There is a legend about a beautiful and rich city called Kitezh that once existed for a long time. But, according to the same legend, during the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the city mysteriously disappeared somewhere. Someone thinks that he went under the water, others assume that Kitezh rose to the sky, others believe that he could be transported into some other parallel reality.
This story is a bit like the legend of Atlantis. And the city of Kitezh is often called the Russian Atlantis. True, if in the case of Atlantis, the people and the city were sunk due to their unbridled behavior, then Kitezh, on the contrary, was saved from the cruel conquerors. The inhabitants of the city were distinguished by their spiritual purity and good thoughts.
The city appeared thanks to the Russian prince Yuri Vsevolodovich Vladimirsky. During his return from his trip to Novgorod, the prince stopped near the beautiful Lake Svetloyar. The prince liked the picturesque local views so much that he decided to build a city here. It was erected quickly enough, and six white-stone churches were erected inside. And this despite the fact that white stone was an expensive material in those days, builders used it very sparingly.
Lake Svetloyar itself or Svetly Yar has also long been known as an energetically strong place. Until now, scientists have not figured out how the lake appeared: due to the melting of glaciers, the dissolution of rocks or the fall of someone's meteorite. However, it is known that even in pre-Christian times, sanctuaries dedicated to the god Yarila were arranged here. In honor of him, the lake was named Svetly Yar.
There are other Slavic legends, according to which the god Kitovras, half man, half horse, was born on these lands. He supposedly knew about all the secrets of the universe. Also another god was born here - Kvasura, he brought people joy, joy and wisdom.
And this amazing place was what Batu Khan was looking for during his attack on the Russian principalities in 1237. There was also a version that significant wealth was hidden in the city of Kitezh. In a word, Batu decided to take possession of the city by all means. To find the way to the city, he took a local, Grishka Kuterma, and began to torture him. He could not stand the torture and led the Tatar-Mongol army directly to the walls of Kitezh.
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The townspeople, seeing that a large and well-armed army was approaching them, decided not to surrender. But they also had nothing to fight with Batu's soldiers. Therefore, all the people went to the walls of Kitezh and began to pray. And according to legend, at the moment of this universal sincere prayer for salvation, the city began to go under the water of Lake Svetloyar. The Tatar-Mongols, seeing such a miracle, rushed away.
Since then, there have been many legends and stories about the city, books have been written about it, songs have been composed and films have been made. Of course, scientists have repeatedly investigated its bottom. True, they have never found at least some evidence of the existence of the legendary Kitezh. But during the next such study, they sank to the bottom of the lakes with a geolocator. Then an anomalous oval-shaped zone was discovered, which was covered with a multi-meter sedimentary layer. The signals from there were dull, which could indicate the presence of the ruins of an ancient city in this place.
Also, local residents of the nearby village of Vladimirskoye tell stories about strange guests. Allegedly, from time to time, people dressed in old clothes come to local shops. They pay with brand new coins of the 13th century. Others report cases of disappearance of people resting at Lake Svetloyar. Those disappear for several hours, or even days. Then they cannot remember where they were and what they saw. One of these “disappeared” people later said that he had visited the same legendary Kitezh. I even wanted to treat me to the local bread, but as soon as I took out a piece, the bread immediately turned to stone.