Kitezh-grad. Legends. Research. The invisible city of Kitezh 4 grade description of the painting the drowned city

On the Volga River, not far from the city Nizhny Novgorod is one of the most deep lakes this region is Svetloyar. The dimensions of the lake are not large - half a kilometer in length and a little more in width. The depth of Svetloyar is 39 meters, which is a record in the region. Water enters the lake from a deep fissure in its bottom. It is crystal clear and cold.

Svetloyar is sometimes called the Russian Atlantis for its legendary history. People say that sometimes the barely audible ringing of bells can be heard from under its waters, and in the depths you can see the ghostly walls of monasteries and church domes.
This is the city of Kitezh, which, as legend has it, disappeared between 1,236 and 1,242 during the first Mongol Tatar invasion of Russia. At the border of the third and fourth decades of the 13th century, ancient Russian state was fragmented into dozens of principalities. The princes fought among themselves for power and new lands, and entered into military alliances.

The name of Lake Svetloyar comes from a combination of ancient Russian words: “bright”, also meaning pure and righteous, and “yar” - not only known to everyone as a ravine, or beam, but in this case being the root on behalf of the ancient Russian solar deity Yarila, who in pre-Christian Rus' worshiped by the ancient tribes of the Slavs. Many legends of the pre-Christian period of Rus' are also associated with Lake Svetloyar. The city of Kitezh is also mentioned in the sacred book of the ancient Russian faith - the “Star Book of Kolyada”.

In the area of ​​Lake Svetloyar, as an ancient Russian legend tells, Kitovras, a magical half-horse, half-man, was born. He was a powerful wizard and helped the Slavs build cities and temples. Kvasura, the ancient god of wisdom and hops, also lived there. It is believed that their names gave the name to the city of Kitezh.

In ancient times, a Slavic tribe of Berendeys lived near Lake Svetloyar. To this day, their descendants have preserved legends about the city of Kitezh and the religious center worship of the god Yarila. In ancient times, during the pre-Christian period of Rus', Kitezh was considered a sacred place among the Slavs.

After the baptism of Rus', the Slavic faith with its temples and wise men gave way to Christianity, but places sacred to people remained. Traditionally, Orthodox churches began to be built on the site of the temples, since it was believed that these places were special and were strong sources of positive energy. The names of the ancient Slavic gods gradually changed to the names of saints, but the places of worship of higher powers remained the same. Such places include Lake Svetloyar, which since ancient times has been shrouded in legends and mysticism.

On the shore of this lake, Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri (George) Vsevolodovich, (November 26, 1188 - March 4, 1238), son of Vsevolod the Big Nest, built the City of Big Kitezh. In addition to him, there was also Small Kitezh (presumably modern Gorodets), built during the time of his grandfather, Yuri Dolgoruky. Greater Kitezh was entirely built of white stone with six temples in the center of the city, which at that time was a sign of wealth. It seems that legends united these two cities into the mystical and mysterious Kitezh City.

Alexey Asov helped to recreate the true picture of the events of those distant times. He took the chronicles and legends of those times as the basis for this.

In 1238, Batu Khan defeated the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich remained at that time the only military leader with an army that could resist the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Khan camped on the City River. Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich defended himself against him in Maly Kitezh. Khan Batu took the city by storm, but the prince and the remnants of the army managed to escape from Small Kitezh and take refuge in Big Kitezh.

Batu intended to continue his campaign to Mediterranean Sea, but it was impossible to leave the Russian prince with his army in his rear. The path to the city lay among impassable swamps and forests. And then he began to torture all the captured Slavs on how to get to Kitezh. To hand over a city sacred to the Slavs meant dooming oneself and one’s family to eternal damnation. According to legend, only one was afraid of torment and death - Grishka Kuterma. He agreed to lead Batu’s army to Kitezh.

Batu Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire and the grandson of Genghis Khan. In just a few years, he destroyed about half the population ancient Russia. Kyiv, Vladimir, Suzdal, Ryazan, Tver, and many other cities were devastated and burned by him. Rich Russian culture Ancient Rus' gone. For several decades, the construction of cities practically ceased, crafts disappeared, and the southern Russian lands lost almost all of their indigenous population.

During this tragic time, a legend about the city of Kitezh arose among the people. It tells that Batu Khan learned about the city of Kitezh and ordered to conquer it. It was difficult for the Tatar-Mongol army to find the city, but one of the Russian prisoners told the Mongols about the secret paths to Lake Svetloyar and the army headed towards Kitezh. When they approached it, they saw that the city was not fortified and rejoiced at the upcoming easy victory. But at the sight of the army, fountains of water began to flow from underground and the city of Kitezh disappeared under water. According to legend, the water did not enter the city itself, it only hid it from enemies and the townspeople did not drown. So God saved the people of Kitezh for their prayers and piety. This place has become sacred.

The legend of Kitezh is still alive today. People living in this area talk about the sudden appearance of strangely dressed people, the disappearances of those who come to look for Kitezh and turned out to be worthy of becoming its residents. The lake has long been of interest to archaeologists and geologists - employees of research institutes, as well as numerous people independently investigating the mystery of Lake Svetloyar. Among them there are those who explain everything by the laws of physics, and those who believe in the secret nature of things. They all strive to unravel the mystery of Lake Svetloyar and the city of Kitezh that has sunk into it.

This is a legend, but many people believe in it. And there is no doubt that Lake Svetloyar is the same ancient lake about which there are ancient legends. Orthodox Christians come here to pray. They even say that a handful of earth from this place cures many diseases, and the water from the lake lasts for several years and does not bloom or spoil - like holy water. Many people believe that if you walk around the lake three times clockwise, it will grant your wish.

Supposedly in Lake Svetloyar there is a passage to another dimension. There is another interesting, downright mystical version according to which Lake Svetloyar is connected with the mysterious Shambhala. Svetloyar attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over the world. A hint about the existence of a city at the bottom of Svetloyar can also be found in the late seventeenth-century book “The Kitezh Chronicler”.

Candidate Sergei Volkov, who organized an expedition in search of the mythical city, says that people disappear in this place - some forever, others return and do not remember anything that happened to them. He spoke seriously about the possibility of them visiting the lost city of Kitezh. But only true believers can enter it.

Proponents of the mystical theory lost city It is suggested that in Lake Svetloyar there is a passage to another dimension. Proof of this is the stories of residents of the village of Vladimirskoye, located near Svetloyar. They saw puddles in the clothes their ancestors wore. When these strange people bought goods in the village - mainly bread and bagels, they paid with perfectly preserved ancient copper and silver coins. A possible explanation for this is provided only by the theory of parallel worlds.

Here is what Sergei Volkov said:
“Our main discovery is to confirm the hypothesis about the existence near Svetloyar of a plasma substance invisible to the naked eye, which has the ability to manifest itself as living beings. There are especially many of them and they mostly come in the evening around groups of praying people - they look and study. We captured them on video - and photographic equipment. These plasma formations were once recorded in the laboratory by scientists at the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation. Experiments at this institute showed that there are millions of plasma clots in the air in the electromagnetic range, let’s call them a substance. This gives atheists an idea. that there is a parallel, afterlife. Svetloyar’s research shows that this hypothesis is not without common sense.

Despite myths, legends and folklore, scientists have discovered traces of real events that happened. It is well known from geology that central areas European part of Russia lie on a foundation of solid rock. But this foundation is cut through by deep depressions directed in different directions and often intersecting with each other. And based on this fact, according to geologists, Lake Svetloyar is located at the intersection of two very deep and large depressions. In such places, even a very large water reservoir can form very quickly.

Scientists scuba divers explored Svetloyar and discovered natural anomalies. They found underwater terraces at the bottom of the lake - the shore goes under the water like a staircase. Large steep underwater slopes of Svetloyar alternate with horizontal sections of the bottom. This leads to the conclusion that Lake Svetloyar was formed in parts - the first, the lower, then after a hundred or even thousands of years - the second, and finally, relatively recently, the third.

The first layer of sediments of the lake bottom is located at a depth of 30 meters and is very ancient, the second layer is at a depth of 20 meters and dates back to the 13th century, and the third terrace has deposits of very recent times.
At a depth of 20 meters, scuba divers found small objects made of wood and metal from the 13th century. On one of these underwater terraces, which was previously located on the shore of the lake, there may have been a real city or monastery, and then it disappeared into the waters of Lake Svetloyar.

When the lake was checked with an echo sounder, and later its echogram was taken by a geolocator, an oval anomaly became clearly visible. It was distinguished by a multi-meter sedimentary layer. Moreover, not far from this “oval” there is another area. There, in the mud, the signals reflected from the bottom by a thin layer of soil were different, as if something was blocking the sound. At great depths there were hidden solid objects. When they drew a map of this area, the result was a pattern reminiscent of a city surrounded by an embankment.

Thus, the existence of the city of Kitezh in this place is quite possible. But it did not mysteriously disappear somewhere, but simply collapsed underground as a result of tectonic activity. Only for 50 years now scuba divers have not been able to find any traces of this. Schliemann discovered Troy guided only by the stories of the Iliad. And here the address is exact and the lake is right before our eyes - and all the underwater searches yielded nothing.

We can only assume a fantastic option: the city exists, but is invisible. Apart from the ringing of its bells that can be heard from time to time...

During tests using a hydrophone, which is made on the principle of converting sound into an electrical signal, it suddenly began to emit sounds reminiscent of the echo of thunder during a storm. Geophysicists involved in the experiment said that these sounds come from a wave of magnetic disturbance that passes through the water and creates this effect.

In some places the water simply “screamed”, in others there was dead silence. But the most unexpected surprise of Lake Svetloyar was a low buzzing sound recorded by hydrophones, reminiscent of a loud bell. Most often, the lake emitted it before sunrise and the full moon. It was then, according to legend, that righteous people were given the opportunity to see the walls of a snow-white city with golden domes of temples visible in the mirror of the lake.

As for the lake water itself, chemists have come to the conclusion that it can remain for many days without changing its properties, thanks to the sources with a high content of calcium and bicarbonate located at the bottom of the lake.

There is also a hypothesis that there was once a city here - the center of Eurasia. As a result of an unprecedented disaster, the thriving city was submerged under water.

Five kilometers from the lake there is a source of “living” water - tests have shown that its acidity is zero. Near it in the forest there are three ancient unusual graves. No one knows who is buried there, so far from anyone populated area. Their size is several times larger than the traditional size of a Christian grave. They say that perhaps giants are buried in them - the ancient Lemurians, inhabitants mysterious country Lemuria, which according to legend existed somewhere in this area thousands of years ago.

Modern science does not confirm, but does not try to refute this version of the origin of the burials. But no attempts were made to exhume them. Some people come to the graves at night to worship, others do the opposite. believe that this is an unclean place, regardless of who is next to it healing spring. Still others take water from it and quickly leave.

The legend of Kitezh is the most famous legend about a city hidden from the enemy. However, there are quite a lot of similar stories. In a number of regions of Russia, there are still myths about how, under the threat of plunder, monasteries or entire cities went under water or hid in the mountains. It was believed that only a select few could get there from our world. In the book “The Brotherhood of the Grail,” Richard Rudzitis cites a letter from a Russian monk who sends a message to his loved ones and asks them not to consider him dead. He says that he simply went to a hidden monastery with the ancient elders.

However, scientists have not come to a final conclusion: one or more hidden cities or monasteries are being discussed in the question of Kitezh. One way or another, the prevalence of such legends and their undoubted similarity once again proves the authenticity of this story. However, the more research is carried out on Lake Svetloyar, the more questions scientists have that have yet to be answered.

Modern legends about Kitezh

During the Great Patriotic War, old people made pilgrimages around Svetloyar, praying for their fellow countrymen who had gone to the front.

About 20 years ago, a visiting hydrobiologist wanted to explore Svetloyar. After several dives into the water, his temperature rose sharply. The man turned to doctors, but they could not even make a diagnosis: an unknown disease developed without any objective reasons.
And only when the hydrobiologist left these places did the disease recede by itself.

One day, a resident of Nizhny Novgorod came to the vicinity of Svetloyar to pick mushrooms. He did not return home that day or the next. Relatives sounded the alarm. Search and rescue efforts did not yield any results. The man was put on the wanted list. A week later he returned home safe and sound. He answered all the questions evasively: he said he got lost, wandered through the forest. Then he generally said that he had a memory loss. Only later did he admit to his friend, who specially got him drunk, that he had been in the invisible city of Kitezh, where he was met by miraculous elders. “How can you prove it?” asked a friend. And then the mushroom picker took out a piece of bread, which he was treated to in Kitezh. However, in an instant the bread turned into stone.

They also say that in one of the museums, before the coup of 1917, a letter was supposedly kept in Old Church Slavonic, which was addressed from a son to his father. Its content boiled down to the following: a young man ended up in Kitezh thanks to some miracle and asks his parents not to bury him ahead of time.

In the recent past, divers dived to the bottom of Svetloyar. The most interesting thing is that they do not tell anyone about the results of their research. According to rumors, they never found the bottom and were very frightened by this circumstance. A body of water cannot be bottomless! There is a belief that
The secrets of the lake are guarded by a miracle fish, a kind of Loch Ness monster, only in the Russian way.

There is an even more fantastic legend about Lake Svetloyar. Locals say that it has an underground bottom and connects with the waters of Lake Baikal. And again no confirmation of this was found. However, these popular beliefs were not refuted.

However, the inhabitants of the otherworldly Kitezh themselves often visit our world. Old-timers say that it used to be that an old man with a long gray beard in ancient Slavic clothes would come into an ordinary village store. He asked to sell bread, and paid with ancient Russian coins from the time of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. Moreover, the coins looked like new. Often the elder asked the question: “How is it in Rus' now? Isn’t it time for Kitezh to rebel?” However, local residents replied that it was too early. They know better, because the place around the lake is special, and people here live in constant contact with the miracle. Even those who come from other regions feel an unusual halo.

The legend of Kitezh has come to us in the literary adaptation of the Old Believers: “The Book of the Verb Chronicler” in its final form took shape in the second half of the 18th century. among one of the cliques of the priestless Old Believers - the runners. But both components of the monument, quite separate and independent, lead back to the 17th century. At the same time, the first part, which tells about Prince George Vsevolodovich, his murder by Batu and the destruction of Kitezh, reflected legends dating back to the time of Batu’s invasion.

No matter how legendary the legend is and how far from correct the historical dates given are, it is based on actual events. “The Holy Blessed and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich” is the Grand Duke of Vladimir and Suzdal Georgy II Vsevolodovich, who fought with Batu’s army and laid down his head in an unequal battle on the river. City. The connection of Little Kitezh (Gorodets) with the name of Georgy Vsevolodovich has a completely historical background: from 1216 to 1219 (before the occupation of the Vladimir table) the prince went there for his appanage; in 1237, when the hordes of Batu approached Vladimir, Georgy Vsevolodovich went to the Yaroslavl land, within which both cities - Big and Small Kitezh - were located and where the battle lost by the Russians took place.

Of course, the legendary image of the prince is not completely identical to the historical one. Georgy Vsevolodovich is given a fictitious pedigree: he descends from the holy Prince Vladimir and is the son of the holy Vsevolod Mstislavich of Novgorod. This invented genealogy, which does not correspond to the actual pedigree of Prince George, reinforces the motive of holiness - the leading motive of the legend.

The second part of the “Book of the Verb Chronicler” - “The Tale and Collection of the Hidden City of Kitezh” - is devoid of any historical background; it belongs to the type of legendary-apocryphal monuments that treat of the earthly paradise. The image of the “hidden” city of Kitezh stands somewhere in the middle between the “earthly paradise” of the most ancient Russian apocrypha and Belovodye, the legendary happy land that became so popular among Russian peasants in the 18th century.

Kitezh (Kitezh-grad, Kidish) is a mythical wonderful city, which, according to Russian legends, escaped from Batu’s troops during the Tatar-Mongol invasion in the 13th century thanks to the miraculous property of being invisible. As the troops approached, the city allegedly disappeared from the eyes of the astonished enemy and sank to the bottom of Lake Svetloyar. In subsequent centuries, the legend was transformed; the Old Believers described Kitezh as a refuge for followers of the old faith.

IN XVIII-XIX centuries Kitezh was presented as a city of the righteous, a city of social justice, where every honest Russian could go. The people endowed similar properties with some other fantastic societies, such as the kingdom of Prester John, the churches of “ancient piety” in the distant Opon (Japanese?) Sea, the islands of the blessed, the earthly paradise, Belovodye, the “City of Ignat”, etc. In Russia at that time, stories were widespread about people who gave lunch to Kitezh and subsequently sent letters from there. Numerous eyewitnesses described the ringing of bells, which they allegedly heard from under the water.

A lake in the Nizhny Novgorod Trans-Volga region, approximately 100 km east-northeast of the regional center and 1-1.5 km west of the village of Vladimirskoye, Voskresensky district, a natural monument of federal significance. The lake has an oval shape with dimensions of 500 x 350 m, and is very deep , reaching 40 m. The view on the origin of the lake has changed since its study and has not yet been unambiguously resolved. Its volcanic origin was first suggested at the beginning of the 20th century by the writer V. Korolenko. Various researchers in different time hypotheses were expressed about the glacial, karst, oxbow, volcanic, neotectonic, salt dome and cosmic - meteorite origin of the lake. In 2009, the results of field studies were published confirming the hypothesis about the meteorite origin of the lake.

There is still a debate in science about the reality of Kitezh and the possible location of the “sunken” city. The most attractive version is that the legend tells about some place with supernatural properties. What kind of place is this (parallel world, astral plane, some kind of spatial hole) - it is useless to argue about this now, because... There is too much that is unclear in the legend. However, attempts have been and are being made to find the real sunken city. Most often, such searches were carried out in the area of ​​​​the Zhiguli bend of the Volga, where a mirage is still sometimes observed over the Volga - a large ancient Russian city rising from under the water.

When the troops of Khan Batu reached the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, the Russians met them near Little Kitezh (now Gorodets). Most of the squad was killed in the battle, and Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich with the surviving soldiers took refuge in the forests and built the city of Kitezh Bolshoi on the shore of Lake Svetloyar. Batu found out where the prince had taken refuge and killed him. And the residents gathered in the temple and turned to God with a prayer not to allow the invaders to come to them. God heeded the prayer, streams of water gushed out from under the ground, which, without causing harm to the inhabitants, flooded the city up to the tops of the churches. But they too soon disappeared. And in place of the city, a lake overflowed. Since then, this place has been revered as a saint... This is the legend that many believe. And they have no doubt that it’s small Forest Lake Svetloyar in Nizhny Novgorod region and is the very same place in which Kitezh drowned. Orthodox Christians come here to pray. They say that a handful of local soil cures ailments. Water collected from the lake lasts in bottles for several years without spoiling, like consecrated water. And if you go around the lake three times clockwise, then all your cherished wishes will come true. And the version that Lake Svetloyar is related to the mysterious Shambhala attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over the world. However, the only real hints about the existence of the legendary city can be found in the book “Kitezh Chronicler” (late 17th century).

Near-scientific mystics believe that on Svetloyar there is also a passage to another time dimension. And as proof they cite stories told by residents of the nearby village of Vladimirskoye. They supposedly often meet strange peddlers in clothes that their great-grandfathers wore, and for the purchased goods - mainly bread, bagels, gingerbread - they receive change from them in coppers and silver coins. “For us,” continues Volkov, “the main discovery was the confirmation of the hypothesis about the existence near Svetloyar of plasma substances invisible to the eye, which have a logic of behavior, that is, they manifest themselves as living beings. There are especially many of them around a group of praying people - as if they are being studied. We captured them on video and photographic equipment. These plasma formations were once recorded in laboratory conditions by scientists from the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation (IZMIRAN). Their experiments showed that millions of plasma clots are floating in the air in the electromagnetic range. Then this led atheists to believe that the other world still exists. The current study of Svetloyar has shown that this hypothesis is not without common sense.

But where did the city go? Is there some real natural event at the heart of the myth?

In fact, as soon as we begin to study any legend, myth or similar work of oral folk art, we find traces of events that actually took place,” said the outstanding Russian archaeologist and historian Academician Boris Rybakov (died in 2001) at one of his speeches. Ed.). — Geologists are well aware that the central regions of the European part of Russia lie on a foundation of very strong rocks. But it is dissected by deep faults that run in different directions, often intersecting with each other. And geologist Vladimir Nikitin found out that Lake Svetloyar lies precisely at the intersection of two deep faults. In such a place, even a large reservoir could form surprisingly quickly - even before the eyes of Batu Khan.

The graves of the giants Kibilek is the name of a place about five kilometers from Lake Svetloyar. Here is a spring supposedly with “living” water (tests show that it has zero acidity). And nearby - in the dense Kerzhinsky forest - there are three unmarked graves. They are ancient and unusual. First of all, who would have thought to bury someone far from settlements? Secondly, the graves are several times larger than traditional Christian burials. They say that giants are buried there. Namely, the skeletons of the ancient Lemurians - inhabitants of the mysterious country of Lemuria, which, according to legend, existed somewhere in this area hundreds of thousands of years ago. Modern science does not confirm, but does not try to refute this version of the origin of strange burials. No one tried to dig them up. Yes, and it’s a sin. Nizhny Novgorod esotericists come to graves at night to worship the “unknown.” Many Orthodox Christians, on the contrary, believe that this place is unclean. Despite the spring. They take water and quickly leave.

The Nizhny Novgorod land is rich in minerals, except that geologists have not found oil and diamond deposits in it for the time being. However, three and a half decades ago, a geological exploration party from Yaroslavl, while drilling a well near the village of Vorotilovo (Koverninsky district), discovered “pebbles”! Black crystals of irregular shape lay at a depth of one and a half kilometers. They turned out to be technical diamonds. These are found in the Arctic and Yakutia. These gemstones are flake-like, which is not the case with traditional diamonds. And scientists still do not understand how they arose. One thing is clear: this could not have happened without the impact of high temperatures and geological underground shifts. Kovernina diamonds cannot be turned into diamonds; they cannot be cut due to their lamellar structure. But these stones have the same strength as ordinary minerals, and they can be used in manufacturing or in jewelry to polish cubic diamonds. Experts believe that geological exploration in the north of the region needs to be continued, since these places may be part of the Russian Diamond Belt.

  • City next to a volcano

    Where would diamonds and oil come from in the Volga forests? Their appearance depended on changes in temperature in the bowels of the earth, in the movements of layers and rocks that occurred in time immemorial. The subsoil “does not sleep” to this day.

    Geologists can tell a lot of interesting things about phenomena that still affect our lives today. Thus, Volgogeology specialists from Yaroslavl, along with diamonds, discovered a volcano in the Kovernin wilderness. More precisely, a volcano crater at a depth of fifty meters.

    Studies of rock samples have revealed that this fire-breathing giant went out even when people were walking around our area.

    And before his death, the “dragon” spat out streams of lava that crawled to today’s Balakhna. After the giant exploded, such an amount of rock burst out from its depths that it covered the crater.

    Did you know?

    The only hints about the real existence of Kitezh can be found in the book “The Kitezh Chronicler”. This book is believed to have been written at the end of the seventeenth century.

    Vorotilovsky ledge


    It is difficult to imagine this picture: huge stones weighing several tons and with a diameter of up to one hundred meters rolled from the top. Then they found themselves scattered throughout the Chkalovsky, Koverninsky, Sokolsky and Gorodetsky districts.

    All of them are securely buried under layers of soil along with the crater of the volcano. This formation is called the Vorotilovsky ledge. According to geologists, the ledge is very similar to the African volcano Cameroon. This is where the largest diamond deposit on the planet is located.
    What if we discover something similar? Cameroon is also located on a plain and not in a mountainous area like most fire-breathing mountains. Is it possible that the volcano will wake up?

    And before his death, the “dragon” spat out streams of lava that crawled to today’s Balakhna. After the giant exploded, such an amount of rock burst out from its depths that it covered the crater.

    - No! - geologists answer. The giant fell asleep millions of years ago in eternal sleep.

    The length of Lake Svetloyar is 210 meters, width is 175 meters, and the total area of ​​the water surface is about 12 hectares

    Swinging chandeliers, the house dances


    Geologists also find an explanation for the strange tremors in the “stable” areas of central Russia. About forty years ago, Nizhny Novgorod residents looked with surprise and fear at the rattling dishes in their cupboards and swinging chandeliers.

    A particularly strong poltergeist was noticeable in Sormovo and Shcherbinki. As it turned out, at that moment an earthquake was recorded in the city. Fortunately, the tremors turned out to be weak, more like the echo of some distant sound.

    And no one then wondered why we began to shake (by the way, for the second time in recent years), what kind of cataclysm sent its menacing echo to our region? It turned out that we shouldn’t have thought about it in vain. There are no coincidences in nature. According to geologists, repetition of tremors is very likely in the future.

    Versions

    In general, Nizhny Novgorod residents walk along their streets, roads, fields, confidently, believing that there is nothing firmer under their feet. After all, at one time everyone read in a geography textbook about the stability of the platform on which our region is located.

    However, geologists know: it inexorably drops by 3-4 millimeters per year. This platform looks like a giant block wall that lies horizontally and is covered with a thick layer of soil. The junction of its lithospheric plates passes under the Nizhny Novgorod region, along the Volga and Oka rivers.


    This is clearly visible to the ordinary eye: the right bank of the water arteries is high, and the left is low, flat. This joint gradually diverges, very slowly turning into a crack. The lithospheric plates themselves are dotted with small cracks. The entire structure moves and causes mild earthquakes in our area. Many years ago these natural phenomena were destructive.

    Legend

    A version of the legend says that St. George the Victorious himself descended to earth to help the defenders of Kitezh. But George's horse stumbled. Then the saint realized that saving Kitezh was not his task and retreated

    After one of them, which occurred in 493, frightened people left the territory of the Volga-Vyatka region.


    Now earthquakes are much weaker, but still noticeable, judging by the events of the beginning of the century. During the new century, Nizhny Novgorod residents are threatened only - in extreme cases - by breaking glass, doors slamming themselves, clocks stopping. No more.

    However, even venerable scientists do not know all the secrets of nature, which presents people with unexpected surprises. We also don’t need strong vibrations of the subsoil because of landslides. Many Nizhny Novgorod residents remember how one of the clay slopes of the Dyatlov Mountains collapsed in 1974. The earth completely blocked the Oka congress.


    Svetloyar lake. Voskresensky district

    Kirov neighbors have long had problems associated with earthquakes. Natural disasters haunted them five times over the past century. One of the earthquakes was a magnitude six on the Richter scale!

    Legend

    And this city of Greater Kitezh became invisible and is protected by the hand of God - so at the end of our century of rebellion and tears worthy, the Lord covered that city with His hand.“The Tale and Request for the Hidden City of Kitezh”

    And such shocks are not limited to the swinging of chandeliers, they move furniture around the room, draw deep crevasses and ravines on the surface of the earth, and destroy houses. And this is no longer at all like the fading shock wave that supposedly reached northern regions from seismically unfavorable southern latitudes.

    Involuntarily the thought comes that the source of the tremors is somewhere nearby. By the way, the territory of central Russia was shaking before.


    Chroniclers have noted such facts more than once. Some hydrobiologists today even believe that famous lake Svetloyar was formed as a result of the earthquake of 1230.

    Kitezh city Legend, interesting facts

    There are a great many legends about the city of Kitezh, on the site of which Lake Svetloyar is located today. According to one of them, it was built in just three years; it was completely made of stone, which was an unprecedented phenomenon for Rus' in those years. There were no merchants, artisans, or nobility in the city, and only righteous people, philosophers, and spiritual teachers lived behind its stone walls. The shrines of the Russian land were also kept here.

    Legend

    According to legend, Kitezh should “appear” on the day of the Last Judgment. On the day when the dead rise from their graves, Kitezh will rise from the water


    Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal Yuri Vsevolodovich

    In the thirteenth century, Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich encountered a horde of Tatars and entered into battle with them near another city with a similar name, Maly Kitezh. The prince lost the battle, and he and a small detachment made his way to Greater Kitezh along secret paths. By official version there he was killed by the enemy, who overtook him. However, the Kitezh chronicler claims that the prince survived. He entered the city, after which he heard the ringing of bells.


    According to another version, Kitezh did not dissolve, but sank to the bottom of Svetloyar, where it remains to this day.

    The third legend tells that previously on the site of the lake there was a settlement of people who worshiped the goddess Turka. But after Turka became angry, her horse hit the ground with its hoof. At this place a spring immediately began to flow, from which a lake was formed.

    Did you know?

    The legend of the city of Kitezh excited the minds of writers, musicians and artists. The writer Melnikov-Pechersky told his legend in the novel “In the Woods”. The lake was visited and written about by Maxim Gorky, Vladimir Korolenko, Mikhail Prishvin

    Another option for the disappearance of the city is this. Khan Batu heard about Kitezh and became eager to conquer it. From a captured Russian warrior, the Tatars learned about the secret paths leading to the wonderful city. When Bata's army approached the place, they saw that the city was not fortified. In anticipation of a quick and easy victory, the khan moved the horde to the walls. But immediately jets of water burst out from under the ground, under which the magical city disappeared.


    People from parallel worlds. Data

    Later and more advanced versions say that a tunnel has formed in the lake that leads to. They cite stories to prove it. local residents who have seen people in strange clothes here more than once. The last such case was recorded in 2015. Some of them even went into the store and were surprised by the outlandish delicacies in bright packages with pictures, but they only dared to buy bread and cereals, trying to pay with ancient silver coins.


    They also claim that the lake is mysteriously connected with Shambhala. One way or another, every summer thousands of people from different countries and different cities. They say that the water here is holy and cures many diseases.

    And before his death, the “dragon” spat out streams of lava that crawled to today’s Balakhna. After the giant exploded, such an amount of rock burst out from its depths that it covered the crater.

    Lake Svetloyar was painted by artists Nikolai Romadin, Ilya Glazunov and many others. The poets Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva mention the city of Kitezh in their works.

    But according to hydrobiological scientists, it was not the evil intentions of Batu Khan that destroyed the city of Kitezh (if there was one), but two deep faults in the soil. The most mysterious body of water in the Nizhny Novgorod region is located at their junction.

    This version sounds very plausible. Everyone knows that during a strong earthquake, sinkholes swallow up entire blocks of modern cities. And a small settlement with wooden houses could easily disappear from the surface as a result of a natural disaster.

    • Where did Kitezh-grad disappear to?


    Scientists are exploring Lake Svetloyar, which, according to legend, was formed on the site ancient city

    Nizhny Novgorod Shambhala

    When the troops of Khan Batu reached the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, the Russians met them near Little Kitezh (now Gorodets). Most of the squad was killed in the battle, and Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich with the surviving soldiers took refuge in the forests and built the city of Kitezh Bolshoi on the shore of Lake Svetloyar. Batu found out where the prince had taken refuge and killed him. And the residents gathered in the temple and turned to God with a prayer not to allow the invaders to come to them. God heeded the prayer, streams of water gushed out from under the ground, which, without causing harm to the inhabitants, flooded the city up to the tops of the churches. But they too soon disappeared. And in place of the city, a lake overflowed. Since then this place has been revered as a saint...
    This is the legend that many believe. And there is no doubt that the small forest lake Svetloyar in the Nizhny Novgorod region is the very one in which Kitezh drowned. Orthodox Christians come here to pray. They say that a handful of local soil cures ailments. Water collected from the lake lasts in bottles for several years without spoiling, like consecrated water. And if you go around the lake three times clockwise, then all your cherished wishes will come true.
    And the version that Lake Svetloyar is related to the mysterious Shambhala attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over the world. However, the only real hints about the existence of the legendary city can be found in the book “Kitezh Chronicler” (late 17th century).

    Where do people disappear to?

    You can learn a lot of interesting things from local residents,” says Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Penza State Technological Academy Sergei VOLKOV, who organized an expedition to search for the mythical city. “It’s as if people are disappearing here.” Some - forever, others return, but do not remember anything.
    - Maybe they were visiting the Kitezhgrad residents? - I guess jokingly.
    Professor Volkov has been searching for Kitezh-grad for more than twenty years.
    “According to rumors, that’s how it turns out,” the professor answers quite seriously. - Somewhere in the ravines there is supposedly an entrance to the city. But only true believers can get there.
    Near-scientific mystics believe that on Svetloyar there is also a passage to another time dimension. And as proof they cite stories told by residents of the nearby village of Vladimirskoye. They supposedly often meet strange peddlers in the clothes that their great-grandfathers wore, and for the purchased goods - mainly bread, bagels, gingerbread - they receive change from them in coppers and silver coins.
    “For us,” continues Volkov, “the main discovery was the confirmation of the hypothesis about the existence near Svetloyar of plasma substances invisible to the eye, which have a logic of behavior, that is, they manifest themselves as living beings. There are especially many of them around a group of praying people - as if they are being studied. We captured them on video and photographic equipment. These plasma formations were once recorded in laboratory conditions by scientists from the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation (IZMIRAN). Their experiments indicated that millions of plasma clots are floating in the air in the electromagnetic range. Then this led atheists to the idea that the other world still exists. The current study of Svetloyar has shown that this hypothesis is not without common sense.

    To Batu's amazement

    But where did the city go? Is there some real natural event at the heart of the myth?
    “In fact, as soon as we begin to study any legend, myth or similar work of oral folk art, we find traces of events that actually took place,” said the outstanding Russian archaeologist and historian Academician Boris Rybakov (died in 2001) at one of his speeches. - Ed.). - Geologists are well aware that the central regions of the European part of Russia lie on a foundation of very strong rocks. But it is dissected by deep faults that run in different directions, often intersecting with each other. And geologist Vladimir Nikitin found out that Lake Svetloyar lies precisely at the intersection of two deep faults. In such a place, even a large reservoir could form surprisingly quickly - even before the eyes of Batu Khan.
    Scuba divers examined Svetloyar and discovered underwater terraces in it - the coastal slope goes under the water in ledges. Steep cliffs are interspersed with horizontal sections. From this we can conclude that Svetloyar was formed as if in parts: first one subsidence, then - after hundreds, thousands of years - a second and, finally, a third. On one of the underwater terraces of this lake there could have been a town or monastery, which then disappeared in the waters of Svetloyar.
    When this place was “enlightened” with an echo sounder, and later with a geolocator, an oval anomaly clearly appeared on the echogram - a bottom layer of silt of a special composition: it differed from the multi-meter layer of sediment that was crushed. Moreover, another site was found not far from the “oval”. There, under the silt and a thin layer of bottom rock, there was something that did not allow sound to pass through. As if some large heavy object was hidden in the depths. When a map of these zones was drawn up, the result was a drawing reminiscent of a city surrounded by a rampart.

    Bells ringing from the bottom

    So, according to scientists, Kitezh could well have existed. But it did not disappear mysteriously, but simply fell underground as a result of tectonic activity. But after almost fifty years of searching with entire teams of scuba divers, no traces could be found. Not a spoon, not a bowl, not some kind of hewn log. Schliemann, for example, found both Troy and gold, guided only by the fabulous Iliad. And here the address is exact, and the lake is like a puddle - you can get around it in 20 minutes. It’s time to imagine something fantastic: the city exists, but it is invisible. Only audible at times. The bells are ringing there... And this may not be the imagination of the pilgrims.
    “Engineer Igor Fomin worked at a defense enterprise in St. Petersburg, which supplied devices to the Navy,” says researcher Mikhail Burleshin. - He developed a device - a hydrophone, which uses physical principles to convert sound into an electrical signal.
    During tests taking place on Ladoga, the hydrophone suddenly began to emit rolling sounds, similar to the echoes of thunder from a passing thunderstorm. Geophysicists, after listening to the tape, said that such peals of “thunder” are waves of disturbances in the earth’s crust that pass through water and create such an effect. After this, Igor Fomin began to purposefully listen to the lakes. In some the waters were silent, in others they “screamed.” But the most unexpected surprise awaited the researcher at Lake Svetloyar. A hydrophone lowered into the water recorded a low rumbling sound, reminiscent of the hum of a huge bell. Most often the lake rumbled before sunrise and during the full moon. It was at that time when, according to legend, righteous people saw in the lake “exactly like in a mirror the walls of the hidden city and heard the hum of its bells.”
    As for the quality of the lake water, chemists studied it and came to the conclusion: it can indeed be stored for many days and not deteriorate thanks to the springs gushing from the bottom of the lake with a high content of bicarbonate and calcium.

    HELP "KP"

    Lake Svetloyar is located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Located near the village of Vladimirskoye, Voskresensky district, in the Lunda basin, a tributary of the Vetluga River. From a bird's eye view it looks perfectly round. This gives grounds to some geophysicists to assume that the lake arose from a meteorite fall. In fact, it is a flat oval approximately 450 by 350 meters. The depth reaches 39 meters. But perhaps there is no bottom there at all. After all, the water in the lake comes from a karst fault, the depth of which is unknown.
    By the way, at that time a city that could fit on the area of ​​the lake was considered relatively large.

    MINER'S OPINION

    Candidate technical sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of the Mining Institute Andrey PARFENOV: “You can easily fall underground”
    - In Russia, many cities may go underground. This is primarily due to the fact that on its territory there are hundreds of quarries up to hundreds of kilometers long, which were dug from the 15th to the beginning of the 20th century. Under Stalin, the entrances to them were blown up so that bandits would not hide there. Therefore, finding these “holes” is now very difficult. And out of ignorance, houses and entire cottage villages. So, under Podolsk there are gigantic voids. And now failures have begun to occur there. In Moscow, huge quarries begin under the Ukraine Hotel and go under the Badaevsky brewery. There are also many underground passages under the Kremlin, lined with white stone, and now the environment has become acidic due to large emissions of exhaust gases - limestone is not resistant to acid. Therefore, it is possible that the Kremlin may one day disappear, like the city of Kitezh.
    By the way, the radars of the European Space Agency satellite recently recorded that two largest cities In China, Shanghai and Tianjin are gradually sinking several centimeters a year under the weight of giant skyscrapers.

    ARTISTIC HYPOTHESIS

    The city sank in Issyk-Kul?

    Ilya Glazunov placed Kitezh at the bottom of Lake Issyk-Kul (1989 painting “The Legend of the City of Kitezh)”).
    “The reason was a book by the district governor of the city of Przhevalsk, which stands on the lake,” said the artist. - It proves that at one time this was the center of Eurasia. And as a result of an unprecedented catastrophe, the blooming city was flooded. And in calm weather in the waters of Issyk-Kul you can see traces of a sunken city with the outlines of buildings and walls. Maybe scientists are looking for Kitezh in the wrong place?

    It is still unknown who is buried in the deep forest.

    ANOTHER RIDDLE

    Graves of the Giants

    Kibilek is the name of a place about five kilometers from Lake Svetloyar. Here is a spring supposedly with “living” water (tests show that it has zero acidity). And nearby - in the dense Kerzhinsky forest - there are three unmarked graves. They are ancient and unusual.
    Firstly, who would have thought of burying someone far from populated areas? Secondly, the graves are several times larger than traditional Christian burials. They say that giants are buried there. Namely, the skeletons of the ancient Lemurians - inhabitants of the mysterious country of Lemuria, which, according to legend, existed somewhere in this area hundreds of thousands of years ago.
    Modern science does not confirm, but does not try to refute this version of the origin of strange burials. No one tried to dig them up. Yes, and it’s a sin.
    Nizhny Novgorod esotericists come to graves at night to worship the “unknown.” Many Orthodox Christians, on the contrary, believe that this place is unclean. Despite the spring. They take water and quickly leave.

    FROM THE ARCHIVES

    And it will be invisible...

    “...And he came to Lake Svetloyar, and saw that the place was exceptionally beautiful, and ordered to build the city of Big Kitezh on the shore of the lake, and on the other side of the lake there was an oak grove. And they began to dig ditches and build a church... And that city of Big Kitezh was 200 fathoms long, and 150 fathoms wide, and they began to build that city in stone in the summer of 6673 (1165) of the month of May on 1 day in memory of the holy prophet Jeremiah and they built that city for 3 summers (September 30, 6676/1168).”

    (“Chronicle of the murder of the blessed prince Georgy Vsevolodovich.”)

    Strange, but there is not a word in the document that Kitezh disappeared under water. It is said, however, that he disappeared from view: “And Greater Kitezh will be invisible until the coming of Christ, as this happened in former times.”
    Fathoms in Rus' varied, but on average one fathom was approximately 2 meters. In total, the city was 400 by 300 meters - the size fits perfectly into the current lake.

    In the very center of Russia, the Nizhny Novgorod region, there is Lake Svetloyar - a pearl of Russian nature. This lake is sometimes called the small Russian Atlantis: its history is covered in legends.
    The main Svetloyarsk legend is about the invisible city of Kitezh. The legend says: there is a lake in the Vetluga forests. It is located in the forest thicket. Blue waters the lakes lie motionless day and night. Only occasionally a light ripple runs through them. There are days when drawn-out singing can be heard from the quiet shores, and the distant ringing of bells can be heard.

    A long time ago, even before the advent of the Tatars, Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich built the city of Maly Kitezh (present-day Gorodets) on the Volga, and then, “crossing the quiet and rusty rivers Uzola, Sandu and Kerzhenets,” he went out to Lunda and Svetloyar to “very beautiful” the place where the city of Kitezh the Great was built. This is how the glorious Kitezh city appeared on the shore of the lake. Six domes of churches towered in the center of the city.

    Having come to Rus' and conquered many of our lands, Batu heard about the glorious Kitezh-city and rushed to it with his hordes...
    When the “evil Tatars” approached Kitezh the Small and killed the prince’s brother in a great battle, he himself hid in the newly built forest city. Batu's prisoner, Grishka Kuterma, could not stand the torture and revealed secret paths to Svetloyar.
    The Tatars surrounded the city with a thundercloud and wanted to take it by force, but when they broke through to its walls, they were amazed. The inhabitants of the city not only did not build any fortifications, but did not even intend to defend themselves. Residents prayed for salvation, since they could not expect anything good from the Tatars.

    And as soon as the Tatars rushed to the city, abundant springs suddenly gushed out from under the ground, and the Tatars retreated in fear. And the water kept running and running...
    When the sound of the springs died down, in place of the city there were only waves. In the distance shimmered the lonely dome of the cathedral with a cross shining in the middle. She slowly sank into the water.
    Soon the cross disappeared too. Now there is a path to the lake, which is called the Batu Trail. It can lead to the glorious city of Kitezh, but not everyone, but only those who are pure in heart and soul. Since then, the city has been invisible, but intact, and the especially righteous can see the lights of religious processions in the depths of the lake and hear the sweet ringing of its bells.

    Reference:

    “Lake Svetloyar appears in the report “Notable natural landscapes of the USSR and their protection.” It is included in the group “Lakes of great aesthetic importance (lake-landscape reserves).” It is located, as the directory says, near the village. Vladimirskoye, Voskresensky district, in the basin of the Lunda River, a tributary of the Vetluga. The approximate area of ​​the lake is 12 hectares, length – 210 m, width – 175 m. The legend about the city of Kitezh, which miraculously disappeared into thin air during Batu’s invasion, is connected with it.”

    The legend circles over the lake

    The fog cleared, and the Domes of Kitezh shone with an unearthly light over the lake. The heavenly city of the righteous appeared in all its splendor. The main gates of the city opened, and a radiant old man appeared from them. He invited to enter the miracle city and stay in it forever. This is how a pilgrim described her meeting with Kitezh, crawling around Lake Svetloyar three times on her knees. As a reward for her spiritual feat, the heavenly city appeared before her, and the residents of Kitezh invited the old woman to their place. But she, frightened, refused to enter the monastery of the righteous.

    This is the story of one of the pilgrims who visited the miracle city, which is 130 kilometers from Nizhny Novgorod, near the village of Vladimirskoye. What's wrong with this mysterious lake that pilgrims from all over Russia are rushing to him, traveling in crowds Foreign tourists, and local residents on the feast of the Vladimir Mother of God on July 6, with candles, organize a religious procession around the lake. This year the number of people was so great that a string of lights entangled the entire lake, their reflections glided across the water, and people kept walking and walking...

    The mystery rests for centuries

    Summer 2003. The film crew of the film studio "Gran" under the leadership of Evgeny Troshin, Dmitry Sokolov and Yuri Suvorov decided to understand the amazing legends hovering around the lake. To what extent are the words of the pilgrims who allegedly saw the amazing city true, and to what extent is it fiction?

    The material for filming was selected for a long time and carefully, it was necessary to collect everything existing legends. Ask eyewitnesses who have been to the lake, study materials from books and articles already written about amazing place and its secrets. There are a huge number of legends and stories. There were people who claimed: if you walk around the lake three times or crawl around it on your knees, any wish will come true. And especially believers even saw the city itself or heard the amazing ringing of bells from the bottom of the lake. The only thing where people’s opinions differed was in assessing the nature of the phenomenon: some considered Kitezh a pagan shrine, others an Orthodox shrine, while others even visited the lake and did not note any miracles, except for the beautiful nature and amazingly clean air.

    In printed publications, the legend of Kitezh was presented much more widely. The oldest and most respected legend turned out to be the “Kitezh Chronicler”. The legend told in this chronicle is considered official.

    It was the 13th century of the last millennium. Hordes of Tatars devastated the Russian land, and the turn came to the Nizhny Novgorod lands, which at that time were ruled by the Vladimir-Suzdal prince Yuri Vsevolodovich. It is to him that the chronicler attributes the founding in 1164 of Little Kitezh, now called Gorodets on the Volga, and Greater Kitezh on the shores of Lake Svetloyar in the Volga region. Particular emphasis is placed on the fact that the city was built in just three years from 1165 to 1168 and immediately made of stone, which was an unthinkable feat for forested Rus' of those years. But it was not just the city that the ancient builders built. As the legend tells, in this city there were no artisans, no traders, no nobility; it was intended for the life of righteous people, sages, and spiritual teachers of Rus'. It contained the shrines of the Russian land, ancient books and secret knowledge.

    The Tatars advanced, and the prince, not wanting to obey the foreign invaders, gave battle near Small Kitezh on the Volga and lost. After defeat in the battle, miraculously, only the prince and his closest warriors were saved. Not wanting to give up, they made their way through secret forest paths to Bolshoi Kitezh on Svetloyar. There, according to the official version, in 1239 the prince was killed by the Tatars who set off in pursuit.

    But the Kitezh chronicler thinks differently: When the Tatars approached the City of Kitezh, the prince ascended to the city and it disappeared into the air to the sound of bells. But here there are also two versions; on the second, the hail sank to the bottom of the lake, where it remains to this day.

    However, this version is not unique, there is another, fabulous legend about the origin of the amazing city: Kitezh is not a city at all, but an amazing, hidden country, a fabulous three-tenth state, the habitat of the ancient gods, the guardians of Mother Rus'. As this legend says, in Kitezh there was a storage place for ancient books and relics, strange plants, everything that Slavic Rus' had accumulated since the beginning of time. According to this legend, the first mention of Kitezh is contained in the legend about the god Veles. During the struggle with the dark forces, his soul hardened, and he decided to go to heavenly Svarga in order to cleanse himself of anger and sorrow. Heavenly Svarga is the abode of the gods who protected Rus'. In this monastery there flows a spring with living and dead water. There is the Irian Garden with strange animals and plants. To get to Svarga, you need to go up the Ra River and then down the Smorodinka River, the legendary river of Russian fairy tales. In ancient times the Volga was called the Ra River. And Svarga, according to legend, is Kitezh city - the city of the gods.

    The last, third legend says that in the dense forests of the Volga region there lived a people who prayed to the mighty goddess - the heroic maiden Turk. One day these people angered their goddess, and her huge horse hit the ground with its hoof. A spring gushed in this place, and later Lake Svetloyar was formed.

    Scientists go to Svetloyar

    Svetloyar has always interested people. But not only believers and ethnographers. The lake attracted scientists: hydrologists, chemists, and researchers of Russian fauna. Svetloyar, first of all, attracted researchers with its amazing structure. Lake - correct round shape, slightly flattened at the edges. When photographed from a helicopter, it looks like a circle drawn with a compass.

    The first scientists to show interest in the lake and its depths from a scientific point of view were students of Kazan University. At the end of the 19th century, young people went to the lake to study its nature. They had to set up tents, squeezing among the numerous pilgrims who flocked to the lake from all over Russia. Unfortunately, their reports have not survived to this day. But they marked the beginning of numerous expeditionary studies of the lake. Later, throughout late XIX and throughout the 20th century, Svetloyar was studied by a variety of groups of scientists. Excerpts from their reports have been published in the press more than once: “The lake is definitely of karst origin,” believes V.V. Dokuchaev. His studies of Svetloyar date back to 1882. The scientist made his conclusions based on the high southern and western shores of the lake. His amazing depth- 29.2 meters. With their own small sizes it has a regular round shape. His version is refuted by geologist G.I. Blom, he considers Svetloyar a lake of glacial origin and is a remnant of the ancient bed of the Lunda River. This version is supported by studies of the Gorky geological exploration expedition; it states: “karst rocks are absent to a depth of 250 m, and those lying at greater depth limestones, gypsum, anhydrites are not affected by karst processes, which indicates its glacial (aeolian) origin.”

    From the middle of the 20th century, “literary” studies of the lake began, they were undertaken by the magazine “Smena” and “Literary Gazette”. Their reports are not much different from previous studies, complementing them rather than introducing anything new.

    An expedition conducted by the magazine “Smena” came to the conclusion that “the basin of the lake lies at the intersection of deep faults in the earth’s crust, which led to the subsidence of rocks and the formation of a lake at this place. An indirect reason for this process could have been the earthquake in 1596, which was noted in Nizhny Novgorod."

    The lake’s water is amazing in its composition; it can be stored for many days without spoiling. This property, according to chemists, is given to it by springs with calcium bicarbonate water gushing from the bottom of the lake. According to believers, the holy city of Kitezh, resting at the bottom of the lake, makes its water holy. As you know, consecrated water can not spoil for up to a year.

    The largest expeditionary research was carried out by Literaturnaya Gazeta. For several seasons in a row, newspaper enthusiasts together with scientists studied the lake. They were joined by scuba divers from the Red Etna plant, but, unfortunately, Kitezh City was never discovered by them.

    The materials have been collected, but there is still no clear answer to the question about the existence of the legendary city. This can only be provided by your own research of the lake. Maybe we'll get lucky and we'll see the famous city of Kitezh.

    The lake greets you with Miracles

    The journey took about ten hours. We flew past Vladimir, leaving Nizhny Novgorod behind. Finally, turn to the village of Vladimirskoye. Driving through the village, you involuntarily pay attention to the friendly local residents and are surprised at the antiquity of some of them. Does the lake really grant immortality? Later we learned that many residents of this village, located directly next to the lake, live to be one hundred years old, and some even to one hundred and twenty. Leads from the village to the lake beautiful path, sprinkled with sand, there are slender birch trees along it. Enchanted by the beauty of this place, we go to the lake. But our way is blocked by a pine forest. While our driver Ilya Belkin was looking for a way to drive directly to the lake and place camping, we, eager to meet Svetloyar, go straight through the forest. Suddenly the director walking in front of us stops and says: “Listen.” Our team is listening. From the side of the lake, “ship bells” sound three times. We hear three strikes of the bell, its sound clearly and loudly echoes over the forest. Is it really true that Kitezh exists, welcoming guests with its ringing?

    We overcome the last hundred meters. The view of the legendary lake is beautiful. It has a regular round shape and is surrounded by high hills on the west and south. Century-old pines sway their crowns over it. A wall of trees hides the legendary place from the unwary gaze of a stranger. If someone decided to build a city of the gods - best place he can't find it. On one of the hills we notice a bell tower. With bated breath we rush to her, was it really her bells that showed us the way to the lake? So this means that there is no secret, and it was not Kitezh that called from the bottom of the lake. We go up the hill to the bell tower. We look at its doors with surprise. They are locked with a padlocked, rusty padlock. Clearly the bells of this church could not have been ringing a few minutes ago. This means that Kitezh city exists! Because there is no other church near the lake. It turns out that we heard the bells of Kitezh on the approach to the lake.

    Near the church there is a huge stone dug into the ground. Upon closer inspection, a footprint is visible on it. Either a child or a fragile woman stepped on him. It’s strange how could a light girl or child leave a bare foot print in a stone? Around the stone, the trees are hung with various ropes and ribbons. “This is a sled stone,” says the all-knowing Yuri. They are found near holy places, and the mark on it is usually attributed to the Virgin Mary. Ribbons, as a rule, are left by pilgrims so that their request is heard and they themselves return to this place again. Later, during filming, a woman, a local resident, approached us. She said that the stone we saw was really a footprint, and the footprint on it was the footprint of the Virgin Mary. She also spoke about last year’s filming of Svetloyar by Nizhny Novgorod researchers, who, after developing the film, discovered in one of the photographs a bell tower with its base sinking to the bottom of the lake. Now, according to her, this photograph is stored on Nizhny Novgorod television.

    Camp

    The camp was set up on a picturesque hill overlooking the lake. We were haunted by the hope that the city would appear before us at dawn. After the ringing of the bell, one could safely count on this. If the legend is about bell ringing was completely confirmed, then why can’t the city rise to us from the bottom of the lake. Night has come. The weather suddenly turned bad and a strong wind blew. The pines swayed, risking breaking at any moment. How to interpret this sign, maybe the lake is unhappy with our appearance or we have somehow angered the elders inhabiting the mysterious Kitezh. Everything was explained in the morning. When we woke up, it was beautiful sunny weather. Kitezh never appeared, but the area radiated kindness and hospitality. During the day we photographed views of the lake. Around him there were still quite a few interesting places. There was a spring with holy water in the hills. Then we saw three crosses, with huge tombstones, the size of which was amazing. They were clearly not of human origin. Wooden walkways were laid around the entire lake by someone's caring hand. This was most likely done to prevent the numerous pilgrims intending to crawl around the lake from having to overcome the marshy swamp, steep hills and tall grass.

    Is the mystery solved?

    The filming is over, but there are no fewer questions. The lake exists. Amazing bells actually ring from the bottom of the lake. But which of the legends is true is still not clear. Who lives in the mysterious Kitezh, and does anyone even live?

    Just about to return to Moscow, we accidentally learn about local history museum located in the village. Maybe there they will give us an answer to our questions. We're going to the museum.

    Local guides refused to be on camera, citing their natural modesty as the reason for this action, but in return they happily gave an interview that explained all our contradictions.

    “The main and most reliable, according to the guides, is the legend told in the Kitezh Chronicler, although it is given there with some omissions. In fact, when Batu’s warriors approached Kitezh and laid siege, the city held out for three days.

    Its residents tirelessly prayed to the Mother of God to come to their defense. Three days later, a miracle happened. The Mother of God descended from heaven, covered the city with her veil, and it disappeared from the eyes of the astonished Tatars, saving all its inhabitants. The place where the Mother of God stepped on the earth turned out to be the stone that we saw near the lake.

    Now this stone is considered holy. Already in our time, a church was built near it, named Kazan, in honor of the Kazan Mother of God. A stone with the footprint of the Virgin Mary is one of the few physical confirmations of the real existence of higher powers helping people. For centuries, pilgrims have been drawn to Lake Svetloyar; some of them, according to legend, are taken in by the elders of Kitezh, and the rest are simply helped. The graves we saw on the hills near the lake belong to three heroes who came out from the city of Kitezh to the people. According to legend, they were of gigantic height, twice the height of an ordinary person.

     

    It might be useful to read: