back is bought when entering the boat on the way back). When we were there, the cafe, unfortunately, did not work. And the first thing that seemed interesting to us was Peter's boat, which stands on the square in front of the port building.

Our path is uphill. You definitely will not be mistaken with the direction - everyone will go there.

The renovated church of Constantine and Helena welcomes all visitors. A monumental building with wide walls, it is cold inside even in hot weather. It is the only parish church left on the island. The rest, alas, were lost. If you want to baptize someone in Sviyazhsk, you need to apply here.

Merchants' houses and Lazy Torzhok

Most of the houses have been restored. Some were lost due to dilapidation, and new ones were erected in their place. By the way, there are 2 hotels on the island where you can stay. They are located just in the old merchant houses.

It didn't go without entertainment program. One of these entertainment places is called "Lazy Torzhok", where various entertainments for visitors are hidden in the form of an old wooden prison. Here you can take pictures with the royal outfits, try on the Monomakh's hat according to Senka, they will beat you with your forehead here (for a bribe, of course). Do you want to feel like a king? No question, sit on the throne, you will be the king-lord.

You can see how the master blacksmiths work. You will be forged funny things that you can buy right there. Or go to the igloo. Why it was placed here is a mystery, but it adds charm. Or shoot from a bow, wave a sword or an ax. Can't swing? It doesn't matter, local heroes can teach you how to fight. In general, we liked it, funny and interesting. But we must go further.

Dormition Monastery of Sviyazhsk

One of the pearls of the island is the Mother of God Assumption Monastery. A very beautiful place. This is an active monastery, so visiting it must meet all the canons (men without hats, women in skirts and with their heads covered. There is special equipment at the entrance for those who have forgotten. But it’s better not to forget to take your own). The Sviyazhsky Assumption Monastery was founded in 1555 simultaneously with the establishment of the Kazan diocese. In the XVI-XVIII centuries, the monastery was the richest in the Middle Volga region and was among the 20 richest in Russia. In Soviet times, the territory of the monastery was occupied by a psychiatric hospital, which was withdrawn in 1994. In 1997, the Sviyazhsky Mother of God Assumption Monastery was officially revived.

It was a little overcast, but that didn't stop us from seeing the monastery and the street leading to it. Here, by the way, is the Sviyazhsk Museum, where you can visit the exposition, book a tour.

The most famous churches of the monastery are the Assumption Cathedral and the St. Nicholas Bell Tower. The first of them is considered a place where a whole complex of wall paintings from the era of Ivan the Terrible has been preserved (there are 2 such churches in Russia, another in Yaroslavl). The temple is very richly decorated, and the inside is very beautiful. There is an interesting fresco of St. Christopher - a man with a horse's head. In total, there are 3 such frescoes in the world, and one of them is in Sviyazhsk.

Detail on the territory of the monastery, it is very soulful and beautiful. And don't forget to buy the monastery cheese bun! Delicious. If you leave from behind the territory of the monastery, you can go to observation deck to see the waters of the Volga and Sviyaga. Picturesque landscapes.

What to eat?

Speaking of buns. We advise. Lots of cheese and delicious. At the time of our visit, such a bun cost 50 rubles, there is a bakery behind the monastery cells, you need to go behind them, closer to the wall. If you see a bunch of people and a smell, go right.

Craft settlement

We've seen half, we're going to watch the second. There is another one near the monastery iconic place- Craft settlement and stable yard. It is very interesting and fun here, you can buy something more substantial than just a bun. If you are traveling with a child, they will definitely be interested here. Potters, blacksmiths, tanners. Yes, there is nothing here. You can not only try to do something with your own hands (for example, forge your own coin), but also buy souvenirs for all relatives.

And for the most daring, you can ride horses or order a horse ride around the island. Pretty fun entertainment.

John the Baptist monastery or church without nails built in 1552.

Another dominant of the island is the St. John the Baptist convent in Sviyazhsk. It is here that the church, which was built during the reign of Ivan the Terrible - Troitskaya is located. The design of the iconostasis has been preserved since the time of the king. Trust me, it's really worth seeing. Built, by the way, without nails.

Like the previous monastery, it is active. Follow the rules of dress and good manners. And be sure to go to the Temple named after the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow." The latest construction of the island, in the Byzantine style. We also advise you to go to the temple to them. teacher Sergius of Radonezh. It is located on the right side of the Byzantine temple. There is one of the most accurate copies of the Trinity by Andrei Rublev.

Landscapes and ruins of the island

There used to be more temples and churches on the island-city. However, under Soviet rule, when there were persecutions of the church, some churches were lost. Now these places are mothballed, you can walk around them and imagine the buildings that were here. However, you will see for yourself.

We are sending back to the pier, because our boat is leaving soon. Lots of people come with us. And we say goodbye to the island, and we promise that we will return to again feel the sense of regularity and calmness that the island gives.

Is It Worth Going? You decide. But the indescribable atmosphere of the hinterland, ancient monasteries and temples, do their alluring work. By the way, many who came there found old coins and other antiques, just walking along the shore. Maybe you are the lucky one who finds something? Who knows:)

In contact with

The current Sviyazhsk is an island-town that arose on the site of a fortress founded at the confluence of the Sviyaga River into the Volga. Now it is about 30 km from Kazan along the M7 highway.
I want to make a reservation right away: when writing the text, I largely quoted materials from Internet resources. The most useful sources were two monographs by Andrey Vladimirovich Roschektaev:
"History of the Sviyazhsky John the Baptist Monastery"
"History of the Sviyazhsky Assumption Monastery".
If you want to dive deeper into the topic, be sure to check them out.

For a quick acquaintance with the sights of Sviyazhsk, two resources are suitable that contain contact information, routes, questions about organizing excursions, etc.:
Official site "Island-city of Sviyazhsk"
Island-city of Sviyazhsk

Prehistory - relations between Rus' and the Kazan Khanate

It is difficult to feel the significance of Sviyazhsk in the national history without understanding the context of its foundation. In fact, what kind of city is this, on the lands of the Kazan Khanate, inhabited by the Chuvash, but founded by Russian governors and the Kazan Khan Shah-Ali? The topic is extremely interesting, but just as voluminous. Willy-nilly, one has to go back to the beginning of the 15th century, to the times when the Golden Horde was falling apart. Having delved into the relations between Russia and the Kazan Khanate, you understand that you will have to cover areas and periods that go far beyond the mutual strife and temporary alliances of the two medieval states. Here you have Crimean (read Turkish), Lithuanian and even Western European interests, and even a powerful Nogai factor. Against this background, the Kazan Khanate sought to maintain its independence and the role of the largest center of trade in the Volga region, and the Moscow principality pursued its important goals. The aggressive actions of the Moscow princes had a long history and were due to a set of good reasons.

On the right side you can see the 86-meter power transmission tower, now dismantled

Assumption Monastery. 2010

Assumption Monastery. year 2014

John the Baptist Convent, 2014

The reasons were as follows:
1) The struggle for access to the Great Volga Route, the most important trade artery of Eastern Europe since the 9th-10th centuries. For Rus', the trade route to the southeast was available only up to Nizhny Novgorod. Conflicts with Khazaria, then with the Volga Bulgaria, and then with the Kazan Khanate, occurred precisely because of the opportunity to freely travel and trade in the Caspian Sea, in Persia. Those. fought for transit trade and huge profits.

2) Direct need for extensive expansion of the territory of the Moscow state. Feudalism is characterized by a very low agriculture, and in Rus' the problem was aggravated by the lack of good land and a very difficult climatic situation. Hence the desire to increase the fertile Volga land.

3) Political situation, due to centripetal tendencies, the collection of Russian lands around Moscow. Around them there were fragments into which the Golden Horde fell apart. These hated each other almost more than the Moscow principality, and did not consider it possible / necessary to unite against Rus'.

4) Civil war in the Kazan Khanate. The elite broke up into two opposing parties, oriented towards specific centers of power. The first is a pro-Turkish party with very specific anti-Moscow sentiments, naturally, with hope for the Crimea, and through it for Turkey. The second party was formed by a part of the Kazan nobility, ready for the sake of ending civil strife, even for the abolition of the khanate as an institution of power and the transfer of government directly to Moscow.

5) Grievances accumulated over many years of raids. A real raiding economy developed in the Kazan Khanate. All their campaigns ended with the hijacking of Russian captives for subsequent sale to Persia or to the Crimean cities. major centers The slave trade was Kaffa (Feodosia), Chembalo (Balaklava), Tana (Azov), from where people were transported to the Mediterranean and Europe.

6) The emergence of the Kasimov Khanate. The history of its appearance is not the topic of my story, so I will briefly outline it. In 1445, the founder of the Kazan Khanate Ulu-Muhammad undertook another campaign against Rus'. The purpose of the event from the genre of the raid economy is to force Moscow to pay tribute on a regular basis. In the battle at the Spas-Efimiev Monastery near the Nerl River, Grand Duke Vasily was captured. The Russians negotiated a peace treaty on monstrous terms. Baskaks again settled in the cities, watching the collection of money. A buffer state stood out in the Meshchera land - the Kasimov Khanate, formally vassal from Moscow. As soon as Vasily II returned from captivity, by the end of his reign it became clear that the new mini-state was, in fact, vassal to Moscow. It was here that all the dissidents of Kazan, Astrakhan and the Nogai Hordes found refuge.

From the foregoing, it follows that "Kazan took" - not the result of a voluntaristic decision of a single Ivan, even the Terrible, but a turning point in the centuries-old history of the Russian-Kazan wars that began as early as 1437. There was everything in that story - both the repeated ruin of Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow, and the capture of Kazan in 1487. Nevertheless, in order to understand the historical context, it is enough to realize the inapplicability of a stereotyped approach to assessing the opposing sides. It is impossible to expose the Kazan Khanate as an innocent victim of Russian expansion in the Volga region, but it is also impossible to define the army of the Moscow principality solely as an avenger for numerous raids, ruins and hijackings in full. The six points listed above are an attempt to show the underlying causes of the existing contradictions.

2014: A dam leading to the island. There are no turnstiles, helipads, etc. yet.

Turnstiles were installed in 2016, but as of February 2017, visiting Sviyazhsk is still free

Troitskaya street, 2010

Troitskaya street, 2014

Foundation of Sviyazhsk

However, now my goal is not a historical digression, but a story about Sviyazhsk. For those who really want details, I suggest referring to the bibliography at the bottom of the page. I had to delete half of the written text, severely limiting the depth of immersion in this story to December 1549. That winter, Ivan IV, "nicknamed Vasilievich for cruelty," personally led his second Kazan campaign. On February 12, 1550, the tsar first arrived under the walls of Kazan. Unusually warm windy weather and the rains that began in February led to the fact that the rivers opened up, the roads were swept away, and the supply of food to the army was disrupted. On February 25, the siege was lifted. Karamzin describes the retreat positively:

"Having sent forward a large regiment and a heavy projectile, the Sovereign himself followed them with light cavalry in order to save the cannons and hold back the pressure of the enemy; he showed firmness, did not lose heart, and, occupied with only one thought, the overthrow of this malicious, hated for Russia Kingdom, carefully observed the places; stopped at the mouth of the Sviyaga, saw high mountain called Round; and, taking with him the Tsar Shig-Aley, the Princes of Kazan, the Boyars, he rode to its top ... An immeasurable view opened up in all directions: to Kazan, to Vyatka, to Nizhny and to the deserts of the present Simbirsk Province. Surprised by the beauty of the place, John said: "Here will be a Christian city; we will constrain Kazan: God will give it into our hands." Everyone praised his happy thought, and Shig-Aley and the Tatar nobles described to him the wealth, fertility of the surrounding lands.".

In the winter of 1550-1551, in the Uglitsky district, in the estate of the Ushatykh princes, the main set of the future fortress was prepared. They cut down living quarters, two temples, fortress walls, towers and gates. The work was supervised by the sovereign clerk Ivan Grigorievich Vyrodkov, who was to not only make a fortress, but then, disassembled, deliver it to the mouth of the Sviyaga. All parts were marked, disassembled, stacked on rafts. An example of these marks can still be seen on the walls of the wooden Trinity Cathedral.

The aforementioned Shig-Aley (aka Shigali, Shah-Aley, Shah-Ali, etc.) is the Kasimov Khan. In 1545, he was even briefly appointed Khan of Kazan. Taking the throne, he consistently pursued a course towards union with Moscow, for which literally a year later he was expelled by the Kazan elite, replacing him with a ruler from the pro-Crimean party.

Destroyed in the 1930s, the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Double fences - traces of the arrangement of the new look of Sviyazhsk

The building of the main educational school (women's gymnasium)

In the early spring of 1551, Ivan IV sent Shah-Ali to the mouth of the Sviyaga with five hundred noble citizens of Kazan and a strong Russian army. In the meantime, a river caravan set out, which arrived at the mouth of the Sviyaga at the end of May 1551. It is clear that it was impossible to hide the fortification works 20 kilometers from Kazan. However, this was not required. Distracting strikes were made in four directions.
1) The army of Prince Peter Serebryany-Obolensky left Nizhny Novgorod and in the early morning of May 18 ravaged the Kazan settlement. About a thousand inhabitants were exterminated, Russian captives were released, with whom the army returned to the mouth of the Sviyaga.
2) A detachment of Bakhtiyar Zyuzin moved from Vyatka - archers and Cossacks occupied all the transports along the main transport arteries of the khanate: the Volga, Kama and Vyatka.
3) 2500 foot Cossacks, led by atamans Severga and Elka, left Meshchera (the territory of the present Ryazan region) raid on the Volga, and then joined the rati of the governor Zyuzin. Karamzin mentions Prince Khilkov as their chief.
4) Detachments of service Cossacks operated in the Lower Volga region.

On May 24, the main army arrived at the Round Mountain by river. The landing site was covered by the army of Prince Serebryany-Obolensky. Having cut down the forest on the top, the warriors started marking, then they consecrated the place and started construction. Semyon Mikulinsky, who arrived with the Moscow army, was appointed governor of the fortress. The construction of the fortress took four weeks. When assembling the walls, the blanks were not enough and the local wood that grew on the hill went into action. The result was a structure traditional for Russian wooden fortification, capable of withstanding a long siege. Powerful tours - cages littered with stones with earthen filling. According to the custom of the 16th century - plantar, middle, riding combat. Loopholes, upper platforms for archers and shooters, etc.

The fortifications covering the top of the Round Mountain were elliptical in plan. The perimeter of the fortress wall reached 1200 sazhens (1 sazhen about 2 meters). The fortress had several two- or three-tiered towers, seven of which were travel towers. The Rozhdestvensky, Nikolsky, Sergievsky, Nikolo-Mozhaisky, Zhiletsky, Adashevsky gates led to the Kremlin, on the territory of which there were two churches, administrative and residential buildings. For military operations, three hiding places were built: two to the Sviyaga River and one to the Pike River. The main gates were considered Rozhdestvensky, located on the northeast side of the main entrance. The fortress was named "in the royal name" Ivangorod Sviyazhsky (Sviyazhsky).

The fortress housed the advanced detachments of Russian troops led by the voivode Alexander Gorbaty. The construction of a strong fortress in the very heart of the Tatar state demonstrated the strength of Moscow and contributed to the beginning of the transition to the Russian side of a number of Volga peoples - the Chuvash and Cheremis-Mari, and Ivan the Terrible received a base for the siege of Kazan. Russian governors in Sviyazhsk took the oath of the inhabitants of the surrounding villages. One of the conditions of the oath was the release of Russian slaves: " they can’t keep a full Russian at home, free them all". To test the loyalty of those who swore they were forced to participate in a Russian raid on Gostiny Island. The annals say: " Well, the Kazanians took cannons out of the city for them and squeaked, and taught them to shoot at them, and the mountain people - the Chuvash and Cheremis - trembled and ran ... and the mountain people all ran to the king (Shah-Ali) and the governors".

Political crisis in the Kazan Khanate

In June 1551, in Kazan, the authorities went rogue. The rebellious "Chuvash Arskaya" demanded submission to Russian demands and the expulsion of the Krymchaks. Soon, the Crimean garrison decides to flee, hoping to slip through the Russian blockade. Having abandoned their families, "three hundred people of ulans and princes and azeevs and murzas and good Cossacks" suddenly left Kazan. At the mouth of the Vyatka, they ran into a Russian ambush and were partially killed and partially captured. As a result, the Crimean Tatars, who were the support for the young khan and for Syuyumbike, ended their days on the block in Moscow.

Left without support, the pro-Crimean (read pro-Turkish) party fell. Power passed to the supporters of peace with the Russians. The provisional government entered into peace negotiations. The head of the clergy Kul-Sharif and Prince Bibars Rastov went to Sviyazhsk to invite Shah-Ali to the throne. Under the terms of the truce, the Kazan government recognized Shah-Ali as Khan, handed over Khan Utyamysh, Queen Syuyumbike and the families of Crimeans who had fled to the Russians, and also freed all Russian prisoners. Instead, blockades were lifted and freedom of movement restored.

Syuyumbike, her son and relatives were handed over by the Kazanians on August 11, 1551 to the Russians as hostages. By the right of the levirate, the Khan was married off to Shah Ali, i.e. for the closest relative of the deceased prince. Thus, in August, Shah-Ali entrenched himself on the Kazan throne. Together with him, on August 16, the boyar Ivan Khabarov and the clerk Ivan Vyrodkov, already known to us, arrived in the Tatar capital. Near the Khan's palace, 300 Kasimov Tatars and 200 Russian archers were stationed. On this day, the Tatars released 2,700 Russian prisoners. In total, according to the lists that were kept in Sviyazhsk when issuing grain allowances, 60 thousand slaves were released throughout the Kazan Khanate. The prisoners appeared in Sviyazhsk, and from there they were already sent to their native places. The main forces of the Moscow army returned home. Shah Ali began repressions against his opponents (supporters of the Crimea and Turkey). In addition, the newly-minted khan undertook to secretly spoil the stocks of gunpowder, put the guns and squeaks out of use. However, he limited himself to the fact that at the beginning of 1552 he took part of the Kazan artillery to Sviyazhsk.

House built in the 19th century by Illarionov-Brovkin-Medvedev

Hotel in the house of merchants Kamenevs (late 19th century)

Monument to the Red Army soldiers executed in 1918

Meanwhile, Ivan IV led the case to the abolition of the khanate by peaceful means. In February 1552, the Russian ambassador went to Kazan, who was supposed to stand there with the garrison and swear the khanate directly to Moscow. A.F. Adashev suggested that the khan let the Russian governor into the city and surrender the fortress to him. On March 6, Shah Ali withdrew the Russian garrison from Kazan to Sviyazhsk. Under the pretext of big fishing, the khan brought with him 84 representatives of the local nobility, whom he handed over to the Russians as hostages.

On March 7, the Tatar princes Chapkun Otuchev, Burnash and the head of the archery Ivan Cheremisinov took the Kazan citizens to the oath. On March 8, they returned to Sviyazhsk together with the embassy. The mullahs and local princes who arrived at the Russian fortress took an oath from the governor that all the privileges of Russian boyars and nobles apply to them. Shah-Ali, who left his capital forever, summoned his wife to Sviyazhsk. Everything went perfectly smoothly. The luggage of the governor and 70 Cossacks arrived in Kazan. The queen was on her way. Rural people, having sworn in, went home.

On March 9, the tsar's governor, the Sviyazhsky governor, Prince Semyon Ivanovich Mikulinsky, was supposed to enter Kazan. Governors and a military detachment rode with him, followed by the hostages taken out by Shah Ali on March 6th. When the governor arrived at Bezhbalda (a village located on the site of the Admiralteyskaya Sloboda), three of the Kazanians accompanying him - Prince Islam, Prince Kebek and Murza Alike Narykov asked him for permission to go ahead. Arriving in Kazan, these three putschists locked the fortress gates and spread a false rumor that the Russians intended to massacre and kill all the inhabitants. The quietly smoldering conspiracy suddenly broke out into open rebellion.

When Prince Mikulinsky drove up to Kazan, on Bulak he was met by Prince Kul-Ali and Ivan Cheremisinov, who had left the city to meet him, who reported that dashing people were stirring up the people, and many were arming themselves. Meanwhile, Prince Chapkun Otuchev joined the rebels. The entry into the city of the Russian governor did not take place, and a few archers were put to death. The Russian detachment that approached the city stood for the whole day, but then retreated to Sviyazhsk. The nobles of Kazan assured the Russians that they had to wait until the excitement of false rumors calmed down. Not a single shot was fired and the settlements were not touched. The parties still hoped to resolve the matter by negotiations.

2010: view of the stairs that tourists climb to Sviyazhsk

Wicket and fence made of material typical for local fences

On March 10, 1552, Chapkyn Otuchev headed the Kazan government, which invited the Astrakhan prince Yadygar-Mukhammed (Yediger) to the throne. Russian archers and other persons who found themselves in the city at the time of the coup - "Punkov and comrades" were killed. Approximately 180 people died. The plan of peaceful annexation, advocated by a significant part of Kazan society, failed. As soon as navigation was opened along the rivers, the Russians resumed the occupation of the river routes and the blockade of Kazan. Artillery guns and an extensive supply of food were sent to Sviyazhsk to supply the detachments. The Kazanians, on the other hand, captured herds of cattle in the meadows near Sviyazhsk, brought by the Russians for food preparation. The sent chase from hundreds of Cossacks lost 70 people. The Cossack detachment, traveling to Sviyazhsk for food for the main Kama outpost, was captured and all 30 captives were killed. On the Kama, the outposts missed Khan Yediger, who arrived safely in Kazan and took the khan's throne.

Meanwhile, discipline in the garrison of Sviyazhsk had completely fallen. The fortress was filled with marketers, businessmen of all kinds, soldiers, merchants and captive men and women released from Kazan, who did not have certain occupations, received rations and wandered around idle, waiting to be sent to their homeland. There were many different goods, but there was no bread, and the army was starving. A scurvy epidemic broke out in Sviyazhsk. Metropolitan Macarius addressed the Sviyazhsky garrison with a message composed in strong and touching terms. This appeal made a big impression. The troops pulled up, gambling was banned, drunkenness and debauchery weakened, and with the onset of summer and with the delivery of supplies, scurvy stopped.

Third Kazan campaign of Ivan IV

I must say that the experience of previous Kazan campaigns had a huge impact on the formation of Ivan IV as a military commander. In 1552, he did everything to synchronize the movement of marching columns. After all, how was it before? Heavy guns were sent along the river. Foot and cavalry troops set out on land and usually came to the walls of Kazan before artillery. As soon as the besiegers began to have problems with food or diseases, the Tatars left the city and defeated the uninvited guests. Then it was the turn of the river caravan. To these problems were added the eternal meteorological troubles of months-long transitions - sometimes mud, sometimes an unexpected thaw, and the stretching of the routes for the supply of food and military equipment. All in all, a very sad story. What did the 22-year-old Ivan Vasilyevich do to radically correct things?
1) Unity of command. Nobody could decide but the king. Moreover, he had to defend this right before his boyars and princes.
2) The strategic disinformation of the Crimean Khan that the Russian forces are already somewhere near Kazan.
3) Conducting reconnaissance on the march.
4) Constantly maintained (with the help of messengers) communication of marching columns and a river caravan.
5) Engineering support of the moving army.

Newly made typical red brick cottages on Uspenskaya street

It is possible to buy a plot and build an "antique" house, but it is expensive and troublesome

Another example of a remake in private ownership

Ivan IV suggests that as soon as the troops leave for Kazan, the Crimean Tatars will come to Rus'. The tsar builds his strategic plan on the fact that the horde from the Crimea will definitely come. In doing so, he makes a brilliant tactical move. The preparations and the exit of the troops are not hidden, but then the columns move extremely slowly. On June 17, intelligence reports that the horde has left the Crimea. Then the movement of Russian troops stops altogether. As soon as it turns out that on June 23 the main forces of the Krymchaks approached Tula, an army of 15,000 people deploys there, which utterly smashes the uninvited guests. The defense of Tula by the garrison and the militia under the command of Prince Grigory Ivanovich Tyomkin-Rostovsky, as well as the victorious battle on the Shivron River, are separate, most interesting topics. But about them some other time. The main thing is that the horde of Devlet Giray is defeated and runs back to the Crimea. Now you can move to Kazan without fear of being stabbed in the back.

Russian troops go to Sviyazhsk in two marching columns. The northern column - from Vladimir through Murom to Alatyr - is led by the tsar himself. The southern column follows from Ryazan through Meshchera. Considering that they go at different speeds (due to the different ratio of foot / horse warriors), the daily crossings of the northern ones are 20 versts each, those of the southern ones are 25 versts each. Ahead, in 3 days' journey, ertaul (forward guard) is moving. At a distance of a day's march from Ertaul, a field army (sappers) goes through clearings, laying gati, and constructing bridges. The forward guards, the two columns, and the supply train following by water are in constant communication with the help of messengers. The movement is proceeding strictly according to the schedule with maintaining communications and engineering support for the march. Yes, they moved for a long time - they walked for a month, but without losses in people and materiel. Meanwhile, stocks of food, gunpowder, cannonballs, repair tools, and other materials are accumulating in Sviyazhsk.

Siege

On August 13, the combined Russian army reaches its base of operations. After three days of rest, on August 16, 1552, a leisurely three-day crossing across the Volga and preparations for the siege began. Every 10 warriors must make a tour, in addition, each must carry a log for the tyn. The fifth siege of the capital of the Kazan Khanate was coming. The Russians were able to take the city only once - in 1487. In 1524, 1530, 1550, the sieges were short-lived and unsuccessful. In the campaigns of 1469, 1506 and 1545, the Russians did not even manage to besiege the city. From this rich historical experience stemmed the confidence of the Kazan government in the success of the defense.

This is how the fortress is described by V.A. Volkov in the book "Wars and Troops of the Moscow State": " The Kazan Kremlin was surrounded by a double oak wall filled with rubble and clayey silt, with 14 stone archery towers, located one from the other at a distance not exceeding a double flight of an arrow (about 500 m). The approaches to the city were covered by the channels of the rivers Kazanka - from the north and Bulak - from the west. On the other sides, especially from the side of the Arsk field, the most convenient for organizing siege works, Kazan was surrounded by a large ditch, reaching 3 sazhens (6.5 m) wide and 7 sazhens (15 m) deep. The most vulnerable point of the fortress were 11 gates, although they were covered with towers and additional fortifications made of taras. On the city walls, to protect the soldiers from shelling from the enemy, parapets 140 cm high were built, over which a wooden roof was erected. In addition to the external fortifications of Kazan, an internal citadel was built in the city itself, which was located in the northwestern part of the city, on a natural hill. There were "royal chambers and mosques, greenly high bricked." The palace was separated from the rest of the city by deep ravines and an intra-fortress stone wall.". A lot of supplies were prepared in the fortress, and 15 versts northeast of Kazan, on High Mountain, they equipped a fortified position. time tactics: active defense, constant sorties and raiding operations in the rear of the besiegers.

2014: Uspenskaya st., 24

House restoration

Same house, 2015

2016, work completed

A delegation was sent to Kazan with peace proposals. In the event of capitulation, the inhabitants were guaranteed life, inviolability of property, as well as the opportunity to freely practice the Muslim faith and the opportunity to freely choose their place of residence. Khan Yediger refused.

On August 23, the Russian army surrounded the city and began building fortifications. At the very beginning of the siege, a terrible storm broke out, breaking the tents in the camp, including the royal one, crashing many ships on the Volga, and destroying part of the supplies. This time, the "climatic weapon" misfired - new supplies were delivered from Sviyazhsk. The siege continued. The very first skirmishes with the Kazanians showed an unprecedented order: only those who were ordered to fight fought. The rest of the regiments did not dare to intervene, since a strict order was in effect: do not attack without a royal order, and in regiments without a command, the governor should not dare to approach the city.

On August 30, Princes Gorbaty and Serebryany defeated the detachments of Prince Yapanchi, thereby securing the rear of the besiegers. Ivan IV ordered to send one of the prisoners to Kazan with a proposal to surrender, warning that in case of refusal he would execute all the prisoners from the Yapanchi detachment. The besieged gave no answer and 340 captives were killed in front of the city.

By September 1, Kazan was in the ring of fortifications. They set up tours, supplied them with guns. Where it was impossible to put a tour, they put a tyn there. Now it is impossible to establish who exactly drew up the plan of the siege. It is only known that Ivan Vyrodkov and a certain Rozmysl led the construction of these fortifications. Most likely, it was a German named Erasmus. Some sources mention Italian and English engineers. It would seem that an effective plan should be the simplest: to make gaps through which the troops will pour into the city with the fire of battering rams. But the walls besieging from their side will have time to build a wood-earth barricade in the shape of a horseshoe at the breach. If the attackers burst into the gap, they will be in a bag. And when they flee from there in a panic, they will be hit with buckshot from the flanking towers with plantar battles.
The Russians, on the other hand, act completely unexpectedly. Instead of breaching, they have been conducting an intense counter-battery battle for two days. The gunners of Ivan IV consistently knock out enemy artillery, and their positions are located so as to fire not in the forehead, but at an angle.

On the night of September 3-4, in front of the Arsky Gates of the Kazan Kremlin, the besiegers, under the leadership of Ivan Vyrodkov, assembled a siege tower of six fathoms from ready-made parts. A huge building, about the height of a modern 4-storey building, was built according to all the canons, with sole, middle and horse fighting. The armament of this monster was 10 cannons and about 50 guns. The tower towered over the walls and with its fire suppressed the operational resistance of the defenders. Under her cover, the battering-ram guns of the "king's attire" set to work. Now, in order to build a barricade around the gap, Kazan citizens will either have to keep a small detachment under the stone fortress wall, or bring it from afar. In any case, there will be losses from fire from the siege tower. It would seem that you can start an assault, but Ivan IV does not give in to the advice of his retinue and again acts according to plan. His troops continue to systematically move the siege tours to the walls of the fortress and repel the attacks of Kazan.

The day of September 4, 1552 turned out to be rich in surprises. In addition to the construction of a huge siege tower, the besiegers undermined the mine gallery, brought under the aquifer. It is clear that it was difficult to stop the water supply of the fortress - there were still sources of water inside. It was much more important to try out a new tactical technique for the Russians. Sapa was summed up exactly, and the explosion of 11 barrels of gunpowder had the desired effect.

On September 6, the Russians, with heavy losses, captured the fortification of the Kazanians on the Arsk field, erected on a mountain between the swamps. The troops begin to comb the banks of the Volga to the confluence of the Kama, burning villages, freeing captives and completely knocking out the idea from the local population that someone needs to be released there. At the same time, due to the captured livestock, the food issue is being resolved.

Sapa under the Arsk Gate is being carried out in a big secret. On September 30, a mine is blown up under them. The besieged are sure that troops will rush in through the gap that has formed. There is no time to build a barricade, and the hail of lead from the siege tower interferes. Therefore, Kazan immediately rushed to the outing. The besiegers did not even think of climbing into the breach. They met the attack of the defenders with strong fire, and then, "on the shoulders" of the retreating Kazan, broke into the Arsk Gate. The counterattack was commanded by Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky. The governor asked the tsar to build on the success and launch a general assault, but Ivan IV again did not give the order to attack. The planned siege continues, artillery carrying out harassing bombardments, troops fighting off sorties and thwarting attempts to repair the walls. No improvisation!

On October 1, large-caliber cannons of the "Tsar's attire" destroy a section of the wall. The moat is filled with earth and forest. Before a decisive assault, the citizens of Kazan were offered to surrender, but the offer was rejected. Then at 7 am on October 2, 1552, another mine gallery explodes under the walls, in which 240 pounds of gunpowder are laid. About a hundred meters of the fortress wall disappeared or turned into rubble. And only then did the assault columns go on the attack.

The bulk of the troops entered Kazan without any problems. Russian troops broke into the city and looted. The governors ordered the marauders to be executed on the spot, this measure made it possible to restore the fallen discipline. Monstrous resistance and street fighting fell only to the share of the regiment of the right hand, where Prince Andrei Kurbsky fought. By evening Kazan was busy. In street battles near the mosque of the Khan's palace, one of the leaders of the defense, Kul-Sharif, who led the resistance in this area, was killed. Chapkun-bek also died in street fighting. Khan Yediger surrendered. After the victory, Ivan IV, acting in the spirit of that time, gave the city to the troops for plunder. Only banners and cannons were taken to the treasury.

After the capture of Kazan

On October 12, the Russian army moved back. Prince Gorbaty-Shuisky remained the governor. No peace treaties were concluded in connection with the disappearance of the subject of negotiations. For the first time in many years, Moscow could offer these lands tranquility and peace. However, resistance continued in the occupied territories. So, in December 1552, the Chuvash and Cheremis on the road from Sviyazhsk to Vasilsursk killed many Russian messengers, merchants and people who accompanied the convoys with state-owned goods. Moscow responded with terror. Participants of the attack were brought to Sviyazhsk: 74 Tsivil Chuvash people. All were hanged, and the property was given to scammers. In February 1553, the rebels defeated a detachment of boyar Saltykov sent against them from Sviyazhsk. The governor was executed, 36 boyar children and 170 Chuvash children were also killed, 200 people were taken prisoner. The central government responded to these speeches with merciless terror. However, the partisan war in the lands of the former Kazan Khanate lasted until 1556.

The further fate of the 22-year-old winner of the Kazan Khanate, Ivan IV the Terrible, is well known to us from the school history course. Returning home from near Kazan, he became very ill. At that moment, instead of swearing an oath to the young heir, his closest associates conferred right next to the king's bed about who would be the regent. These events will significantly affect the formation of Ivan the Terrible as a tyrant. After the betrayal of his closest friend Andrei Kurbsky and the failures of the Livonian Company (which had the goal of gaining access to the Baltic Sea), Ivan IV would plunge the country into an oprichnina, which would result in a socio-economic crisis and the ruin of the state. The king died in 1584, at the age of 53, almost losing the ability to move. For the last six years of his life, he was carried on a stretcher.

In 1556 Russian troops took Astrakhan. The entire course of the Volga was in the hands of Moscow. Thus, a direct road was opened to the annexation of Siberia, to which Russia had grown. In 1569, the Ottoman-Crimean army will try to return the city, but will be defeated.

1571 - Crimean Khan Devlet Gerai (aka Davlet Giray), with the military support of the Ottoman Empire and political support from the Commonwealth, undertook a campaign to avenge Astrakhan and Kazan. His raid ended with the burning of Moscow and the ruin of many southern Russian regions. Ivan the Terrible lost this war and was ready to hand over Astrakhan to the Krymchaks, but not Kazan. The issue was "finally settled" in 1572. There was a battle that surpassed Kulikovo: the destruction of the 120,000th Crimean-Turkish army in the battle of Molodi. The victory will be won by 60,000 Russian troops under the leadership of Vorotynsky and Khvorostinin. Only 5-10 thousand returned to Crimea, attempts of Turkish-Tatar expansion in Eastern Europe were no longer undertaken.

In memory of the victory over the Kazan Khanate in Moscow in 1555-1561, the Cathedral of the Intercession was erected, which is on the Moat (Pokrovsky Cathedral), known as the Trinity Cathedral, and later as St. Basil's Cathedral.

Ivan Vyrodkov built fortresses in Astrakhan, the mouth of the Narova River, Galich, participated in the Livonian War, in the Polotsk campaign of Ivan the Terrible. In 1564, during the period of the oprichnina, Vyrodkov was executed on a denunciation. The chain mail of the talented clerk is now on display at the State Historical Museum.

Shah Ali returned to Kasimov to manage his inheritance. For the fact that he left the Kazan throne, the tsar generously rewarded him: "many sat down in Meshchera" and to wife the queen Syuyun-Bike. Shah Ali participated in the Livonian War (1558), the Polotsk campaign (1562).

Syuyumbike (Syuyun-Bike) at the time of the fall of the Kazan Khanate was 35 years old. She was given in marriage to the unloved Shah Ali and separated from her son. The former queen spent the rest of her life in Kasimov.

The last Kazan Khan Yadygar-Muhammed (aka Ediger) was baptized on February 26, 1553 with the name Simeon. Received the city of Zvenigorod as inheritance, participated in the Livonian War. He died in 1565 and was buried in the Miracle Monastery.

Sviyazhsk will become a major trading center, its role as the first Christian city of the Kazan region will be taken into account in the titles of the archbishops and metropolitans of the Kazan diocese, called Kazan and Sviyazhsk.

Sviyazhsky Monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos

Having finished with the historical part, let's move on to the architecture and sights of the current island-city. One of the most interesting objects is the Assumption Monastery, founded in 1555. The first abbot of the monastery was Archimandrite Herman (Sadyrev-Polevoy). In 1566, the rector was summoned by Ivan IV to Moscow, where he was offered the Moscow metropolitan see. However, Archbishop German sided with the disgraced Metropolitan Philip and began to denounce the oprichnina, for which he was removed, and soon, according to some sources, he was killed, according to others, he died during a plague epidemic. In 1595, under Metropolitan Hermogenes of Kazan, the relics of Archbishop Herman, canonized at the same time, were acquired. The relics were transferred to the Sviyazhsky Assumption Monastery, where they became the main monastery shrine. In 1888, when the relics were redressed, the version of a violent death was confirmed: "his head was cut off, and, moreover, in a way unusual for an ordinary execution, and with two blows - one in front, cutting off the lower part, and the other behind the neck"

July 2011

July 2011

July 2011

November 2011

November 2011

November 2011

May 2014

May 2014

May 2014

May 2015

May 2015

May 2015

May 2016

April 2016

Church of Saints Herman of Kazan and Mitrofan of Voronezh in the fraternal building

February 2017. Weakly visible construction seams of the 18th century, when the Assumption Cathedral acquired a new dome and sharp kokoshniks

February 2017

February 2017. The construction of the gate church of the Ascension of the Lord was completed on the basis of the preserved lower tier

The entrance to the monastery is through the Holy Gates. In the summer of 2010, construction work was going on in the monastery and this entrance was closed. It was possible to pass through a gap in the wall (apparently at the site of the utility gate) through which heavy equipment and trucks got into the territory. In the summer of 2011, passage through the main gate became available again. Visiting the territory of the monastery ends at 18:00 (there is a corresponding sign at the gate with a description of the access mode and rules of conduct).

The restored main gate of the Dormition Monastery

Remains of painting in
main gate opening

In 2012, construction began on the previously lost gate church of the Ascension of the Lord. The fact is that at the end of the 17th century, a church was built over the southern gates of the Assumption Monastery in honor of the Ascension of Christ, which was destroyed in the 1930s. Only the lower tier with the Holy Gates and fragments of the painting have survived. But this is not about the quirks of the access mode, but about the fact that once you get behind a high wall, you can see two beautiful temples built in the 16th century.

Household gate - exit to the cliff above the river Pike

Renovated wall: between the Rector's building and the Monastic School

Hard-to-read bas-reliefs on the southwestern wall of the Assumption Monastery

Southwestern wall of the Dormition Monastery

Church of St. Nicholas

The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is the oldest stone building in Sviyazhsk. It is a rare type of bell tower church with a massive tower on an almost monolithic base. It was built in 1555-1556 from hewn limestone almost simultaneously with the construction of the Assumption Cathedral, and, apparently, by the team of Pskov craftsmen Ivan Shiryai. The height of the bell tower is 43 meters, this is the most high building in Sviyazhsk.

You can see the dismantled roof, the scaffolding around the two built-on tiers, the door to the cell of St. Herman

Status as of April 2016

Restoration work, 2011

Restoration work, 2011

Frescoes of the Church of St. Nicholas

2016 Work continues
Scaffolding moved higher

2017 Belfry and Assumption Cathedral in scaffolding

Next to the church, a three-tiered bell tower was erected from hewn limestone, on which five bells were installed: "two are ringing, and three are larger than those." Upstairs, back in the days of Ivan the Terrible, were installed tower clock"sovereign tribute". A secret underground passage led from the lower tier of the bell tower to the shore of Lake Pike, designed to supply water - in the event of a siege of the Sviyazhsk fortress. Later, two more tiers of the bell tower were built of brick.
Inside the temple on the eastern facade in a niche, a fragment of the face of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisky has been preserved. The ancient cell of St. Herman has been preserved in the church, in which his belongings were kept at the beginning of the 20th century.

Bell tower of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

The dome of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in the Assumption Monastery

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in the Assumption Monastery

In general, St. Nicholas Church is active and is open only to monks, but when construction and restoration work was carried out in it, inspection of the premises was not a big problem. The photographs show the progress of the excavations carried out under the film covering the section of the removed roof. The thickness of the "cultural layer" is striking.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built simultaneously with the St. Nicholas Church. The cathedral was erected in 4 years from white hewn stone by the artel of Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shiryai - architects who built St. Basil's Cathedral (Pokrovsky Cathedral) in Moscow and the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Kazan. The Assumption Cathedral was opened on September 12, 1560, that is, after St. Basil's Cathedral, which contradicts the legend that Ivan the Terrible blinded the architect.
Initially, the Assumption Cathedral was made in purely Pskov architectural traditions. There was an external fresco painting, now almost completely lost. But the interior frescoes are quite well preserved. The dome, walls and even window slopes are covered with a unique multi-color painting - a total of 1080 m2 of ancient frescoes and this is the only ensemble of frescoes from the era of Ivan the Terrible that has survived to this day.
The temple acquired its current appearance in the 18th century, when, under the influence of the then fashionable trend of "Ukrainian baroque", the cathedral grew significantly in height, gaining 12 sharp kokoshniks and a new dome.

A huge porch attached in 1857 to the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, photo - July 2011

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, photo - July 2011

Altar wall with three semicircular apses of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, photo - November 2011

Church painting of the 16th century frightened the holy fathers, who were accustomed to a Europeanized manner, with their “non-canonical plots and lack of theological thought”. In 1859, the rector of the Sviyazhsky Assumption Monastery even applied to the Synod for permission to repaint the Sviyazhsk cathedral frescoes. In the response of the Holy Synod, the special significance of these ancient frescoes was noted, their full compliance with the canons, and Bishop Evlampy was forbidden to distort them. A characteristic example of frightening non-canonicity is the image of St. Christopher on the northwestern pillar of the cathedral. There are several versions explaining the strange appearance and the equally unusual nickname of the righteous man - Christopher the cynocephalus (psoglavets). The options are:
1. The future martyr (presumably a real person with a pagan name Reprebus) possessed extraordinary beauty, because of which he was constantly subjected to temptations. After all, he asked God to make him ugly, which is why Saint Christopher is always depicted with the head of an animal.
2. Borrowing the image of a dog head from the Coptic Christian tradition (by analogy with the images of Saints Augani and Akhrax on the icon in the Cairo Museum of Coptic Art). Those. this may be an echo of the veneration of the jackal-headed Anubis.
3. Literal translation of the nickname, given to a person for a terrible appearance (face overgrown with hair, congenital deformity or injury).
4. Origin from the habitat. The hills of Cynocephala (dog heads) in Thessaly (in the northeast of Hellas on the Aegean coast) are known as the site of one of the battles between the Macedonians and the Romans, which took place in 197 BC.
5. Distorted "cananeus". Indian Christians used the words "Chananites", "southerners" to refer to fellow believers who migrated in the 4th century from Persia to southwest india. Later, "Canaanite" could be interpreted as "canine."

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in Uspensky monastery, 2016

In the corners, in the area of ​​the bends of the drainpipes, oblique seams are visible - traces of the reconstruction of the 18th century, when the cathedral received a new dome and kokoshnik decorations

In the Western tradition, Saint Christopher is depicted as a giant carrying a blessing baby across the river. In fact, this is an illustration of an episode from the "Golden Legend", the work of Jacob Voraginsky (circa 1260). The Roman of enormous stature was looking for a bishop for faithful service, but the holy hermit ordered him to serve on a dangerous ford across the river. The giant began to help people cross dangerous water carrying travelers on its back. One day he was carrying a little boy across the river. In the middle of the river, the child became so heavy that the strong man was afraid that they would both drown. The boy told him that he was Christ and was carrying all the burdens of the world with him. Then Jesus baptized Reprev in the river, and he received his new name - Christopher, "carrying Christ." The further path of the saint was short - see numerous biographies.

In Orthodoxy, the life of a saint is described somewhat differently. Presumably Reprev was captured by the Romans during the battle in Marmarik. He then served Rome in a division of North Africans. When the famous strong man was ordered to be delivered to the emperor, miracles occurred along the way: the rod in the saint’s hand blossomed, and through his prayer, bread was multiplied, which the travelers lacked. After baptism, Reprev received the name "Christopher" and began to preach the Christian faith, using the opportunity given by the angel to speak the previously unfamiliar language of the Lycians (they lived in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe modern Turkish city of Demre). Emperor Decius sent two harlots to persuade the saint to renounce Christ and offer sacrifices to the Roman gods. When the "honey trap" did not work, Christopher was thrown into a red-hot copper box, which did not harm him. Then, after torture, the martyr's head was cut off.

Image of St. Christopher in the Assumption Cathedral

So, in the Eastern tradition, the martyr was depicted with an animal head, or as a young man, with long hair, with a four-pointed cross in right hand. There are images borrowed from Catholics: a giant with a baby on his shoulders crosses the river. Meanwhile, by a decree of May 21, 1722, the Synod forbade the use of carved and dug icons - the skill of the carvers was extremely ambiguous, in addition, such images are inconvenient to clean from dust, traces of the vital activity of birds and mice. The same order forbade "inventions from unskillful or insidious icon painters who invented icons contrary to nature, history and truth itself, which are: the image of the martyr Christopher with a dog's head, the image of the Virgin with three hands." Frescoes with God the Father lying on pillows after the six-day world creation and other non-canonical images also fell under the ban. An interesting quote from the same resolution: "Saints Peter, Alexei and Jonah of Moscow, the miracle workers, are depicted in white hoods, which they did not have in Russia with them. And not only do they sin, but they do not keep the proportions, and they write images with greater than human measures heads and the like, not in dignity and propriety.

During this struggle, the images of St. martyr Christopher were destroyed or copied. Four frescoes with St. Christopher have survived to this day - in the Makaryevsky Monastery, in the Spassky Monastery (Yaroslavl), in the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (Nyroba, Perm region), where he is depicted with a dog's head, and in Sviyazhsk, where the saint's head looks more like a horse's. A few more icons have been preserved. Images of a martyr with a dog's head can be seen in State Museum History of Religion (St. Petersburg), the Old Believer Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos at the Rogozhsky Cemetery (Moscow), the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, in Cherepovets art museum, the Vologda Museum-Reserve, in the collections of the Rostov Kremlin Museum, in the Yegorievsk Museum of History and Art, as well as in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Another reason for the disputes "about canonicity" that surprised us was the plot "Fatherland" in the cathedral dome. This is a type of New Testament Trinity. In the 19th century, the image of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove in the hands of the Son seemed "non-canonical".
Also among the most famous frescoes is the "Procession of the Righteous to Paradise". The suggestion is connected with it that "images of John the Terrible and Macarius the Metropolitan are painted there, - it is they who close the procession of the righteous." If this assumption is correct, then this is "the only image of the young Ivan the Terrible that has survived in monumental painting." Unfortunately, this fresco cannot be seen, as it is located in the altar part.
There are also a number of interesting frescoes: "The Creation of Man", "God's Rest after the Creation of the World", "The Incarnation of God - the Word", but they could not be photographed - now this is hindered by wooden scaffolding erected for restorers. In general, the frescoes of the Assumption Monastery of the Mother of God are on a par with the frescoes of Dionysius in Ferapontovo. The five-tier gilded iconostasis of the cathedral (XVIII century) has also been preserved, the icons of which are kept in the State Museum fine arts RT.

Fraternal Corps, state of 2011

Fraternal Corps (late 17th century)

Fraternal corps, status for 2016

Archimandrite Corps (XVII century)

In addition to the mentioned buildings, the Assumption Monastery has preserved:
- a two-story archimandrite building, built in the 17th century in the Russian tower style,
- the building of the monastery school (XVIII century)
- a fraternal building, consisting of three buildings attached to each other and the church of St. Herman of Kazan and Mitrofan of Voronezh.

John the Baptist Convent

John the Baptist Convent 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. It is the legacy of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery that explains the extraordinary fact that the new John the Baptist Monastery did not have a temple corresponding to its name. This is the rarest case. The main cathedral of any monastery is almost always the same name to the monastery itself. It is called necessarily in honor of the same saint or the same holiday to which the monastery is dedicated.

Wall of the St. John the Baptist Monastery. 2010

Decorative corner tower 2010

One of the five openings of the monastery gates

In the photographs you see the monastery fence. Initially, it was wooden, but during the heyday of the monastery, it was replaced with a brick one. Again we turn to and read: In fact, the John the Baptist Monastery is much smaller than the Assumption Monastery, it looks like a fortress. Its 19th-century brick fence is also more of a fence than a wall. Until the 1820s, the fence was wooden ( last time it was built of wood in 1808), but the most important stage in the heyday of the monastery was marked by the construction, simultaneously with the first brick buildings, of the fence in 1819-1826. It is she who has survived to this day almost unchanged. With a whole 5 gates, which can be called a rarity for monasteries. Usually there are only the main, Holy Gates and one more - spare, economic. In addition to the gates (simple arched openings, not marked by gate churches), decorative corner turrets have been preserved here, but they also bear little resemblance to fortifications."

Monastery wall. year 2012

Decorative corner tower 2014

Wicket at the cell building

Main gate of the monastery

Main gate of the monastery

The roof of the St. Sergius Church, which served since 1836

Economic gates (western, closest to Taynitsky descent)

Household gates near St. Sergius Church. Stacks of bricks - the dismantled body of the abbess

Household gate near the cell building built in 1879

Trinity Cathedral

Trinity Cathedral - this is how the small log church of 1551 was officially called. It is one of the oldest monuments of wooden architecture in Russia. The church was built in the winter of 1550 in the Uglich forests from thick larch logs hewn inside. The log house was placed in the form of a cross and has two tiers: the first one is quadrangular, with a quadrangular semicircle for the altar; the second is octagonal.
The design of such temples differed little from the five-walled hut: an internal solid wall separated the refectory (porch) from the main volume. The simple secret of a log house - when logs are threaded into one another - made it possible to build churches, indeed, "without a single nail." The entire upper volume (the tent or a form replacing it) turned out to be "false" and was separated from the interior by a ceiling. It is a kind of "cap" over a wooden church. In winter, in such a temple with a low wooden ceiling, it was as warm as in a hut.

Several logs
had to be replaced

Old shops along the walls

Iconostasis still under restoration

Initially, it was tent-shaped, which is why the temple was, apparently, almost twice as high as it is now. For comparison: the main of the fortress towers - Rozhdestvenskaya - was less than 13 meters high. The Trinity Church probably reached a height of 20 meters. That is, it was very visible from behind all the walls and towers.
The temple was erected in one day by the soldiers of Prince Serebryany-Obolensky and consecrated on May 17, 1551 - the day of the Holy Trinity. This is the first temple of the first monastery in the entire Middle and Lower Volga region. That is why they named it respectfully - the cathedral. In all of Russia, perhaps only one Lazarevskaya church (1390) from the Murom Monastery (now transferred to Kizhi) is older than it.
In 1552, the 22-year-old Tsar Ivan IV and his governors Gorbaty-Shuisky, Serebryanny, Kurbsky and others prayed here before the last march of the troops on the way to Kazan.

Entrance door, made according to the standards of the XVI century - wide and low

Metal plate of the lock

Metal-studded side door

Fastening the bars of the window grille

Window lattice binding

Main entrance porch

Decor of the metal lining of the main entrance lock

Marks on the logs - to collect the temple in a new place

A feature of the interior of the Trinity Church, which further enhances its resemblance to a village hut, is long benches along the walls. Even in the old days they were tightly nailed to the floor and thus became an integral part of the interior. Two benches were even nailed to the altar. We see that it was, indeed, a fraternal church - where the small brethren of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery gathered every day for very long, according to the charter, prayers. In ancient Russian churches, there were usually such benches so that those tired of standing could have a little rest.

Previously, ancient robes on some icons shone dimly here. Now the icons of the festive rank from the iconostasis of the Trinity Church are stored in the Old Russian department of the Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan. The only thing that stands out from this realm of logs, boards and plank carvings is the central chandelier, which has darkened with age - a hanging copper chandelier (the word comes from a distorted Greek polycandylon, i.e. multi-candle).

royal doors

chained door

Benches along the walls

New dome (2012)

The main decoration of the church was the iconostasis - also wooden and originally 4-tiered. The presence of a 4-tiered iconostasis in such a small church is surprising and suggests that it might have been moved here from another church. The patterns of the iconostasis have been preserved only partially;

Trinity Church. 2010

The Royal Doors are perhaps the most luxurious part of the iconostasis, and of the entire interior of the temple. "The semicircle of the arch with a carved gilded imitation of the veil and its elegant fringe; a magnificent garland crowned with a crown, falling down the sash of the Royal Doors - contrast with the extremely modest appearance of the church."

In 1819, the covered gallery on columns, which encircled the church on three sides, was dismantled and replaced with porches - also on three sides. Thanks to them, the church became strictly cruciform in plan. But due to the abundance of glass in the walls of these porches, it began to resemble a country house, and not at all ancient temple. In 1821, it was completely sheathed with timber and painted with oil paint (since then it has been repainted many times, but most often with blue and green paint). The resemblance to a country house became even more intensified. In 2011, the country house was dismantled, thanks to which we can see the true appearance of the log house. In 2012, after the completion of the ongoing work, the temple was reopened to the public, but all of its interior decoration is now under restoration.

Cell building built in 1820

Cell building, 2010

A.V. Roschektaev writes the following about this building: " The building of 1820 closed the main square in the monastery from the west - between the Trinity and Sergius churches. Thus, as in most cloisters, construction began around main square, with the exit of all structures to it. The square was ancient, like the city of Sviyazhsk itself, but its appearance was formed gradually, until the beginning of the 20th century.
The long two-storey building with a small pediment in the center is made in the usual style of provincial classicism. But its design is very peculiar. This is not a brick, but a wood-brick building: inner frame its - wooden (log type), and brick walls rest on the frame from the outside. Despite the seeming primitiveness of this method of construction, the building has been standing for almost 2 centuries. In the 20th century, it became one of the ordinary residential buildings in Sviyazhsk (one of the largest houses in its size). For the John the Baptist Monastery, such buildings soon became literally "typical". Interestingly, almost all of them have survived to this day. In 1830, according to the same model, the abbess's building was built - between the St. Sergius Church and the above-mentioned building, at a right angle to the latter. And its main facade overlooked the same square - directly opposite the Holy Gates of the monastery.
The facades of these houses, whitewashed with lime paint, were in good harmony with the white-stone St. Sergius Church, and the average height of the two-story buildings turned out to be optimal for the monastic ensemble. Interestingly, in the neighboring Assumption Monastery, where both the cathedral and the bell tower were much higher, a three-story height turned out to be optimal for residential buildings."

2010: was

2014: became

2014: View from the back of the case

2015: work on the territory has not yet been completed

At present, the cell building built in 1820 has been thoroughly restored. In the photographs you can see its former and current condition. But the building of the abbess, which, in a dilapidated form, was still found by A. Roschektaev, has now been dismantled to the foundation. At one time, a wooden monastery shop was built on its foundation, but now it has also been dismantled. However, the bricks of the abbess's building were neatly cleaned and stacked closer to the economic gate, closest to the Trinity Church. Whether it will be restored, I don't know.

Cell building built in 1879 (in 1892 lined with bricks)

Construction of unknown purpose, something like the remains of an old pumping station

The wall separates the eastern and western parts of the monastery

All in the same place, in the "History of the Sviyazhsky John the Baptist Monastery" we read: " The number of inhabitants of the monastery grew rapidly, and more and more buildings were needed. The territory of the monastery in the 19th century was constantly expanding to the west, and it was there, behind the large building of 1820, that 2-story buildings of the same type grew up with it (second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries). In architectural terms, they do not represent any special value - and such a task was not set by their builders. It's just that this town was supposed to accommodate hundreds of new residents. Fortunately, there were enough funds for this, and the territory of the monastery by the end of the 19th century turned out to be quite large - 2 acres of 656 square meters. fathoms for 1897 (that is, about 2.5 hectares). It expanded over half a century at the expense of donations from philanthropists who bought up plots adjoining the monastery from the west. In 1857, a plot of 478 square meters was donated. sazhens, in 1858 - another 176 sazhens (the provincial secretary Cherubim became a benefactor). In 1895, immediately after the city fire of 1894, the local Sviyazh philanthropist I. A. Kulikov bought 4 burnt places (even to the west, near a small ravine) and donated them to the monastery, which expanded its territory by another 567 square meters. fathoms.
It was on these new territories that in 1879 was built of logs, and in 1892 another 2-storey cell building was lined with bricks (under abbess Varsonofia 1873 - 1881 and Photinia 1889 - 1893), and in 1896 - another, 2-storey wooden building (under Abbess Apphia, whom we wrote about in the previous paragraph).
The place was good for placing cell buildings. It seems to be specially fenced off from the main monastery square by the first long building of 1820. The monastery, as often happens, was divided into 2 parts: one - front, for pilgrims and local residents who come to serve in ancient temples; the other is semi-hidden, fenced off from the hustle and bustle, intended only for the nuns themselves. This, respectively, is the eastern and western halves of the huge monastery."

There is a charming island-city of Sviyazhsk, reminiscent of the fabulous island of Buyan. The sights of Sviyazhsk attract pilgrims from all over the Orthodox world who want to visit the numerous churches and monasteries located on its lands.

Looking back

The founder of the city was Ivan the Terrible, who, after another unsuccessful assault on Kazan, decided to establish a fortress city on these lands in order to be able to besiege the impregnable khan city for a long time. The place for an outpost here was ideal: a high hill washed by two rivers and surrounded by perennial swamps. The fortress was built in record time - in just four weeks! The construction of the fortress was carried out in the forests located 1000 kilometers upstream of the Volga, then it was dismantled and dragged to the Round Mountain, where the fortress was again assembled from a log, like a designer. At the same time, the first "spiritual" sights of Sviyazhsk were erected: the Nativity Cathedral (it was destroyed by fire in 1795) and the Trinity Church. After the capture of Kazan, all managerial functions were transferred to her, and only the title of the first Christian monastery of the Kazan diocese was assigned to Sviyazhsk.

Sviyazhsk became an island relatively recently: in 1955, after the construction of the Kuibyshev nuclear power plant, the middle course of the Volga was turned into a reservoir, with the waters of which a large number of villages were flooded. However, Sviyazhsk was more fortunate: located on Krutaya Gora, it retained its historical center above the surface of the Volga, turning into an island.

Attractions of the island

Sviyazhsk Island is famous for its Christian architectural monuments, but not only they are of interest to visitors. The amazing nature of this Volga region deserves no less attention. Life here flows measuredly, calmly and peacefully, from almost every point of the island there are magnificent views of the river surface, which you can look at for an infinitely long time. The air of the island is filled with silence, grace and tranquility. However, the main purpose of a visit to the island of Sviyazhsk is to visit churches and monasteries, perfectly preserved from past centuries.

Holy Trinity Church

The very first church of the island, erected in 1551 during the construction of Sviyazhsk. This is the only wooden temple on the island and the most ancient church within the Volga, preserved to this day. temple in literally words built without a single nail thanks to a special technology of laying logs. In the second half of the 17th century, the building of this landmark of Sviyazhsk underwent significant changes in the interior, retaining only the iconostasis intact, and at the beginning of the 19th century, the temple was placed on a brick plinth, sheathed with boards and painted with oil paint, hiding the true beauty of this building. However, during the restoration work in 2010-2012, the Trinity Church returned to its original appearance.

Inside the temple, coolness and twilight reigns, from each log it breathes antiquity. Now the church operates only as a museum, the entrance to the inside is paid.

Dormition Monastery

Another architectural monument that Sviyazhsk is proud of. The monastery has a unique historical and architectural value, which has no equal in the entire Middle Volga region. On its territory there are two ancient temples built in the middle of the 16th century almost immediately after the construction of the fortress here. These are St. Nicholas Church with a high bell tower, which is now open exclusively to monks, and the Assumption Cathedral. Of particular value to art critics is the latter, built in the style of Pskov churches, and its frescoes. In the 18th century, the temple received a new dome and patterned baroque kokoshniks, but otherwise its appearance remained unchanged.

Inside the cathedral, a complete unique cycle of wall paintings from the era of John IV (dating back to 1561) has been preserved. This is one of two examples of 18th-century fresco painting in Russia. The frescoes cover an area of ​​about 1080 square meters. m, the most famous compositions: “Saint Christopher” (the only fresco in the world with a non-canonical image of a saint), “Procession to Paradise”, “Assumption of the Mother of God” in the altar, “Fatherland” on the dome and “Crucified Christ on the chest of God” on vault of the church.

In addition to the ancient churches, there are other sights of Sviyazhsk built in the 17th-18th centuries on the territory of the monastery. In the Soviet years, as part of anti-religious propaganda, the Ascension Church and the Church of Herman of Kazan were destroyed. On the territory of the monastery in the Soviet years there was a correctional labor colony and a prison of the NKVD.

Church of Sergius of Radonezh

The city of Sviyazhsk - a museum under open sky. One of its wonderful "exhibits" is the Church of Sergei Radonezh, dating from the XVI-XVII centuries. Outwardly, this church is very simple, made of white hewn stone of various sizes without any decorations. Above southeastern part The green dome of the temple rises, and diagonally from it there is a small bell tower. On the western wall of the temple you can see the remains of fresco painting.

The church is built on the second floor, the lower floor was used as a warehouse for the monastery economy, there is also an opinion that monastic cells were previously located here.

Initially, it was a double-altar church, but at the end of the 18th century the building was given to the women's community, and another throne with a chapel was added to the church.

The interior decoration of the temple was practically not affected by the time. A single-tiered carved iconostasis, painted in the Old Russian style, has been perfectly preserved here. The relics of St. Herman. In the middle part of the castle, as in ancient times, there is a fraternal refectory.

Cathedral of Our Lady "Joy of All Who Sorrow"

The most impressive cathedral was built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the neo-Byzantine style, which was popular in Russia at that time. The appearance of the temple has not changed much, and even now it resembles a multi-tiered tower with a hemispherical dome. Only one row survived from the five-tiered iconostasis, the oil painting of the cathedral was almost completely lost, but at the moment work is underway to restore it.

A magnificent flower garden was laid out near the temple by the hands of the nuns.

How to get there

Going to Sviyazhsk (we will tell you how to get here a little later), you should take water and something to eat with you, because there are only two cafes on the island, the service in which leaves much to be desired. Also, do not forget that the monasteries of the island are active, you should behave and dress accordingly.

There are two ways to get to the island: from the railway station of the same name by car across the dam or by boat, departing from the Sviyazhskaya pier in Kazan. The second option is much more interesting, because it provides an opportunity to enjoy about two hours great views powerful and full-flowing Volga.

Sviyazhsk is a truly holy place for Christians, the air of which is filled with bells and prayers. A walk around the island, where the most ancient and unique temples of the Volga region are located, will remain in your memory for a long time.

Many are sure that it is the prototype of the fabulous Buyan Island, described by Pushkin in The Tale of Tsar Saltan. Tourists from all over Russia and other countries of the world come to this place at any time of the year.

Story

Ivan the Terrible himself decided to build a fortress city after a series of failed operations to take Kazan. It was necessary to create a stronghold to support the army. The island was washed on three sides by the waters of the rivers Pike, Sviyaga and Volga, from the elevated terrain - Round Mountain - distant approaches were visible, and most importantly - the island was located at a distance of a day's march from the capital of the Kazan Khanate.

The fortress was built imperceptibly for the enemy. First, fortifications were built near Uglich. After that, they were dismantled and, with the onset of spring, the logs were floated along the Volga to the island, then dragged to the foot of the Round Mountain. It took one month to reassemble the fortress. The construction was led by the famous Russian architect of that time, Ivan Vyrodkov.

The city consisted of eighteen towers, residential buildings and an Orthodox church. The fortress fully fulfilled its purpose: a year after its foundation, Kazan was taken.

Name history

Initially, the settlement was called "Novograd Sviyazhsky". The name of the town comes from the river Sviyaga. Over time, the original name was shortened.

The coat of arms of the city was approved only at the end of the 18th century. It is a shield, where a city is drawn, sailing on a ship, under which fish are depicted. This emblem fully reflects the amazing history of the construction of the town.

After the conquest of the capital of the Kazan Khanate, the town lost its military value. Soon the island became a quiet monastic place. With the advent of Soviet power, the history of the town changes dramatically. It was almost completely looted. After a while, prisons and correctional camps were built on the site of temples and monasteries.

Nowadays, the island of Sviyazhsk has been turned into one of the key attractions of the Republic of Tatarstan. Travelers are greeted by white-stone monasteries and golden domes of temples. Miracle Island hospitably welcomes tourists. Attractions attract travelers from all over the country.

Attractions

The city has rich history. On its territory there is a huge number of religious Orthodox buildings. Be sure to visit:

There are also many unpreserved places of worship in the town. The places where they were located are marked with signs. Most of these churches look like ruins today. The destroyed churches include the following: Sophia and St. Nicholas churches, the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation parish church, the Gateway Church of the Ascension, the Fraternal Corps and the Church of St. Herman. Almost all of them were destroyed in the first half of the 20th century by the Bolsheviks.

The city is associated with a legend about a monument allegedly discovered on the territory of Soviet Russia Judah. The installation of the monument was supposedly personally directed by Leon Trotsky. This famous revolutionary was sometimes called the "demon of the revolution."

According to legend, the format of the monument to the main biblical villain was approved by Lenin himself. It is believed that initially Trotsky wanted to erect a monument to Lucifer himself. However, Lenin imposed a ban on this project, since the installation of such monuments would indirectly confirm faith in God. The project of a monument to Cain was also rejected by the leader of the world proletariat. Therefore, the revolutionaries agreed on a monument dedicated to Judas.

According to legend, the opening of the monument took place with an orchestra and a parade of two regiments of the Red Army. After the fabric was torn from the monument, the amazed residents of the city saw a stone human figure in full growth. The monument to Judas was a crouching biblical antagonist with his hands up. Rumor has it that Trotsky himself was the prototype of the monument.

Of course, this story is 100% fiction. Such rumors were spread by former White Guards, forced to immigrate from the country after the victory of the Bolsheviks. There are quite a few references to the existence of monuments to Judas in Soviet Russia. In particular, the well-known Danish diplomat Henning Köhler writes about the monument in his memoirs. He claimed to have witnessed its installation in 1918.

Note that many contemporaries fully trusted such rumors, since they were hostile towards the Bolsheviks. In particular, the famous Russian writer Ivan Bunin believed the information about the installation of the monument to Judas. Naturally, nothing like this has ever happened.

There is a perfectly logical explanation for these rumors. The commander of the Red Army, who took Kazan, was the well-known leader of the Latvian riflemen. His name was Yan Yudin. During the fighting, this officer was killed. Moreover, the date of his death approximately coincides with the time of the installation of the "monument to Judas."

In fact, it was about the funeral of Yan Yudin. He actually had a monument erected. It is known that he died from an accidentally hit projectile fired by the artillery of the White Army. The Dane Köhler could well confuse the consonant surname with "Judas".

Location, how to get there, the opening hours of the museum.

You can get to Sviyazhsk from Kazan in the following ways:

1. Personal car. You can get there by car by moving along the M7 highway in the direction of the capital of Russia. You need to get to the village of Isakovo and then follow the sign to the city. The journey by private car will take no more than sixty minutes.
2. Steamboat. Ships to the island depart from the river station of the capital of Tatarstan. The journey takes no more than two hours. You can board the boat from 6.00 to 20.00. Tickets can be purchased up to an hour before the ship's departure. During the summer, boats depart daily. From the first month of autumn to October 16, you can get to the attraction only on weekends.
3. Bus. At the bus station of the capital of Tatarstan there is an opportunity to buy a ticket to the town. The itinerary and number of stops may vary between flights. But most bus routes purposefully take tourists to see the beauty of the city and plunge into the enchanting world of Russian antiquity. Bus tickets are quite affordable.
4. Train. You can also get to your destination from the capital of Tatarstan by rail. At the same time, you should know that the Sviyazhsk station is located a few kilometers from the city itself. The railway junction is located in the neighboring village called Nizhniye Vyazovye. From there, you can quickly get to the village on a ride.

Excursions. Museum ticket prices.

Most of the city's museums are open as usual from 10 am to 6 pm. The cost of visiting, as a rule, does not exceed eighty rubles. Tourists also have the opportunity to purchase a single ticket to all museums in Sviyazhsk. Such a purchase is beneficial because it saves up to twenty percent.

A visit to the sights will be interesting for both adults and children. On the territory of the Horse Yard there is an opportunity to ride a horse. Children will also enjoy the Lazy Torzhok cultural center, stylized as a medieval town. Here you can compete in archery and try on real armor. On weekends, staged knightly fights and spectacular shows are held on the territory of the center.

You can dine in the art cafe "Fisherman's Compound". This place looks like an old fisherman's hut. It offers excellent views of the river. The town also has a cafe "Buyan". The Traktir is located on the territory of the Horse Yard. Each of these establishments has delicious food and affordable prices.

Guests can stay overnight at the Sviyaga Hotel, located in an old 19th-century almshouse building. Price - from 1000 rubles per day.

The best time to visit the town is summer. But the journey to amazing place can be done in winter. At this time, he looks especially beautiful and interesting.

You can also visit the fabulous island by bus.