The historical significance of the Belgorod Serif Line is often equated with the Great Wall of China. The Russian fortification chain was completed in 1556 and was located on the southern borders of Russia.
Value
The first serif features of the Old Russian state appeared in the XIII century. Chronicles of those times contain mention of notches - special obstacles in the way of enemies. And their role was great.
In those days, every year the population of the border areas of the country suffered from constant raids by the steppe tribes. The best representatives of the country's people, tens of thousands, advanced south to save the locals from being captured and ruined. It is difficult to imagine how much physical and spiritual energy was spent on this grueling struggle, while people in Western Europe achieved new results in science, art and crafts.
Historical data
To fully understand the significance of the construction of the Belgorod line, it is enough to familiarize yourself with the calculations of historians. According to them, over the first half of the 17th century, about 200,000 Russians were captured and sold in the Crimean slave-owning markets.
The creation of the Belgorod Serif Trait significantly reduced this number. From the annals it is known that earlier peasants massively fled to the free settlements of the southern part of the country. After the construction of the Belgorod Serif Line, the escape became more difficult. The fugitives were caught at the borders and punished. Fear of such an outcome affected the number of people wishing to do this.
History
In the 16th century, the forest-steppe between the Moscow state and the Crimea was called the “Wild Field”, they were deserted. And it was from here that the Tatars raided. The paths along which they traveled lay between impassable sections of swamps, forests, and swamps, and were called "huts." Tatars mercilessly robbed Russians, led into slavery. For the period from the XIV-XVII centuries. so they took 3 million people.
All this greatly threatened the Moscow state. To the west of the uninhabited steppes, along the Vorskla River, there were borders with the Principality of Lithuania. Russian rulers needed to consolidate the southern borders of the country. The central role in this matter went to Belgorod. And so began the construction of the Belgorod Linear Line.
How did it look
It was a system with a length of more than 800 km, starting from Vorskla and ending at the Volga. The Belgorod line was a continuous chain of fortifications. Initially, it was called Belgorod-Simbirsk, and in the documents of those times it was simply called “The Devil”. It consisted of two parts: Simbirsk and Belgorod.
The defensive line used all the natural obstacles that could slow down the enemies: deep rivers, steep ravines, hilly terrain. Where passable sections remained, artificial barriers were built: walls, canals, blockages and earthen ramparts. Everywhere began the construction of fortresses - prison camps, which later turned into cities and villages. Many of them thrive to this day.
Simple people paid for the construction of the Belgorod Serif Line: a tax was introduced, which served as the financing of the strengthening. He was called the "serif tax."
Along with the archers, the boyar children were also sent to the Belgorod Notch. They also participated in its construction and protection.
Belgorod Feature Project
The most urgent was the need for the construction of such fortifications after the Smolensk war of 1632-1634. There were virtually no obstacles to the attacks of the Tatars.
Initially, there was a plan to rebuild the Kozlov fortress, blocking the road to Nogaysk with ramparts. However, it later became apparent that the most effective solution would be to block the main routes along which the Tatars attacked with the help of ramparts. The fencing plan was drawn up in 1636, and implemented 22 years later.
Fortifications
The most important fortresses of the Belgorod line were nine. Each was located in a strategic location. The garrison of each town was responsible for the defense of defense sites, and for the implementation of construction repairs, and for repelling the attacks of the steppe tribes. To observe the roads, in separate prison camps, soldiers were constantly sent to the fields.
Belgorod
This settlement has become the main city of the Belgorod line. It was through the Belgorod region that 3 of the largest grooms passed. During the Time of Troubles (1605-1618), the troops of the Crimean Khan renewed their debilitating attacks on the defenseless Russian villagers who lived in these territories.
In those years, the Nogais burned and plundered a great many cities located here. Sometimes around 100,000 steppe warriors appeared here, whom the Russian guards were not able to resist for a long time. They were swallowed by a huge mass of steppe horsemen.
From the very beginning of its history, the settlement had an impressive size: its descriptions from 1668 have been preserved. This prison was 650 fathoms along the perimeter, and the fortress adjoining it stretched for 1350 fathoms. The length of these walls was twice as large as Voronezh, and the area exceeded it by 5 times.
A notable difference of the city was that it was originally conceived as part of the fortification. A religious building was erected inside the prison - a church with the court of the Metropolitan. The administration with the sovereign's court, order, and prison were inside the prison.
Subsequently, the city became rich in religious buildings: in 1678, it had nine churches and two monasteries. For every 30 yards, there was a temple. This was justified, as settlements were located in the settlement. And not one, with the exception of Streletskaya, possessed a church. Because of this, the inhabitants of the settlements were connected with the arrival of churches inside the prison. And this overestimated the role of part of the city inside the prison, thus making it more significant than the fortress, which was given an insignificant role. It connected to the main settlement by means of a prison, its gates went to it, and the roads passing through it led only to the metropolitan’s court and the temple. They could not be the main thoroughfares of the city.
This city became unique among the other settlements of the Belgorod Zasechnaya line, the gates in it, connecting the fortress and the prison, included a clock tower. This fact emphasized the importance of the village as the main center of the long fortification.
On the site of the former fortress is now the administrative center of Belgorod.
Apple trees
One of the most significant fortresses of the Belgorod line was the city of Yablonov. He blocked the largest nobility - Izyumsky. According to the original plan, it was he who was to become the central strengthening of the entire Belgorod line. For defense, a round shaft was built in it, which was strengthened with the help of oak logs, had a length of 1.6 km and 13 towers.
Beyond the earthen city was a wooden fortress, the wall length of which was 0.3 km.
Today on the territory of these fortress walls is the village of Yablonovo.
The remaining fortifications
It was not possible to establish the exact location for all the fortresses of the Belgorod line. It is not known where exactly the fortresses of Bokhlovets and Verkhososensk were located. The walls erected in Korochi, Userd, and Novy Oskol disappeared somewhere deep in the ground under the later buildings. The settlements of Khokhtomizh, Karpov and Nezhegolsk remained, and the features of the buildings of that time are studied from them.
Life in the fortresses
The emergence of settlements as military fortresses was reflected in the composition of their population and appearance. Mostly servants lived in them, civilians made up about 25% of all settlers, they were present mainly in Voronezh and Belgorod.
The highest category was the children of the boyars. Usually each of them owned an estate, but not serfs. The land in their possessions was cultivated by their own hands, so that they did not have any special differences with the Cossacks. Cossacks served 2 varieties: some of them were among archers and gunners. The second part was white-land, in such Cossacks the land was in collective ownership. A group of “Cherkasy” —migrants from Ukraine — stood out brightly among the others.
All these categories formed their separate settlements near the fortresses. Only the children of the boyars and Cossacks, who owned estates, sometimes lived in separate estates.
Types of field fortifications
The earthen town was a small territory fenced by a rampart. It was a long-term defensive point in the field. There were many similar structures along the entire length of the chain. On the way from Karpov to Belgorod there were 19 of them. To add to their reliability, sometimes towers were erected in them.
The jails looked like earthen towns. Each prison was a fortified point with a garrison. He was surrounded by walls, most often oak. They reached a height of 3.7 meters. Turrets could also be attached to them. Part of the prison was built in front of the main fortifications of the Trait.
Earthen fortifications were well complemented by wooden watch towers. They focused on three main paths. Most of them had a garrison.
Earthworks
This was the most common type of defense point. About half of all the structures in the chain were earthen ramparts. They were poured in the most vulnerable places for the enemy: in the steppe areas between cities and forests. Sometimes, through their construction, less pronounced areas of natural obstacles, for example, river beds, were strengthened.
They could be kilometers in length. So, for some, the length reached 14, and sometimes 27 km. In height, they reached 3.7 m.
From the side of the enemy’s attack zone they were strengthened by poles, oak logs, which were placed on the slopes of the shafts to prevent erosion. Each shaft was preceded by a moat. Water has never been used as a separate fortification.
Notches and Dunches
Defenses were called defensive structures made of cross-felled trees, and their peaks rushed to the enemy. It is known that their length could be 63 km along the Vorskla River. They were used less often due to the lack of the required amount of wood. The width of the grooves reached 40-60 fathoms.
There were many nadolbov throughout the entire chain. They combined with other defenses, and represented an independent fortification. These were constructions of 3 logs, which were dug into the soil and connected by crosses. Sometimes they were interconnected by single chains of horizontally laid logs. The length of the hollows reached dozens of sazhens, and in some sections even four hundred: for example, when paths and clearings were blocked in groves near Vorskla.
Other types of fortifications
Sharp walls are dense rows of logs that dig into the ground and sharpen at the tops. In height, they reached 2 fathoms.
Tarasas were called logs made of wood, which were connected with each other and filled with bulk materials. They were used as independent fortifications in large areas. Often they were combined with gouges and ramparts.
Sometimes, particles were driven into the bottom of the rivers, which were strengthened by the establishment of “mares” along the banks.
Many sections of the Belgorod line combined beautifully thought-out artificial structures and natural obstacles. About half of the entire chain had no man-made barriers: they were forests, swamps, rivers and swamps. Tatar cavalry could not pass these places.
Historical role
In the entire history of the existence of this fortification chain, the Tatar cavalry has never managed to break through it anywhere, despite constant attempts.
Several cases of “breakthrough” of defense in the areas near Novy Oskol during the war with Turkey in 1676-1681 cannot be taken into account, since the battles did not manage to go deeper beyond the defense zone of these areas. That is, the fortification chain of the Belgorod line fulfilled the most important task of protecting the dangerous steppe border of the state.
The successful experience of its creation has become invaluable in the construction of many other fortifications of the country. The Belgorod line was followed by the construction of the Tambov shaft, Simbirsk and Tsaritsyn lines.
Thanks to the Izyum line, erected in the 17th century, Russia managed to push its southern border even further south. This allowed the Russian and Ukrainian people to develop large territories beyond the Belgorod line. The remains of many shafts at the moment can be found in the Belgorod region.
Memory
The value of this building was extremely great for the country.
The Belgorod line became one of the largest fortifications of the 17th century in the whole world. Its construction served as a starting point for the history of many settlements. Cossacks, archers, children of the boyars who participated in the construction are the ancestors of the settlers of the vast territory. And the locals still honor the memory of their ancestors.
In 1969, Zagorovsky’s book about the Belgorod line was published. Cities of the south of the country have features characteristic of fortresses. To this day, festivals of the Belgorod line are held in historical places associated with this defensive chain. In the course of them, historical constructions and trips for schoolchildren are organized.
It was announced that in the fall of 2018 in the Korochansky district the construction of the Yablonov fortress will end, which will copy the original of the 17th century.
The governor’s wooden house, mill, courtyard, workshops, guard buildings, a turret, a forge, a chapel, a bridge, ditches and an earthen rampart will be built.