The legends relate to both completely mythical times (even before the foundation of the Biysk fortress) and quite modern ones from the Soviet and recent Russian past.
The editors have collected the most interesting legends about Biysk. Let's make a reservation right away: we are not claiming that all this is true. But these stories deserve to be told.
Ob arrow
This is not a Biysk, but a general Altai legend. But since the birth of the Ob takes place, as it were, on the territory of the city, then let it be Biysk. The legend has its origins in the beliefs of the indigenous Altaians - Oirots, Teles and others. From them it passed to the Russian Old Believers-Kerzhaks and then received general fame.
The year when the Ob becomes shallow on the arrow (that is, at the confluence) will be the year of the end of the present world (in fact, the Christians equated this with the apocalyptic prophecies of John the Theologian). The strongest warriors of all nations will gather from all over the Earth, dead heroes will rise and the Last War will begin (among Christians, Armageddon). As a result, the present world will perish and a new one will be born.
The residents of the village of Odintsovsky Posad should have a particular interest in this legend - after all, it stands exactly at the confluence of Biya and Katun. That is, the alleged struggle between Light and Darkness will take place on their territory.
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Chud White-eyed
In ancient times, among the Altai mountains and forests lived a people - White-eyed Chud. They lived in holes that they dug right in the forest, between the trees. In the same place, they allegedly hid countless treasures under the ground … There were many jack-of-all-trades among the Chudi - and crafts were given to them, and they processed silver and gold, and iron.
But when the White Tsar decided to rule over the people, the Chudi did not like it. And the people decided to go deep underground, and the passages were closed with stones so that the White Tsar could not get to them. These entrances can now be found in different places across Altai. And so that no one could get into these entrances and find the white monster, the ancient people left there magicians-watchmen. A bright red moth snake guards the Chudi mines, which sprinkles poison in all directions. Come closer to her - and you will not avoid a terrible death. In the ancient Chud mines, an uninvited guest may stumble upon a giant snake-snake, which guards the farthest passages, beyond which is already the heart of the earth. It is difficult to see the snake, but an attentive traveler can notice its tracks: as if a log was being dragged along a dusty path. They say that the chud is gone, but will still return with all the underground treasures.
Mansion of the merchant Varvinsky
The mysteries are connected with the identity of the former owner of this beautiful mansion. Now it houses the Chuisky Tract Museum.
The mansion was built using the "waste brick" method: each brick was taken by a special person (he was then called a bumpkin) and thrown away. Bricks that did not break went to the construction. And for good reason. Once a tank entered this building at full speed - a window flew out and a scratch remained on the wall, but the building itself was not damaged.
There was no information about the life of Varvinsky himself, just as there was not even his initials left - only his surname. This gave rise to various historical investigations and excavations near the former mansion. In the 1970s, a tombstone dating from 1912 was discovered in the basement of the house. In addition to the date, the name of the Kremlin is carved on the slab, who he was, whether the owner of the mansion had anything to do with his death, is unknown.
The mansion is full of secrets and mysteries, as befits an old house. The museum workers decided to vacate the basement, clean, renovate, etc. Only 7 KAMAZ trucks were taken out of the basement. And when everyone was released, it turned out that this was not a basement at all, but an ordinary basement floor. The house is apparently a donkey, the soil there is unstable due to the proximity of the river. In the basement, there was a stove (it is quite possible that there was a kitchen), a servants' room, a laundry. Carved arches separated the rooms, but the main thing was the floor. It was not earthen (as in the basements), but brick, i.e. more like the ceiling of some room below. There was (as it should be) a ghost.
All this happened during construction work. It is interesting that the ghost did not frighten anyone and did not interfere with anyone, he just walked in the vacated rooms, as if he was glad that everything around was being put in order.
The strangeness of this house is the fact that the central staircase - "merchant" was used only by servants, the owners walked along the narrow side.
By the way, they say Varvinsky had a gorgeous library - the largest in the city, but it has not survived to this day. The fate of the merchant himself is also not known - after the revolution he sank into the water.
However, this house had many tenants before it was transferred to the museum. After 1917, the revolutionary Soviet court was located here. Since 1918, when the city was occupied by Kolchak, a representative office of the American firm "Sibunian" was located here, from 1919-21 - a military barracks, until 1926 an orphanage. And only then the museum.
Cannons of the Biysk Fortress
Cast at the Demidov plant in the Urals, these guns really stood guard over the fortress. They have been installed as a monument for over a hundred years. Previously, the guns had both carriages and wheels, but during the Soviet era they were handed over as unnecessary for scrap.
There is a legend that the cannons were originally installed so that the vents looked towards Mongolia. Then, in Soviet times, when preparing the visit of the Mongolian comrades, someone from the party leadership decided that the guests would have no more important task than to look at where the guns were turned. According to the urban legend, it was then that they were turned around - for a long time the cannons were looking towards … Barnaul. And now we have completely moved to a new place - in the square of the Biysk fortress.
Biysk prison castle
Now it is SIZO N-2 of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Altai Territory, and in fact, the historical building itself is the 1st regime building. Like the prison itself, it was built in the 18th century. There are even underground passages that were used to transfer prisoners from building to building. Nobody uses them today. Life threatening. Two legends are associated with the castle.
Allegedly, the stone prison was built with private money: the merchant's wife Elena Morozova, left a widow, brought the clerk closer to her. I brought it closer in every sense. He was not a miss and tried to make money wherever he could, for which he ended up in court. The verdict is two years of hard labor in the Far East. The merchant's wife rushed to the provincial prosecutor with a request to leave her beloved in the wooden prison of Biysk. Allegedly, for this, the prosecutor offered her to build a stone prison. However, according to documents from the archives, the building was built with public money.
The second legend is the White Lady. They say that one of the governors of the prison somehow found his wife with one of the prisoners. The lover received a bullet, and the deceived husband allegedly ordered his wife to be walled up in the wall of the basement. I'm alive. There are stories that the ghost periodically wanders the basements - where there are now punishment cells, which made several prisoners even go crazy.
Biysk Treasury Silver
November 1919. The remnants of Kolchak's troops are retreating throughout Siberia. On November 26, the White Guard detachment under the command of Captain Satunin leaves Biysk. The Kolchakites take with them the silver of the Biysk Treasury - nearly 360 pounds (this is about 6 tons) of a silver coin, and according to some information, even up to 1000 pounds of other values.
The detachment retreats along the Chuisky tract, towards the Mongolian border. On December 7, near the village of Shebalinoy (now the village of Shebalino), the Reds make an attempt to stop Satunin's detachment, but to no avail.
Further information differs. One by one in a battle near the village of Topuchaya Satunin was killed, by others he was killed by his own associates. Be that as it may, the detachment then split into two. The first detachment left in the direction of the Mongolian border, the second - to the village of Ust-Kan. Both detachments disappeared without a trace. Together with them, silver disappeared, which for almost a hundred years has been sought by both specialists and amateurs.
Author: Elena Melnikova. Photo: Maria Guseva
