Legends say about the presence of an underground lake and a passage under the Vyatka river
During one of his working trips, the journalist of the Gorod Kirov portal managed to drive through Kirov with a group of federal correspondents, including from Moscow. We were accompanied by a guide who, as a feature of our city, formerly called Vyatka, presented the underground passages - they supposedly stretch underground for kilometers and form a whole network. In Soviet times, residents of Kirov claimed that they personally found evidence of these legends. For example, a similar road supposedly existed on the site of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, where the Philharmonic Society now stands. And there, during the construction of the playground, the workers fell through.
But is it worth believing such stories, and are there any facts today confirming the existence of underground passages near Kirov? We decided to investigate this issue.
It turns out that in Kirov, even a map of underground passages has been drawn up and a whole book has been written, which only the lazy did not read in the 90s. It describes objects that are amazing even for our imagination, which store the bowels of the earth - this is an underground lake (under the square with the monument to Stepan Khalturin) and a passage under the Vyatka River.
Anton Kasanov, stories, organizer of walks "On foot in Vyatka":
The same legend about the underground passage under the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, according to the historian, takes its roots from the technical auxiliary structure, which at one time was located under the building. Built in 1864, the temple was blown up in 1937. And as one of the famous architects of that time established, at the same time, parts of the collector with an exit to four wells were opened, along which children climbed at that time. That is, it was not an underground passage at all, but communications. There was no rational reason to dig under a religious institution.
There was no reason and there was no possibility. If we rationally think about the underground passage under the Vyatka River, then we will immediately understand what efforts had to be made to its construction in the 18-19th century. This would require a huge amount of resources.
In addition, the soil itself in Kirov is not intended for underground passages, archaeologists say.
Promotional video:
Alexey Kaisin, head of the laboratory of archaeological research, VyatSU:
The historian Anton Kasanov called the only relatively adequate story about the underground passages the cave church in the name of the Holy Saints of Kiev, which was built at the end of the 19th century at the Cathedral, where the Eternal Flame is now located.
Anton Kasanov, stories, organizer of walks "On foot in Vyatka":
Ekaterina Rozhkova