On the wave of my memory. "Great Bulgars"
My three-week quarantine is over, vacation from Monday. From April 30, the opening of navigation and our new boat trip. But that's not destiny. Well, I will travel to museums, art galleries, watch performances (virtually, online as it will), hang out on websites, read unread stories and dream of new travels.
And now I want to remember and show interesting places (we were interested), another boat trip, but already along the Golden Ring of Kazan, which was May 25-29.2018. The cruise was called "Great Bulgars".
This time everything was much simpler: we took only part of the cruise (some companies practice this too) and it was convenient for us. Accommodation, food, entertainment - everything was included in the price, but excursions are paid (because of this, the cruise turns out to be cheaper), who often swims and ends up in familiar cities, are already walking along their own routes. The cruise was completely from Moscow to Moscow, and since they got to Nizhny Novgorod twice, well, you won’t sail past.
We got the following route: N. N. - Sviyazhsk - Kazan - Bulgary - Cheboksary - N. N.
This time everything was tritely simple: we waited for the steamer to arrive, loaded up, got the keys and set off to settle in the cabin.
Here is our boat:
The journey has begun
We are new, people have been on the road for 5 days, but everything is fine, we were welcomed as if they were family. For the new arrivals, a time was set for us to decide and pay for the excursions we wanted to go on. In the meantime, we admire what we have overboard.
First stop - in the evening of the same day - Zheltovodsky Makaryevsky Monastery. This is a functioning convent, not far from N. N. , near the village of Makaryev. Once there was the Yellow Lake, over time the lake connected with the Volga River and now the Makaryevsky Monastery is located on the left bank of the Volga and the water rises to the very walls of the monastery. The first mention of the monastery in the 14th century, it is considered its foundation.
We sailed to the monastery in the evening at sunset, beautifully, a short stop for inspection. But something went wrong and we didn’t get to the monastery, we walked around (we didn’t pay for the tour), we were in the monastery, and many fellow travelers too.
In the evening, as always, a concert, meeting with the creative team and the cruise leader, Alexei - active, groovy, cheerful, everything foreshadowed to be interesting and we were not mistaken.
And again in the morning, before breakfast, coffee (the ship is different, the company is different), it seems that many people have it (as beginners), we still don’t know much, about many things. The cabin is next to the bar and the smell of coffee raised even me, and we go to the bar for coffee.
Today, on our route, the miracle of the island-town of Sviyazhsk. In the meantime, we are enjoying the sun, sunbathing a little, exploring the boat and admiring nature from the ship.
So we were greeted from the shore
And this is how A. S. Pushkin in "The Tale of Tsar Saltan":
In the light, what a miracle:
An island in the sea lies,
The city stands on the island.
Sviyazhsk is a small island, not far from Kazan, and dates back to the time of Ivan the Terrible. The tsar repeatedly tried to take Kazan, but it was impossible to defeat the fortified city without an additional stronghold, and Ivan Vyrodkov (the first known Russian military engineer) was entrusted with building a new city. The decision was as follows: to cut down the fortress in the Uglich region, number it, melt it down and already assemble it on Round Hill. So in 1551, on the banks of the rivers Pike, Sviyaga and Volga, a whole wooden fortress city with oak walls, golden-domed churches, high towers and bell towers grew up.
Over its almost 500-year history, Sviyazhsk has experienced a lot: ups and downs, poverty and wealth, fame and obscurity, reverence and reproach... In 1956, when the Kuibyshev reservoir was launched, the water rose, Sviyazhsk became an island and it was only on a boat or ship. In 2008, Sviyazhsk was connected to the mainland by a dam. In 2011, the dam was divided by a canal, a bridge was made, and now you can freely drive up to the island by bus or car.
At the shore we are met by the modern building of the river station of Sviyazhsk and a very pretty station square. This is the miracle our ship moored.
Old temples and buildings were restored, and Sviyazhsk received the status of a museum-reserve. In 2017, the unusual architectural complex was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Everything is neat, clean, after all, not in vain UNESCO.
We rise into the city and the first church of "Konstantin and Helena" in front of us is one of the earliest buildings, it was built by order of Ivan the Terrible immediately after the construction of the fortress.
Let's go to the central square, on it, as always, there is a fire tower. Sviyazhsk is an open-air museum, many of its buildings are of historical value. Here is the merchant's house. The lower floor is brick, there were utility rooms, shops. And on the second, wooden floor, a family lived. Now this building is a hotel.
The island is actively undergoing restoration work and places where the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Sophia Church and other temples, marked with commemorative plaques, used to stand.
Right behind the Horse Yard, the Sviyazhsky John the Baptist Monastery appeared before us, it was founded simultaneously with the city - in 1551.
The complex of the current John the Baptist Monastery includes:
Trinity Church - part of those buildings that were originally transported to the island by water? and this is the only building left on the island from that time.
One of the outstanding temples of Sviyazhsk is the magnificent Cathedral of Our Lady of Joy of All Who Sorrow built of red brick, built in 1898-1906 and is part of the complex.
Stages of restoration
And another ancient temple - the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
In the city, in some places on the fences there are Stories of the Scientist Cat. Poems are written on the tablets and it is proposed to guess the riddle. All tablets are numbered and scattered around the island.
And here is the goldfish tangled in the net:
The island is interesting and there were several options for excursions, we took a general overview of the island and therefore did not get to the Assumption Monastery of the Mother of God, it was founded in 1555, four years after the founding of the city.
We looked from afar - the monastery is large and it is not interesting to look at the raid, soon the departure and we go to the shore.
On the shore there is a museum of archeology, and next to it there is a boat (boat) of Paul I.
We say goodbye to the miracle island, then - Kazan.
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