Semlevskoe Lake (Smolensk Region, Vyazemsky District). An ordinary workers' settlement. Nothing remarkable, but one legend is associated with it. Back in 1812, the troops of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte retreated along the Old Smolensk road. Cold, hunger, systematic attacks by partisans. The half-naked army of the conquerors had no hope of victory for a long time. In fact, the retreat from burnt to the ground Moscow, long ago, turned into an escape. But the army's wagon train contained valuables captured in Moscow. Gold, silver bullion, jewelry, icons with expensive frames, crosses from churches and other religious items. They say there was a unique old chandelier from the Archangel Cathedral. It contained more than 113 pounds of silver alone. And now (according to the memoirs of the generals of Napoleon's army), by order of the emperor,all this innumerable treasure was drowned in the lake near the village of Semlevo. Again, rumor has it that the treasure trains were simply thrown into the water. After driving them there and leaving them near the coast. That's the whole legend.
Needless to say, there have always been an abundance of seekers for this treasure? The newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" also took part in the search for gold. In 1960 and 1979, the bottom of Lake Semlevskoye and its environs were examined by two scientific expeditions. The shores were studied, water analyzes were carried out, during which an increased content of precious metals was found in the northwestern part of the lake. However, divers' diving searches did not reveal anything but stones and debris. Even now, many believe that if you look well, then the treasure can be found at the very bottom of the lake. Is this really so?
Let's try to conduct our own investigation. First of all, let's decide on the lake itself. The fact is that there are two (!) Lakes in the vicinity of Semlevo. What was thoroughly searched is located 1.5 kilometers away from the old road. But the second lake is located on the territory of the village itself. I think that in 1812 it was on the outskirts of the village. Right next to the tract. I must say right away that I did not find any mention of this lake. I'm guessing it's the same age as that other lake. And in 1812 it also already existed. If I'm right, then it turns out like this: the retreating French dropped the carts into this lake. They did not have time, so they drowned gold along the way. I suspect that on their maps this lake was designated as Semlevskoe Lake. They drowned the carts in a hurry, simply by driving them into the water. There was no time for wealth in their position. They are, simply,saved their lives.
Now comes the fun part. We live in the 21st century. Satellite images are now pretty clear. There are images from 2016 in the Google Earth archive. Made in the spring. At the coordinates: 55.047964 °, 33.954978 ° in the lake, you can see that a rather large object lies in the water. At shallow depth, almost covered with silt. L-shaped. Located six meters from the coast. If I'm right, then this is the same train. They just dumped him. Over time, the carts were covered with silt, but they did not disappear anywhere. I think that all this could have been preserved very well in the silt. Well, the fact that they weren't looking for anything in this place played a positive role. The treasures of Napoleon (or rather the stolen Russian treasures) have survived to this day. It would be nice to check out this very place. Who knows, maybe then one mystery of history will be less?
Georeferenced scheme.
A lake with sunken wagons at the bottom. Satellite photography.
Photo cleared from noise and interference. The wagons are clearly visible at the bottom of the lake.
Here is what now lies at the bottom of this lake.
Promotional video:
Valentin Degterev. Internet journalist. Specialization in the genre of searching for various artifacts