His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alekseevich Potemkin-Tavrichesky, "civil husband" of Empress Catherine II, patron of A. V. Suvorov, conqueror of Tavrida, died on October 5, 1791 on his way from Yassy to his beloved city of Nikolaev. And then an incredible epic began. In the south of Russia, almost a Potemkin mausoleum was created. The body after death could not be buried for another 7 years. And having finally found a grave, the ashes of the prince did not find the desired peace.
Unburied
Having driven 37 miles from Yass, the prince stopped his convoy and demanded that the loyal Cossacks take him out of the carriage. “There is nowhere to go. I'm dying. Carry me out, I want to die in the field,”Potemkin barely said. They laid him on the grass, after three-quarters of an hour he took three deep breaths … and took his last breath. One of the Cossacks of the convoy pulled out two copper dimes from his pocket and covered the eyelids of the Cossack leader who had fallen asleep with eternal sleep. At this place, the Cossacks stuck their peaks, and a little later they installed a memorial pillar, which existed at least until 1811.
The body of the commander was returned to Iasi by the light of torches. There, Potemkin's soul was buried in accordance with all the canons of the Orthodox Church, and the body was dissected and embalmed. In this form, it stood in the church in Iasi until November 1791. Then the coffin was transported to Kherson and installed in the Church of St. Catherine. People came and went to bow to the ashes of the conqueror of Taurida: soldiers, Black Sea sailors, officers and generals, Black Sea Cossacks, revived by Potemkin from oblivion after the defeat of the Zaporozhye Sich by the empress … There were especially many Old Believers whom the prince once returned to their homeland from Turkey. At the coffin in the Kherson church, the guard of honor of the veterans of Potemkin victories changed. History has not preserved the data, did they mint at the same time a step with the bearing of the modern Kremlin regiment? But the fact is obvious:from November 1791 to April 28, 1798 in Kherson there actually existed a church mausoleum of Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky.
Buried without a grave
The name of Potemkin-Tavrichesky was not forgotten, no matter how much Emperor Paul I hoped. And they remembered the place of burial, which was proved by repeated looting of a historical grave. Only in the 19th century, Potemkin's grave and coffin were opened at least three times.
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In 1818, the Ekaterinoslav Archbishop Job Potemkin, on the basis of kinship, together with the clergy opened the grave for the first time in order to make sure that it was not empty. I opened it. I was convinced that it was not empty. And then the descendant archbishop took from the coffin a silver vessel and, as the legend says, a portrait of Empress Catherine, richly showered with diamonds and pearls. The vessel, apparently with the entrails of the prince, was later sent to his homeland - the village of Chizhovo, Smolensk province, and buried there. The precious portrait (historical relic) disappeared into obscurity. Why the descendant church hierarch did not transfer the entire coffin to the small homeland of the deceased is not clear.
In 1859, the crypt with the coffin of His Serene Highness was reopened. They collected the skull and bones in a new box and again filled it up. Along the way (as a keepsake?) They took everything they could: pieces of gold braid, buttons from a frock coat and a camisole, even took off the shoes from the aristocrat's decayed feet.
On August 27, 1874, the crypt was opened for the third time: now by order of the authorized commission of the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities N. N. Murzakevich. Scientists also got some "souvenirs": three stars of the orders of the first degree of St. George, St. Vladimir and St. Andrew the First-Called, embroidered with gold thread (historical riddle - where did the originals of especially valuable orders, which Potemkin was awarded for merits?). The half-decayed bones were wrapped in pieces of braid and velvet. There were also silver staples and steps of the once expensive coffin. The commission decided: to place the remains in a sealed lead coffin and … bury in the same place again. The silver parts of the decayed domino were taken for the museum.
Imperishable
In the XX century, Kherson, like the whole country, experienced wars and revolutions, occupation by foreign troops, massive destruction and targeted acts of vandalism. Has anyone already opened the grave of the conqueror of Taurida in the 20th century? Maybe today his skull is adorned with a private collection of some extravagant billionaire in Germany or the USA, previously removed from the grave by NKVD operatives or SS men from the Ahnenerbe team. Well, so what?
All this is vain, empty, vain. Everything material that surrounded Grigory Alexandrovich during his lifetime: orders, diamonds, an expensive uniform - everything decayed, turned to dust or was plundered by the heirs. One thing is imperishable and eternal - the loud glory of Potemkin-Tavrichesky, his unforgettable name in the history of Russia and the grateful memory of Russians about his service and deeds for the good of the Fatherland. You cannot dig all this out of the ground, you cannot sell it abroad, and you cannot take it out of Kherson.
Myth and memory
Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin was born 280 years ago, on September 13 (24), 1739 in the Smolensk province, in the family of an army officer. One of the widespread myths about the Most Serene Prince is the creation of Potemkin villages by him. This expression has become figurative in Russian. The author of the myth was the Saxon envoy to Russia, Georg Helbig, who was the first to publish an article about such villages in the Hamburg magazine Minerva. Upon his return to his homeland, the German published a biography of Prince Potemkin, in which he collected and summarized all the stories, anecdotes and myths that accompanied the personality of Grigory Alexandrovich. The book was printed in German, English and French and quickly spread throughout Europe. What for? So the information war was not born in the 20th century. Paris and London were greatly concerned about the strengthening of the Russian Empire in the south. It was not for the Europeans to admire the talents and courage of their rival. But to ridicule, if not his exploits, then at least personal habits and lifestyle is the very thing. The slander against the great statesman of Russia was picked up by home-grown liberals who have been retelling tales of Potemkin villages to each other for generations and centuries. The result of the slander was the forgotten anniversary of the birth of the one who annexed Crimea to Russia.
Magazine: All the mysteries of the world №22. Author: Alexander Smirnov