The best attractions of Sviyazhsk with photos and descriptions. By rail

Until recently, it was possible to get to Sviyazhsk only by river. A passenger ship runs daily between Kazan and the island throughout the navigation; On weekends there are additional excursion flights.

Information for those wishing to visit the Island-city of Sviyazhsk on water transport from Kazan

Tickets can be purchased at the river station box office,
opening hours from 6:00 to 22:00,
tickets are sold one hour before departure.
Departure from Kazansky river port, travel time 2 hours.

From Kazan before Sviyazhsk	8:45	9:20	9:30	9:55	10:10	10:20	10:45	10:55	From May 1st until August 31 daily
From Kazan before Sviyazhsk	18:00	18:35	18:45	19:10	19:25	19:35	20:00	20:10	From April 29 until September 18 Fri., Sat., Sun.
	TO A Z A N b	IN E R X. U WITH L ABOUT N	P E H AND SCH AND	N. M ABOUT R TO IN A Sh AND	P. M ABOUT R TO IN A Sh AND	D A H N A I	R U D N AND TO	WITH IN AND I AND WITH TO	Stopping points
From Sviyazhsk before Kazan	8:15	7:35	7:20	7:00	6:45	6:30	6:15	6:00	From April 30 until September 19 Sat., Sun., Monday.
From Sviyazhsk before Kazan	18:45	18:05	17:50	17:30	17:15	17:00	16:45	16:30	From May 1st until August 31 daily

You can also get to Sviyazhsk in other ways:

from the village of Vasilyevo by water transport;
from Vvedenskaya Sloboda by boat by agreement with local residents;
from railway station Sviyazhsk (train "Kazan - Kanash"), which is located on the mainland, by passing passenger car along a dam with an asphalt road;
on ice in winter;
on your own by car.

Get to Sviyazhsk by car

Sviyazhsk is located 30 kilometers from Kazan.
In order to get to Sviyazhsk on your own, you need:

cross the bridge across the Volga federal highway M7 towards Moscow,
pass the turn to the ski resort,
cross the bridge over the Sviyaga river,
After 300 meters, pass the ethnographic complex under construction with a wooden mill,
turn towards Sviyazhsk following the sign near the village of Isakovo,
drive a couple more kilometers
again follow the sign to Sviyazhsk.

Then you need to leave the car below, go up the stairs, and walk 150 meters straight along the fence of the Assumption Monastery. The museum will be on the right.

Hotel "Sviyaga"

The cozy and very clean Sviyaga Hotel is located in a merchant house of the 19th century. Previously, this building was an almshouse, and during the years of Soviet power it was a boarding school for blind children. Each of the seven hotel rooms has the name of a fish: “Sterlet”, “Carp”, “Bream”, etc.
Photo by Irina Pavlova

Each room has a TV. There is a cafe on the ground floor.

In Sviyazhsk there are two shops and two summer cafes where barbecue is prepared.

The plans include the construction of another hotel (already with 30 beds), which they want to place in part of the building of the lower vocational school and fire brigade (late 19th - early 20th centuries).

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

To quickly get acquainted with the sights of Sviyazhsk, two resources are suitable, which contain contact information, routes, questions about organizing excursions, etc.:
Official website "Island-city Sviyazhsk"
Island town Sviyazhsk

Background - relations between Rus' and the Kazan Khanate

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

On the right side you can see an 86-meter power line support, now dismantled

Assumption Monastery. 2010

Assumption Monastery. year 2014

Ioanno-Predtechensky convent, 2014

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

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

3) The political situation caused by centripetal trends, the collection of Russian lands around Moscow. Around them remained fragments into which the Golden Horde disintegrated. These hated each other almost more than the Principality of Moscow, and they did not consider it possible/necessary to unite against Rus'.

4) Civil war in the Kazan Khanate. The elite split into two opposing parties, focusing on specific centers of power. The first is a pro-Turkish party with very specific anti-Moscow sentiments, naturally, with hope for Crimea, and through it, Turkey. The second party was formed by part of the Kazan nobility, who were ready, in order to stop civil strife, even to abolish the Khanate as an institution of power and transfer government directly to Moscow.

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

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

From the above it follows that “Kazan took” is not the result of a voluntaristic decision of an individual Ivan, even the Terrible, but a turning point in centuries-old history Russian-Kazan wars, which began in 1437. There was everything in that story - both the repeated destruction of Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow, and the capture of Kazan in 1487. However, to understand the historical context, it is enough to realize the inapplicability of a template approach to assessing the warring parties. The Kazan Khanate cannot be presented as an innocent victim of Russian expansion in the Volga region, but it is also impossible to define the army of the Moscow Principality solely as an avenger for numerous raids, devastations and thefts in full. The six points listed above are an attempt to show the underlying causes of the existing contradictions.

2014: Causeway leading to the island. There are no turnstiles, helipad, etc. yet.

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

Trinity street, 2010

Trinity street, 2014

Founding of Sviyazhsk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the early spring of 1551, Ivan IV sent Shah-Ali to the mouth of Sviyaga with five hundred noble Kazan citizens and a strong Russian army. Meanwhile, the river caravan set out, arriving at the mouth of Sviyaga at the end of May 1551. It is clear that it was impossible to hide the fortification work 20 kilometers from Kazan. However, this was not required. Diversionary strikes were launched in four directions.
1) The army of Prince Peter Serebryany-Obolensky left Nizhny Novgorod and in the early morning of May 18 ravaged the Kazan settlement. About a thousand inhabitants were exterminated, Russian prisoners were freed, with whom the army returned to the mouth of Sviyaga.
2) Bakhtiyar Zyuzin’s detachment moved from Vyatka - archers and Cossacks occupied all transportation along the main transport arteries of the Khanate: the Volga, Kama and Vyatka.
3) 2,500 foot Cossacks, led by atamans Severga and Elka, left Meshchera (the territory of the current Ryazan region) in a raid on the Volga, and then joined the army of governor Zyuzin. Karamzin mentions Prince Khilkov as their chief.
4) Detachments of service Cossacks operated in the Lower Volga region.

On May 24, the main army arrived at Round Mountain by river. The landing site was covered by the army of Prince Serebryany-Obolensky. Having cut down the forest on the top, the warriors began marking, then the place was consecrated and construction began. Semyon Mikulinsky, who arrived with the Moscow army, was appointed governor of the fortress. The construction of the fortress took four weeks. When assembling the walls, the blanks turned out to be insufficient and local wood that grew on the hill was used. The result was a structure traditional for Russian wooden fortification, capable of withstanding a long siege. Powerful tours - cages filled with stones with earth filling. According to the custom of the 16th century - plantar, middle, horse combat. Loopholes, upper platforms for archers and shooters, etc.

The defensive structures covering the top of the Round Mountain were elliptical in plan. The perimeter of the fortress wall reached 1200 fathoms (1 fathom is approximately 2 meters). The fortress had several two- or three-tier towers, seven of which were travel towers. The Rozhdestvensky, Nikolsky, Sergievsky, Nikolo-Mozhaysky, Zhiletsky, Adashevsky gates led to the Kremlin, on the territory of which two churches, administrative and residential buildings were located. For military operations, three caches were built: two to the Sviyaga River and one to the Shchuka River. The main gates were considered Rozhdestvensky, located on the north-eastern side of the main entrance. The fortress was named "in the royal name" by Ivangorod of Sviyazhsk (Sviyazhsk).

The forward detachments of Russian troops under the leadership of governor Alexander Gorbaty were stationed in the fortress. The construction of a strong fortress in the very heart of the Tatar state demonstrated the strength of Moscow and contributed to the beginning of the transition to the Russian side of a number of Volga peoples - the Chuvash and Cheremis-Mari, and Ivan the Terrible received a base for the siege of Kazan. Russian governors in Sviyazhsk swore in the residents of surrounding villages. One of the conditions of the oath was the liberation of Russian slaves: " there’s no way they can keep all the Russian, they can free it all". To test the loyalty of those who swore the oath, they were forced to participate in the Russian raid on Gostiny Island. The chronicle says: " The Kazan people brought guns out of the city and squealed them, and taught them to shoot at them, and the mountain people - Chuvash and Cheremis - trembled and ran... and the mountain people all ran to the king (Shah-Ali) and the governors".

Political crisis in the Kazan Khanate

In June 1551, the authorities in Kazan went into chaos. The rebellious “Chuvash Arskaya” demanded submission to Russian demands and the expulsion of the Crimeans. Soon, the Crimean garrison decides to flee, hoping to slip through the Russian blockade. Abandoning their families, “three hundred people of Ulans and Princes and Azeys and Murzas and good Cossacks” suddenly left Kazan. At the mouth of the Vyatka they ran into a Russian ambush and were partially killed and partially captured. As a result, the Crimean Tatars, who formed the support for the young Khan and for Syuyumbike, ended their days on the chopping block in Moscow.

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

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

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

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

Monument to the Red Army soldiers executed in 1918

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

On March 7, the Tatar princes Chapkun Otuchev, Burnash and the Streltsy head Ivan Cheremisinov swore the oath of Kazan residents. On March 8, they returned to Sviyazhsk together with the embassy. The mullahs and local princes who arrived at the Russian fortress took an oath from the governor that all the privileges of Russian boyars and nobles extended to them. Shah Ali, who left his capital forever, summoned his wife to Sviyazhsk. Everything went completely calmly. The luggage of the governor and 70 Cossacks arrived in Kazan. The queen was getting ready to travel. The villagers, having taken the oath, went home.

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

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

2010: view of the stairs along which tourists climb to Sviyazhsk

Gate and fence made of material typical of local fences

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

Meanwhile, in the garrison of Sviyazhsk, discipline completely fell. The fortress was filled with sutlers, businessmen of all kinds, soldiers, merchants and captive men and women released from Kazan, who did not have specific occupations, received rations and loitered idle, waiting to be sent to their homeland. There were many different goods, but there was no bread, and the army was starving. A scurvy epidemic broke out in Sviyazhsk. Metropolitan Macarius addressed the Sviyazhsk garrison with a message composed in strong and touching terms. This appeal made a great impression. The troops mobilized, gambling was prohibited, drunkenness and debauchery subsided, and with the onset of summer and the arrival of supplies, scurvy stopped.

Third Kazan campaign of Ivan IV

It must be said that the experience of previous Kazan campaigns had a huge influence on the development of Ivan IV as a military commander. In 1552, he did everything to synchronize the movement of marching columns. After all, how was it before? Heavy guns were sent along the river. The army on foot and on horseback set out overland and usually arrived at the walls of Kazan before the artillery. As soon as the besiegers began to have problems with food or illness, the Tatars left the city and defeated the uninvited guests. Then it was the turn of the river caravan. To these problems were added the eternal meteorological troubles of months-long marches - either mud roads, or an unexpected thaw, and extended routes for the supply of food and military equipment. In general, a very sad story. What did 22-year-old Ivan Vasilyevich do to radically improve matters?
1) Unity of command. No one could make a decision except the king. Moreover, he had to defend this right before his boyars and princes.
2) Strategic disinformation by the Crimean Khan that Russian forces are already somewhere near Kazan.
3) Conducting reconnaissance on the march.
4) Constantly maintained (with the help of messengers) communication between the marching columns and the river caravan.
5) Engineering support for a moving army.

New standard red brick cottages on Uspenskaya Street

It is possible to purchase a plot of land and build a “antique” house, but it is expensive and troublesome

Another example of a remake in private ownership

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

Russian troops are marching towards Sviyazhsk in two marching columns. The northern column - from Vladimir through Murom to Alatyr - is led by the tsar himself. The southern column follows from Ryazan through Meshchera. Considering that they move at different speeds (due to the different ratio of foot/mounted warriors), the daily marches of the northern ones are 20 versts, and those of the southern ones are 25 versts each. Ahead, 3 days away, the ertaul (forward guard) is moving. At a distance of a day's march from Ertaul there is a marching army (sappers) cutting clearings, laying roads, building bridges. The forward guard, two columns and a convoy with supplies following the waterway, constantly communicate with the help of messengers. The movement is proceeding strictly according to schedule, maintaining communications and engineering support for the march. Yes, they moved for a long time - they walked for a month, but without losses in people and equipment. Meanwhile, supplies of food, gunpowder, cores, repair equipment, and other materials are accumulating in Sviyazhsk.

Siege

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

This is how V.A. describes the fortress. Volkov in the book “Wars and Troops of the Moscow State”: “ The Kazan Kremlin was surrounded by a double oak wall filled with rubble and clayey silt, with 14 stone arrow towers, located one from the other at a distance not exceeding double the flight of an arrow (approx. 500 m). The approaches to the city were covered by the beds of the Kazanka rivers - from the north and Bulak - from the west. On other sides, especially from the side of the Arsky field, the most convenient for organizing siege work, Kazan was surrounded by a large ditch, reaching 3 fathoms (6.5 m) in width and 7 fathoms (15 m) in depth. The most vulnerable point of the fortress was the 11 gates, although they were covered with towers and additional fortifications made of taras. On the city walls, to protect soldiers from enemy fire, parapets 140 cm high were built, over which a wooden roof was erected. In addition to the external fortifications of Kazan, an internal citadel was built in the city itself, which was located in the northwestern part of the city, on a natural hill. There stood “royal chambers and mosques, very high, walled up.” The palace was separated from the rest of the city by deep ravines and an internal stone wall"They prepared a lot of supplies in the fortress, and 15 versts north-east of Kazan, on Vysokaya Gora, they set up a fortified position. This abatis was being prepared as a base for the detachments of Prince Yapancha, Murza Shunak and Arsky Prince Eyyub. Thus, the Kazan people were preparing to use the proven time tactics: active defense, constant forays and raiding operations in the rear of the besiegers.

2014: Uspenskaya st., 24

House restoration

The same house, 2015

2016, work completed

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

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

On August 30, Princes Gorbaty and Serebryany defeated the detachments of Prince Yapanchi, thereby securing the rear of the besiegers. Ivan IV ordered one of the prisoners to be sent to Kazan with an offer to surrender, warning that in case of refusal he would execute all the prisoners from Yapanchi’s detachment. The besieged did not give an answer and 340 prisoners were killed in front of the city.

By September 1, Kazan found itself surrounded by fortifications. They set up tours and supplied them with guns. Where it was impossible to place a tour, they placed a tyn. It is now impossible to establish who exactly drew up the plan for the siege. It is only known that Ivan Vyrodkov and a certain Rozmysl supervised the construction of these fortifications. Most likely it was a German named Erasmus. Some sources mention Italian and English engineers. It would seem that an effective plan should be the simplest: using battering guns to make gaps through which troops would pour into the city. Only those besieging the walls on their side will have time to erect a horseshoe-shaped barricade of wood and earth near the breach. If the attackers burst into the gap, they will end up in the bag. And when they flee from there in panic, they will be hit with grapeshot from the flanking towers.
The Russians act completely unexpectedly. Instead of breaching, they wage an intense counter-battery fight for two days. The gunners of Ivan IV consistently knock out enemy artillery, and their positions are located so as to fire not head-on, but at an angle.

On the night of September 3-4, in front of the Arsky Gate of the Kazan Kremlin, the besiegers, under the leadership of Ivan Vyrodkov, assembled a six-fathom siege tower from ready-made parts. A huge structure, approximately the height of a modern 4-story house, was built according to all the canons, with plantar, middle and top combat. This monster was armed with 10 cannons and about 50 tacks. The tower towered above the walls and suppressed the operational resistance of the defenders with its fire. Under her cover, the battering guns of the “Tsar’s outfit” got to work. Now, to build a barricade around the breach, the Kazan people will either have to keep a small detachment under the stone fortress wall, or bring it in from afar. In any case, there will be losses from fire from the siege tower. It would seem that the assault can begin, but Ivan IV does not give in to the advice of his retinue and again acts according to plan. His troops continue to systematically move siege tours to the walls of the fortress and repel attacks from Kazan.

The day of September 4, 1552 turned out to be rich in surprises. In addition to erecting a huge siege tower, the besiegers blew up a mine gallery connected to an aquifer. It is clear that it was difficult to stop the water supply to the fortress - there were still sources of water inside. It was much more important to try out a new tactical technique for the Russians. The sapa was accurately failed, and the detonation of 11 barrels of gunpowder had the desired effect.

On September 6, the Russians, with heavy losses, captured the Kazan fortification on the Arsk field, built on a mountain between the swamps. Troops begin to comb the banks of the Volga to the confluence of the Kama, burning villages, freeing prisoners and completely knocking out of the local population the idea that someone needs to be released there. At the same time, at the expense of captured livestock, the food issue is resolved.

The battle under the Arsk Gate is being carried out in great secrecy. On September 30, a mine is detonated underneath them. The besieged are confident that troops will rush in through the gap that has formed. There is no time to build a barricade, and the hail of lead from the siege tower is in the way. Therefore, the Kazan people immediately rushed into a sortie. The besiegers did not even think of climbing into the breach. They met the defenders' foray with heavy fire, and then, “on the shoulders” of the retreating Kazan citizens, burst into the Arsk Gate. The counterattack was commanded by Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky. The governor asked the tsar to build on his success and launch a general assault, but Ivan IV again did not give the order for the attack. A systematic siege continues, artillery carries out harassing shelling, troops repulse incursions and interfere with attempts to repair the walls. No improvisation!

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

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

After the capture of Kazan

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

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

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

1571 - Crimean Khan Devlet Giray (aka Davlet-Girey), with military support from the Ottoman Empire and political support from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, launched a campaign to avenge Astrakhan and Kazan. His raid ended with the burning of Moscow and the destruction of many southern Russian regions. Ivan the Terrible lost this war and was ready to give Astrakhan to the Crimeans, but not Kazan. The issue was "finally settled" in 1572. A battle took place that surpassed the Kulikovo one: the destruction of the 120,000-strong Crimean-Turkish army in the Battle of Molodi. Victory will be won by 60,000 Russian troops under the leadership of governors Vorotynsky and Khvorostinin. Only 5-10 thousand returned to Crimea, attempts at Turkish-Tatar expansion in Eastern Europe were no longer attempted.

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

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

Shah Ali returned to Kasimov to manage his inheritance. For the fact that he left the Kazan throne, the king generously rewarded him: “he sat down many in Meshchera” and married Queen Syuyun-Bike. Shah Ali took part in the Livonian War (1558) and the Polotsk Campaign (1562).

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

The last Kazan khan Yadygar-Mukhammed (aka Ediger) was baptized on February 26, 1553 with the name Simeon. He received the city of Zvenigorod as his inheritance and took part in the Livonian War. He died in 1565 and was buried in the Chudov Monastery.

Sviyazhsk will become big shopping center, its role as the first Christian city of the Kazan region will be taken into account in the title of archbishops and metropolitans of the Kazan diocese, called Kazan and Sviyazhsk.

Sviyazhsk Dormition Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos

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

July 2011

November 2011

May 2014

May 2015

May 2016

April 2016

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

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

February 2017

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

The entrance to the monastery is through the Holy Gate. In the summer of 2010, the monastery held construction works and this entrance was closed. It was possible to get through a hole in the wall (apparently in the place of a utility gate), through which heavy equipment and trucks entered the territory. In the summer of 2011, passage through the main gate became available again. Visits to the monastery territory stop at 18:00 (at the gate there is a corresponding sign describing the access regime and rules of conduct).

The restored main gate of the Assumption Monastery

Remains of painting in
the main gate opening

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

Utility gate - exit to the cliff above the Shchuka River

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

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

Southwestern wall of the Assumption Monastery

Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

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

A dismantled roof, scaffolding around two built-on tiers, and the door to the cell of St. Herman are visible

Status as of April 2016

Restoration work, 2011

Frescoes of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

2016 Work continues
Scaffolding moved higher

2017 Bell tower and Assumption Cathedral in scaffolding

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

Bell tower of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Church painting of the 16th century frightened the holy fathers, accustomed to a Europeanized manner, with their “uncanonical subjects and lack of theological thought.” In 1859, the abbot of the Sviyazhsk Assumption Monastery even turned to the Synod for permission to rewrite the Sviyazhsk cathedral frescoes. The response of the Holy Synod noted the special significance of these ancient frescoes, their full compliance with the canons, and Bishop Evlampius was forbidden to distort them. A typical example of frightening non-canonicality is the image of St. Christopher on the northwestern pillar of the cathedral. There are several versions explaining the strange appearance and the equally unusual nickname of the righteous man - Christopher the Cynocephalus (dog head). The options are as follows:
1. The future martyr (presumably a real person with the pagan name Reprebus) had extraordinary beauty, which is why he was constantly exposed to temptation. After all, he asked God to make him ugly, which is why St. Christopher is always depicted with the head of an animal.
2. Borrowing the image of the psoglavets from the Coptic Christian tradition (by analogy with the images of Saints Aughani and Ahrax on the icon in the Cairo Museum of Coptic Art). Those. this may be an echo of the veneration of the jackal-headed Anubis.
3. A literal translation of a nickname given to a person for his terrible appearance (face overgrown with hair, congenital deformity, or injury).
4. Origin from habitat. Hills of Cynocephala (dog heads) in Thessaly (in the northeast of Hellas on the coast Aegean Sea) are known as the site of one of the battles between the Macedonians and the Romans, which took place in 197 BC.
5. Distorted "cananeus". Indian Christians used the words “Chananite” and “southerner” to call fellow believers who migrated from Persia to southwestern India in the 4th century. Later, "Canaanite" could be interpreted as "dog-like."

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Assumption Monastery, 2016

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

In Western tradition, Saint Christopher is depicted as a giant carrying a blessing child across a river. In fact, this is an illustration of an episode from the Golden Legend, a work by James of Voragin (circa 1260). The enormously tall Roman was looking for a ruler for faithful service, but the holy hermit directed him to serve at a dangerous ford across the river. The giant began to help people cross dangerous waters, carrying travelers on his back. One day he was carrying a little boy across the river. In the middle of the river, the child became so heavy that the strong man was afraid that they would both drown. The boy told him that he is Christ and carries with him all the burdens of the world. Then Jesus baptized Reprev in the river, and he received his new name - Christopher, “carrying Christ.” The saint's further journey was short - see numerous biographies.

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

Image of Saint Christopher in the Assumption Cathedral

So, in the Eastern tradition, the martyr was depicted with an animal head, or as a young man, with long hair, with a four-pointed cross in his right hand. There are images borrowed from Catholics: a giant with a baby on his shoulders crosses the river. Meanwhile, by a decree of May 21, 1722, the Synod prohibited the use of carved and hollowed icons - the skill of the carvers was extremely ambiguous, in addition, such images are inconvenient to clean from dust, traces of the activity of birds and mice. The same order prohibited “fabrications from inexperienced or malicious icon painters who invented icons that are contrary to nature, history and the truth itself, which are: the image of the martyr Christopher with a dog’s head, the image of the Virgin Mary with three hands.” Frescoes with God the Father lying on pillows after the six-day universal creation and other non-canonical images were also banned. An interesting quote from the same resolution: “Saints Peter, Alexei and Jonah of Moscow, the wonderworkers, are depicted in white hoods, which they never wore in Russia. And not only do they make mistakes in everything, but they also do not keep the proportions, and they paint images with great proportions beyond human proportions.” chapters and the like, not according to dignity and decency."

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

Another reason for the debate “about canonicity” that was surprising to us was the plot “Fatherland” in the cathedral dome. This is a type of the New Testament Trinity. In the 19th century, the image of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove in the hands of the Son seemed “non-canonical”.
Also among the most famous frescoes is “Procession of the Righteous to Paradise.” Associated with it is the assumption that “the images of Ivan the Terrible and Macarius the Metropolitan are painted there; they are the ones who bring up the rear of the procession of the righteous.” If this assumption is correct, then this is “the only image of the young Ivan the Terrible that has survived to this day in monumental painting.” Unfortunately, this fresco cannot be seen, since it is located in the altar part.
There are also a number of interesting frescoes: “The Creation of Man”, “The Rest of God after the Creation of the World”, “The Incarnation of God the Word”, but it was not possible to photograph them - now this is hampered by wooden scaffolding erected for restorers. In general, the frescoes of the Dormition-Bogoroditsky Monastery are on a par with the frescoes of Dionysius in Ferapontovo. The five-tiered gilded iconostasis of the cathedral (18th century) has also been preserved, the icons of which are kept in the State Museum fine arts RT.

Fraternal Corps, status as of 2011

Brethren Corps (late 17th century)

Fraternal Corps, status as of 2016

Archimandrite Corps (XVII century)

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

John the Baptist Convent

John the Baptist Convent was founded at the end of the 16th century and was originally located in the northwestern part cathedral square Sviyazhsk However, after severe fires in 1753 and 1759. John the Baptist Convent was transferred to the premises of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, which was abolished in 1764. It is the legacy of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery that explains the extraordinary fact that the new St. John the Baptist Monastery did not have a temple corresponding to its name. This is a rare case. The main cathedral of any monastery is almost always the same name as the monastery itself. It is necessarily named in honor of the same saint or the same holiday to which the monastery is dedicated.

Wall of St. John the Baptist Monastery. 2010

Decorative corner turret 2010

One of the five openings of the monastery gates

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

Monastery wall. year 2012

Decorative corner turret 2014

Gate at the cell building

Main gate of the monastery

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

Utility gate (western, closest to Tainitsky descent)

The utility gate near St. Sergius Church. Stacks of bricks - the disassembled body of the abbess

Utility gate near the cell building built in 1879

Trinity Cathedral

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

Several logs
had to be replaced

Antique benches along the walls

The iconostasis is still under restoration

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

The entrance door, made according to the standards of the 16th century, is wide and low

Metal lock plate

Metal-lined side door

Fastening the window grill bars

Window grill cover

Porch of the main entrance

Decor of the metal lining of the main entrance lock

Markers on logs - for assembling a temple in a new place

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

Previously, ancient vestments on some icons sparkled dimly here. Now the icons of the festive order from the iconostasis of the Trinity Church are kept in the ancient Russian department of the Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan. The only thing that stands out from this kingdom of logs, planks and plank carvings is the central chandelier, darkened with age - a hanging copper chandelier (the word comes from the distorted Greek polykandilon, i.e. many candles).

Royal Doors

Chained door

Benches along the walls

New dome (2012)

The main decoration of the church was the iconostasis - also wooden and originally 4-tiered. The presence of a 4-tier iconostasis in such a small church is surprising and suggests the possibility of its possible transfer here from another church. The patterns of the iconostasis have been preserved only partially, part of the applied carving has been broken off, but it is clear that it was made in the “Ukrainian Baroque” style.

Trinity Church. 2010

The Royal Doors are perhaps the most luxurious part of the iconostasis, and indeed the entire interior of the temple. “The semicircle of the arch with a carved gilded imitation of the veil and its elegant fringe; a lush garland crowned with a crown, falling along the plaque of the Royal Doors - contrast with the extremely modest appearance of the church.”

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

Cell building built in 1820

Cell building, 2010

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

2010: it was

2014: it became

2014: View from the back of the case

2015: work on the territory is not yet completed

Currently, the cell building, built in 1820, has been thoroughly restored. In the photographs you can see its previous and current condition. But the building of the abbess, which A. Roshchektaev found in a dilapidated state, has now been dismantled to the foundation. At one time, a wooden monastery bench was built on its foundation, but now that too has been dismantled. However, the bricks of the abbess’s building were carefully cleaned and placed in stacks closer to the utility gates closest to the Trinity Church. I don’t know whether it will be restored.

Cell building built in 1879 (covered with brick in 1892)

A structure of unknown purpose, something like the remains of an old water pump

A wall separates the eastern and western parts of the monastery

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

The aerial shots of this city are stunningly beautiful. And those people who have already visited here often talk about the amazing atmosphere of these places, beautiful and measured. The aura is truly, incredibly mesmerizing. After all, the famous island city Sviyazhsk still retains the natural charm of ancient Russian fairy tales. Some truly mystical power emanates from the water and earth here. Even five centuries ago, great warriors and historical figures already lived here.

From the time of Ivan the Terrible to the present day, this city has been able to accumulate invaluable historical and cultural experience. Sviyazhsk is also unique in that it was entirely built in another place. After construction was completed, the workers dismantled the city, marked each log and transported it down the Volga using rafts to the place chosen by Tsar John IV. On a hill protected from nomads by swamps. This is an incredible city that was built without a single nail or saw.

When Pushkin visited these places, he was completely fascinated. He said that if there is Buyan Island and Lukomorye somewhere, it is here. Many historians say that if Sviyazhsk did not exist, it should have been invented. For the reason that better place for the city in ancient times it was impossible to find. The location when laying the fortress was also strategic. Excellent fertile land, beautiful hills, and comfortable spot for attacks on the Kazan Khanate, Ivan the Terrible did not need anything else. It’s as if the Creator himself came down from the sky and created this place for people to live safely. Until Stalin came to power, everything remained this way. Only times of camps and repression were able to shake these ancient walls and instill a sense of fear in the local residents.

The conveniently located city became an island in the full sense of the word in 1956. Soviet engineers created and launched the Kuibyshev Reservoir. The arriving water instantly cut off settlement almost seven dozen hectares of land. Residential buildings and buildings were separated from the “mainland,” and some families who had lived for many years had to move closer to civilization. The central part of the city survived due to its natural elevation above the area. After all, once upon a time the city itself was built right on the top of the mountain. Perhaps that is why it was not completely flooded during the launch of the reservoir. Although, if the water rises higher, and...

Sviyazhsk - wonderful cubby. Here many buildings have been preserved in the same form in which they were created. The bizarre interweaving of eras is fascinating. Once upon a time, people lived here right in the monastery buildings and architectural monuments priceless to history. Relatively recently, it was decided to move them to newer houses. Where happy home owners have running water and heating. Some may think that it is too quiet and incredibly few people. But the locals love it, you can believe it.

What to see in Sviyazhsk?

Nature. In Sviyazhsk it is wonderful to observe the smooth flow of natural life. Those who love peace and tranquility will really like it here. Wonderful views, powerful energy of these places - all this has always contributed to the development of creativity. The aura of the island was not spoiled by the time of Stalin's camps. For the reason that it was creative people, intellectuals, and dissidents who “did their sentences” in these camps. That is, dissidents. The island city of Sviyazhsk is still very much loved today by artists, poets, and musicians. Many of them remain to live here.

An ancient glacier guardian mountain. Start by taking a closer look at your surroundings. high point islands. This breathtaking spectacle will inspire you to further achievements. While you look around, you may think that you are standing on the top of a mountain. And there once was a real glacier on it. Before you pawn ancient city, ancient architects trimmed the top of this mountain to a flat surface. Have you looked? You can proceed to a detailed study of local attractions.

Churches and monasteries. In Sviyazhsk, be sure to look at the Trinity Church, which is more than four hundred years old. It was literally built without a single nail; the logs were laid in a special way. The tree from which this shrine is built remembers Tsar John IV, who is known to us all as Ivan the Terrible. This is the oldest church within the Volga. In general, there are many sacred religious buildings in the city. Such as the Mother of God-Uspensky monastery, Sviyazhsk St. John the Baptist Monastery, Sviyazhsk Trinity-Sergius Monastery. On the other bank is the Monastery of the Makaryevskaya Hermitage of the Sviyazhsky Nature Reserve. A believer should definitely look at the bell tower of the St. Nicholas Church, the Assumption Cathedral, the Cathedral of Our Lady of All Who Sorrow Joy, the St. Sergius Church, as well as the Church of Constantine and Helena.

Legacy of the era of totalitarianism. A special part of the historical attractions is associated with the era of totalitarianism. You will also see a monument to victims of repression, as well as exhibitions in local museums. You will have something to think about during your walks. Within the city there are still mass graves of people executed for their beliefs. In 1918, a tragedy occurred in the city. By order of Trotsky, every tenth of the Red Army soldiers stationed on the island was executed. This was the government’s revenge for the failure of the assault on White Guard Kazan. Later, one of the Gulag camps was located here. And during the repressions, many thousands of people died there. The prisons here were overcrowded, and prisoners suffered from terrible conditions, disease and torture.

Educational excursions. Sviyazhsk is, first of all, a storehouse historical events, legends and memories. So you better go here good excursion with a guide. You will be much more interested in seeing the sights if you know and understand the events associated with them. The season for such excursions in these places starts in April and ends in October. You will get a lot of impressions if you have a professional guide next to you who can fully tell you about each attraction. Please don't deprive yourself of this pleasure.

Sviyazhsk Island and mystics

In modern Russia and beyond its borders, it is believed that the place where the city was once founded is very difficult. This point of view is shared by a large number of ufologists, parapsychologists and mystics of various directions. Continuously flowing water, the antiquity of local buildings and stones, marvelous and wild nature. All this attracts here, like a magnet, the strangest people. People come here not only to pray. But also to be fed by energy flows that seem to go vertically upward straight from the ground, curling in invisible vortices. As they say, if you spend some time inside such a column of energy, you can become a different person.

Buddhists and meditation lovers, fans of Roerich and Madame Blavatsky - you can meet very interesting and unusual tourists on the streets of Sviyazhsk. Besides, who knows, maybe all these parapsychologists are right. After all, once upon a time on the top of the mountain the mysterious Suvars performed their rituals. They worshiped both trees and heavenly spirits. But it is possible that even then, in the 8th century, they knew something that we still do not know. Maybe that's why the city didn't sink completely during Soviet times? Only one thing is certain. If you visit the island city of Sviyazhsk, you will certainly feel the powerful energy of this place.

How to get there?

As we have already mentioned, Sviyazhsk today is an island. In order to somehow solve the problem of water around, the authorities in 2008 implemented a plan to build an embankment highway. According to the engineers, it was supposed to connect the city with the mainland. It worked for a while. After the canal was laid across the dam in 2011, the bridge was also rebuilt. So anyone who wants to get to Sviyazhsk can get there by water or land.

In the morning from the Kazan River Station you can set off on your journey to motor ship. The swim takes about two hours. During this time, you will be able to enjoy the wonderful view overboard. In addition, you can get here by car. You should leave Kazan and cross the bridge over the Volga. Go straight along the M7 highway, through the Malinovka traffic police post. In the village of Isakovo you can see a sign that will show you the right turn to Sviyazhsk. You should drive another five kilometers in this direction. Those who have already made this journey claim that the entire journey does not take more than half an hour.

You can get to Sviyazhsk and by train. But the Sviyazhsk railway station is located a few kilometers from the island itself. It is located in the urban-type settlement of Nizhnie Vyazovye. From there you can easily hitch a ride all the way to Sviyazhsk along the road, across the dam.

Been going there recently and bus“Kazan-Sviyazhsk-Kazan”. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays it departs from the Kazan-2 railway station at 9 am. You can also take the bus at three o'clock in the afternoon at the entrance area of the GIAKhM "Island-grad Sviyazhsk". But we would recommend that you take a boat. You will have a wonderful opportunity to admire endlessly from the water beautiful views nature. You can sail and set off on the return journey in four hours, catching the return boat.

A trip to Sviyazhsk is a wonderful way to spend an interesting day. Anyone who is completely imbued with the history of these places will not be able to leave here indifferent and calm. The island contains a whole layer of the history of our state. While remaining himself, he gives shelter to those who were born or simply settled on this earth. Who knows, maybe you, like a lonely artist, will decide to move here to live?

In the Republic of Tatarstan there is a wonderful monument of Russian antiquity - the island town of Sviyazhsk, the sights of which delight with their beauty and uniqueness, modesty, and, at the same time, greatness.

We can safely say that this is a fateful place for Russia. After all, if it were not for Sviyazhsk, it is unknown when Kazan would have been taken and how the history of the Russian state would have developed then.

The island city is located at the mouth of the Sviyaga River on a hill that bears the telling name “ High mountain" Sviyazhsk is only 30 kilometers away from Kazan, the main city of the Tatar people.

The city of Sviyazhsk was founded in 1551, when Ivan the Terrible ruled Rus'. It was this high peninsula that Ivan Vasilyevich noticed at the confluence of 3 rivers: the Volga, Sviyaga and Shchuka and decided that it was here that it was worth building a fortress for an attack on Kazan.

Surprisingly, the Sviyazhsk fortress was built and completely ready in just a month. The high fortification became one of the outposts of the Russian troops during the capture of Kazan.

Such speed of construction of the settlement became possible due to one circumstance. The fact is that all the “parts” of the future construction were made in the city, not far from. There, in the winter of 1550-1551, “the city was assembled”, everything was carefully numbered. And then they dismantled it again and in the spring they floated it down the great Volga to the indicated place.

Such a military stratagem was used because the enemy, against whom, in fact, everything was started, was only 30 kilometers away. And, of course, any long-term construction could not go unnoticed.

This is how, in an atmosphere of deep secrecy, as far as was, of course, possible at that time and in those conditions, the Sviyazhsk fortress was built in the shortest possible time.

It was the whole city, which included not only defensive structures. It had fortress towers, fortified walls built in 2 rows, between which the space was supposed to be filled with sand and stones, residential buildings, and temples.

During construction it was given the name Ivan-gorod. In its area it exceeded many of the most big cities Russia at that time. It was larger than the Pskov, Novgorod and even Moscow Kremlin. Already on the spot it was renamed Sviyazhsk after the name of the Sviyaga River.

The town immediately became known throughout Rus' and was very popular. Many people came there, wanting to become subjects of the Muscovite kingdom. In those years, the area of the Sviyazhsk fortress was simply huge. In size, it was much larger than similar fortifications located, for example, in Veliky Novgorod or even in Moscow. A large Russian army, well trained and armed with cannons, was stationed here.

But the enormous significance of the fortress for the young Russian state did not end there. After all, after the capture of the Kazan kingdom (in 1552), according to Orthodox custom, people had to be baptized. And in Sviyazhsk there were already ready-made monasteries of the Orthodox faith. Thus, the border town also became the place of baptism for many who were introduced to the Orthodox faith. And in this case, Ivan the Terrible confirmed his genius!

How the island was formed

By the way, Sviyazhsk became an island quite recently. In 1957, the country's electricity shortage worsened. They urgently began to build hydroelectric power stations on large and small rivers. During the construction of the Kuibyshev reservoir, huge areas were flooded.

Similar events were carried out in other places. So, for example, under the waters of the newly formed Rybinsk Reservoir, more than 700 villages were completely flooded.

The large village of Sviyazhsk near Kazan was not spared the misfortune. Only a few streets remain from it. Only their favorable location saved them from drowning under water: they were on a hill. Nature itself took care of preserving these architectural antiquities in human memory.

After the flooding of the low-lying part of the settlement, many of its residents did not want to return here. This is the history of this amazing place: Sviyazhsk island in Kazan.

This is how an island was formed instead of a peninsula, surrounded on all sides by water. He had this status for more than half a century. And only in 2009 a dam appeared, connecting Sviyazhsk with the “mainland”. A highway was built along it. So now you can get to the town not only by sea.

Now the population of Sviyazhsk is small, 250 people live here. Almost everyone local resident I have my own boat, and fishing has become a common pastime. Pike and bream bite well here, and you can sunbathe and swim.

Most of the residents work in the tourism sector: they are guides, museum workers, as well as service staff of cafes and hotels.

City of Monasteries

The first architectural structures appeared in the 16th century. This was a unique case when the construction of the fortress wall proceeded in parallel with the construction religious temples, which became the main attractions of the village in the future.

Assumption Monastery

The first monastery erected here consisted of two churches: Trinity and Sergievskaya. It was they who made up the complex of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The rector of the monastery was Archimandrite St. German of Kazan and Sviyazhsk Archbishop, famous for creating one of the first printing houses in Rus' for publishing church literature.

His relics are now in the Cathedral of Our Lady of All Sorrows Joy, which is also located on the island of Sviyazhsk, in the St. John the Baptist Monastery. This will be discussed further in the article.

An interesting fact is that the monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built directly from stone, despite the fact that in those ancient times it was a rather expensive material. And, usually, all buildings were wooden. This once again emphasizes that Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible attached great importance to this place as a center for the further spread of Christianity in the Volga region.

In the 18th century, a monastic school began to operate on the territory of the monastery. Later, with the advent of Soviet times, the monastery began to experience difficult times. The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos Monastery was closed. The building housed a hospital for the mentally ill.

In 1918, mass executions took place here. After the defeat in the battle for Kazan, when it was not possible to liberate the city from the White Czechs, on the orders of Trotsky, every tenth Red Army soldier from nearby military formations was shot.

In 1928, a children's commune was located in the Assumption Cathedral and the monastery of the island-city of Sviyazhsk, which eventually became a correctional institution (colony). It contained 200 prisoners who had not yet reached adulthood. During the war, the NKVD prison for prisoners of war and political prisoners was located there.

About 5,000 people were shot within these walls. In memory of those killed, a monument to the “Victims of Political Repression” was erected here. In this sculptural composition a political prisoner (an intellectual with glasses) is depicted, and he releases a dove through the bars.

The monument is located behind the monastery wall, to the left of the stairs leading to the island.

Later, the correctional facility again became a labor colony, and then a psychiatric hospital. This ends " black line"in the life of the monastery.

Since 1997, the monastery resumed its work again. It is currently active. More recently, the Assumption Cathedral of Sviyazhsk became one of the objects included in the list World Heritage UNESCO.

Naturally, a lot has changed over 5 centuries, and now the Sviyazhsk Mother of God Assumption Monastery is open here. Its architectural complex includes the St. Nicholas Church with a refectory and a high bell tower, which shoots upward like a snow-white arrow.

Its height is 43 meters, and according to the guide, the ringing of the bells can be clearly heard at the opposite end of the island. And this distance is more than 1 km.

Nearby is the Church of Herman of Kazan and Mitrofan of Voronezh,

to which a residential fraternal building is attached. Inside, residents of the monastery can climb up a beautiful porch. There are even two of them here.

The entrance to the abbot's building is decorated in the same style. He somewhat resembles .

Between these buildings is the entrance to the monastery, and the Ascension Gate Church rises above it.

And in the center of the monastery territory there is a huge white-stone Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which has existed since the reign of Ivan the Terrible.

Over the years of its existence, the Assumption Cathedral was rebuilt many times, and many different styles were mixed here. The eight-pointed crosses, similar to steering wheels, are very unusual.

Inside the cathedral, unique frescoes from the 16th century are almost perfectly preserved. More than 1000 sq.m. of paintings! Many of them are unique. It is very unusual for an Orthodox church that inside there is even a lifetime portrait of Ivan Vasilyevich.

There is also one of the few frescoes here, which depicts St. Christopher with the head of a horse.

Such an image that does not correspond to reality was created due to the fact that, according to one version, Saint Christopher was very handsome. Women did not give him a pass, constantly seducing him and leading him into temptation.

This became quite a problematic circumstance for the saint. Then he turned to God in prayer. And the Lord gave him an appearance that made Christopher ugly “like a dog.” Yes, according to various sources, Christopher had either a dog’s head or a horse’s. And only since the 18th century have all images of St. Christopher been painted entirely in the image of a man.

John the Baptist Monastery

It is known that the monastery, founded in the 16th century, was originally called Trinity-Sergius, and it was founded by the monks of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. It was in honor of the Trinity and St. Sergius that the two main churches on its territory were built and consecrated.

At the end of the 18th century, the monastery was closed, and its inhabitants returned to Sergiev Posad. And then the St. John the Baptist Monastery “moves” to this place. Until that moment it was also located in Sviyazhsk, but was badly damaged during the fire. Well, when the territory was freed, the nuns moved here.

This monastery was for women and existed until the 1917 revolution. And at the end of the 20th century it was again converted into a men's one.

Here is the oldest building in all of Sviyazhsk: the Trinity Church. It is entirely wooden and was built back in 1551.

Along with the logs for the construction of the fortress, the “component parts” of this church were also delivered on ships. It was assembled in just one day and, as the chronicles say, “without a single nail.” They also say that on the eve of the capture of Kazan, Ivan the Terrible himself prayed there.

Proof that this is “the same” church that was assembled back in the 16th century under, and then transported here along with other objects of the Sviyazhsk fortress, is the presence of markings on the logs. These decimal places are still preserved today.

In order to go inside, you need to climb this wonderful wooden porch.

Very minor repairs to the temple were made only in the 19th century. Inside, the church has preserved its ancient interiors. The temple resembles a simple Russian hut. There are wide floorboards underfoot and benches on the sides.

Inside, a beautiful wooden iconostasis in 3 tiers has been preserved. True, it is not entirely original. What can be seen now dates back to the 18th century. And the most ancient icons of historical value were taken to the Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan. This is due to the fact that the conditions here for their preservation are not the best.

The temple is operational. True, services are held here only once a year: on the patronal feast day of the Holy Trinity.

And nearby there is another church: St. Sergius of Radonezh, built in 1604. Her frescoes, which depict Saint Sergius and Alexander Svirsky, evoke admiration.

The construction plan of this two-story building is unusual: on the first floor there were rooms for monks and rooms for household needs, and the St. Sergius Church itself, where the Services were held, was located above, on the second floor.

Another outstanding temple of Sviyazhsk is built of red brick magnificent Cathedral Our Lady of All Who Sorrow Joy.

It was built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, in 1898-1906, and is part of the complex of the also active St. John the Baptist Monastery.

The inside of the temple is huge and very bright.

There are very beautiful paintings under the dome.

To the left of the iconostasis is the temple icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” A small staircase leads to it.

And on the right, symmetrically, is the icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh. He is revered as the patron saint of Sviyazhsk. After all, the first monastery on this territory was consecrated precisely in honor of this saint.

The temple has 2 side borders. The northern one was consecrated in honor of St. Seraphim of Sarov, and the southern limit - in honor of Anna the Prophetess. It is here, on the right side of the cathedral, that there is a shrine with the relics of St. Herman. It was he who was the first abbot of the Assumption Monastery.

Temples of Sviyazhsk

When you approach the island by boat, you immediately pay attention to the Church of Saints Constantine and Helena, which stands right on the shore.

Currently, the Baptism of those who wish is carried out there.

And here are the ruins of the Church of the Annunciation. It was destroyed in the 20th century, and now restorers are conducting research on the foundation. Nearby there is a wooden cross, which indicates that there was previously a temple on this site.

The same cross can be seen next to the central square of the island.

The Nativity Cathedral once stood on this site, from which the square, as well as the main street leading from it, got its name. This is what it looked like at the beginning of the 19th century.

And this is also the destroyed St. Sophia Church. The photo was taken at the end of the 19th century.

The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. Nicholas Church is another spiritual landmark of Sviyazhsk. It was built in the form of a high bell tower. Graceful and beautiful, it towered more than 40 meters.

The location of all the temples, as well as other attractions on the island, can be found on the map at the end of this article.

City-museum and more

Island life

The town of Sviyazhsk itself is like a museum under open air, many of its buildings are of historical value. Here is an example of a typical merchant house. The lower floor was brick; there were utility rooms and shops here. And a family lived on the second wooden floor.

This is the house-estate of the merchant F.T. Kameneva. It was built at the end of the 19th century.

Reconstruction of the fire tower continues near the central square of the island.

To the left of it is the administration building. Surprisingly, there was a fire here recently. And even the presence of a fire tower very close by did not help. 🙄

On the opposite side of the island (from the dam and car parking) there is Observation deck. From this elevation, the low-lying part of the island, with all its buildings, is perfectly visible. Well, how can you not capture yourself against the backdrop of this beauty? 😀

You can see perfectly below modern building Sviyazhsk river station. Next to it (pictured on the left) an archeology museum is preparing to open.

And nearby you can find the boat (boat) of Pavel 1.

If you go left, you will get to the museum

Walking along the streets of the amazing town of Sviyazhsk, it is impossible to miss the entrance to the Museum of History. Directly in front of him is a colorful cannon with an unusual name for this item, “Girl’s Head.” It was recreated according to ancient drawings left to us from the time of Tsar Ivan the Terrible and is a historical symbol of Sviyazhsk.

On the cannon carriage there is a female face with a terrible grimace and a protruding tongue. In some ways it even resembles the terrifying Gorgon jellyfish. Similar cannons guarded the gates ancient fortress, and each had its own name: Dragon, Serpent and others. And nearby lie impressively sized nuclei.

The museum itself is small, compact and very interesting. Here you can learn a lot about the life and work of the saints revered here, about military battles on this land. Some halls have been converted and are a monastic cell, a student's room in a gymnasium, a soldier's hut and much more. It's really interesting here!

And if not every tourist comes to the museum or excursion group, then every third person wants to see what’s inside the cannon and try to lift the cannonball. 😀

There is also a Civil War Museum on the island. The exhibition there is small, but quite interesting. There is a model of the armored train on which Trotsky arrived at Sviyazhsk in 1918. And also a wax figure of Lev Davidovich himself.

If you go to the right, you’ll end up in a cafe and spend the night

If you have a question: “Where to eat in Sviyazhsk?”, then you have already come to the right place. You will be welcomed with pleasure at the local “Tavern”. According to reviews, the food here is very good: borscht, freshly caught fish, cooked in all kinds, and other dishes. There are other cafes on the island: Buyan, Yolki or Sviyaga, and you can also have a snack at the buffet of the local river port.

Well, if we're already talking... In the house of the merchant Kamenev, a small hotel with cozy rooms is now open, where you can always stop to rest and spend the night. There is also a hotel "Sviyaga" with 7 rooms for recreation.

You can also spend the night in the “Pilgrim’s House” at the Assumption Monastery. Accommodation here is cheaper, but, of course, without any frills.

Unfortunately, I did not find the opportunity to book accommodation in Sviyazhsk on well-known booking resources. But with their help, you can choose any option for yourself, and you can easily get to the island whenever you want. See below for how this can be done.

Walking with children

If you are vacationing with children, then be sure to visit the Skazka children's leisure center. When you see a magical golden gate on one of the few streets of Sviyazhsk, feel free to head there. They will lead you into a fairy tale. Here, exciting games are constantly held for children, such as “On Buyan Island” based on Pushkin’s fairy tales, where they say Buyan and mean Sviyazhsk, as well as other exciting quests

In some places in the city, on fences, you can find Stories of the Scientist Cat. Poems are written on the tablets and they ask you to guess the riddle. All signs are numbered and scattered in different places on the island.

Each one contains someone's first and last name, as well as their position. Apparently people live in these houses. It would be interesting to understand what this all means...

And here is a goldfish caught in a net. Why is all this happening in a well? Well, apparently, because in Kazan there is no Blue Sea nearby. 😆

In general, Alexander Sergeevich is not forgotten here. Yes, Pushkin, indeed, visited these places when he collected material for his famous “The Captain's Daughter.” But by that time, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan,” which mentions Buyan Island, had already been written and published by him.

But the description of the great poet is very similar:

An island lies on the sea,
There is a city on the island
With golden-domed churches,
With towers and gardens...

However, if someone likes to think that Sviyazhsk was the prototype of Buyan, I won’t argue. Any opinion has the right to exist. 😀

There are also other attractions in the village: the ethnographic complex “Horse Yard” and Entertainment Center with the original name “Lazy Torzhok”. This historical reconstruction complex is located near the central Christmas Square of the island.

Both children and adults will really enjoy visiting this historical and entertainment center. Here visitors will find shopping arcades and craft shops. And by taking part in the folk game “Streltsy Fun”, you will have the opportunity to shoot with a crossbow or bow, try on historical costumes and take pictures in them.

“Do you want to be king? Yes please! Change your clothes and sit on the throne. The bird is about to fly out. That's it, the coronation is over. Next king, come!!!" — This is roughly how photographers invite participants in this action. You will bring excellent photos home! You will also take part in folk games, watch a knight's tournament and just have a fun time.

The Horse Yard is located in a building built back in the 17th century. Here, if you wish, you can get several riding lessons, feed the horses, or you can briefly go back in time and ride around the island in a carriage.

In craft workshops, you will have the opportunity to forge a horseshoe as a souvenir and take it home, fashion your own unique clay pot or other utensils, or you can just watch how the masters of their craft do it.

We explore the surroundings

Monastery of St. Macarius

2 kilometers from the Sviyazhsk Museum-Reserve, on the shore of " big land“There is a very beautiful Makarievsky monastery. It is clearly visible from the island near the pier.

It was founded at the beginning of the 17th century. The monastery complex includes the small Ascension Church, with a 33-meter-high bell tower and a temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow.”

The location of the monastery is very unusual. The Makaryevskaya Hermitage of Kazan is located on the steep right bank of the Volga. But not at the top and not at the foot of the slope, but between, on the ledge. It is surrounded on all sides by forest. Makaryev Monastery is simply surrounded by greenery!

Not far from it there is a holy spring, revered by people for a long time. There is a wooden chapel-bath here. And then, several years ago, an 18-meter monument to Macarius of Zheltovodsk, the founder of the monastery, was erected. Very beautiful place, prayed for centuries!

Address of Makaryeva Hermitage: Republic of Tatarstan, Verkhneuslonsky district, Vvedenskaya Sloboda village. Coordinates: 55.78204, 48.70164.

You can also get here by water: a boat runs daily from the Kazan River Station to Sviyazhsk. To get to the Makaryevsky Monastery, you need to get off at the penultimate stop of the boat: “Rudnik”. More details about the schedule will be discussed at the end of the article.

Riding on the Sviyazhsk Hills

One more attraction must be mentioned here. The resort town of Sviyazhskie Hills is located very close by. The resort is all-season: both in summer and winter there are all conditions for guests to relax.

In winter 3500 meters await you ski slopes equipped with chair lifts. So both beginners and fans of steep turns will have something to do.

In summer you will not be bored by the delightful landscapes, inviting you to take a walk. And also a beach and a swimming pool. Lovers active rest They will be able to ride a bicycle, ride a catamaran, play billiards, or golf. In general, relax as you want.

There are several comfortable hotels at the resort, for example, the Cascade Hotel. You can stay in a cozy alpine house. Restaurants, cafes, entertainment - everything is at your service!

Coordinates: 55.72924, 48.72321

Skolkovo in Kazan

And during our excursion from Kazan to Sviyazhsk by bus, we got acquainted, although quite a bit (while passing), with the ultra-modern scientific city of Innopolis in Tatarstan, where IT specialists mainly live and study.

This is the youngest city in Russia. The idea of its creation appeared in 2010. And only in 2013 it acquired city status.

The name "Innopolis" means innovative city. It has its own university and school for gifted children. Education is not cheap, but there is always the opportunity to study with grants for free.

After receiving an education, you can stay here for further work. After all, many serious enterprises open their offices here. There is a representative office of Yandex, Sberbank... Local population calls this city Kazan Skolkovo by analogy with Moscow.

And since the city is still very young, but is developing by leaps and bounds, and IT specialists are, most often, men, our guide really encouraged everyone to come there, especially girls. It turns out that if Ivanovo is a city of brides, then Innopolis is a city of grooms. 😀

Tatar village

But not only ultra-modern and religious attractions are in this area. Not far from the island is the Tatar Avylym complex, which translated into Russian means “Tatar Village”.

This is an open-air ethnographic museum. Here the life and traditions of the Tatar people and rural residents of about 100 years ago are being revived.

Unfortunately, we drove past on the bus without stopping. But you can go to the Tatar village from Kazan on your own or with a separate excursion.

The place must be very interesting. Even the appearance is mesmerizing: village houses and wells are built among the fields, and a mill rises in the middle of the village. It was built back in the 40s of the 20th century during the Great Patriotic War. And in those years she saved many people from hunger.

However, the mill “works” even today. Residents of the Tatar village of Tatar Avyly grind flour on it and bake bread from it.

Poultry roam the meadow, goats and horses graze in a special paddock. There is also a petting zoo here. Guests can interact with, touch and pet a variety of pets.

It’s interesting that the organizers of this complex took great care to make this place “real”: there is no electricity or running water. The houses have stove heating.

The ethno-village is located at the address Republic of Tatarstan, Zelenodolsk district, With. Isakovo, st. Embankment, 17. Coordinates: 55.72407, 48.54104. You can get here from Kazan along the M7 Volga highway. After the bridge over the Sviyaga River and near the exit to Sviyazhsk, you will notice a mill; this is where the open-air ethnographic museum “Tatar Avyly” is located.

And I would like to finish my article with a fascinating painting by Konstantin Alekseevich Vasiliev “Sviyazhsk”.

Beautiful, is not it?

How to get there, how much it costs

But still, if you want to get to Sviyazhsk on your own, then this is also quite possible. To do this, you need to travel about 30 kilometers from Kazan by water or 60 kilometers by road.

The Kazan-Sviyazhsk motor ship regularly sails from the Tatar capital. Travel time is about three hours. Right there, in the port of Kazan, you can buy a ticket for water excursion to Sviyazhsk by boat.

The payment includes round-trip tickets + a guide's story along the way. Thus, you will be taken comfortably to the Sviyazhsk river station. A tour of Sviyazhsky Island is not included in the price; you will need to pay extra for this.

You can also get from Kazan to Sviyazhsk by bus. It departs from the central bus station of the capital of Tatarstan.

There are trains from Kazan railway station to Zelenodolsk, because there is no railway station in Sviyazhsk. And from the stop Green Dol You can get to Sviyazhsk by taxi or by regular bus.

Of course, you can get to Sviyazhsk by car. The distance between the cities of Kazan and Sviyazhsk along the highway is about 60 kilometers. The trip will take about an hour. You need to go towards Moscow to the village of Isakovo, then there will be signs.

They will lead you straight to the parking lot at the foot of the hill on which the city of Sviyazhsk stands. Its coordinates: 55.76865, 48.65112. And there you will figure out what to see in Sviyazhsk on your own.

There is also a motor ship connection with Kazan. True, ships come here infrequently: only once a day. At least, this was the situation in the summer of 2017.

The vessel departs from the Kazan river port at 8:20, and from Sviyazhsky at 16:30. Travel time is about 2 hours. You can return to Kazan at 18:45. Therefore, if you want to plan for yourself boat trip to Sviyazhsk for the whole day, then this is an excellent option.

The cost of travel on a boat is 122 rubles. one way (children's ticket - 61 rubles). Is there some more fast fleet, the cost of which is slightly more expensive: 148 rubles for adults and 74 rubles. for children.

Another good solution is to combine the land and river routes, that is, come in one direction, for example, by bus, and return to Kazan by water. Well, or vice versa. 🙂

By the way, next to the car parking there is a helipad. So this type of transportation to the island should not be forgotten either. 😆

It is important to keep in mind that in order to calmly walk around the island, it will take at least 2 hours. And if you want to go to museums or have a snack in a cafe, then plan even more time. Dimensions of Sviyazhsk Island: length - 1200 meters, width - 800 m.

See for yourself how much interesting places for inspection there is on the island.

In the evening you may not be able to get to the island. The ticket office is open from 9:00 to 18:00. On Friday and Saturday - a little longer: until 19:00.

I think that later you will no longer be able to pass through the turnstiles, and the entire infrastructure of the town will finish its work by this time.

To enter the island, you need to pay an entrance fee: 300 rubles per adult, and for pensioners, schoolchildren and students - 180, free for children under 7 years old.

After purchasing entrance tickets, you will need to go through the turnstile and climb the tall staircase (I’m probably not going to make everyone happy now, but it is what it is), which consists of 102 (!!!) steps.

It is also important to keep in mind that the weather on the island is very changeable. In the few hours I spent here, I experienced the sun, the icy wind, and the pouring rain. 😕

Look at the location of attractions and the island of Sviyazhsk on the map (click “+” to zoom in on objects or “-“ to zoom out).

The city of Kazan has many accommodation options to stay for a few days. It’s very easy to rent an apartment or room on the service, or book a hotel through the service.

My trip to the island town of Sviyazhsk took place on July 24, 2017. Other sights of Kazan and its environs, where I was able to visit, are on this map. And their detailed description you can see .