The lonely bell tower in the middle of the water looks strange, doesn't it? How can this be? After all, this religious building necessarily accompanies a temple, church or monastery. However, the bell tower of St. Nicholas Cathedral may become material evidence of this. Kalyazin (Russia, Tver Region) attracts many tourists precisely because of this unusual construction.
In fact, once upon a time there was the most ordinary monastery, suburban life was in full swing, merchants were selling their goods with might and main. In the XII century, this place was called "Nikola on the Zhabna", as well as the city-forming monastery. Later, St. Nicholas Cathedral was built here . This name is mentioned in church chronicles. Although in our time it is more often called Nikolsky. Nearby was founded the Trinity Makaryev Monastery, located on the left bank of the Volga River. The bell tower itself in Kalyazin was erected in 1796-1800. There were 12 bells in total, but the largest was cast in honor of the accession to the throne of Emperor Nicholas II. He weighed no less, and 501 pounds. If we translate into units of measurement familiar to us, it will turn out more than 8 tons. And it is with him that a mysterious legend is associated. But more on that later.
In the 30s of the twentieth century, at the time of universal electrification, at a time when religion was actually banned, on the site of the Trinity Monastery, and the whole village, it was decided to arrange a reservoir. Most of the city of Kalyazin ceased to exist. The bell tower of St. Nicholas Cathedral is almost the only reminder of the ancient city. All residents were resettled, buildings were destroyed, but they decided not to touch the bell tower. Why - it's hard to say. They say that it was decided to leave it instead of a lighthouse or use it as a parachute tower. But it was this decision that served as the beginning of the legend that was mentioned above.
So, the bell tower in Kalyazin was supposed to remain intact, but the bells did not have space on it. Probably everyone saw films that showed how bells were dropped from a height and broken. So it was this time. However, the largest bell (we remember that it weighed more than 8 tons) simply did not go into the arched opening. Since he was on the upper tier. It was decided to lower it below and throw it out of there. However, not a single ceiling could bear such a weight, and as a result the bell ended up in a deep basement. The workers planned to lower it down, and not lift it up, there was very little time before flooding, and therefore they decided to leave it where it was. The bell tower in Kalyazin, along with most of the city, was flooded. Instead of five tiers above the surface of the water, only four remained, more than seven meters were under water. And since then, local residents have repeatedly heard the ringing of the same bell. It appeared on the eve of the tragic events: the alarm bell on June 22, 1941 predicted the Great Patriotic War, heard a ringing on the eve of the Battle of Stalingrad and Kursk, the bell became a harbinger of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Afghan war, the earthquake that destroyed Ashgabat.
True or not, hardly anyone will say for sure, especially since there are no eyewitnesses to those events. However, repeated attempts to stop such rumors failed. As a result, it was decided to fill that ill-fated cellar with an 8-ton giant.
Now the bell tower in Kalyazin stands on a small island, where many residents and guests of Russia gladly go on an excursion. Although some aborigines no, no and sometimes they listen - doesn’t the alarm sign portend a terrible tragedy ...