Of all "pearls" of Tatarstan– this is perhaps the largest. Island town Sviyazhsk, based 24 May 1551 years during the reign Ivan the Terrible, then still on Chuvash land Khan of Kazan Shigaleem like a fortress, completely surrounded by water.
- A little history
- Geographical position
- How to get there?
- Island attractions
- Religious Shrines
- Memorable objects
- Museums and entertainment
- Holidays in Sviyazhsk?
- Where to go with children?
- Where to stay in Sviyazhsk
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A little history
Sviyazhsk is history in the flesh. Each of his milestones reflects the past the whole country, and not just one. Let's start with the fact that the real one was built full-fledged city With two churches, in the name of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and Sergius of Radonezh, necessary infrastructure And communications Total in 4 weeks! This alone makes it unique And the only one of a kind.
Another interesting thing circumstance- first Sviyazhsk had to stand in a completely different place, it was built there. But later dismantled by log and forwarded along the Volga to where indicated His Royal Majesty . Namely on modern place stay.
Geographical position
Sviyazhsk is located in Zelenodolsk region of the Republic of Tatarstan, at the confluence of two rivers - Sviyaga And Pike. Coordinates: 55°46′20″ N 48°39′35″ E
The population is slightly larger 200 people– by the standards of such a huge country as Russia, this is comparable to small village.
The city is beautiful at any time of the year and in any weather. Magnificent and as different as paintings by artists, summer sunsets- on the one hand, and covered with snow quiet streets, without any signs of vehicular traffic. Feeling it's like you're in another dimension.
How to get there?
Arrive in Sviyazhsk can be done in several ways:
If you choose to travel by car, then:
ATTENTION! Entry into the city by car prohibited. You can leave the car at parking lot.
The ships go there every day at the same time - at 8:20 morning. They are sent from River port of Kazan. Finding the port is not difficult; any passerby will tell you the address - Devyataeva street, building 1.
Back The ship will depart to Kazan from Sviyazhsk to 16:30 , from the river station, taking with them those who went on business colorful local residents and impressed trip of tourists.
Island attractions
Combination architectural monuments, narrow streets, almost rural way of life, and even a powerful fence - fortress walls, overall create the impression ancient tale. Remember, after all, "past Buyan Island..." Why not?! Pushkin been here. They say they even fell in love with this place. Perhaps it is precisely the local beauty that described by Alexander Sergeevich in their fairy tales. Because Sviyazhsk is a little fairy tale.
Religious Shrines
One and a half kilometers length there are quite a lot of islands here religious monuments:
Memorable objects
What Interesting, before the townspeople lived right in old houses. But with the advent of modern communications It was decided to move them to more modern houses with electricity and the possibility of heating with natural gas. So there was no need redo architectural monuments, which means crumble the walls And spoil pristine beauty. Even new buildings in Sviyazhsk locals do look like monuments.
Museums and entertainment
Many artists, poets And writers and now chant Sviyazhsk in its creativity.
Don't miss the opportunity ride around Sviyazhsk on a carriage. On Horse yard both in ancient times and now there live beautiful horses. They can be petted and fed. For lovers equestrians will be happy to offer rides around the island on horseback.
Here's another place" Lazy Torzhok"What's next to Rozhdestvenskaya Square, invites its visitors to dress in armor and feel real warrior-defenders. Here you can shoot a lot from medieval weapons. This program is called " Sagittarius fun«.
And during a break between energy-consuming activities defense of the Motherland you can taste the same medieval dishes in the tavern " Ivan's". Just don't think anything bad. The food is here, of course. fresh, just cooked long ago forgotten technologies.
Where to go and what to see in Sviyazhsk?
What to see on your own?
A self-guided tour of Sviyazhsk is good, but with guide still better. Because no one else won't tell so much for you the most interesting legends. Caring citizens for years bit by bit put everything together memories, stories And legends about their small homeland and now they are happy to spend excursions.
Every bend of the street, every foundation or brick- lives here " for something" And " for some reason" Interesting recreate in your imagination a complete picture formation of the past, present and possible future "Pearls" of Kazan.
Season tours open here at April and ends at the end October. But this does not mean at all that winter Sviyazhsk is any less beautiful. Excursion tour can be bought at any travel agency“Kazan, as well as already on site, upon arrival in Sviyazhsk.
Holidays in Sviyazhsk?
Holidays are held in Sviyazhsk noisy And funny. One of the must-sees stand out:
Where to go with children?
For travelers with kids Travel companies can offer many options. There are full excursions oriented towards a specific age.
And in the capital of Tatarstan there is also something to see. Read this article about where to go with your child in Kazan.
At all kids, for example, the fairy-tale side of the island will be interesting - Pushkinskoe Lukomorye and adventures Buyan Island. Older guys will not be indifferent to the climb to the very top high point, ruin And ancient legends fortresses
Where to stay in Sviyazhsk
For one day island total length one and a half kilometers Of course you'll get around it. But to comprehend everything history, get nourished atmosphere and extraordinary aura ancient island city in a few hours of stay impossible.
The most popular among tourists and pilgrims overnight places Also mystical like everything on this island. They refer to architectural monuments.
In this case, there is an option stay the night in a fairytale city. Here you will be offered several hotels. But it's better in advance book places. Still, despite everything antiquity, we are now in the 21st century and there are people who want to plunge headlong into history so many.
Sviyazhsk is called place of power. But for real you can only feel it having been here. Anyone who has ever been here will definitely returns. And who knows, maybe yours too visit ancient Russian town will be decisive in your life?
Good day everyone!
Sviyazhsk is an island-village, which is located 60 kilometers from Kazan, in the Zelenodolsk region of Tatarstan. Of course, it is called an island conventionally. You can get to Sviyazhsk by car along an embankment road. However, not so long ago, the island-city of Sviyazhsk was still an island. But for most of its history it was still a peninsula and was located on Mount Round, where in 1551 the city was built by order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
Nowadays, Sviyazhsk is a village where, in a small area, there is a huge number of religious, cultural, architectural and simply historical monuments that have great value not only for Tatarstan, but for all of Russia!
But to make it easier for you to imagine what significance Sviyazhsk has for our country, you need to plunge a little into history...
So, in May 1551, sailed to the site of the future city, along the Sviyaga River. Russian army led by Ivan the Terrible. The king had one goal - the capture of Kazan. And before him, other Russian tsars tried to take the capital of the Kazan Khanate, but to no avail. For this, an outpost or, more simply put, a military base was needed that would protect the rear of the Russian army and provide it with supplies during the long siege of Kazan. And Sviyazhsk was supposed to become such a base.
The city was built in just 4 weeks and eventually played a vital role in the conquest of the entire Kazan Khanate and the capture of Kazan in 1552.
After the capture of Kazan, the city of Sviyazhsk played an important role in the history of Russia throughout the subsequent centuries. But this role was not always triumphant. Sviyazhsk also remembers the dark pages of its history. But more on that later...
Now Sviyazhsk is one of the most visited places by tourists in Tatarstan. And along with the Kazan Kremlin, it can be considered one of the most famous, even though Sviyazhsk is far from being in Kazan.
Let's start in order...
Very simple indeed. Excursion tours are organized here from Kazan, and from many other large cities of Russia. As a rule, they also combine a visit, which I wrote about in my last article. As well as some other attractions of Tatarstan. But if you want to go to Sviyazhsk on your own, then this can be done in several ways: by bus, train and of course by car. We got there the last way.
In order to get from Kazan to Sviyazhsk by car, you need to leave the city to westward along Gorkovskoe highway. At the intersection with the M7 federal highway you will need to go left. Next, after passing the village of Isakovo, turn right. There will be signs everywhere, so getting to your destination won't be difficult. And even easier, you can just turn on the navigator
Here we are:
In winter, of course, it is not as picturesque as in summer, when there is a lot of greenery and the city is surrounded by a beautiful river. But no matter the weather or time of year will prevent you from getting to know the history and architecture of the city.
As befits an important historical monument, in Sviyazhsk you can see signs everywhere with a map of the city and a description of all the attractions:
At the entrance you can see a monument to the victims of political repression - this is evidence of the later history of the city, when in 1935-1953 the NKVD prison was located here.
But let’s not talk about sad things right away. When you get to Sviyazhsk, you can walk around the city and explore the sights along different routes. Since we were without a guide, we chose the route ourselves. And our first stop was the Complex of buildings of the equestrian yard, which was erected in the 17th-18th centuries on the site of a wooden stable of the 16th century:
Nowadays, although the stable is used for its intended purpose (you can ride horses here), it mainly consists of a number of souvenir shops.
And in the courtyard of the complex you can buy honey and excellent sbiten! By the way, it is non-alcoholic, so children can drink sbiten. Yaroslav really liked it!
The wooden Trinity Church was built in just one day! This speed of construction was due to the fact that at the time when it was being built new town(especially since it was built on enemy territory), the main building that should be erected first was a church where a service could be held, the future city could be consecrated and blessed.
And what’s most interesting is that the Trinity Church has survived to this day! Imagine, it is almost 500 years old, it is made of wood, but it still stands! They knew how to build!
Of course, the church has not completely survived to this day. Now it has been restored. And the porch, roof and some wall logs are later buildings. But still most of Walls still remembers Ivan the Terrible!
The building material of the walls is larch logs, which only become stronger over time.
If you look closely, you can see replaced, more recent logs in the walls:
Unfortunately, when we were in Sviyazhsk, the Trinity Church was closed. But if you are lucky enough to get inside, then you can see an old wooden bench on which Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself sat! Although perhaps this is just a legend.
Sergievskaya Church:
It was built from 1570 to 1604. This is the first non-wooden structure on the territory of Sviyazhsk. Now it is under reconstruction and unfortunately you cannot get inside.
And this is already more modern building— Cathedral in the name of the icon of the Mother of God of All Who Sorrow, Joy of All Who Sorrow:
Although it can be called modern rather conditionally, because the cathedral was built more than 100 years ago - in 1898-1906.
The cathedral is now operational and services are held there. Inside the temple:
Sviyazhsk is not only a historical monument, but also just a village where people live. Now the population of Sviyazhsk is only 259 people, but before the revolution more than 2000 people lived here! Although Sviyazhsk certainly cannot be called an endangered village. It’s just that this place is very touristy and it leaves its mark, and the land here is sooooo expensive!
On the streets of Sviyazhsk:
And this is the main square of the city. On holidays, mass celebrations, fairs and other events take place here.
Another attraction is the Estate of Merchant Kamenev:
This is a restored architectural monument from the late 19th century. The ground floor of the estate once housed a bakery and a store, while the second floor was residential.
Opposite the square there are numerous souvenir shops and all sorts of entertainment for tourists:
Various holidays and celebrations, as well as real knightly battles, are often held here too!
Anyone can take a photo in knight's armor.
Yaroslav loved being a royal knight!
You can also shoot with a bow or crossbow:
Well, there’s a lot more to do...
Museum of the History of Sviyazhsk:
Another sad historical monument is the wall near which the Red Army soldiers were shot in 1918:
Then, by order of Trotsky, every tenth Red Army soldier of those who were tasked with liberating Kazan from the White Czechs was shot. They failed in this task.
Approaching the end of our route, we approached the Mother of God Assumption Monastery. By the way, some people start exploring Sviyazhsk with it.
Monastery walls:
Another church under active reconstruction:
On the territory of the monastery:
Having examined the monastery, our independent tour of Sviyazhsk ended. But in fact, in this article I told and showed you not everything that can be seen in this small but so interesting town. To tell the whole history of Sviyazhsk and all its legends, you need to write a separate book, and not just one article!
So it’s best to come here on your own and preferably for the whole day, to leisurely stroll along the quiet streets of Sviyazhsk, explore all the churches and temples, get acquainted with the amazing history of the city, do archery and, of course, try delicious sbiten!
See you in the next interesting posts about Kazan and more. Bye!
Finally, a video filmed in Sviyazhsk:
The island-city of Sviyazhsk with its ancient architectural structures is a wonderful monument of Russian antiquity in the Republic of Tatarstan. Sviyazhsk is located 3 km away. from the mouth of the Sviyaga River on a high hill " High mountain" The distance from Kazan is very short. Up the Volga a little more than 30 km. Sviyazhsk was founded in 1551 as an outpost of the troops of Ivan IV the Terrible.
Most of all, the Sviyazhsky complex amazes with its unique architectural monuments against a backdrop of natural beauty. Pre-revolutionary street names have been preserved on the island: Uspenskaya (the main street) stretches across the island from northeast to southwest, Troitskaya runs parallel to the south, and Nikolskaya runs parallel to the north. In the middle of the island they are crossed by Aleksandrovskaya Street.
In Sviyazhsk, many architectural structures appeared during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. The first monastery founded on the Island-grad - Trinity-Sergievsky consisted of two churches, Trinity and Sergievskaya. This ancient monastery throughout its history long history often went through difficult times. In the 18th century Currently, in its place is the Dormition-Bogoroditsky Monastery.
The ensemble of the Assumption-Bogoroditsky Monastery is represented by such wonderful architectural monuments as St. Nicholas Church and the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin. The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, founded during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, is a wonderful white stone building. Inside the temple there is a unique fresco painting. The next monuments that make up the fund of the architectural ensemble of Sviyazhsk are the Church of St. Equal to the Apostles Constantine and Helena and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Joy of All Who Sorrow. The Cathedral of Our Lady of All Sorrows Joy was built of red brick on the territory of the St. John the Baptist Monastery in 1898–1906 according to the design of the architect F. N. Malinovsky through the efforts of the abbess of the monastery, Abbess Apphia.
The large five-domed four-pillar cross-domed church is made in the neo-Byzantine (pseudo-Byzantine) style with eclectic elements and is close in its architecture to the Kronstadt Cathedral of St. Petersburg.
Also on the island city of Sviyazhsk there is a museum of the history of Sviyazhsk, a horse yard and the lazy Torzhok complex.
The ethnographic complex "Horse Yard" invites everyone to ride a horse and feed them. There is also the opportunity to ride a carriage around Sviyazhsk. Here, at the Horse Yard of Sviyazhsk, there is a craft settlement where tourists will have the opportunity to participate in the process of making souvenirs themselves, receiving a master class from eminent craftsmen of the Republic of Tatarstan who participated in the significant programs of the republic.
All conditions have been created for tourists for excursion trips to Sviyazhsk. One of the types of visiting the Island-city is a boat tour. The easiest way to get to Sviyazhsk is by water transport, departing daily from the river port of Kazan. Since 2007, an 8-kilometer dam has been opened, connecting the island with the mainland, which makes it possible to reach it by car (including from the Sviyazhsk railway station).
On a note
- Location: Sviyazhsk, Zelenodolsk district, Tatarstan, Russia.
- How to get there: Motor ships - from the river station of the city of Kazan, travel time is about two hours. Cars - along the M7 highway towards Moscow, go to the village of Isakovo, where there is a direction indicator for Sviyazhsk, travel time - no more than one hour.
- Official website: svpalomnik.ru
- Opening hours: Monday-Friday from 9.00 to 18.00.
ORTHODOX PEARL OF TATARSTAN
Sviyazhsk is a unique islandin the Zelenodolsk region of Tatarstan, at the confluence of the Sviyaga and Shchuka rivers. IN in the historical past it was a fortress-city, later an island-village, and now an island-city with a population of just over 250 people.
The history of Sviyazhsk began in 1550, when Tsar Ivan the Terrible was returning after an unsuccessful campaign against Kazan and drew attention to the high Round Mountain of the island, which occupied an advantageous position for further attempts to capture Kazan. Allegedly, it was then that John IV Vasilyevich decided to found a fortress on this place in order to continue the conquest of the Khanate.
Nowadays, thanks to the efforts of local and federal authorities, Sviyazhsk has been turned into a glossy tourist oasis of Tatarstan and Russia as a whole. And a few years ago...
Author: Syamuka
PartI. We didn’t have time... (Publication dated September 26, 2012).
Not— Yes, the motor ship "Moscow", although it was moving slowly, arrived at the place on time, according to schedule. I'm talking about something else. We didn’t have time to see THAT SVIYAZHSK that it was just recently ‒ without industry and Agriculture, without modern cottage houses, roads and cars, without street lighting and sidewalks, immersed in silence and deep provincialism... IN THAT SVYAZHSK, where goat paths went down from the monastery to the water, where on holidays it smelled of freshly baked bread and pies, and the main occupation of the islanders there was fishing and weaving fishing nets...
At the first moment, we were upset. Still would! The ancient fortress city, and now the village of Sviyazhsk, disappeared before our eyes. Everywhere the main “actors” - both in the center and on the outskirts - were bulldozers, excavators, tractors, KAMAZ trucks and cranes. And also the black-tanned heroes of “hand-to-hand” labor.
Everything around roared and rumbled, crackled and collapsed. The entire village was dug with trenches, deep and shallow, the passage through which caused considerable inconvenience. There were no bridges with railings, no bridges without railings, or simply planks thrown over the trenches, and, passing through such obstacles, everyone felt a little like a tightrope walker.
On the streets lay a thick layer of road dust, sand and clay, broken and mixed by the wheels of construction equipment, heated by the July sun to the point of intolerance. Walking along it was even more difficult than getting through the trenches. My feet slipped and sank into an unpleasant assortment that penetrated my shoes.
It was possible to move more or less unhindered only along islands of old Soviet asphalt untouched by civilization, the remnants of an even older cobblestone surface and a compacted dirt road that had been compacted for years and centuries.
All this, taken together, meant that revival was actively underway in Sviyazhsk, as evidenced by the poster: “The revival of the Bolgars and Sviyazhsk is a national task.”
The point is this: When the Kuibyshev reservoir was filled with water in 1957, and many settlements went under water, Sviyazhsk, thanks to its “mountainous” location, was preserved, but at the same time became an island. Since then, there has been virtually no construction in the village. And nothing at all. There were no communications, so stoves were heated in houses, water was taken from pumps and wells, and amenities were located on the street.
No roads were built, no cars were bought - the island is small, there is nowhere to go anyway. Communication with the capital by water was carried out by Omik or Moskva. The ensemble of the island-city of Sviyazhsk, which had developed over centuries, remained almost unchanged, and was “mothballed” at the level of the 60s and more early years XX century It was. It was until the dam was built - an embankment road that connected the island with the mainland, and the supreme authorities of Tatarstan decided to transform Sviyazhsk into a tourist and pilgrimage center.
Here we are, just when, after many years of oblivion, large-scale transformations began on the island-village-town of Sviyazhsk. Everywhere something was being dug, dug, laid, peeled, scraped, plastered, whitewashed, painted, uprooted, removed, broken, installed, erected. The latest building materials, the latest technology. Bright colors, newly made brick, fresh asphalt concrete and paving slabs. Work on the island was in full swing.
And we, under the scorching, exhausting sun, walked around and overcame the inconveniences recovery period, dug up the length and breadth of the city, and it was still difficult for us to imagine what Sviyazhsk would become, but... what we saw was alarming and caused sadness.
The Sviyaga Hotel was supposed to be located in a merchant's house of the 19th century. There used to be an almshouse there, and in Soviet years‒ boarding school for blind children.
I really wanted to see the joy of change on the faces of the islanders, but their faces were not joyful. The villagers do not want to lose THEIR SVYAZHSK. They are worried about how their future will turn out. They got used to their land, to the open spaces, to dilapidated houses and disorder. We adapted. (A little more than 250 people live in Sviyazhsk. Mostly pensioners. And another 180 summer residents - author's note.) You can understand: history is being torn apart, the cultural layer is dying, the connecting links of the past and the present are disappearing.
And we? Looking ahead, I’ll say: I couldn’t resist, I found fresh photos online, from August, this year, and... I didn’t recognize Sviyazhsk. Now I know for sure: Rejoice! We need to rejoice, because we saw, saw, and felt a little more from THAT SVYAZHSK!
Merchant wooden residential building of the 19th century. Balcony... columns... birdhouse under the roof... Trotsky lived in this house in 1918.
The house offers a wonderful view of the Volga.
Part 2. Historical
The fortress was built in 1551 “with the light hand” of Ivan the Terrible in just four weeks, which was unthinkable by all parameters of the then construction of fortifications.
The first stage of construction was carried out in winter, upstream of the Volga - in the city of Myshkin. All the pegs and logs of the fortress ensemble were carefully numbered and lowered on rafts to the confluence of the Sviyaga and the Volga. Here they were caught, and within 4 weeks a team of 75 thousand carpenters built a fortress city on Round Mountain, which was immediately populated by Russian people and equipped with artillery. This was the second stage of construction. The remake was called Ivangorod, but the name did not stick, and soon it was renamed Sviyazhsk.
From that Sviyazhsk, only the Trinity Church has now survived. It was cut down either in Myshkin or in Uglich in the winter of 1550, floated down the Volga along with other structures of the fortress and assembled in one day by the soldiers of Prince Serebryany-Obolensky. The basis of the church was a frame made of thick larch logs. The church was consecrated on May 17, 1551 - on the day of the Holy Trinity.
The church stands on a whitewashed brick plinth, the outside is covered with boards and painted blue-gray oil paint. The dome with an eight-pitched roof is covered with painted green color iron. Porches are attached to the main church building. The large square frames of the extension windows occupy all the wall spaces, and the glass is covered with wooden window sashes...
In the future, Sviyazhsk will become the first Christian city of the Kazan region with the Trinity-Sergius, Assumption and St. John the Baptist monasteries, will be built with new churches and monastic cells-buildings, a horse yard and gardens with merchant houses, will acquire a bakery and a water tower, a gymnasium and a hospital, and will be equipped with paved streets and gas lamps.
The main part of the area of the former St. John the Baptist Monastery is occupied by the Cathedral of Our Lady of All Who Sorrow, Joy of All Who Sorrow, built in 1896-1906. designed by the architect Malinovsky.
Inside the cathedral there is excellent acoustics, a magnificently beautiful space with worn and blurred picturesque paintings on the walls and dome.
An ancient metal staircase ascends to the belfry. The refectory church has been preserved in the monastery courtyard St. Sergius Radonezh Wonderworker, built in 1604.
You can take a break from the heat in the shade of the wall.
From the former St. John the Baptist Monastery along Uspenskaya Street we walked to the Uspensky monastery, which could only be reached through a hole in the wall for the movement of construction equipment.
The territory of the monastery was a continuous construction site; the cathedrals stood in the woods. But we saw the main churches of the monastery. On the right, the magnificent Assumption Cathedral, built based on Pskov architecture in the mid-16th century, was erected in 4 years from white hewn stone by the artel of Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shirai - the architects who built St. Basil's Cathedral (Pokrovsky Cathedral) in Moscow and the Annunciation Cathedral in Kazan.
The temple acquired its current appearance in the 18th century, when, under the influence of the then fashionable “Ukrainian Baroque” movement, the cathedral grew significantly in height, acquiring 12 sharp kokoshniks and a new dome.
On the left is the bell tower of the Assumption Monastery. The bell tower belongs to the St. Nicholas Church - one of the first built in Sviyazhsk. St. Nicholas Church is active, but is open only to monks. The height of the bell tower is 43 m. This is the tallest building in Sviyazhsk. Beautiful and strict. During the time of Ivan the Terrible, a tower clock was installed on the bell tower, and a secret underground passage led from the lower tier to the shore of Lake Shchuchye, intended to supply water in the event of a siege of the Sviyazhsk fortress.
The further fate of Sviyazhsk is eloquently narrated in Sergei Sokolov’s book “Kazan. Portrait in the style of impressionism." And here are just some fragments: “The first heaviest blow to the city was dealt by the revolution and civil war. Here in 1918, Leon Trotsky stopped the retreat of the Red Army through decimation - a method forgotten since the times of ancient Rome and the horde of Genghis Khan. Every tenth Red Army soldier was shot. They simply lined up a military unit on the square, which had retreated under the onslaught of Kappel’s army and the White Czechs, and shot every tenth person in the back of the head...
Near this wall, the White Guards shot the Red Guards.
By order of Trotsky, with the assistance of the revolutionary writer and poet Demyan Bedny, a monument to Judas Iscariot, brought from Moscow on an armored train, was erected on the main square of Sviyazhsk! The sculpture depicted a man shaking his fist at the sky. Even such a hater of Orthodoxy as Vladimir Lenin considered this a mistake, and soon the nonsense monument was removed. But monasteries and churches were closed, icons were torn from iconostases. Monks and priests, as well as many residents of the city, were shot.
The Nativity Cathedral and St. Nicholas Church were blown up, and the gate church of the Assumption Monastery was dismantled. Then Sviyazhsk became a unit of the Gulag for a long time and prisoners were kept in monastery cells, and the brick fences of the monasteries were the last “wall” for “enemies of the people” doomed to be shot. It is unknown how many people died in these concentration camps; the archives are inaccessible. Then the Great Hospital for the Disabled was added to the prison facilities. Patriotic War and a mental hospital. These were not institutions for the treatment and recovery of patients, these were rooms for isolating from society the incurable, disfigured by the war and Stalin’s camps, or simply unwanted. Best place There is no better place to do something like this than the island of Sviyazhsk...”
Looking at the monastery fence, we almost passed by two slabs embedded in the wall: “Vladimir Golitsyn Artist, sailor 1901 - 1943” and “Sofia Olsufieva Restorer 18... (then the numbers are erased).” And crosses...
At home I found information about these people. Frost on the skin. Sofya Vladimirovna Olsufieva (June 3, 1884 - February 15, 1943). Painter, graphic artist, restorer. From a noble noble family. From 1934 she lived in Moscow, where she got a job as a restoration artist at the Museum of Fine Arts. She accompanied her husband, an employee of the ancient Russian painting department of the Tretyakov Gallery, on business trips to old Russian cities.
In March 1938 the husband was arrested and shot at the Butovo training ground “for spreading anti-Soviet rumors.”
In 1941, when the threat of occupation of Moscow arose, Sofya Olsufieva, at the age of 57, was arrested along with a large group of aristocrats. Sentenced to 10 years in forced labor camps. After the verdict, she ended up in a convoy of prisoners, which was driven to Kazan. Place of imprisonment - Sviyazhsk concentration camp. Died in custody - Sviyazhsk concentration camp. Burial place - Sviyazhsk concentration camp...
Together with Sofya Vladimirovna, her relative V. M. Golitsyn, an artist, sailor, prince, who was arrested at the same time as her, was serving his sentence and died in the camp in her arms.
Golitsyn was one of the builders of the Perseus ship and participated in the Arctic expedition on the Malygin icebreaker. At the International Exhibition in Paris he was awarded a gold medal for painting wooden products (1925). Inventor of children's board games, children's book illustrator.
Sentenced to 5 years in forced labor camps. He served his sentence in a colony in Sviyazhsk. Died of pellagra.
In the wall of the monastery where the camp was located, a slab with the dates of the lives of Olsufieva and Golitsyn was preserved.
From 1937 to 1948, during the operation of the Gulag political prison in Sviyazhsk, 5 thousand repressed people died. We walked around the fence.
Once upon a time there were many churches in Sviyazhsk, and the ringing of bells made an unforgettable impression on those sailing along the Volga. IN Soviet time all parish churches of Sviyazhsk were destroyed. The oldest surviving church is that of Constantine and Helena, built at the end of the 16th century. and rebuilt two centuries later. The church is located near the pier.
According to legend, Ivan the Terrible himself chose the place for the church. Construction work was also going on in and around the church, so we could only see it from a distance.
Survived...
It’s hard to even imagine what Sviyazhsk would look like if all the churches had been preserved... 
The island city of Sviyazhsk at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century was a sparsely populated city, with private squat houses scattered throughout it and monuments of ancient Russian architecture towering above them, silent and unkempt witnesses of the past.
Now Sviyazhsk is one of the main tourist sites of Tatarstan, a city that has reclaimed its past, restored its historical monuments, updated and welcoming, amazing and very picturesque.
The origins of the city-city of Sviyazhsk
The history of the creation of the city is connected with the development of this region by the Russians, or more precisely with the conquest and annexation of the Kazan Khanate to the Russian state.
In the 15th century, in this place there stood a cone-shaped hill overgrown with centuries-old forest - Mount Kruglaya, surrounded by the rivers Shchuka and Sviyaga. And already in the middle of the 16th century there was a powerful fortress of the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible, which grew up on enemy soil like a fairy-tale city, at the behest of a pike...
Beginning in 1547, Ivan the Terrible undertook systematic trips to Kazan, but they were all unsuccessful. It was clear that without creating a strong support base near Kazan, it was impossible to capture the city. Returning from another unsuccessful campaign in 1550, the young Tsar Ivan drew attention to the ideal military-strategic location of Mount Kruglaya and decided to build a Russian fortress here. But how can it be built unnoticed by the enemy, who is only 30 km away? An ingenious plan was developed: to cut down a city on “Russian soil” in the upper reaches of the Volga and then lower the marked logs along the water and assemble them on the spot, saving time and effort.
As they say, no sooner said than done. During the winter of 1550-51, walls, towers, huts and even churches were cut down in the Uglek forests. And in the spring, after the opening of the rivers, logs for the future fortress began to be rafted along the Volga and further along Sviyaga. To distract the Kazan residents, Russian troops captured all crossings on the main rivers, and detachments under the command Prince Serebryany attacked the residents of Kazan Posad.
The construction of the fortress city of Sviyazhsk was unprecedented at that time - a gigantic amount of work was carried out in one month: the territory was laid out, the forest was cut down, ditches were dug, log buildings were assembled, and the fortress walls were covered with earth and stone. In the possessions of the Kazan Khan, a first-class Russian fortress with eighteen towers, seven of which were travel towers, numerous buildings for housing military forces, as well as Trinity Cathedral And Church of the Nativity. The tallest tower was Rozhdestvenskaya with the main entrance gate and a lifting lattice. It housed a guardhouse and an archery with two prisons. The ringing of a large self-breaking clock with a bell announced the changing of the guard.
During the construction of the fortress, the local population was attracted to the side of the Russians: Chuvash, Mari, Mordovians, which provided a reliable rear. Ivan the Terrible named the fortress city Sviyazhsk.
Very soon the new city became not only a military fortress, but also a trade and administrative center in which artisans and traders willingly settled. Already at the beginning of 1552 it was a rich and lively city, with numerous merchants selling livestock and a variety of goods. And 15 years later, Sviyazhsk was already a real city with a fortress (kremlin), posad (prison) and settlements. There were The sovereign's courtyard with artillery and food warehouses, 2 monasteries, 6 churches, a clerk's hut, etc. Here lived: princes, boyars, military men, clergy, artisans and merchants. There were 6 streets throughout the city, there were 370 houses and 4 shops. The fort had 736 residential buildings, a market with a living room, customs officers, a brewery and a bakery. Residents of settlements were mainly engaged in agriculture.
It should be noted that the city was not built spontaneously, but according to a specific plan. The main street from Rozhdestvenskie to Nikolomozhaiskie gates divided the city into two halves, and the streets coming from all other entrances to the city merged into it. The central square was located on both sides of the Rozhdestvensky central entrance. On the side of the fortress there were artillery and granary courtyards. The side facing the landing consisted of a guest courtyard and shopping arcades that went down to the pier on the Sviyaga River.
After the conquest of Kazan, for another century, Sviyazhsk remained a significant Russian fortress on the conquered land, an administrative and commercial Russian center, where foreign ambassadors and foreign merchants came. But with the strengthening of Russian influence in Kazan, civil servants, military personnel, merchants and artisans gradually moved there. In Sviyazhsk, active life died down, only active monasteries remained: Mother of God-Uspensky, Trinity-Sergius for men and John the Baptist for women, which were built to instill Christianity among the local population from the very beginning of the development of the region. Sviyazhsk became just a monastic town.
In the middle of the 18th century, when Sviyazhsk became a district town, the construction activity of the monasteries intensified: the Trinity-Sergius Monastery was closed, and the burnt St. John the Baptist Monastery moved to its territory. Some cathedrals underwent alterations, additions and improvements. Near the Trinity Church there were Holy Gate. Two-story cell buildings and a number of outbuildings were erected. A refectory building was built. And at the beginning of the 19th century, for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, in a prosperous convent a large red brick cathedral was erected Mother of God joy to all who mourn in the pseudo-Byzantine style. This last monastic building with an impressive dome still towers above the low buildings of Sviyazhsk.
Sviyazhsk of those times was visited by many famous people. Here, on the way to exile, the disgraced Menshikov buried his wife, whose grave has been preserved. Russian emperors Catherine the Second, Paul the First and Alexander the Second stayed here. And how Pushkin liked the city! After all, this was a real fabulous island of Buyan.
History of Sviyazhsk after the revolution
After the revolution, all churches and monasteries were closed. And Sviyazhsk became a notorious city that fell under terrible red terror in 1918 - by order of Trotsky, every tenth Red Army soldier of the local garrison shot. Their fault was that they could not defeat the White Czechs who captured Kazan.
In the Assumption Monastery in the 1920s it was created children's commune, and in the 30s a correctional colony, to which prisoners of war were later taken. In total, more than 5 thousand people died within the walls of the colony, which essentially became a subdivision of the Gulag. Since 53, after the death of Stalin and the closure of the camps, in the same long-suffering Assumption Monastery, a mental hospital , and the colony became again correctional labor institution.
In 1957, as a result of the formation of the Kuibyshev reservoir, the city of Sviyazhsk became an island, cut off from land. The population decreased from 2,700 people to 500. Life in the city practically disappeared, and it turned into a village, cut off from civilization. Only in 2008 was the “road of life” created - an embankment dam and a highway laid along it connected Sviyazhsk with the Volga coast.
And since 2010, the city began to revive - the reconstruction of architectural and historical monuments began, the creation of new museum objects and the development of infrastructure, which was designed to help attract tourists to this amazing island city with such a difficult fate.
To date restored preserved temples and a museum-reserve. The city looks well-groomed and invites you to take leisurely walks through it, during which you can admire historical sights and beautiful views of the river surface that surrounds you on all sides.
