Daria Nikolaevna Saltykova, nicknamed Saltychikha, before marriage, Ivanova (born March 11 (22), 1730 - died November 27 (December 9) 1801) - a Russian landowner.
… On the night of October 7, 1768, the entire Ivanovo monastery spent in kneeling prayer of repentance. The night service turned into Matins, that - into Mass. And only when, at three o'clock in the afternoon on October 7, several young nuns fainted from nervous exhaustion and exorbitant prayers, did the service end. Everyone was told to go to their cells and not stick out their noses until further notice. This means that the arrival of the mysterious prisoner was expected again. The nuns, accustomed to obedience, of course, did everything as Mother Abbess ordered, the doors of the cells closed, the communion of the sisters of God ceased. However, all the same, the next day, what happened was not kept secret. And the nun sisters secretly whispered:
- The murderer itself was brought to the monastery! And they lowered her into an earthen bag!
The terrible landowner Saltychikha has been called the murderer for six years in Moscow and the surrounding area. Of course, she also had an Orthodox name. She was in the parental home, Daria Nikolaevna Ivanova, having married Saltykova. She married at the age of 20 in 1750. The Ivanov family was known for being artistic - not rich, not noble. But Gleb Aleksandrovich Saltykov, the captain of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, belonged to one of the noble and wealthy families of Russia.
One of his relatives became the favorite of the future Empress Catherine II, it was rumored that the real father of Catherine's first-born heir, the future Emperor Paul I. Isn't that why, being a widow six years after her marriage, the Moscow rich noblewoman Daria Nikolaevna Saltykova decided that everything was allowed for her In this life?
She rolled balls, drank and drank herself, arranged hunts in the estates near Moscow. But overnight she discovered that it turns out that even her courtyard girls are sometimes happier than her - the girls have husbands, and they sleep not in cold beds, but with her husband under a warm barrel. And even at the luxurious hunting balls, none of the men looks at Daria herself, and they will stop driving at speed - she is inevitably aging.
It was with this sexual hunger that the eccentricities of Daria Nikolaevna Saltykova began. At first, she beat young and beautiful girls on the cheeks, sent them to the stable to whip married young women with a whip. Then it seemed not enough - Saltychikha began to beat the unfortunate women with her own hands, now with an iron, now with a log, now with an ax - and all to the blood, and often to death.
The sight of blood inflamed, and Saltychikha ordered his assistants to slaughter the victim more slowly. During this, she herself rolled her eyes, bit her lip, and often screamed, holding on to her own breast or to the woman's place. And everyone understood - the murderer received true pleasure from the torture blood of the victim.
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And all this happened in the very center of Moscow! Saltykova's estate was located on Kuznetsky Most, starting from the place where it approaches Lubyanskaya Square, and ending at the corner where Rozhdestvenka crosses it. But a special torture house, where Saltychikha received her pleasures, was located exactly in the place where the exit from the Kuznetskiy Most metro station is now. Can you imagine what kind of energy is there?
True, the Bloody Lady (Saltychikha received such a nickname) did the massacres not in the Moscow estate, but in Troitsky (now it is Troitsky Park in Teply Stan). It is quite symbolic that the Saltychikha estate on the left (Lubyanka) side was adjacent to the former torture order, which had been transformed by the 17th century into the Office of Secret Affairs; in the twentieth century, the buildings of the Lubyanka - the NKVD of the USSR appeared on the same place. And in Troitsky Teply Stan in the twentieth century, right in the estate of Saltychikha was located … again, the NKVD administration. As you can see, in all ages blood is for blood …
However, in the life of Saltychikha there were gaps when she cooled to sadistic amusements. 1751 - on her estate in Teply Stan, Daria Saltykova met a young landowner neighbor Nikolai Andreevich Tyutchev (later the grandfather of the famous poet Fyodor Tyutchev) and became his mistress. In Moscow, Nikolai Andreevich lived in Trekhsvyatsky lane and was a parishioner of the Church of the Three Saints on Kulishki (again - Kulishki!) - again, not so far from Kuznetsky Most. So there were no hindrances for meetings. But Nikolai Andreevich for some reason appeared in the house of the Bloody Lady very rarely. Apparently, he felt something eerie in the soul of his mistress. It was then that dark days again came for her serfs.
And once the day of the "ninth wave" came and forever covered the Bloody Lady with an impenetrable veil of satanic anger and hatred: Tyutchev told her that he intended to end all relations, because he was getting married, and out of great love, to a poor but meek girl Pelageya Denisovna Panyutina. They said that for several days Saltychikha howled in a torture shed on Kuznetsky Most. Didn't drink, didn't eat. But gathering her strength, she ordered to serve Nicholas and his bride Pelageya … a funeral mass.
Of course, few of the clergy would go to such blasphemy - to funeral service for living people. But the Bloody Lady had her own priest who served in the village of Troitskoye and asceticised in some church on Kulishki.
Wasn't the evil genius of that place inciting the priest to demonic games when he, together with Daria Saltykova, watched with enthusiasm as she ordered to beat pregnant women to death or rip up the bellies of pregnant women?.. And were Saltychikha's visits to peasant huts in Troitskoye, when She, lining up the children, counted every sixth and ordered the priest to perform the funeral service for the baby, after which the poor child was thrown into boiling water?.. In the end, God did not give Saltychikha his children, why live as a stranger ?!
She also decided not to spare Tyutchev. First, she lured Nikolai into one of the sheds and ordered him to prop up the door with logs and set fire to the shed. Let the insidious lover burn alive! However, the unexpected happened: one serf girl, took pity on the poor fellow, and released him by opening the window. The girl, of course, was ruined. But serfs were sent to the estate of the Panyutins, the parents of Pelageya, with instructions to fill up the chimney so that the whole family would die to death. But again, Saltychikha was not lucky - the serfs did not fulfill her order. They simply fled, hiding from the lady's anger.
And for the third time the plan of the Bloody Lady failed. Upon learning that the young were going to go on a honeymoon to Nikolai's estate in the Bryansk province, the murderer sent her loyal peasants to kill the offenders on the road under the guise of robbers. However, someone managed to notify the Tyutchevs. And the attackers were twisted by the postal guard.
In the house of Daria Nikolaevna Saltykova, a truly devil's life began. Breaking away for the failure with the Tyutchevs, the lady tortured the serfs.
She ordered to burn hair on live girls, to burn pubes. Then she invented the most "tasty" thing: having ordered the male bodyguards to hold the victim hand and foot, she cut out the genitals of men and women. Someone had to be responsible for her humiliation. Let not Tyutchev and his wife, but then other men and women!
Tyutchev, in horror and rage, submitted a memo to Catherine II. That year, 1762, she had just ascended the throne and personally dealt with complaints. It turned out that about 20 tearful complaints had already been received in the Secret Order against Saltykova, and they came to the name of the former Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Catherine also found two papers filed personally in her name. It turns out that the fugitive serfs of Saltykova, Savely Martynov and Nikolai Ilyin managed to get to Petersburg and filed a petition, which ended up with the new ruler right on the table.
Catherine was horrified by what she had read. Having ascended the Russian throne, she wanted to introduce humane order, corresponded with European encyclopedic scholars - and suddenly such a bloody Asiatic! And where - not in the backwoods, but in the center of Moscow!
The investigation began immediately, but it lasted more than six years. Hundreds of witnesses were interviewed. They found out about 139 ruined lives, but only the terrible murders of 30 serfs were able to prove. Every day, the investigation was put spokes in the wheels, because the Saltykov family was the most influential, and the Bloody Lady herself had millions that she could spend on bribery. But the favorite Saltykov by that time had not been of interest to Catherine II for a long time, so the Empress, despite the pressure of the Saltykovs, preferred to bring the case to court.
Some of the murders, the terrible details of which surfaced during the investigation, chilled the blood with their atrocities. For example, Saltychikha, famous for her remarkable strength, personally killed the serf Larionova. She pulled out all the hair on her head and ordered her assistants to put the coffin with the body of the murdered young woman out in the cold. An infant Larionova was put on her body, which was frozen.
According to the testimony of the peasants, the murderer took pleasure in torturing and tormenting her victims. She amused herself by dragging the unfortunate by the ears with hot hair tongs. Among the murdered ladies were several young girls who were preparing for the wedding, pregnant women and two 12-year-old girls.
After reading all the papers of the investigation, Ekaterina washed her hands for a long time almost in boiling water, saying:
- This is not a woman, not a man, this is a freak of the human race!
The court, represented by the juridical board, passed a death sentence to the "freak". It is curious that the Secret Chancellery, considering the case, was located in the Lubyanka, practically … over the fence with the Saltykova estate on Kuznetskiy Most. So we didn't have to go far during the investigation. But…
The Senate, in which there were many Saltykovs and their relatives-in-laws, was able to replace the death penalty with "beating with a whip and 10 years of hard labor in the settlement." Catherine did not go against the Senate, but made her decision: the shameful "civil-estate execution" on Red Square at the pillar of shame and life imprisonment without any right to communicate with anyone. Translated into modern language, this meant that Saltychikha would be tied to a pillory on Red Square, the sword over her head would be broken, showing that she was devoid of nobility, and imprisoned in a monastery.
And on October 7, 1768, Darya Saltykova in a canvas shroud was brought to Execution Ground, tied to a pillory, given a lit candle in her hands, and a plaque was hung around her neck: "The torturer and murderer." Then, to the approving hooting of the crowd above her, they broke the sword. It seemed that the entire capital had gathered then on Red Square. People sat on the roofs of nearby houses, climbed trees.
Those who were closer spat in Saltychikha, shouted swear words, cursed, wept with pity for her ruined victims. Screams and sobs mixed in an eerie roar, but suddenly it was blocked by a wild cry - Saltychikha's shouting. Scary, frenzied, but not repentant.
The crowd fell silent. What does it mean?! It turned out that the first of her henchmen was thrown at the feet of the murderer, who, according to a court order, were to be beaten with a whip. The blow, the second - the first blood appeared on the shoulders of the punished - and Saltychikha howled in ecstasy …
Then other assassins fell under the whips, their nostrils were ripped out, they were branded with a red-hot iron. In the end they branded and beat the priest from Kulishki. Everything was mixed: screams, cries of pain and horror. But the howl that sounded at the beginning remained the most terrible memory of everyone who was then on Red Square.
Darya Nikolaevna Saltykova was brought directly from the Execution Ground to the Ivanovsky Monastery. That is why, even on the night before, the nuns were ordered to diligently recite prayers of repentance. Empress Catherine ordered to put Saltychikha in an earthen bag forever. All her henchmen went on stage to Siberia, where they perished. Daria, on the other hand, had to atone for her sins on bread and water in a deep, narrow earthen dungeon, called the pit of repentance. She could see the light only when a mug with a piece of bread was lowered to her once a day. Then a candle stub was tied to the mug, which burned out very quickly.
But the Saltykovs did not calm down either. They were still able to procure a relief for the monster in the skirt. It was transferred to a brick basement - a semi-basement with a tiny barred window. However, this did not have a pacifying effect on the witch. On the contrary! Now she howled days and nights, banged her head against the wall, when she saw someone, she cursed the most rude obscenities, spat, trying to hit a person.
And in such conditions, on bread and water, with rain and snow falling into her cell, she was able to last another 11 years! Moreover, she was able in some sophisticated way to seduce the sentry who was on duty at her door and give birth to a child from him! The soldier, of course, was driven through the ranks and sent to a penal company. The child was sent to an orphanage. But what could be done with the most abnormal devil ?! Almost nothing…
Daria Nikolaevna Saltykova died on November 27, 1801. She was in her seventy-second year.
It is not surprising that, even when she was gone in this world, on the full moon, eerie sounds came from the cell. The nuns could only be baptized. Not finding peace in death, Saltychikha screamed at night, driving everyone into cold sweat. Sometimes this witch howled at two voices from two places - from the pit of repentance and the basement at the same time. Evil multiplied …
They say that to this day, in the vicinity of today's Zabelin Street, you can meet a strange shadow with an iron bar in hand. Looking closer, the oncoming ones see that blood is dripping from the twig. And how could it be otherwise, because this is the same beloved iron rod, with which Saltychikha loved to tear up serfs …
E. Korovina