The small island of Sviyazhsk, located on the banks of the Sviyaga River , sixty kilometers from the capital of Tatarstan, the ancient beauty of Kazan, is visited annually by thousands of tourists from different parts of our country and from abroad. What draws them to these places? In our article we will talk about this amazing place.
Sviyazhsk is the name of an island and a small rural settlement. It is located in the Zelenodolsk district of Tatarstan, at the confluence of the Sviyaga and Pike rivers. This is an amazing island with the most ancient architectural structures, it has become a monument of Russian history and architecture in Tatarstan.
Sviyazhsk Island is separated from Kazan by no more than sixty kilometers. The island still has pre-revolutionary, old street names: the main street is Uspenskaya, which stretches from the south to the north through the entire island, Troitskaya street runs parallel to it, and to the north - Nikolskaya. Alexandrovskaya Street crosses them all.
Population
Sviyazhsk in Tatarstan is inhabited by a little more than two hundred people, which is comparable to a very small village on the scale of our country. The island is beautiful at any time of the year and in any weather. Picturesque summer sunsets and snow-covered streets are quiet, without any signs of automobile traffic. Getting on a fabulous island, you feel like in another dimension. And if you take into account the ancient structures around, this impression only intensifies.
History
The history of Sviyazhsk is inextricably linked with the development of these places by the Russians, and more precisely, with the conquest and further accession of the Kazan Khanate to the Russian state.
In the XV century there was a cone-shaped hill covered with centuries-old forest - Mount Round, around which the Sviyaga and Pike rivers flowed. And by the middle of the XVI century there was a powerful fortress of Ivan the Terrible.
It is known that since 1547 the Russian Tsar repeatedly made campaigns in Kazan, but all of them did not give a result. Returning after one of them (1550), the young Ivan the Terrible saw the ideal location in the military-strategic plan of the Kruglyaya mountain and decided to be here a Russian fortress.
The tsar entrusted this difficult task to the first military engineer Ivan Grigorievich Vyrodkov, who left a big mark in the history of our country. And it should be recognized that this talented specialist found a brilliant solution. The fortress was completely cut down under the city of Uglich. All its details were numbered, fused and assembled on Bald Mountain.
It was a grandiose project - the Sviyazhskaya fortress was even bigger than the Moscow Kremlin in size. They cut it down in 1551, and less than a year later (1552) Kazan fell. So on the banks of Sviyaga, Volga and Pike in a record time appeared this island-city and a powerful fortress.
Over its nearly five-century history, Sviyazhsk has experienced falls and rises, wealth and poverty, obscurity and glory. But time steadily advanced, the town grew, developed, the first monasteries and churches appeared on its territory. After the conquest of Kazan, the powerful fortress turned into a large trading and administrative center for those times, where foreign merchants arrived and foreign embassies were located.
Later Sviyazhsk turned into a monastic town, in which life became quiet and filled with grace. Even later, Sviyazhsk became the county town of the Kazan province, which received its coat of arms in 1781. The city floating on the ship is depicted on a shield under which fish splash. This is a kind of tribute to the unusual and very original construction of the city, which was actually brought from the Uglich forests.
An unenviable fate awaited the town after the revolution - these were desecrated and looted temples in which correctional institutions and prisons were placed. And then an even darker time came when the picturesque island of Sviyazhsk in Tatarstan became one of the GULAG camps.
At the end of December 1955, a part of the city was flooded. This happened due to the launch of the Kuibyshev state district power station. The road that connected it with the land went under water, and Sviyazhsk turned into a real island.
The latest history of Sviyazhsk began in 2008. Until that time, local residents lived on the island, until a dam was laid with a road, again connecting Sviyazhsk with large land. Implementation of the well-known Renaissance program began in 2010, during which it is planned to turn Sviyazhsk in Tatarstan into a museum-reserve of republican significance. Large-scale restoration and restoration work is underway here.
Sviyazhsk: description of the modern island
Today, the ancient fortified city is undergoing a rebirth. As in the past, participants in excursions in Sviyazhsk are greeted with white stone walls of monasteries, gilded domes of churches, as in antiquity, people live here, and perhaps there are descendants of those who once created this man-made miracle.
City architecture
Sviyazhsk in Tatarstan, thanks to isolation from the outside world, after turning the town into an island, preserved the unique architecture and layout of the county town of the XIX century. Nowadays, most of the local population has been relocated to municipal apartments, and reconstruction is being carried out in their homes, and they are being transferred to various institutions and organizations.
The estate of the merchant Kamenev is a striking example of Sviyazhsk architecture. It was built in the 19th century. The building is made in the style of classicism, but with some elements of wooden architecture. The building was renovated in 2010, and today it houses a hotel.
Christmas Square is the architectural and historical center of Sviyazhsk. Around it there are several interesting objects: fire barracks, a city school, a craft school. The square offers stunning views of the Volga, so guests who take part in the excursion to Sviyazhsk love to relax here. They take great photos, but even they cannot fully convey the beauty of these places.
Sviyazhsk in Tatarstan: attractions
This building is deservedly considered the hallmark of the island. The Virgin Assumption Monastery in Sviyazhsk was founded in 1555. This happened just three years after Kazan fell. The first abbot of the monastery was Archimandrite German. Today he is considered the patron saint of the city. An interesting fact: when he wanted to desecrate his relics in 1922, such a severe thunderstorm began that the atheists, frightened, abandoned their dirty deed.
The ensemble of the monastery is a unique historical and architectural attraction, which is not equal in the Middle Volga region.
John the Baptist Monastery
Until 1917, this monastery was female, and after the revolution and to this day is male. It was founded in the 16th century and was called Rozhdestvensky. The first buildings were wooden, then stone and brick, but the oldest buildings, unfortunately, were lost due to frequent fires and rebuilding.
The monastery was actively expanding in 1796, when the bell tower was built and the John the Baptist chapel of St. Sergius Church. Hard times came for the monastery with the advent of Soviet power: in 1919 it was closed. True, its entire territory was declared a museum-reserve of architecture and history. Even in 1959, the restoration of the central cathedral was carried out.
Temples of the Ancient City: Assumption Cathedral
The temple was built in 1560 in the Pskov-Novgorod style. Ivan Shiryaev and Postnik Yakovlev, the authors of the world famous St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, supervised the construction work . This is one of the two churches of Sviyazhsk and Russia, in which the frescoes of the era of Tsar Ivan the Terrible are preserved - their area inside the cathedral is one thousand eighty square meters. The second temple was preserved in the Transfiguration Monastery of Yaroslavl.
Quite a lot of frescoes exist in Russia and are perfectly preserved, from the earlier and later periods of the history of our country, and there are only a few frescoes from the 16th century. This is a unique monument and a rarity of ancient Russian art of the 16th century. Of particular interest to specialists is the fresco of the holy warrior Christopher with a horse head. In iconography, images with a head of a dog were taken at that time, later all animal-like forms were destroyed.
Of no less interest are altar images of Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself, as well as Metropolitan of Moscow Makarii. In the summer of cancer with the relics of Herman is located in the premises of this cathedral.
Trinity Church
The history of the construction of this church is interesting: along with materials for the Sviyazhsky fortress, logs for this temple were brought in 1551. Surprisingly, they gathered the church within a day, without a single nail. Researchers and historians consider the founder of the Trinity Church a contemporary of Ivan the Terrible, Prince Nikita Serebryany. Documents have been preserved showing that John the Terrible himself prayed here on the eve of the capture of Kazan.
This is the oldest monastery church. It was cut down near Uglich along with other structures of the fortress. The interior of the temple changed several times, but the design of the iconostasis remained unchanged. The church was completed several times and sheathed with tesa. Today, the appearance of the temple is fully restored. Today it is the only remaining of the first wooden buildings that can take pride of place on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Church of Constantine and Helena
One of the churches that survived on the island, which is not part of the monastery complex. It was built in the second half of the 17th century on the site where there used to be an ancient wooden temple, erected in the memorable 1551. In Soviet times, there was a museum in its walls, and since 1993, divine services have resumed.
Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh
This church of Sviyazhsk in Tatarstan was built in 1551. Initially, it was wooden. During the reign of Boris Godunov, a stone temple was erected in its place from white limestone, and it was re-consecrated in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh the Miracle Worker. This is confirmed by a wall inscription dating from 1604. For the winter, the cancer with the relics of St. German is transferred to the premises of this church.
St. Nicholas Church
The oldest monastery church is Nikolskaya. It was built in 1956 from ashlar. The work was performed by the Pskov artel Ivan Shiryaev. Much later, a bell tower (four-tier) was built to it, forty-three meters high. This is the tallest building on the island. The cell of St. Herman was preserved in this temple. Praying is allowed only to the monks of the monastery.
Memorable places of the island
Many places of Tatarstan attract tourists. One of the main attractions of the republic is Sviyazhsk, in the history of which, unfortunately, the gloomy events of the Civil War in Russia and the Stalinist repressions left an unhealing mark. Monuments of the island eloquently tell about this.
Now, probably, few people know how many people were killed on the island in custody. This is due to the secrecy and inaccessibility of archives. After the victory over fascist Germany, Sviyazhsk turned not only into a prison, but also into a kind of “isolation ward” for the disabled disabled at the front and in the camps. Stalin did not want people with disabilities to fall into their eyes and arouse sad feelings. In those years, in the country that defeated fascism, many monasteries turned into the last refuge for mutilated people.
In captivity on the island, many intellectuals were killed. Among them is the talented Tatar poet Hassan Tufan. He spent ten years in the Sviyazhsky camp, and after that another seven years in Siberia. All this time he worked: he wrote poems that were dedicated to his wife.
The place for the monument to the victims of political repression in Sviyazhsk was not chosen by chance. When restoration and restoration work was carried out in ancient structures, a mass grave was discovered, which dates back to the forties of the last century. The remains of the unfortunate did not begin to disturb, and a memorial was created at the burial site.
The sculpture depicting an intelligent prisoner who releases a dove through the bars has become a symbol of all the victims of the regime who were innocently imprisoned in the local prisons. The author of the monument was a sculptor from Tatarstan Mahmud Gasimov.
Wall of communards and stone obelisk
The post-revolutionary period also left its mark in the history of the island. Near the central square is the "Wall of Communards", as well as a small and rather modest obelisk.
This is the place of execution of the Red Guards in 1918. Every tenth soldier of the military unit that was stationed on the island was killed on the orders of Trotsky after an unsuccessful attempt to drive out white troops from Kazan.
Secular island buildings
Sviyazhsk in Tatarstan was a county town and had the characteristic architecture of its time. The buildings of the nineteenth century were practically not rebuilt, and therefore perfectly preserved. Here, tourists will be able to see residential Uspenskaya and Nikolskaya streets, breech houses and barracks of the engineering regiment on Uspenskaya street, a craft school building, a city school on the central square of the island and other structures.
Museums and entertainment
Sviyazhsk in Tatarstan has a small museum where you can visit exhibitions telling about the history of the island. Its employees organize walking tours and offer guests the interactive program “Streltsy fun.” Nowadays, the most interesting complex Horse Riding has been restored, blacksmithing and pottery are being revived.
The museum complex includes workshops, a stable, a restaurant, a guest house and a souvenir shop. Many poets, writers and artists glorify the wonderful island in their work. “Enchanted by the island” is a whole complex of structures that preserve the ancient history of the settlement from the moment of its foundation.
If you happen to visit Sviyazhsk, do not miss the opportunity to drive around the island by carriage. On the Horse Courtyard, as in the distant past, beautiful and well-groomed horses live. They can be fed and ironed. And all lovers of equestrian sports will be offered to ride them around the island. Here, on the territory of the Horse Yard there is a Craft settlement.
Tourists do not just inspect workshops, but also have the opportunity to participate in the creation of souvenirs using ancient technologies. Everyone is invited to try their hand at leatherwork, pottery, blacksmithing, learn how to weave real bast shoes out of vines, and learn the basics of wood carving. Tourists coming to the island for three days from Friday to Sunday can take part in the craft program.
Another interesting place on the island is “Lazy Torzhok”. It is located very close to the central Christmas square. Here guests will be offered to put on armor and feel like real ancient warriors - the defenders of the fortress - and will be allowed to shoot from medieval weapons.
How to get to the island?
Probably, many readers, after reading the article, will think about visiting Svyazhsk. How to get to the amazing island? Not as hard as it may seem. Since the island is located very close to the capital of Tatarstan, we will present you several options for how to get to the island from Kazan.
By bus
A regular bus leaves from the "South" Kazan bus station at 8.40 every day to Sviyazhsk. On weekends, additional buses run from the Central Bus Station. The road takes an hour and a half.
Motor ship
From Kazan you can get to Sviyazhsk by boat. True, this option can only be considered from May 1 to the end of September.
By boat
Every day, a passenger boat leaves from the Kazan river port at 8.20. Travel time is more than two hours. But this longer option guarantees you the opportunity to admire the magnificent Volga landscapes, as well as see interesting places of Tatarstan from the river.
Bus boat
A combined option that allows you to combine a bus route and a river walk. In this case, you should take a bus to Vasilyevo, and then transfer to a boat.
By car
Motorists are advised to move from Moscow to Kazan along the M7 highway. After passing the village of Isakovo, at the roundabout, turn right. A reference point for you can be an old wooden mill. Then move to the sign "turn on Sviyazhskoe" and turn right.
Motorists should be aware that entry into the city by car is prohibited. Leave your car in a paid car park.
Tourists reviews
According to travelers who have visited the wonderful island, this is a great trip that will be remembered for a long time. The magnificent nature, many unique historical and architectural monuments, familiarity with which will be interesting for both adults and children, all this will make the excursion to the island of Sviyazhsk bright and memorable.