DEAD PLACE
Anomalous zones, or, as they used to say, black spots, people have noticed for a long time. It would seem that an ordinary place is the same as all the others, but unpleasant events and incidents constantly occur on it. People get into trouble there, get crippled, or even die.
The most disastrous place in Voronezh is considered to be the crossroads on Zastava Square (the intersection of Plekhanovskaya and Donbasskaya streets). Several "houses of suffering" - a prison, a hospital, a morgue - have gathered here in a single ensemble. The negative energy that these establishments exude is deposited in a powerful layer at the intersection. Traffic accidents, pedestrian collisions occur very often here, which often end in death. Priests regularly go to the crossroads, but even the holy fathers fail to relieve it of a heavy burden, because the “houses of suffering” remain in the same place.
Evil Dead Men in the Park Durova
There is no more ominous place in Voronezh with which so many ghosts and the revenge of the dead for disturbed peace would be associated, as the Park of the Living and the Dead (aka Park named after Durov, Park of the Leninsky District). But before acquainting readers with the nightmares and horrors that ordinary Voronezh residents have witnessed, it is worth telling a little about the history of the park.
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Fun on the bones
A park in the circus area was created in 1940 on the site of the Mitrofanevsky cemetery, the last burial in which was made in 1935. After the cemetery was closed, the Soviet government decided to use the tombstones for the needs of the city. Mostly they ended up in the private sector - streets and stairs leading down to the river were paved with slabs.
A large landscaped park became a favorite place for recreation for Voronezh residents until the end of the 80s.
The peace of the dead from the Mitrofanievsky cemetery was disturbed repeatedly after the creation of the park: in 1973 during the construction of the circus, in 1986 during the construction of an underground passage, at the beginning of the 2000s during the construction of the Europe shopping center.
Everyone knows that in the 20th century, ghosts in the park were observed by townspeople very often, especially in the first years after its creation. The gloomy shadows of the dead wandered silently along the paths, not striving, however, to cause any harm to the living and not coming into contact with the townspeople.
Revenge of the dead
But more trouble happened with the tombstones. Plates appeared not only in the streets of the private sector, but also in the courtyards of residential buildings - what to do, then it was the time of atheists. However, after a year or two, people suddenly began to throw strong age-old slabs into the street.
It turned out that in those courtyards where the tombstones were laid, misfortunes began to occur one after another - the only breadwinner in the family slipped on the stove, fell, hit his head on a stone and died in the hospital, then the whole family got burned, then one after another children began to hurt. They say that there was not a single house with a slab from the Mitrofanievsky cemetery, which would not have been touched by trouble.
“A family lived next door to us,” said the now deceased grandmother Maria, a resident of the private sector. - The guy brought them on a cart as many as three slabs to pave the yard. The mother cursed, ordered to take out the plates, but the father, he was a party member, intervened and ordered to leave. Less than a month later, the eldest son in the family fell ill with pneumonia, the one who brought the plates, and soon died. Next, my father broke his leg, it did not grow together correctly, then they broke it three times, so he remained disabled. Well, when they discovered tuberculosis in the youngest daughter, the mother did not listen to anyone, called the men, gave them half a liter, and they pulled the slabs out of the yard and carried them away from the house - they threw them into the stream. And she went to church and ordered a magpie for the repose by the names that were carved on the plates. Exactly 40 days later, my daughter was on the mend,sent her to a sanatorium in the Crimea, where she recovered.
Praskovya s Velvet Hill
By the way, gravestones, which served as steps of stairs, could be observed in considerable numbers even 7-10 years ago. The most famous of these stairs is the staircase on the street. Velvet Bugor. For many years, local residents saw on it at night a ghostly girl who was nicknamed Praskovya by her name, which was carved on the stone on which she always sat. The ghost did not touch anyone, only people heard him crying at night.
Someone once guessed - he copied the name engraved on the plate and went to church, ordering a funeral service. Soon Praskovya disappeared.
This is how the circus turned out
Voronezh residents say that during the construction of the Europe shopping center, workers often fell into pits, were injured, cut themselves, and some then refused to work at the facility at all. In the families of the builders, problems also began.
And about the Voronezh circus, all the trainers of the country said: they don't like animals to work here, because they feel the energy of the cemetery.
MONK, GUARDING THE TREASURE IN VORONEZH CATACOMBS
The Voronezh catacombs, which once connected monasteries to escape in case of an attack on the city, served as an inexhaustible source of legends and myths in Voronezh in the 20th century. There was not a single boy who did not look for the entrances to the catacombs. By the way, many found them.
Andrei, now a sedate man, a father of two children, said that in the 80s near the Chernavsky Bridge there was a "hole" that led to the center, many more made their way into the catacombs from Children's Square, exploring the underground world of Voronezh along long winding passages.
- The guys were all looking for a passage under the reservoir, they said, and such was. But if the passage once existed, then it could have been under the river, and when the water supply was poured, most likely, it collapsed,”recalls Andrey. - They said that in the catacombs we often hear incomprehensible sounds and even groans, sometimes we saw frightening shadows on the walls. They said that this is the soul of some monk wandering underground, guarding the church treasures hidden there. I didn't believe in stories, because I was a Komsomol member and an atheist, and I asked the guys when they would go to the catacombs again.
They decided to go at night, because, we reasoned, what kind of ghosts are they?
They walked, of course, with lanterns, and suddenly the elder, who had been here many times, stopped in amazement - the underground tunnel was bifurcating, although earlier in this place there was one continuous corridor.
- He was not here, I give a grudge, - he swore like a boy. - How many times went - was not.
It became scary, although no one admitted it.
The underground corridor that appeared unexpectedly from where was much narrower and lower than the main one, only one person could pass. It seemed that the entrance to the maze that had just opened was knocked out in the wall on purpose - it was uneven, more like a hole. Andrey and another guy volunteered to go see what was there.
- We walked along a very narrow passage, the walls directly clamped us. It began to seem that someone was following us. I looked around several times - no one, - Andrei recalls. - Sashka, who was walking in front, suddenly offered to return. I immediately agreed, because my heart began to be constrained by a previously unfamiliar animal fear. I turned 90 degrees and suddenly saw in front of me a black silhouette in a monk's attire. In surprise, he dropped the lantern and yelled. My friend also screamed, tried to shine a flashlight at the ghost, but I blocked the passage, and we could not see the ghost.
The monk sighed, leaned over to the dropped lantern, then straightened up and took a step forward. It seemed to me that he just passed through me. I felt it directly - a burning cold passed through my body. Without hesitation, I rushed to the exit, shouting: "Sasha, let's run!"
When we reached the main corridor, the boys were not there. It became even worse, and we silently, without looking back, rushed outside.
The guys were on the surface. It turns out, hearing our wild screams, they got scared no less than ours and all as one jumped upstairs.
At first they believed our story, but when the first fears subsided, they began to laugh. However, no one climbed into the catacombs a second time.
A few days later, someone from our company finally decided to return to the dungeon. But that branch from the main corridor was not found, although they ransacked almost every centimeter of the wall with their hands. Although, it seems to me, the guys were afraid to go far - they walked about five meters and returned, - says Andrey.
In his opinion, by some strange coincidence they found themselves in a secret corridor that led to the treasure.
MYSTERIOUS UNDERGROUND RIVER COMING SOON TO THE SURFACE
Many residents of Voronezh are convinced that underground rivers flow under the city, and several of them. They are the causes of asphalt failures and rapidly collapsing highways.
The Diggers said that they managed to find an underground river in the Northern microdistrict, which flows into the Don, without coming to the surface even at the confluence.
Another mysterious river flows in the private sector of Voronezh, called the "Old City", near Bolshaya Streletskaya Street. Houses that fall on the riverbed give cracks in the walls within six months or a year, the foundation becomes unstable. One of these houses for three apartments in the 90s was built for wealthy people by an enterprising Voronezh resident on the site of a certain large puddle, which the locals called a "lake". The house is simply falling apart because of the diverging walls, and attempts to restore it are ineffective.
In some places, along the course of the river, water even breaks free, appearing in the literal sense of the word from under the ground and disappearing there. Officially, these surface manifestations of the river are considered to be drainage streams. However, even in the driest summer, when the rains do not fall for weeks, the streams do not dry out at all.
Despite the presence of their own underground river, for a long time Voronezh residents used only the water of the Voronezh River for drinking and domestic needs, being unable to get it from wells due to the deep occurrence of underground waters. However, their deep location does not exclude the existence of an underground river.
The biggest danger of such a river is that over the years the water rises closer to the surface. The actively built up private sector and the emergence of multi-storey buildings here may soon suffer from the waters of an underground river. Perhaps even this generation of Voronezh residents will see the river in its full glory. In the meantime, we can find a decent name for her.
BIG BROTHER IS FOLLOWING YOU, OR WHAT IS REALLY LOOKING FOR ON Kirov
A new legend was born in Voronezh the other day. Rather, it took a long time to create, as befits such a complex folk legend, but acquired real features in the summer of 2017. The residents of Voronezh have finally figured out that every year they are looking for workers on Kirov Street. Repair of the heating main, breakthrough of the water supply - we no longer believe in these "fairy tales"!
It has already become a tradition that every summer, since 2009, street Kirov, even if recently new asphalt was laid here. The inhabitants of the capital of the Chernozem Region have laughed all these years - they are looking for a treasure. And the company, which is engaged in repair work on the central street of the city, tried to dispel rumors about the search for the treasure, convincing people that they were just changing pipes - but who would believe in such nonsense?
In fact, on Kirov Street they are looking for not a treasure, but a lost line of secret government communications, which led from the tower at Devitsky exit either to the building of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on Lenin Square, or to the "gray house" of the KGB on the street. Volodarsky, they told me recently under a terrible secret that everyone already knows.
They say that in the 60s and 70s, the tower near the "Devichka" served as an observation platform for intelligence officers. At the very top of the failed Stalinist skyscraper, day and night they monitored the KBKhA plant, where engines for spacecraft were created. From the tower there were good views of other enterprises working for the defense industry. Everything, as usual, was under control.
In the 90s, the observation platform was liquidated, and even the talk about the fact that the KGB was always watching you from the girl fell silent. And what was there to follow then?
At the beginning of the 2000s, they remembered the special line and decided to destroy it out of harm's way, so they began to dig on Kirov. True, some say that no one is going to destroy it, but, on the contrary, the line was needed in connection with the accidents of spaceships due to defective Voronezh engines.
Whether we found this line or not, we'll find out next year.
BURNED MONUMENTS
Monuments, sculptures and monuments have always bore the imprint of some kind of mystery and mysticism. Even in ancient Greek myths, there is a legend about Pygmalion, who created a beautiful statue - the girl Galatea and fell in love with his creation. Touched by such selfless love, the goddess Aphrodite revived the statue.
Voronezh monuments, maybe not as legendary as the ancient Greek ones, but no less interesting. In addition, everything takes time, which gradually creates unusual myths and legends around the eternal.
Therapeutic chair No. 0001, which relieves greed, is installed in a public garden near the regional government (Lenin Square, 1). If you touch the chair with your palms, then you can only partially get rid of greed. To completely free yourself from an impartial character trait, you need to sit on a chair. Recently, visiting the monument has become popular among newlyweds - brides are seated on a chair by the groom so that he does not "nach" money and spend everything on the family.
By the way, when the monument was unveiled, Governor Alexei Gordeev did not hesitate to sit on a chair himself. True, not all officials followed his example.
The idea of the sculpture belongs to the Voronezh artist Alexander Nozhkin. The idea of the tragically deceased artist was brought to life by sculptors Sergei Gorshkov and Yuri Astapchenko. The opening of the monument took place in 2011.
On the street Plekhanovskaya between the bus stops "Zastava Square" and "Koltsovskaya Street" there is a monument to the Stranger. A lonely girl sits alone on a Viennese chair. Next to her is another similar chair, over the back of which a man's jacket is casually thrown. If you sit down and look into the face of a Stranger, you can get rid of melancholy after parting with your beloved (beloved).
The monument was erected in 2008 by the private order of the owner of the nearby Hermitage interior boutique Alexander Bubnov. The author of the sculpture is the Voronezh artist Yuri Astapchenko.
Monument to the professor and student at the entrance to the Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. In order not to fail the exam or test, on the eve of a severe test, you must definitely go to the monument and touch the teacher's hand - a positive result on the exam is guaranteed! By the way, the sculptural composition also includes a free stool - if you sit on it, then it is quite possible to recharge with knowledge - at least for one day.
The monument was opened in 2011. The prototype of the scientist was the legendary university professor, architect Nikolai Troitsky, who created the post-war appearance of Voronezh.
THE UNSOLVED MYSTERY OF THE GRANDMA REGULATOR
A living legend lives in Voronezh, and not some ghost or a bastard - a traffic controller grandmother. For many years, an unknown elderly grandmother has taken to the busy streets of Voronezh and regulate the flow of cars. She appears unexpectedly, like a superman, as soon as a major accident or huge traffic jams occur somewhere.
When grandma took to the streets of the city, no one remembers - either in the 90s, or in the 2000s. You could see it on Zastava Square, at the intersection of Koltsovskaya and Plekhanovskaya, Moskovsky Prospekt and Truda Prospekt and in other places where traffic is most active and accidents often occur.
The drivers said that my grandmother absolutely correctly regulates the flow of cars. Rumors about her were different. Someone believed that after the war she worked as a real traffic controller, and the old people recalled that they saw her young on the streets of the city with a baton in her hands. Others argued that the grandmother's whole family died at the crossroads near Zastava Square, the old woman's psyche could not stand it, and now she goes there every day to prevent new troubles.
When they tried to find out who she was, the old woman invariably answered:
- She's a fool! Go, don't interfere with work!
But he talks with the drivers willingly, but - to the point!
Somehow my grandmother disappeared, and the Voronezh residents became agitated. Is she really dead? On the streets of the capital of Chernozem region, impostors began to appear, repeating the "feat" of the grandmother at the crossroads, but no one could replace her - it was not so easy to become a recognized "urban madman".
In 2015, my grandmother took to the road again. She did not die, and it turns out that she did not forget the traffic rules - she again began to manage the road.
“She is not so simple,” they say about her in Voronezh. - By the way, they bring the traffic controller to the place in a cool car with thieves' license plates. This is no accident."
Recently, the author of this article noticed an old woman in the minibus window. Someone behind his back said:
- The grandmother is not real. Aliens are exploring the city under the guise of a city madman, a friend from the FSB told me. She was first noticed after a UFO landed on Mashmet. But it is impossible to catch her. As soon as security officials appear on the horizon, the grandmother disappears.
“Nonsense,” said another passenger. - This is the daughter-in-law of Raisa Gorbacheva, the wife of Titarenko, but I don’t remember which one. I spoke to her personally.
“What nonsense are you talking about! - a respectable man intervened in the conversation. - What daughter-in-law? Grandma is the mother of a tragically deceased traffic cop. She would be glad not to go to intersections, but if she doesn’t go, her son comes to her at night and reproaches that, they say, she didn’t go, and there was an accident. She is a dependent person, they order her.