In the Nizhny Novgorod region on the border with the Republic of Mordovia there is an amazing city of Sarov. Probably not a single settlement in the world has been renamed so many times in just 70 years. Not all people born in the Soviet Union, he was known as Sarych, Base number 112, KB-11, Gorky-130, Arzamas-75, Kremlin, Arzamas-16, Moscow-300. Only in 1995 the city was returned to its historical name - Sarov. This name is associated with the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov, revered in the Christian world, who performed prayer feats in the Holy Assumption Monastery - the main spiritual attraction of Sarov. At the same time, Sarov is a closed regional science city due to the fact that there are enterprises for the development of nuclear weapons.
History of the city
The history of the city can be divided into several periods of various lengths and contents: ancient, monastic and nuclear. Archaeological excavations found on the site of the city the remains of the ancient Sarov fortification of the 2nd half of the 1st century. BC e. From ancient annals it is known that before the XII-XIII centuries. on the ancient settlement at the confluence of the Satis and Sarovka rivers, there was a Mordovian settlement, part of the Purgasov volost of the Erzyan prince Purgaz. The settlement was often subjected to raids by the forces of the Golden Horde. In 1310, the Tatar fortress Saraklych (the “golden saber”), left by the Horde after the capture of Kazan in 1552 by Ivan the Terrible, was built on the site of the Sarov settlement.
Sarov desert
For some time before the arrival of the Russian monks, the ancient settlement remained in desolation, surrounded by dense forests and clean springs. In 1664, the monk Theodosius became the first desert-killer, he heard here a wonderful church tinkle from under the ground and saw the unusual radiance of a hill at the site of the ancient settlement.
The organizer of the Sarov desert in 1705 is considered to have come from Arzamas and received the land of the hillfort from Daniil Ivanovich Kugushev, the baptized Tatar prince, hieroskhimon Isaac. The following year, over the course of 50 days, a wooden church was rebuilt here for the glory of the Most Holy Theotokos - the first temple of the monastery. Having learned about the monastery, the monks began to arrive and build themselves around the church cave dwellings - cells in the mountain.
Seraphim of Sarov
The desert was glorified by the young man who came here from Kursk in 1776, the great elder, revered in the Christian world, Saint Seraphim of Sarov, who dedicated his life to sincere prayers and help to the suffering. His biography was made by the local hieromonk Sergius, the icons of the miracle worker were painted from a portrait painted by the artist Semyon Serebryakov. The Monk Seraphim was canonized in 1903 in the Sarov desert in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II. Gradually, the appearance of the monastery changed, new stone churches were built, pilgrims from all over Russia sought to visit the shrine. In the 1920s the monastery was closed, the relics of the elder disappeared for many years and were miraculously re-discovered in St. Petersburg in 1991.
Closed city
In Soviet times (before the war), the premises of the monastery housed an orphanage, a labor commune, a quarantine camp, a sports equipment factory; during World War II - a plant for the manufacture of shells. Since 1946, the city became secret, having disappeared from all maps in connection with the opening by the academicians Khariton Yu. B. and Kurchatov I.V. of the design bureau for the design of nuclear weapons. The builders of that time were solving two tasks: to create a superbly equipped scientific and production base for the nuclear center and to build a modern city with advanced infrastructure.
After a successful test of the hydrogen bomb in Semipalatinsk in 1953, the US monopoly in possession of nuclear weapons was liquidated, and the city was called the "nuclear shield of the USSR." The most important role of the city in the defense of our country remains today. And since the 1990s. Sarov deserts began to recover. Despite the status of a closed city, the sights of Sarov are very diverse: architectural and spiritual monuments, cultural and natural objects.
The architectural appearance of the city center was formed under the influence of Stalinist classicism and on the basis of standard low-rise buildings for atomic cities of the organization Lengiprostroy. In one of the photos of Sarov’s attractions - a house with a spire, a striking representative of the architecture of that time, it is located on Lenin Avenue.
Sarov is Orthodox
The creation and prosperity of the Holy Assumption Monastery - the Sarov Desert - is an important part of the history not only of the city, but of the whole of Russia. The Monk Seraphim of Sarov, who worked in the field of prayer, accomplished 7 of his main feats here: obedience, monasticism, desertion, congregation, silence, seclusion and eldership. Few are given above such powers for an incredibly hard and fruitful spiritual work. In 2006, monastic life was resumed in the monastery.
The composition of the Sarov desert includes:
- Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov;
- the temple in the name of the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Near Desert) at the Borovoe pond;
- Church of St. Anthony and Theodosius of Kiev Pechersk (underground, restored);
- Church of St. Zosima and Savvatiy of Solovetsky (restored);
- Church of the Transfiguration (restored);
- gate church in the name of St. Nicholas (restored);
- Far Desert (in the forest where St. Seraphim labored, a cell was restored and a chapel built).
The monastery, the main attraction of the city of Sarov, has a tour desk offering routes for different age groups.
The Sarov wooden church of John the Baptist was built over a foothill spring and consecrated in 1752. Then, in 1821, with the money of the Astrakhan merchant K.F. Fedorov, who was cured in the desert, the construction of a stone, decorated with stucco molding, 5-head temple in the classical style began, to which a wide stone staircase led from the monastery.
Another church in Sarov - the Temple of the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon - was built in 2004 at the request and at the expense of the organizations of the city and ordinary Sarovites, patients of the local hospital town.
Sculptural monuments
Visitors to the city, who happened to be in it, are convinced that everyone who visits this place needs to see the sights and monuments associated with the rich history of the city and the spiritual revival of the country in Sarov.
The monument to Serafim Sarovsky, designed by V. M. Klykov, the author of the monument G. K. Zhukov in Moscow, was erected in 1991 in a forest on Dalny Pustynka 5 km from the monastery where the elder lived and prayed. In this place, on the elevated bank of the Sarovka River, a small wooden cell was built near the monk, a garden was laid out, and a cave was dug in the hillock. According to legend, a bear came out of the virgin forest, whom Seraphim fed from his hands. Sarov residents celebrate Orthodox holidays here. Near the monument grows a large pine of the Rev. Elder, which must be hugged and make a wish. From here all excursions around Sarov begin.
The monument to the architect N.V. Kuznetsov and the Victory Square with eternal flame have existed in the city since the 1960s. and are dedicated to the memory of three hundred dead and missing in the Great Patriotic War of Sarov. In the alley of the square there is also a monument to soldiers serving in hot spots, installed on folk remedies - a sculpture of a soldier sitting after a fight (author M. M. Limonov).
Nikolai Vasilievich Kuznetsov, a talented painter and chief architect of Sarov, was the author of projects to create squares, boulevards, parks, a hospital town and a suspension bridge over Satis, a favorite place for newlyweds since 1964. He is also the author of the pedestals to the monuments to V. I. Lenin on the main square (project by S. O. Makhtin) and A. M. Gorky at the Palace of Creativity (works by P.V. Koenig).
The monument to the outstanding nuclear physicist and founder of the city, Yu. B. Khariton, was erected in a park near the House of Scientists in 2004. The author is A. Charkin, rector of the St. Petersburg Academy of Art. In a theater square in 2010, a bronze bust was opened to the director of Uralmash, and later to the director of Sarovsky KB-11, B. G. Muzrukov, the author is the Ural sculptor K. Grunberg.
A monument of 1986 in the style of Soviet realism of the local architect G.I. Yastrebov is dedicated to the builders of the city, it is located at the intersection of Chapaev and Silkin streets.
Natural monuments
Sarov has magnificent unique natural monuments, which in 1999 received regional significance. In the dense mixed forest on a round glade overgrown with herbs, there is the Holy tract Keremet - a cult place of Finno-Ugric tribes. On the bank of Satis in the deciduous forest is another attraction of Sarov - eight cold, pleasant taste and weak mineralization, the purest springs called Silver Keys. The natural urban landscape near the monastery includes a monument of local nature in the Satis floodplain - Flood meadow, densely overgrown with herbs and primroses. The tracts Sysovsky cordon and Filippovka are surrounded by mixed forests and ponds formed by monks on streams flowing here for rafting of the forest and historical significance. For the same purpose, the monastery ponds Varlamovsky, Broach and Shilokshansky pond visited by tourists and pilgrims were used.
Museums and theaters
As in every city with an interesting and multifaceted history, the sights of Sarov are represented by cultural and educational institutions.
The museum-apartment of Yu. B. Khariton was created in 1999 on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the academician, where he lived with his wife and worked for 25 years. A comfortable cottage with a garden was specially built for him in 1971 and now carefully preserves the surroundings of the great scientist.
On the street of academician A. D. Sakharov there are cottages of the 1950s, where scientists who came here to work lived. On one of them there is a memorial plaque indicating that the Nobel laureate has lived here for 18 years.
The Museum of History and Local Lore has been operating since 1956. Its rich collection of monuments of history and culture of local residents allows you to conduct excursions on 40 different topics.
The Drama Theater was created in 1949 for intellectual relaxation and entertainment in Sarov, workers of a closed facility and was originally located in the monastery premises. The new building, built in 2004 in the eclectic style, has become the center of the architectural composition of the modern residential area of the city.
On the basis of the All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics there is a unique museum of the nuclear center with genuine exhibits and mock-ups of legendary products from the first atomic bomb of 1949 to modern nuclear weapons, ten of which are official monuments of science and technology. For Science Day, creative evenings are held here.
Today's Sarov in the photo with a description of attractions is a neat and well-groomed city with comfortable working and living conditions, the city is still in a special position. In connection with some "warming" of the international situation, atomic research is increasingly moving to peaceful "rails", and the city reveals some of its secrets. There is a prospect of tourism development and the transformation of Sarov into a university center. That's just the timing so far no one calls, because the mission to improve the nuclear shield is very important for Russia.