home » Cloth » Ancient Russian city Maly Kitezh. The invisible city of Kitezh

Ancient Russian city Maly Kitezh. The invisible city of Kitezh

Several legends about the sunken city - Kitezh-grad - are associated with Lake Svetloyar. They have a lot in common, but they are separated by a gulf of time. Let's consider the most famous legends, using modern knowledge and logical reasoning, we will imagine the events that led to their formation, as well as their further transformation up to the present day.

Lake Svetloyar is located 130 km from the regional center of Nizhny Novgorod near the village of Vladimirskoye, Voskresensky district. Age - 10,000 years. Origin unknown. Lake size: 500 by 300 meters. Depth more than 30 meters. Numerous land and underwater expeditions have not confirmed the existence of Kitezh City or any other coastal settlements. There are only legends...

We will begin our consideration of legends with those closest to us in time and gradually dive into the depths of eras and make a bold assumption.

The first legend is Christian

Founding of Kitezh City: Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich loved to travel. Once, in 1164 (6672 from S.M.), he sailed along the Volga, saw a good place, landed on the shore and founded the city of Maly Kitezh (presumably Gorodets) there and continued his journey across the dry land. He passed through forests, rivers and came to the shore of Lake Svetloyar. The prince was struck by the beauty and harmony of this place. And Yuri Vsevolodovich ordered the founding of the great Kitezh - the legendary Kitezh-grad - in this place. The foundation of the city supposedly took place in 1165.

The city was built in three years. Its size is 200 fathoms long and 100 wide (~300 by 160 meters). There were many churches there with golden heads and pious people.

Grand Duke George Vsevolodovich was born in 1187 and participated in numerous military campaigns against the surrounding principalities. To hold the captured Chuvash and Mordovian lands, he founded Nizhny Novgorod (Nov Grad) and a number of other fortresses in 1221. He believed that it was easier to defend against the Tatars alone. As a result of subsequent battles with the Tatar-Mongol invaders, he lost his family and died himself in 1238. Took an active part in the dissemination and strengthening Christian faith. Built many churches in Ancient Rus'. For their deeds pleasing to God and the torment they endured Orthodox Church canonized in 1645 as the Holy Blessed Prince George Vsevolodovich.

Neighborhoods of Svetloyar 1238

Having defeated the lonely Ryazan residents, the Tatar-Mongols came to Vladimir-grad. Yuri Vsevolodovich was not happy with uninvited guests and refused to pay tribute. The fighting began.

Suzdal fell, Vladimir fell, where the entire family of the Grand Duke perished. The prince himself retreated to Little Kitezh, again gathered troops and continued the fight for the freedom of the Russian Land. Near Gorodets he was defeated and captured. But he didn’t give up, didn’t lose heart. At night he fled through forests and rivers to Great Kitezh.

In the morning, Khan found out about the prince's escape - he got angry, executed the guilty rogues and began to torture the remaining prisoners about the whereabouts of Yuri Vsevolodovich. Everyone was silent, only one traitor was found. It was the hawk moth Grishka Kuterma. He told and led the enemy to the beautiful Kitezh city.

The prince came out with a new squad to defend the city and heroically laid down his wild little head on the battlefield. Three heroes also fought in that battle. The forces were not equal, and they also died. At the site of their death, the Kibelek spring began to flow, next to which their graves are located - the graves of three saints. It is not completely known: were the saints heroes or were the heroes canonized?

The ruthless khan saw that the city was left without protection and wanted to put it to fire and sword. Suddenly, bells began to ring from all the bell towers, and the believers began to pray together and sing beautiful prayers.

I heard Holy Mother of God cry and plead for salvation and performed a miracle: she saved the entire city and all its inhabitants from abuse and inevitable death. There was a city and it disappeared, melted, ceased to exist, disappeared before everyone’s eyes.

The meaning of the words “missing” and “disappeared” does not always mean a favorable outcome for the missing person.

Then the legends diverge. According to one version, Kitezh-grad sank into Lake Svetloyar, like Atlantis, although everyone died there, but fortunately, on the contrary, we were saved. In calm weather, pure souls can see the domes of churches in the depths and hear the ringing of bells.

According to the second version, the city fell underground. The proof is the testimony of the peasants. When they plowed the land, they sometimes hooked the plow onto the tops of the crosses. According to a third version: the city became invisible. Also, only pure-hearted people can see and enter it.

There are obvious contradictions in this legend: not everything agrees with the dates of the life of the founder and the founding of Maly and Greater Kitezh, the place of the death of the prince, etc., and the Tatar-Mongol invasion itself is a big question.

Have any traces of a large Tatar-Mongol army been found on the shores of Lake Svetloyar? Anything belonging to the ruthless invaders? We asked these questions to an employee of the Kitezh Historical and Art Museum in the village of Vladimirskoye Nizhny Novgorod region and received a comprehensive answer. There is confirmation: two beads presumably of Tatar origin were found. Draw your own conclusions.

A beautiful and wonderful legend about the strength and purity of the Russian soul.

Ancient Slavic version of the legend

The next legend associated with Kitezh-grad and Lake Svetloyar takes 3000 years from Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich, to those ancient times that we now in Rus' are not accustomed to remember, back to approximately 2358 BC.

Tales of that time were preserved in the legends of the peoples inhabiting these lands - the Mordvins, Mari, Chuvash. At one time they were written down and have survived to this day.

Veles is a Slavic god, sage, patron of the arts, lord of sorcery, etc.

And friends became enemies. The beauty chose Perun and married him.

God Veles did not accept this and resorted to magic. He took out a unique flower, Lily of the Valley. Anyone who smells it will immediately fall in love with the first person he sees after that.

I went to visit Dodola when Perun was on a long business trip. And he said, casually, that her husband was in distant lands doesn't get bored... The diva got angry and chased after the offender on her miracle horse, thundering with lightning. Where this horse hit the ground with its hoof, a lake was formed. Veles quickly turned into the Lunda River, and stuck a magic flower on the shore. The beauty saw an amazing flower, could not resist, picked it and smelled it, and Veles was right there, and Dodola fell in love with it more than life itself. After the allotted time, their son Yarilo was born, and the lake was named Svetloyar.

Then Veles called on the builder god to build him a miracle city on the shores of the lake. Which is what he did. He named this city Kitezh-grad.

The ruler of the city, Veles Sureevich, owned a ring with a magic ruby. He could transport entire cities to another world. Somehow, unfriendly gods fired lightning at Veles Sureevich. She hit the magic ruby and was reflected in the city of Kitezh-grad. After which the city disappeared. Veles Sureevich got upset, became confused, and left for Belozerye. There he became famous and became known to us under the name of Father Frost.

There is another ending to this lyrical story: Perun returned after a long absence and he did not like what he saw. Perun decided to punish the treacherous Veles. They fought for three days and three nights. As a result, Veles was expelled from the Slavic Olympus.

The legend of the angry goddess and the giant horse.

There is another short legend about Kitezh-grad and Lake Svetloyar. In ancient times there were many different gods. People revered them and brought gifts. One small but proud tribe, for some unknown reason, stopped worshiping the goddess of forests and animals. This goddess's name was Maiden-Turk. The goddess became very angry and sent her huge and merciless horse at the rude people. The horse hit the human settlement with its hoof, the ground collapsed and the hole filled with water. So the village disappeared forest people and Lake Svetloyar was formed. And proof of this is the shape of the lake, similar to a horse’s hoof.

Unexpected continuation...

When writing this article, I became familiar with the works of A. Koltypin and P. Olekseenko on nuclear and thermonuclear conflicts in the past, tektites. Their works echo and are complemented by Alexey Artemyev’s materials on round lakes. This information unexpectedly helped to present a viable picture of what was happening on ancient earth and find in it a place for legends about Kitezh-grad and tales about Lake Svetloyar.

Funnel Svetloyar. There have already been nuclear wars on Earth

Ancient sources from various nations describe numerous conflicts between gods using huge weapons. destructive force, capable of pulverizing entire cities. If such conflicts actually happened, then their traces should remain on the surface of the Earth, for example, in the form of craters.

Modern people also have weapons of enormous destructive power. It is capable of destroying cities, which was clearly proven in practice by the United States in 1945. After its use, huge craters remain on the surface of the earth, almost round shape, sometimes filled with water.

In the first photo there is a small lake at the site of the first explosion atomic bomb at the test site in Semipalatinsk, at the second - traces of further improvement nuclear weapons in USSR. The third picture shows a lunar landscape in Nevada (USA).

All these craters are united by the same round shape and the obligatory formation of tektites.

Tektites are molten formations that arose during short-term exposure high temperatures about 2000 degrees and pressures ~ 400,000 atm.

When examining the surface of the Earth on all continents, you can find round lakes and craters of various sizes.

One part of them occurred from the collision of asteroids (meteorites) with the surface of the planet. Their formation is confirmed by the obligatory discovery of meteorite fragments, as well as the absence of tektites.

The other part has a foggy origin, the absence of meteorite dust and the presence of tektites, which means high temperatures and pressures during formation, i.e. have all the signs of the use of nuclear weapons at this site in the past. Official science does not see these coincidences and does not comment on the information.

Funnels in photographs: Lake Lonar (India) - the place “where a star fell to Earth”, Lake Chukhlomskoye (Kostroma region), Lake Svetloyar Nizhny Novgorod region (RF), peat lakes Penza region (RF), Zhamanshin crater (Kazakhstan).

Kitezh-grad - the emergence of a legend

From the above, it can be assumed that in ancient times, in places where lakes and round craters were located, in the presence of tektites, nuclear explosions. Since the number of such places is large, an exchange took place nuclear strikes- global nuclear war. The largest group of such craters closest to our time is 10 - 12 thousand years old.

The age of Lake Svetloyar is exactly 10 thousand years. Origin - unknown, conveniently meteorite-karst. He thinks so modern science. It has an almost perfect round shape. No meteorite fragments, not even dust, were found on the shores or in the surrounding area. But they had to find it. The search for tektites was either not carried out or the finds were hidden so as not to spoil the usual picture of the World.

Therefore, I assumed that about 12 - 10 thousand years ago there was some kind of locality, town, military unit, or any other object that deserved a low-power nuclear strike. The blow was struck, the city (object) ceased to exist.

Surviving people from neighboring settlements told the younger generation that there was a city nearby and it was destroyed. He simply disappeared. The massive exchange of nuclear strikes between the warring parties led to an environmental disaster, cold snap, and the destruction of technology and knowledge. The development of society was set back thousands of years.

The legend about the disappeared city was preserved in the memory of people, but the level of development became lower and gods appeared in the ancient legend: Veles, Perun, etc. Not a worldwide nuclear conflict between two superpowers, presumably the Aryans and the Atlanteans, but a rivalry between the gods for a beauty. This was more understandable to people, and they passed it on from generation to generation.

Thousands of years passed, the era of Christianity began.

American science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, after reading the works of K.E. Tsiolkovsky, wrote one of his best novels: “Stepchildren in the Universe.” Only now I understand that we are the heroes of his novel, we are all people on planet Earth.

Reading about legends and traditions about Kitezh-grad, about Svetloyar we unexpectedly touched upon serious topics. True story humanity lies behind seven seals, it is hidden under the husk of hoaxes, a touch of fiction. But the Truth is alive, its light glimmers in tales and legends, in rumors, in echoes, in reflections on the water...

I do not have data on tektites from areas of round lakes located on the territory of the Russian Federation, but I assume that they were found, as in similar places abroad. I would be grateful if someone would share the information they have.

In the Nizhny Novgorod region there is beautiful lake Svetloyar, similar to a giant mirror. It is precisely its dark, serene waters that have been hiding for many centuries. ancient city, about which there are so many legends and speculations, but there is practically no factual information. They say that this city opens its doors to those who are pure in heart. It is to such a person that Kitezh-grad will reveal all its secret miracles. Maybe you'll be lucky?

According to legend, Kitezh-grad was located in the northern part of the Nizhny Novgorod region, near the village of Vladimirskoye, on the shores of Lake Svetloyar near the Linda River. The city is mentioned in historical sources - “The Kitezh Chronicler” and “The Tale and Collection of the Hidden City of Kitezh”. In wide circles, this romantic legend became famous thanks to the epic novel “In the Woods” by P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky. Here is a quote from this book:

“That city is still intact - with white stone walls, golden-domed churches, with honest monasteries, with princely patterned towers, with boyars’ stone chambers, with houses cut from kond, rotting forest. The hail is intact, but invisible. Sinful people will not see the glorious Kitezh.”

And many became interested in the legend and went in search of the mysterious invisible city thanks to Rimsky-Korsakov’s famous opera “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia.” Most researchers agree that the name of the city comes from the princely village of Kidekshi (from Meryansk for “rocky bay”) near Suzdal, which was destroyed Tatar-Mongol horde in 1237.

The Legend of Kitezh City

Why did it happen one day that the beautiful white-stone city went under water for centuries? They say that it happened like this: Batu Khan found out about Kitezh and ordered to capture it. One of the prisoners told the khan about the wonderful city - he led the army along secret paths to the shores of Lake Svetloyar. The Mongols were very surprised by the fact that such a beautiful city had no defense. Its inhabitants remained absolutely serene in the face of certain death. They didn't even try to resist - they just quietly prayed. Naturally, the Mongols took advantage of this luck and attacked the city. This is where things got weird. Water suddenly gushed out from under the ground - a lot of water, a whole flood. It is unclear where the streams came from and quickly began to flood both the army and the city itself. The invaders had to quickly retreat. They could only watch in confusion as the city sank into the lake. They say that the last thing they saw was the cross on the dome of the main cathedral sparkling in the sun.

Here is how Melnikov-Pechersky talks about this event:

“He miraculously disappeared, by God’s command, when the godless Tsar Batu, having ruined Suzdal Rus', went to fight Kitezh Rus'. The Tatar king approached the city of Great Kitezh and wanted to burn down the houses with fire, beat the husbands or drive them away, and take the wives and girls as concubines. The Lord did not allow the Basurman desecration of the Christian shrine. For ten days, ten nights, Batu’s hordes searched for the city of Kitezh and could not find it, blinded. And until now that city stands invisible - it will be revealed before the terrible judgment seat of Christ. And on Lake Svetly Yar, quiet summer evening, you can see walls, churches, monasteries, princely mansions, boyar mansions, courtyards of townspeople reflected in the water. And at night you can hear the dull, mournful ringing of Kitezh bells.”

By the way, both local residents and many tourists say that bells can still sometimes be heard from under the dark waters of the lake. And in calm weather you can hear people singing, also coming from under the water. Some travelers also talk about seeing church domes in the water.

It’s worth going to the shores of Lake Svetloyar to experience the miracle. There is a belief that if you walk around the lake three times clockwise, your wish will come true. cherished wish. They say that water taken from Svetloyar for a long time does not spoil. Naturally, scientists have repeatedly explored the lake up and down. And they found a lot at its bottom mysterious objects. For example, underwater terraces - the shores go under the water like a ladder. A lot of ancient objects were found at the bottom of the lake, most of which date back to the thirteenth century.

How to get to Lake Svetloyar where, according to legend, Kitezh city was located

By bus. We need the route “Nizhny Novgorod - Voskresenskoye” from the Kanavinskaya bus station. Before reaching Voskresensky, you need to get off at the village of Vladimirsky. Then any local will tell you the way. Travel time to Vladimirsky is 2-2.5 hours.
By local train. Nizhny Novgorod - Semenov" or "Nizhny Novgorod - Uren" to Semenov, then take the Semenov - Voskresenskoye bus to the village of Vladimirskoye. Next - walk through the village of Vladimirskoye, past a large parking lot, along a birch alley, to the lake (1 km).
By car. Along the Kirov highway. Drive through Semenov, get to Bokovaya station, then make a right turn following the sign for Vladimirskoye and Voskresenskoye, get to the village of Vladimirskoye (turn right), drive through the village to a large parking lot. Next - along the birch alley on foot. Distance from Nizhny Novgorod- 130 km.

The tale of the concealment of the sacred city of Kitezh is the pearl of Slavic religious belief.

Based on the tale, many research books, poems, and an opera by Rimsky-Korsakov have been written...

What is hidden behind the beautiful tale about the city that “went” into Lake Svetloyar, without submitting to either Christian Orthodoxy or the Tatar-Mongol yoke?

Kitezh is a city dedicated to the Russian god Kitovras.

The lively narrative of the city of Kitezh dates back to the times Tatar-Mongol invasion, that is, by the 13th century.

[!] However, according to Alexander Asov, the origins of this legend should be sought in even more early period - pre-Christian history of Rus'. The construction of the city-temple took hundreds of years, and, as is known, foreign Orthodoxy in Rus' was finally established only after 1990 with the arrival of a multi-thousand-strong Jewish army of perestroika in Russia.

This is not so simple, since Christian Orthodoxy has so tightly occupied Russian holy places and rituals that it is quite difficult to separate which legends belong to the occupier and which myths are truly Russian.

Lake Svetloyar, in which, according to legend, the sacred city of Kitezh hid, is located in the Volga region, and has been known since ancient times as the center of the Russian native faith [not to be confused with Christianity - Orthodoxy].

The name of the lake itself comes from two ancient Russian words: “bright”, that is, pure, righteous, and<yar>, which is the root of the name of the Russian solar deity Yarila, who was worshiped by the ancient tribes of the Slavs.

Many legends of the period before the capture of Rus' by Christians are associated with Lake Svetloyar. They also mention the city of Kitezh. It is spoken of in the most ancient sacred source of the Russian faith - “ Star Book of Kolyada».

According to one of the legends, a magical half-horse, half-man was born in the area of Lake Svetloyar - a powerful wizard and builder of ancient temples, as well as the god of wisdom and hops Kvasura. The name of the city of Kitezh came from their names.

In the area of Lake Svetloyar lived Slavic tribe Berendeev. Their descendants before today have preserved legends that since ancient times one of the largest religious centers of worship was located in Kitezh Yarily. This place was considered sacred for Russian princes.

The bloody baptism of Rus' deprived the native Russian faith of both the Magi and the temples, taking over truly Russian sacred places.

Allegedly, Kitezh was turned into the center of the Orthodox faith, and the princes continued to visit it as if nothing had changed.

Many Orthodox churches were built on the site of temples, since it was believed that such places are special - they are sources of strong positive energy. The names of the ancient gods were gradually replaced by the names of saints, but the very place of worship of higher powers, which has truly magical energy, remained the same. That is why the area of Lake Svetloyar has been shrouded in legends and mysticism since ancient times.

Traitor – Orthodox Jew Grishka Kuterma

Now fast forward to more late times. According to Christian chronicles, the city Greater Kitezh on the shore of Lake Svetloyar was built by Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich, the son of Vsevolod the Big Nest.

In addition to him, there was also Small Kitezh, which grew up under his grandfather - the famous Yuri Dolgoruky.

Greater Kitezh was conceived as a majestic city. There were many temples in it, and it was built entirely of white stone, which at that time was a sign of wealth and purity. However, legends united these two different cities, and so the mystical and mysterious Kitezh City appeared.

Alexey Asov, guided by legends and chronicles of that time, was able to recreate true picture events of those distant times.

In 1238, after the destruction of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, Batu Khan set up a camp on the City River. After another unequal battle, Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich with the remnants of his troops retreated to Maly Kitezh. However, Batu took it by storm, and the prince and the remnants of his army miraculously managed to escape to Greater Kitezh.

At that time, on Russian soil, Yuri Vsevolodovich remained practically the only organized force opposing the Tatar-Mongol invasion.

The remaining princes were exterminated during the Christianization of Rus' - bloody baptism.

Batu longed for power over the world and was eager to move on as quickly as possible - to Mediterranean Sea, but he was afraid to leave the proud and undefeated Russian prince in the rear. And then he ordered to torture all captured Russians so that they would give up the reserved roads leading to Kitezh.

[!] The warriors were silent because they knew: handing over the sacred city means dooming themselves and their family to eternal damnation.

Only one could not stand the torture - Grishka It's a mess. He was afraid of torture and death and agreed to lead his enemies to the Russian shrine.

The path was not easy and lay among impassable swamps and forests. But the traitor knew the secret paths and was able to lead the Tatar-Mongol army to the holy city.

Seeing the approaching enemy army, the residents of Greater Kitezh and the soldiers of Yuri Vsevolodovich began to pray to God. Seeing the suffering of the Russians from the invaders, God took pity on the besieged. Before the eyes of Batu and his troops, the holy city sank into Lake Svetloyar and was not left to the merciless enemy for plunder, dishonor and death.

Kitezh - the city-temple of the native Russian faith

However, some facts in this legend are questionable. The remnants of the army of Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich in fact did not pose a real military threat to Batu. And what could the prince do on earth, over which countless hordes of nomads swept twice with fire and sword?

Then the question arises: why did Batu need to lead the army through the swamps to the city, which even in those days was considered semi-mythical?

[!] The fact is that Kitezh was of spiritual value.

It did not stand on trade routes, did not play any significant military or political role in the life of Ancient Rus'. But he was a great spiritual center! It is not for nothing that in the chronicles telling about Kitezh, the largest place was given to the description of the temples.

According to these chronicles, almost the entire city consisted of only temples, being essentially one of the largest temple complexes of the Russian native faith. And Orthodoxy has been striving to take possession of this city for more than a hundred years.

Among historians, the most common version of the seemingly illogical from the point of view military strategy Batu's campaign against Kitezh is next.

After interrogating the prisoners, Batu concluded that this city was not so much a political as a spiritual center of the Slavs.

Therefore, called by the Orthodox as a punisher of Russians mongol khan went to Kitezh to thereby finally destroy all hope of the Slavs for revival.

After all, many peoples believed that with the destruction of their shrines, the people themselves perish, for shrines are the soul of the people. However, Kitezh did not fall to the enemy.

The Russian gods saved an army to repel the enemy

According to legend, Kitezh sank into the waters of the sacred Lake Svetloyar. The sanctity of its waters was extended to the city itself and its inhabitants. Therefore, the image of a city inhabited by the righteous was born, passing unharmed through the sacred waters and passing into better world. Legend says that the lake hid Kitezh until the end of time, and only before the end of the world it will rise again from the waters, and the army of Yuri Vsevolodovich will leave the gates of the holy city to appear with all Russian souls for God's judgment over the invaders of Rus' - Orthodox Christians.

IN Soviet times Naturally, such a view of history could not be accepted, and a version was put forward that the legend about Kitezh reflects natural disaster, as a result of which there was a rapid subsidence of the soil and the immersion of the city standing on the shore of the lake under water. Consequently, it was concluded that the remains of the legendary city can be found on great depth. An expedition was organized to Lake Svetloyar.

During underwater research, archaeologists found that its bottom consists of three layers of soil:

first layer - at a depth of 30 meters - very ancient,
second- at the 20-meter mark - just belonged to the 13th century,
third- deposits of more recent times.

At a depth of 20 meters, archaeologists found objects that can be attributed to the period of the 13th century. However, these were just small things made of wood and metal. These findings made it possible to put forward the hypothesis that the city, gradually plunging into the water, went into another layer of reality. And some things remained in our world due to strong vibrations of the earth or were simply washed away by water.

But where did Kitezh go?

Only modern scientists can answer this question.

There is an assumption that at certain times and under certain circumstances different dimensions can come into contact.

IN in this case According to a number of researchers of the Kitezh riddle, the shift in the layers of reality occurred as a result of the collective prayer of the besieged. After all, this prayer was made in extreme situation and at the same time a large number of people. Let's not forget that in addition to the townspeople, there was also an army in the city. Plus, it has been a sacred place since ancient times.

The time of prayer was probably not chosen by chance either. Scientists have more than once turned to the most ancient astrological source of our ancestors - “ Star Book of Kolyada", a detailed commentary to which is provided by Alexander Asov.

[results of the Orthodox occupation of Rus': It turns out that all modern Orthodox holidays coincide with our ancient Russians - relatives.]

These are special days on which the heavenly bodies occupy such a position that Parallel Worlds touch and we can see them. Thus, scientists concluded that Kitezh was simply transported to another dimension.

Expeditions to the abode of Russian gods

The expedition involved in the study of Lake Svetloyar and its environs included not only archaeologists, but also philologists and ethnographers, that is, collectors of folklore.

It turned out that local residents for many centuries have been passing on the legend of the hiding of Kitezh, supplemented by events taking place in our time.

[!] So, local residents say that on Russian holidays, bells can be heard from Lake Svetloyar. Scientists also observed a similar phenomenon, but could not explain it.

However, not everyone can get to the sacred city of Kitezh. Only a person who is absolutely pure in spirit can enter there.

Monks from neighboring Christian monasteries, who regularly come to Svetloyar, hear only the ringing of bells, and only a few manage to see the outlines of the beautiful white stone temples of Kitezh in the waters of the lake.

According to local residents, the lake has healing properties and can cure many ailments, and whoever sees the reflection of the golden domes of churches in it will be happy.

“Isn’t it time for Kitezh to rebel?”

However, the inhabitants of the otherworldly Kitezh themselves often visit our world.

Old-timers say that it used to be that an old man with a long gray beard would come into an ordinary village store. ancient Slavic clothes. He asked to sell bread, and paid with ancient Russian coins from the times Tatar-Mongol yoke. Moreover, the coins looked like new.

Often the elder asked the question:

« How is it in Rus' now? Isn't it time for Kitezh to rebel?»

However, local residents replied that it was too early. They know better, because the place around the lake is special, and people here live in constant contact with the miracle. Even those who come from other regions feel an unusual halo.

The legend of Kitezh is the most famous legend about a city hidden from the enemy. However, there are quite a lot of similar stories.

In a number of regions of Russia, there are still myths about how, under the threat of plunder by Christians, Russian churches or entire cities went under water or hid in the mountains.

It was believed that only a select few could get there from our world.

In the book " Brotherhood of the Grail“Richard Rudzitis cites a letter from a Russian sorcerer who sends a message to his loved ones and asks them not to consider him dead. He says that he simply went to the hidden temple to the ancient elders.

However, scientists have not come to a final conclusion: about one or more hidden cities or temples we're talking about on the issue of Kitezh.

One way or another, the prevalence of such legends and their undoubted similarity once again proves the authenticity of this story. However, the more research is carried out on Lake Svetloyar, the more questions scientists have that have yet to be answered.

We see that the hidden Russian churches will soon appear and they will drive the invaders - Orthodox Christians from the Russian land. And our faith will rise above Russia - the Russian faith, our dear faith, the righteous faith!

Hurry, those who are still Orthodox or any other Christian, or a foreign invader - a Jew, a Muslim - hurry to hide from the damask voice of the Russian faith. For soon Russian warriors, hidden in a parallel dimension, will come and liberate our Rus', O Judeo-Christians!

Many works of art and Russian legends are associated with this mystical city, which only a select few can see. Indeed, Kitezh is a legendary city, Interesting Facts read about it below.

History of the legend

In the Nizhny Novgorod region, in central Russia, there is Lake Svetloyar. The story of his birth is connected with many mystical events and is shrouded in mystery. According to legend, it is always smooth, and only a very light breeze leaves a little ripple on it. Some even hear bells ringing near it.

The city of Maly Kitezh was built by Georgy Vsevolodovich on the banks of the Volga. However, it seemed small to him, and he created Greater Kitezh on the other side. The construction of cities took place even before Batu’s invasion. The Khan wanted to take possession of the city, killed the prince's brother and surrounded the city. Moreover, it was easy to do - the city was completely unprotected. Khan was very surprised: when the troops approached the city, all its inhabitants prayed fervently. And then the troops burst into it, and the unexpected happened. Fountains began to bubble up around the city, and it soon went under water. None of the enemies managed to penetrate it, and the army retreated. Only the cross was visible in the middle of the lake, and then soon it too disappeared under the water.

There is even a passage to the lake, which is popularly called Batu’s passage. And only a pure soul can see under water beautiful city or hear church singing.

The legend of the invisible city formed the basis not only of fairy tales and songs, but also of various works of art.

Present tense

According to legend, the city disappeared between 1236 and 1242. The mystical lake Svetloyar is located in the Volga region. Kitezh - the legendary city contains interesting facts even today that may concern scientists and researchers various directions. Getting to the lake is not difficult, but swimming is prohibited due to the depth of 40 meters. It is also known that the lake actually formed 800 years ago, just during Batu’s invasion, but no one can accurately prove its origin.

Mysterious phenomena also occur around him. In particular, today it was noticed that:

In clear weather, many people hear the ringing of bells or see the outlines of an invisible city in the water. It can also be seen at dawn, when the sun is just rising above the horizon.
Water taken from the lake does not spoil under any circumstances and can be stored for a very long time.
The people who carried out the research noticed that the lake went under the water, as if in tiers. It was concluded that it was formed in parts. However, no one has yet reached its bottom due to its very great depth.
It is known that many prayer books saw this city with their own eyes. If they were asked to draw pictures, the drawings turned out surprisingly similar, but only a true believer, an enlightened person could see them. Local residents noticed near the lake strange people in white, dressed in ancient clothes of that time, and talked to them. However, scientific confirmation of this information does not yet exist.
There is also a local legend that ancient people warned of misfortunes and gave various advice to others. However, there is no exact data about it yet. Although many saw wanderers in white clothes and often gave them food, drinks or simply talked to them. But scientific data on this does not yet exist.
By the way, if you walk around the lake clockwise three times and make a wish, it will definitely come true.

Today it is generally accepted that Kitezh is a legendary city; the interesting facts about it listed in this article have not yet been confirmed by any accurate research. However, despite this, today people come to Lake Svetloyar in large quantities tourists and pilgrims to see with their own eyes the lake that hides a great secret.

The only hints about real existence Kitezh can be found in the book “The Kitezh Chronicler”. According to scientists, this book was written at the end of the 17th century.

According to her, the city of Kitezh was built by the great Russian Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich Vladimirsky at the end of the 12th century. According to legend, the prince, returning from a trip to Novgorod, stopped along the way near Lake Svetloyar to rest. But he was unable to really rest: the prince was captivated by the beauty of those places. He immediately ordered the construction of the city of Big Kitezh on the shore of the lake.

Lake Svetloyar is located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. It is located near the village of Vladimirsky, Voskresensky district, in the Lunda basin, a tributary of the Vetluga River. The length of the lake is 210 meters, width is 175 meters, and the total area of the water surface is about 12 hectares. There is still no consensus on how the lake came into being. Some insist on the glacial theory of origin, others defend the karst hypothesis. There is a version that the lake appeared after a meteorite fell.

The name of the lake itself comes from two ancient Russian words: “bright”, that is, pure, righteous, and, which is the root of the name of the Russian solar deity Yarila, who was worshiped by the ancient Slavic tribes.

Many legends of the period before the capture of Rus' by Christians are associated with Lake Svetloyar. They also mention the city of Kitezh.

According to one legend, in the area of Lake Svetloyar the magical half-horse-half-man Kitovras, a powerful wizard and builder of ancient temples, as well as the god of wisdom and hops Kvasura, were born. The name of the city of Kitezh came from their names.

In the area of Lake Svetloyar lived the Slavic tribe of Berendeys. Their descendants have preserved to this day the legend that since ancient times, one of the largest religious centers of the cult of Yarila was located in Kitezh. This place was considered sacred for Russian princes.

The bloody baptism of Rus' deprived the native Russian faith of both the Magi and the temples, taking over truly Russian sacred places.

Allegedly, Kitezh was turned into the center of the Orthodox faith, and the princes continued to visit it as if nothing had changed.

Greater Kitezh was conceived as a majestic city. There were many temples in it, and it was built entirely of white stone, which at that time was a sign of wealth and purity.

The length of the built city was 200 fathoms (straight fathom - the distance between the ends of the fingers, arms outstretched in different directions, approximately 1.6 meters), width - 100.

Those were the times, no in the best possible way adapted for peaceful existence. Discord between the principalities, raids of the Tatars and Bulgarians, forest predators - a rare person dared to get out of the city walls without weapons.

In 1237, the Mongol-Tatars under the leadership of Batu Khan invaded the territory of Rus'.

The Ryazan princes were the first to be attacked. They tried to turn to Prince Yuri Vladimirsky for help, but were refused. The Tatars ravaged Ryazan without difficulty; then they moved to the Vladimir Principality.

The son Vsevolod sent by Yuri was defeated at Kolomna and fled to Vladimir. The Tatars captured Moscow and captured Yuri's other son, Prince Vladimir. Prince Yuri, when he learned about this, left the capital to his sons Mstislav and Vsevolod. I went to gather troops.

He set up a camp near Rostov on the Sit River and began to wait for his brothers Yaroslav and Svyatoslav. In the absence of the Grand Duke, on February 3-7, Vladimir and Suzdal were taken and devastated, and the family of Yuri Vsevolodovich died in a fire.

The prince managed to learn about the death of the family. His further fate was even more unenviable: Yuri died on March 4, 1238 in a battle with Batu’s troops on the Sit River. Rostov Bishop Kirill found the headless body of the prince on the battlefield and took him to Rostov. Later they found and attached the head to the body.

Here ends the facts that are confirmed by scientists. Let's return to the legend.

Batu heard about the wealth that was kept in the city of Kitezh, and sent part of the army to the holy city. The detachment was small - Batu did not expect resistance.

The troops marched to Kitezh through the forest, and along the way they cut a clearing. The Tatars were led by the traitor Grishka Kuterma. He was taken in the neighboring city, Maly Kitezh (present-day Gorodets). Grishka could not stand the torture and agreed to show the way to the Holy City. Alas, Susanin did not succeed from Kuterma: Grishka led the Tatars to Kitezh.

On that terrible day, three Kitezh heroes were on patrol near the city. They were the first to see the enemies. Before the battle, one of the warriors told his son to run to Kitezh and warn the townspeople.

The boy rushed to the city gates, but the Tatar’s evil arrow caught up with him. However, the brave boy did not fall. With an arrow in his back, he ran to the walls and managed to shout: “Enemies!”, and only then fell dead.

Meanwhile, the heroes tried to restrain the Khan’s army. No one survived. According to legend, at the place where three heroes died, the holy spring of Kibelek appeared - it still flows.

The Mongol-Tatars besieged the city. The townspeople understood that there was no chance. A handful of people against Batu’s well-armed and organized army is certain death. Nevertheless, the townspeople were not going to give up without a fight. They came out onto the walls with weapons. People prayed in the evening and all night long. The Tatars waited for the morning to launch an attack.

And a miracle happened: the bells suddenly rang, the earth shook, and in front of the eyes of the amazed Tatars, Kitezh began to plunge into the waters of Lake Svetloyar.

The legend is ambiguous. And people interpret it differently. Some claim that Kitezh went under water, others that it sank into the ground. There are adherents of the theory that the city was closed off from the Tatars by the mountains. Others believe that he took to the skies. But the most interesting theory says that Kitezh simply became invisible.

Struck by the power of the “Russian miracle,” the Tatars began to run in all directions. But God's wrath overtook them: those who were devoured by the animals, those who got lost in the forest or simply went missing, taken away by a mysterious force. The city disappeared.

According to legend, he should “manifest” only before the end of the world. But you can see it and even achieve it now. A person in whom there is no sin will discern the reflection of white stone walls in the waters of Lake Svetloyar.

Let us now fast forward to times close to our century.

The legend of the city of Kitezh excited the minds of the intelligentsia. First of all, writers, musicians and artists.

The 19th century writer Pavel Melnikov-Pechersky, inspired by Lake Svetloyar, told its legend in the novel “In the Woods”, as well as in the story “Grisha”. The lake was visited by Maxim Gorky (essay “Bugrov”), Vladimir Korolenko (essay cycle “In Desert Places”), Mikhail Prishvin (essay “Bright Lake”).

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the opera “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh” about the mysterious city. The lake was painted by artists Nikolai Romadin, Ilya Glazunov and many others. The poets Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva mention the city of Kitezh in their works.

Nowadays, science fiction writers and especially fantasy authors have become interested in the legend of Kitezh. It’s clear why: the image of a hidden city is romantic and fits perfectly into a fantasy work. Among works of this kind, we can name, for example, the story “The Hammers of Kitezh” by Nik Perumov and “Red Shift” by Evgeny Gulyakovsky.

Naturally, scientists did not ignore the mystery of Kitezh. Expeditions were sent to Lake Svetloyar, more than once.

Drilling near the shores of the lake yielded nothing. The searches of archaeologists also ended in nothing. There were no traces of the mysterious city on the approaches to the lake. In the 70s of the last century, the expedition was equipped by Literaturnaya Gazeta: trained divers descended to the bottom. Their work was not easy, since the depth of the lake is more than 30 meters. There are a lot of snags and sunken trees at the bottom.

Unfortunately, they did not find irrefutable evidence of the existence of the city.

For believers, this fact, of course, means nothing. It is known that Kitezh will not reveal its secrets to the wicked.

Hypotheses arose that Kitezh was not located on Lake Svetloyar. Other supposed places of “habitat” of the holy city immediately arose - there was even talk about China (allegedly Kitezh and the legendary Shambhala are the same place).

In our times, scientists have forgotten about Kitezh - there is no time for that. But at one time the legend was speculated upon by businessmen who hoped to turn the legends into a source of self-financing.

Currently, the territory of the lake is protected by the state. The lake and surrounding area are part of a nature reserve, which is protected by UNESCO.

Modern legends about Kitezh

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

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

And only when the hydrobiologist left these places did the disease recede by itself.

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

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

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

Views