Ancient cities always have their own terrible legends. Local historians Svetlana Pletneva and Valery ILYASOV spoke about ghosts and beliefs of Uralsk.
The groans of the defenders of the fortress
Yaitsky town was founded in 1584, but the official date is 1613. So it was called until 1775, but then, in order to erase the memory of the uprising of Yemelyan Pugachev among the people, at the behest of Empress Catherine II, the city became Ural. Located in the interfluve of the Urals and Chagan, the right tributary of which (Derkul) flows near the city.
As of January 1, 2014, the population of Uralsk is 278.1 thousand people. The length of the city from south to north is more than 8 kilometers, from west to east - about 20 kilometers.
“For more than 400 years, many mysterious and terrible events have taken place in Uralsk,” says Valery Ilyasov. - The most bloody are associated with the Pugachev rebellion, with the cruelty of Yemelyan Pugachev himself and the siege of the Yaik fortress. By November 1773 it was built in the oldest urban area - Kurenyi. And already from December 30 to April 16, 1774, the local garrison defended in it from the attack of Pugachev's troops. Inside the fortress there was the cathedral church of the Archangel Michael with a bell tower, in which ammunition was stored. The garrison was headed by Lieutenant Colonel Simonov, an inept military leader, and therefore Captain Andrei Krylov, the father of the famous fabulist Ivan Krylov, often took command. According to some researchers, it was Andrei Krylov who became the prototype of Ivan Kuzmich Mironov from Pushkin's story "The Captain's Daughter".
In February 1774, after an unsuccessful assault, Pugachev decided to blow up the bell tower with ammunition, digging it. But the besieged, warned by the defector, managed to take out ammunition from there, on February 18 the bell tower was blown up and destroyed. The cathedral survived. At the same time, 42 defenders of the fortress were killed, 13 were wounded, including Simonov. Pugachev never tired of organizing attacks on the fortress. Famine began in the garrison. The besieged ate all the horses and dogs, drank water mixed with clay. But the hungry soldiers and officers were able to hold out for another two months, and on April 16, 1773, General Mansurov's brigade liberated Yaitsky town and lifted the blockade of the fortress. By this time, out of 1,094 people, 150 defenders had died and 193 were injured.
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In Soviet times, they said that near the Mikhailo-Archangel Cathedral, in the place where the bell tower used to stand, at night in calm weather and before dawn, faint groans were heard.
“Sometimes, as if a faint bell ringing came right from the ground,” says Svetlana Pletneva. - If you hear this, you need to pray silently for the repose of the souls of the defenders of the Yaik fortress. Then everything stops.
The ghost of the archpriest
The story of a monk, whose ghost the Urals see at night in the same Kurenyi, is also connected with Emelyan Pugachev.
“We are talking about the ghost of Archpriest Vasily Zubov,” explains Svetlana Pletneva. - This belief is associated with the wedding of Pugachev, who called himself Emperor Peter III - the husband of Catherine II. Deciding to marry a local Cossack woman Ustinya Kuznetsova, the false Peter sent matchmakers to her father's house and received consent to the wedding. When the young people came to the Cathedral Archpriest Vasily Zubov, he refused them. Pugachev was already married and, according to church laws, could not get married with a living wife. The "emperor", falling into a rage, ordered the priest to be hanged. Pugachev and Ustinya were married by another priest - Sergei Mikhailov in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. Now in its place in Uralsk there is a monument to Pushkin.
In the role of the empress with the maids of honor from the local Cossacks, Ustinye did not have a chance to stay for long. Three months after the wedding, the rebellion was suppressed, Pugachev was captured, and his first wife, Sophia, with two daughters and a son and Kuznetsova, was exiled to the Kexholm fortress by the Senate. The house of Ustinya Kuznetsova has survived; it now houses the Pugachev Museum. The tomb of Vasily Zubov in the Archangel Michael Cathedral has also been preserved. It was opened even before the revolution and the remains of a young priest with light brown hair were found.
“There is a belief that the appearance of the ghost of Archpriest Vasily portends weather cataclysms,” continues Svetlana Pletneva. - Rain and hail or such a strong wind that the roof can blow off …
House of Karev
There are incomprehensible phenomena in Uralsk associated with later events. In the very center of the city on the former Bolshaya Mikhailovskaya Street (now Dostyk Avenue) there is a huge three-storey brick house. It is known as Karev's house.
“This building was the tallest at the time of its completion in 1900, it was built by one of the richest local merchants, Alexander Karev,” says Valery Ilyasov. - He invited all the city elite to the housewarming, champagne and vodka flowed like a river. The tables were laden with red fish, caviar, and the famous Ural pies with vyzhiga. Karev, having drunk a fair amount of joy, went out onto the balcony to greet the crowd gathered below, unexpectedly fell down and crashed to death. However, some argue that he did not fall by accident, but jumped on purpose. The merchant allegedly invested all his money in this house and was actually ruined. An indirect confirmation is the fact that after the death of the owner, the house was rented out in parts. The shops of the merchants Schmidt and Funk were located on the ground floor. And the descendants of Karev were forced to rent only small premises for their business. The second floor housed the officers' meeting, later - the commercial club. The third is the hotel rooms.
The inhabitants of this house did not see ghosts in it, but they heard something strange. From time to time there were knocks, creaks, someone's footsteps on different floors, and when you go out into the corridor, no one. Several times the night watchmen heard the crystal clinking of glasses and loud screams at night, but they knew for sure that there was no one in the building except for them …
Shadows of the Ataman House
The imagination of historians and simply curious townspeople still excites another building - the Ataman House.
“It was built in 1825 according to the project of the Italian military architect Dilmedino in the Venetian style of a palazzo,” explained Svetlana Pletneva. - Until 1830, the house belonged to the military chieftain Borodin. After his death and until 1917, he served as the residence of the order chieftains of the Ural Cossack army. The future emperors of Russia stayed in this luxurious mansion: Alexander II (in 1837), Nicholas II (in 1891). Famous writers have been here - Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Dal, Tolstoy, as well as the Kazakh khans of the Younger Zhuz. During the revolution, the house housed the commandant's office, in 1926 - a cavalry regiment, other military units and the House of Pioneers.
Svetlana Pletneva says that her friend, Vera Bochkareva, worked here as a pioneer leader and said that various objects were constantly disappearing in her office:
- Put a pen on the table or lipstick, turn away - lo and behold, they are gone! Directly some kind of poltergeist!
An elderly watchman warned Vera Bochkareva not to rush to search for her belongings right away. According to the old man, later they will find themselves. Usually it was …
Granny Gugnich
Another mystical phenomenon of Uralsk is associated with the history of the origin of the local Cossacks and the city itself.
- Cossacks still raise a toast at family celebrations in memory of grandmother Gugnich, - emphasizes Valery Ilyasov. - At the beginning of the 16th century, the Cossack Vasily Gugnya came from the Don to the banks of the Yaik (Ural) with thirty comrades and one Tatar (as it is said in archival documents). On the banks of the Yaik then three Nogai brothers lived in families, who came here after Tamerlane defeated the troops of the Khan of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh. The younger Nogai's wife was the future Gugniha. The Cossacks killed the Nogai, and the young beauty was taken prisoner and presented to her ataman.
Why is the local Cossacks so fond of Gugnih? According to Valery Ilyasov, the Cossacks had a dreadful custom: when they got together on their next campaign, they … killed their wives and children! So that those in their absence do not fall to the enemy.
“Gugnya fell in love with the young nogayka so much that he put an end to this bloody tradition,” continues Valery Ilyasov. - Therefore, the Cossacks, especially their wives, remember grandmother Gugnih with a kind word.
Svetlana Pletneva says that Gugnikha still appears to fishermen and tourists on the banks of the Urals:
- Suddenly a little old woman will appear - and suddenly she will disappear! Three years ago, even my nephew saw her in the afternoon (!). After that, he immediately married and lives in a happy marriage.
They say that those to whom she appeared will definitely be lucky in their personal lives. Because, they say, Gugnya really loved her. The Yaik Cossacks, if discord suddenly began in the family, mentally turned to grandmother Gugnikha - according to them, it helped.
Secrets of the gray-haired Yaik
There is enough in Uralsk and mysticism associated with the Urals itself.
- The Cossacks claim that under no circumstances should one swear on its banks, let alone scold the river, - Valery Ilyasov notes. - For this, the Urals can take revenge - or the offender will drown, or someone from his family …
There are many other secrets in the Urals: according to Svetlana Pletneva, her cousin uncle claimed to have seen … a mermaid in the Urals! But if the existence of mermaids is questionable for many, the Cossacks consider the brownie to be almost a member of the family. Cossacks living on the lower line (from Uralsk to Atyrau), in the villages of Serebryakovo, Bolshoy and Maly Chagan, Kolesovo, Yanaikino, Budarino, Kolovertnoye and others, leave a bowl of kaymak for the house-keeper overnight to appease him. And they say that in the morning they find the bowl empty.
- If the brownie, or, as he is called here, the owner, is full and satisfied, then it will be better to look after the house and the courtyard, - says Svetlana Pletneva. - And not to give him food - he will be offended and at night he will bite the cattle in the barn: the cows moo all night and you will not get milk from them.
In conclusion, Valery Ilyasov said that the Urals, undermining the covered shores, throws all sorts of ancient objects on the beach - arrowheads, belt buckles, coins, rings, fragments of ceramics. And he warned not to take them:
- It's not yours. There is a belief: if a person takes a found item and brings it home, then nightmares begin to torment him … It is best to give the finds to a local museum.
Newspaper "Karavan", No. 24 of June 20, 2014
