"Izborsk. Part 1".
"Titov's stone. Part 2"
Probably, there is no region or region in Russia where there would be no own black place, which contains the remembrance of the devil. Devil's tract, devil lake, devil settlement, devil's log, etc …
There is such a place in the Pskov region. Not far from the regional center of Loknya, there is a glade, which scientists have been studying for fifty years. And this is just the official data. The place is so mysterious that it is impossible to put it in a row of similar ones, because analogies simply do not exist. See for yourself: - It is very likely that the Devil's Glade protects itself from outside intrusion, and even set a certain access code.
Loknyanskaya glade. She's the Devil.
There is a belief that anyone who simply mentions her in a conversation will be punished …
Here are just a few facts:
What happened to the people who did not believe in the "superstition" and told outsiders about the glade itself: -
Promotional video:
Over the past fifty years, the village, which is only 16 kilometers from the regional center, has practically died out. And the worst thing is that many did not die of their own.
- The 13-year-old son of a collective farm foreman drowned in a stream, which even has no name;
- Shoeing a horse, a village blacksmith received a fatal blow to the head with a hoof;
- Died from wounds inflicted by a previously docile bull, a shock milkmaid;
- Two poachers shot at the same boar at the same time, and killed each other;
- Another poacher shot an old woman who, standing on all fours, was picking pine cones in a sheepskin coat turned out with black fur. The poacher mistook her for a wild boar, and was acquitted, only sentenced to a fine for illegal extraction of natural resources;
- Fell down, patching the roof, and was fatally injured by a house cutter.
- Men and women who were strong before died of unknown diseases.
The official modern chronicle of the Devil's Glade began with this, here, the events: - One day, two boys helped a shepherd to find cows that had strayed from the herd and lost in the forest. We went deeper into the thicket Hearing a cow's roar, we increased our pace and found a huge glade with charred earth. Before their eyes, the cows, who had already reached the middle of the clearing, suddenly burst into flames and fell into the ground.
The guys ran to the village and told their parents about the unusual killer meadow. The grandfather of one of the boys recalled that when he was a teenager himself, his father said that in those parts of the forest there was a huge funnel hole that terrified the locals. The legends that, of course, fanned this place, were one more terrible than the other. It was said that passages lead from the funnel to the side, which, in turn, pass into the suite of rooms, that at night strange creatures emerge from there and kidnap people.
They say that even on a bright sunny day, fog stands over the clearing and strange shadows flicker, reminiscent of chimeras, or extinct animals. And locals also claim that those who step into this clearing disappear without a trace. But sometimes, some later, they come back. Although for several years after walking in the forest, they are as if under hypnosis. They have delayed speech, memory loss, or recollection of events that did not actually occur.
Loknyanskaya glade.
They also said that once, many centuries ago, there was a huge castle in which the family of one of the Russian princes lived. But once, in a strong thunderstorm, dozens of lightning strikes suddenly struck this place, and the castle fell into the ground … Over time, a ring of dried bushes and trees was formed around the bad glade, tightly intertwined with branches: so, you can get into the clearing only by cutting with an ax this natural "fence".
The hole that appeared on the site of the castle soon filled with soil, but a long stay in this area resulted in many deaths. Especially many animals died. The vegetation on it was very dense and lush and, perhaps, had some special effect on them: having got the prey, the meadow would not let go of its prey. Animals and birds died here, but they did not decompose for years, and their meat acquired an unnatural, bright red hue.
Devil's glade.
The villagers pulled out the dead cows and sheep from the clearing with hooks, buried them nearby, and the birds and other wild animals lay here until only bones remained of their bodies over the years. The anomalous field, which was established in the area of the Devil's Glade, expanded from time to time, capturing the village into its zone of influence and affecting the psyche of its inhabitants. Suddenly, without any reason, fights broke out between neighbors, which inevitably ended in someone's death, for no apparent reason cattle died, fires broke out.
Many tried to leave this place, and go away, but in a mysterious way, the Devil's Glade pulled the fugitives to itself, and they turned back halfway. Their corpses were found in a clearing without signs of violent death, however, their appearance made them tremble with horror from their fellow countrymen. An expression of incredible fear froze on their faces, which forced the members of the funeral teams to refuse to perform their duties. They say that many human remains still lie in the open air, not buried.
The enraged forest at Devil's Glade. Lockney.
However, this phenomenon literally saved lives for many residents. During the Great Patriotic War, in an unknown way, the Wehrmacht troops bypassed the village on both sides at the edge of the Chertova Polyana, thus creating an enclave of the Soviet Union in its deep rear. None of the occupying soldiers ever set foot in the land of this area near Lokney. But the partisans here felt at home, as if there had been a war. There was no need to expose even the secrets, because the punishers never even tried to step on the lands adjacent to the Devil's Glade.
In the same years, there was a new outbreak of activity in the anomalous zone: sometimes at night over the forest in the sky, rays flashed, hitting exactly the place where the meadow was located, and during the day, bizarre mirages appeared over the village, terrifying the locals. Sometimes at night the watchmen who were guarding the collective farm herd noticed that luminous points-stars were moving across the sky, from which from time to time a silver rain fell - a sheaf of sparks that dissolved in the night sky before reaching the ground.
A few years later, the local river became shallow, and then the local river completely went underground. Its bed was quickly overgrown with tall grass, which had an unusual green tint. The insects have left these places completely.
And then something absolutely amazing happened. The villagers left their homes and started building in a new place, away from all these frightening events. And once, after long rains, the water washed away the local ancient cemetery, which was located on a hill near the forest. And it turned out that the corpses that were buried in ancient times, for the entire time they were in the ground, had absolutely no signs of decomposition. The clothes and shoes that were on the dead have been preserved.
Over time, most of the villagers moved to other villages, the youth left for Pskov, Novgorod and Leningrad. The village is completely deserted, and only abandoned houses now remind of those who lived here. The rumor about the killer meadow still lives among the Loknyans, but only the most desperate strangers, usually newcomers, risk going in search of it. And unfortunately, the official statistics of those who disappeared without a trace and those who died from accidents in this area are not publicly available. There are only rumors that cannot be verified. But according to them, there are hundreds of them …
14. Sudoma, Lobno and Stepulikha
When I first heard about the Sudom Upland, I immediately thought that this name has something of the words "court", or "judgment seat". And there was also a stable semantic link with a toponym located far from the lands of Pleskavia. The Sudeten Mountains probably got their name from the cognate word "Court". In Polish it is “Sąd” and in Czech “soud”. And then, one distant relative, told me an ancient legend that few people already remember, and then everything, suddenly, fell into place.
Mount Sudoma. Height 293m.
Long ago, when giants still lived in the world, in the southeastern part of the present Pskov region, people lived and worked peacefully under the auspices of a family of giants, whose head was a hero named Lobno. He was a kind of minister of defense because he was responsible for the safety of the human race living in these places. He had a giant stone ax, with one stroke of which, he swept away an entire squad of mounted warriors. Well, Thor was his son, as you can imagine.
His wife Sudoma was the Minister of Justice, and her main responsibility was to administer justice among the people. She resolved economic disputes, and judged those who violated the rights of their neighbors.
And their daughter Stepulikha, grew a head taller than her parents, and took up a very necessary business. She helped people catch fish, hunt animals, and collect forest gifts: nuts, mushrooms, berries. In addition, she was also part-time “Minister of Agriculture”, because she was in charge of all fields, farms and vegetable gardens. But she was so strong and powerful that if Lobno's father needed help, she went out to battle and smashed the adversaries like a real Amazon, practically not inferior in anything to her dear father.
In especially difficult times, mother Sudoma also repelled the attacks of enemies from the north. And once, when the enemy squads of giants from neighboring lands attacked simultaneously from three sides, from the south, north and east, the whole family stood up to intercede and help people who did not have enough strength to repulse the attacks of the numerous enemy troops.
In turn, they crushed the enemy hordes with the Lobno stone ax, throwing it over the mountains and forests, to each other. But Sudoma was tired and could not pick up the ax that Lobno threw her. The ax fell to the bottom of Lake Ale.
Lake Ale.
Did you think that "Ale" is the answer to the telephone receiver? No, this is a wondrously beautiful lake in the Pskov region, on which there are a lot of uninhabited islands.
And then, seeing that they could not cope without an ax, with the giants attacking them, Sudoma burst into tears and recited a spell. All enemies immediately turned into mountains and hills. They still stand petrified in these places. But … Either Sudoma confused something, or the enemies had such a defense, but not only the enemies were petrified, Lobno, Sudoma and Stepulikha also froze forever, and became one of the many mountains - petrified giants on the Sudoma and Bezhanitsky heights.
Sudoma river.
Sudoma river. The former name (in pre-Petrine times) is Sudomir (to judge and reconcile?). In the Tale of Bygone Years, it is mentioned in connection with the battle of the squads of the Kiev prince Yaroslav and prince Bryachislav, the grandson of prince Vladimir - Krasnaya Solnyshka in 6529. from sm. (1021 from the incarnation of God the Word). Then Yaroslav's squad overtook Bryachislav's detachment, who dared to rob Novgorod, defeated it, but Bryachislav himself managed to escape and took refuge in a fortress in Polotsk. Heredity, however …
Mother Sudoma's tears turned into a river flowing into Shelon. And from the blood flowing from the wounded body of Lobno, the lake of the same name was formed.
Lake Lobno.
Lake Lobno. One of the cleanest in the Pskov region. Narrow, long, and very deep. Its water is cold even in hot summer.
Mount Lobno.
Mount Lobno. Height 328m. The highest point not only in the Pskov region, but in the entire Baltic region. Climbing it is not such an easy task for a beginner.
But I could not find any information about Mount Stepulikh, except for its height. Military topographers marked it as height 319.0, and I indicated its approximate location on the map.
But this is only the first part of the story. Then what happened:
The war ended, the dead were buried, the giants were mourned, and they began to learn to live without patronage. Once a hunter went into the forest that grew next to Mount Sudomoi, and shot a deer with a bow. The wounded deer climbed the mountain, and the hunter followed.
He sees a deer lying at the very top, and from the heavens just above his head a chain hangs down, but made of pure gold. And then the deer said in a human voice: - “Let go of me, dear man, do not ruin in vain. Mother Sudoma sent me to earth, ordered me to convey that he did not leave you without a righteous judgment. You just need to grab the chain, and everyone will see, the person is right, or he speaks falsely. It will be given to the right person, but the wrong person will never touch the chain.
The deer hunter listened, took out the arrow, and smeared the wound with healing ointment. He let the animal go on all four sides, and he hurried home.
Since then, people have gone up the mountain to resolve their disputes. For many years, the chain regularly pointed to a liar, until a visiting merchant from distant countries fooled one person. He took the money, but did not give the goods in return. Then they brought the overseas merchant, together with the deceived, to the mountain, and each was ordered to answer in turn before the chain.
The first answer was given by the man who claimed to have given the money to the merchant. He went up to the chain and said: "I swear by my ancestors that I gave my money to this rogue." The chain did not move, the deceived one took it in his hand, and the ringing echoed over the forests.
The merchant approached the chain and said to the unfortunate man: “Hold my staff, good man”. The man took the staff in his hands, but he did not know that in the staff his money was hidden. Meanwhile, the merchant folded his palms on his chest, and said: - "I swear to God and his prophet, the money of this poor fellow is in his hands." And the chain did not move again. The merchant pulled on her, and again the ringing rang around the area.
The merchant laughed slyly, took his staff, and set off on the ditch, grinning contentedly. The rest were sad, but could not understand what had happened. And the chain from grief for human meanness disappeared in the clouds forever. And the truth has since left the earth.
Such is the sad story. Well … Apparently it is not necessary to judge by prompting, but by common sense, but by conscience.
Since then, a lot of tea has been drunk, but people travel to Mount Sudomu to this day from all corners of our great unobtrusive Motherland. They say that there is an unprecedented place of power. Diseases go away, wounds heal, and so on. But Mount Lobno generally enjoys a mystical reputation.
Sometime in the early nineties of the last century, local residents began to notice the lights over the mountain, and all sorts of plates. The enthusiasts immediately began to besiege the mountain. And it began … incident after incident. Rumor has it that one of the expeditions, about ten people, in its entirety went mad after spending the night on the mountain.
The fact is that at the top of Lobno there are the ruins of a medieval monastery, and as usual, the churchyard is nearby. There is no road to the top, the path is rocky, narrow and steep, so the place has long been abandoned, and is visited occasionally by visiting tourists and all sorts of occultists.
Monastery on the top of Lobno Mountain.
There were a great many rumors about this place, and the fame, for the most part, was bad. Some who visited the summit discovered the ability to clairvoyance, healing, someone came into telepathic contact with brothers in mind, but more often, people began to get sick, or ceased to be friends with their heads. Someone sold all property, apartments, cars, dachas, and went on vagrancy, distributing money to the poor. Someone just became a guest of psychiatric clinics. And someone left this world, and most often under unclear circumstances.
They also say that the mountain was visited by Felix Siegel himself, the father of the Soviet school of ufology, in the seventies of the last century. There were also members of the Cosmopoisk Association headed by Vadim Chernobrov. But, apparently, there are either no results at all, or they are there, but, for whatever reason, are not advertised. And not because they found something "super-mega-super" there, but simply because the public is unlikely to be interested in such results. After all, give everyone monsters, aliens.
Who cares about a place where there is nothing but stories passed by word of mouth?
But if you still want a thrill, go. You won't regret it anyway. Remember that you should not take a lot of food with you on the road. The minimum set of products for cooking dinner, water and a compact gas burner (so as not to burn a fire), that's all you need. You won't need a tent either. And God forbid you to take with you something stronger than kefir. No one has yet left the mountain without consequences, having drunk at least a sip of alcohol there.
The ascent should start after five in the evening. Sleeping is strictly prohibited, you can not wake up. Do not make noise, do not do anything that can disturb the ashes of ancestors, remember, you are in the cemetery. Meet the sunrise at the top of the ancient ruins, and you will understand why you came, and not only that. If you're lucky, the gray hair will disappear, or a new tooth will grow. This is how the giant Lobno will deign to give. But it can, on the contrary, take away something if it considers that you were unworthy to be here.
The main thing is to remember that there is no road there with black thoughts. The punishment can be scary, and this is no joke. Legends are legends, but once a year a stick shoots.
Continuation: "Pskov Dracula. Part 4".
Author: kadykchanskiy