This island has an utterly prosaic name - Cow. It is located in the western part of modern Samara, where the dark waters of the river of the same name merge with the Volga. From the north, the island is washed by the great Russian river, and from the south its limits are limited by the Sukhaya Samarka channel. Cow is not very popular among the townspeople: overgrown with shrubs and low trees, it is unremarkable, and it is not easy to get to it. Fishermen, on the other hand, visit the island quite willingly. Nevertheless, it was strange to read in the guidebook "Zhigulevskaya Around the World" for 1965 that "Cow Island is a favorite vacation spot for the townspeople." At first glance, if you try to look for secrets somewhere, then on Korovye - last. In fact, everything is different …
Diesel, Tesla and the Nobel brothers
Koroviy Island was first mentioned in the document of the master plan for the development of Samara in the late 19th century. Then the original project for the radical modernization of the urban purification system appeared. It was decided to build a whole complex on the island - technical buildings, residential buildings, sewage treatment plants. They were to be connected to the city by a system of flyover bridges and an underground underwater tunnel. Using modern vocabulary, let's say that a German company won the tender, after which solid secrets and riddles begin.
At that time on Korovye there was one of the largest trading posts "The Nobel Brothers Oil Production Partnership", with which the genius of engineering, the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, worked closely. One of his letters to his wife contains strange words: “Remember today's date - February 16, 1898. This is the day of my union with Nobel, apparently, the milestone of events that will shake the world. " It is known that Diesel intended to implement some of the ideas of the great Serb Nikola Tesla. Which ones are unknown to this day. What is known?
Work on the island was carried on - and very hard. Just what work? There is reason to believe that a secret facility was being erected there under the guise of construction of treatment facilities. It seems that it was not completed due to subsequent events. Already during the implementation of a grandiose project, Diesel died under very mysterious circumstances. In September 1913 he sailed from Antwerp to England on the motor ship "Dresden". One early morning Diesel's cabin was found empty, his hat and raincoat lying on the deck. The inventor himself was not found anywhere. Many are sure that the mysterious disappearance of the engineer is related to his professional activities.
Rudolf Diesel intended to bring to life some of Nikola Tesla's ideas
Soon the First World War began, then the Revolution and the Civil War in Russia, and the "Nobel Brothers Oil Partnership" disappeared …
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"Black hussars" and German landing
The secrets continued to accumulate. During the short period of the White Czechs' presence in Samara, a strange fact was noticed: the main forces of their river fleet were involved in protecting the island of Koroviy. What were they guarding there? From whom? On whose orders?
In the early years of the Civil War, one of the detachments of the "black hussars" suddenly settled on Korovye. Everything here is covered with the darkness of the unknown. First of all, what were these "black hussars"? It is known that in the imperial army this was the name of the hussar of the 5th Alexandrian regiment due to the black color of the uniform and emblems in the form of a skull and bones. This regiment had several unofficial names - the "black hussars" regiment, the "death hussars" regiment, or the "immortal regiment". In the chaos of revolutions, the hussars found themselves on both sides of the barricades: among the Reds, the cornet Ushakov commanded a detachment of "black hussars", while the whites had a regiment of "black hussars" ataman Annenkov.
The Alexandrian regiment was stationed in Samara, that's true. And it turns out that under Kerensky there was a female shock battalion, which was officially called the Black Hussars of Death. By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (No. 34 of November 15, 1918), the "1st Samara Hussar Regiment" was created with the assignment of the uniform of the former fifth Alexandrian Hussar Regiment. It is difficult to say with complete certainty what kind of "black hussars" took care of Koroviy Island in Samara and why they did it.
Black hussars. What did they need on Korovye?
Another equally surprising event: in the fall of 1941, a group of unknown persons (German troops?) Captured the island and held it for almost a day. The military, who were supposed to free Koroviy, received a tough order: not to take prisoners. Rumors about some kind of "infection" spread throughout the city. When the landing was destroyed, flamethrower equipment was used: the island was flooded with a kind of "napalm" - a mixture of kerosene and fuel oil. What caused this need?
Seven years later - on July 4, 1948 - a severe fire happened at the Kuibyshev oil refinery, hundreds of people died. They say that it was caused by … a fireball that hit one of the reservoirs on the island. But many are skeptical when they hear this.
And one more fact. At the end of the 20th century, Samara researchers from the Avesta group were working to find and study the hidden structure of the city. In the course of this, a zone with an increased level of destruction was revealed, which began just on the island of Korovye. Simply put, all the structures built here, of course, turned out to be destroyed to the ground.
Cow Island - photo from space
The hermit's prediction
While collecting material for this article, I learned the legend about a hermit monk who lived on Korovye in the middle of the 19th century. They say, dying, he predicted that any construction on this island will end in tragedy, because it is here that the earthly vale is closest to the other world, from where various evil spirits come to us. Indeed, it is impossible to count the plans and undertakings that failed to be realized on Korovye, as if an unknown force prevented it.
After the Great Patriotic War, plans were born to build two gigantic lighthouse towers: on the island and on the opposite shore. They were supposed to regulate the busy movement of river vessels near the city. But everything remained on paper.
In the 1970s, a shooting range of the Spartak sports society was built on Korovye and an administrative building was erected. It all burned to the ground in 1978. Later, they tried to revive the complex, but to no avail.
Relatively recently, the Volga-Tanker shipyard of the Volga oil-loading shipping company operated on the island. At the present time it is not, it has been eliminated. About 10 years ago there were attempts to breed rabbits on the island, special premises were built, but everything ended in failure. Attempts to build a pontoon bridge connecting Koroviy with the city ended unsuccessfully. The Poles intended to organize an entertainment area on the island, a track for ATVs, but for some unknown reason abandoned their idea.
Was the monk right …
Should there be a stadium?
Recently, the Commission for Development and Land Use of the Samara Mayor's Office approved an application for the construction of a stadium on Koroviy Island with accompanying sports infrastructure. The city authorities expect that in the future the matches of the future 2018 FIFA World Cup can be played here. Are these plans being implemented? In the light of all of the above, my soul is anxious.