It is also called the Atlantis of the Baltic, Slavic Amsterdam and even the German "Titanic" … About a thousand years ago, the beautiful Slavic city of Vineta was swallowed up by the sea.
For centuries, the tragic fate of Vineta inspired not only poets and musicians, but above all scientists - historians, geographers. Because Vineta is not a figment of the imagination, but a real city, hidden under the thickness of years and silt. With bells, houses, market square and treasures. Underwater treasure in "extra large sizes". Nobody has been able to find him yet.
Berlin historians Klaus Goldmann and Gunther Vermusch, known for their search for the "Amber Room" and the lost treasures of the Third Reich, may soon unearth Vineta, just as their famous compatriot Heinrich Schliemann once revealed buried Troy to the world.
… Houses of wondrous beauty shone with colored glass. White marble pillars adorned the brick facades, gleaming in gold. The wealth of the townspeople seemed to be on display. Men wore fur-trimmed clothes, feathers swayed on berets, women wrapped themselves in silks and velvet. They loved thick gold chains, large precious stones, gold dishes, and even spun them on golden spindles.
“The main witness” Adam Bremensky, the famous German geographer and chronicler, wrote in the 11th century: “The city is bursting with goods from all the peoples of the North. What is there just not. It is bigger and more beautiful than any other city in Europe."
But the glance of the chroniclers noticed something else - the arrogance and arrogance of the rich townspeople: the cracks in the walls of the houses are plugged with bread, the butts of babies are wiped with rolls!
Since the VIII century. Vineta, which was inhabited by barbarians, Greeks, Slavs, Saxons, was considered the most important trading metropolis of the Baltic Sea. It welcomed seafarers, traders, artisans, but the visitors had to hide their Christian (read: Catholic) faith, because, according to Adam of Bremen, Vineta worshiped pagan gods.
Possible locations of the legendary Vineta
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For the same reason, the Catholic scientist himself did not visit a foreign land, but obtained information from the Danish king. “Vineta is mentioned quite often in the Pomeranian sagas,” says Dr. Klaus Goldman. - The name itself has a Slavic origin. Legends say that once every hundred years the city rises to the surface and even a child born on Sunday (such children are especially pleasing to God) can save it, who will enter Vineta and pay a penny. One day a young man who was tending sheep saw a wonderful city, only he did not have a penny. To this day, romantic natures can hear the vague ringing of bells coming from the depths of the sea”.
Literally a hundred years after Adam of Bremen, another scientist, author of the history of the Slavic peoples, Helmold von Bozau, who devoted an entire chapter to Vineta, repeated his predecessor almost word for word, adding that the city was attacked by the fleet of the Danish king and completely destroyed. Only half-flooded ruins remained. After 1170 Vineta is not mentioned in the chronicles, as if it never existed.
“Attempts to find the sunken city have been made several times since the 16th and 17th centuries,” continues Dr. Goldman. - Today there are two versions of the location of the German Atlantis, but they are untenable. Yes, in those places - Voline and Usedome - there really were early Slavic settlements, but not Vineta."
Adam of Bremen would not have been a geographer if he had not given an accurate description of Vineta's location. The "main witness" clearly indicated that from Vineta to Demmin (this city can be found on a modern map), it is several hours' journey by oars along the Peene River, a tributary of the Oder.
But since that distant time, much on earth has changed, including the mouths and riverbeds. The fourth mouth of the Oder has not survived either. But there is no doubt that it was. According to Klaus Goldman, this is evidenced by satellite photographs taken during one flood on the Oder - scientists then dubbed it the flood of the millennium. The muddy waters of the river rushed into the Baltic Sea along their ancient path. Now all that remained was to put Adam of Bremensky's notes upside down.
Peene river in the XI century. flowed not eastward, as it is today, but westward. And to Demmin - just a few hours at the oars. The hypothesis of modern researchers was "confirmed" by the great Greek Claudius Ptolemy. Back in the II century. In his work on Germany, the ancient geographer gave the exact coordinates of the mouth of a large river flowing in the moss-covered lands where Vineta later grew up. By the way, Ptolemy's Volga appears under the name of Ra …
There was only one discrepancy: in the manuscript of Adam Vineth it is called Yumne, Iumne, Uimne. According to the hypothesis of Berlin historians, we are not talking about the name "imne". Gothic letters are made entirely of vertical sticks, and the scribal monks could easily confuse them.
The word "imne" meant forest beekeeping, or beekeeping. The most interesting thing is that the current town, near which Vineta will be excavated in the future, is called Bart. In the VIII-IX centuries. honey was the only sweetness and was valued as highly as salt. From honey they brewed intoxicated mead - the wine of that time.
How did the wonderful city die? According to the unanimous opinion of the majority of climate scientists, no special cataclysms have occurred in the Baltic Sea over the past five thousand years.
“It is known that Vineta went under water for three days and nights,” says Dr. Goldman. - It could have happened only for one reason: the city was flooded. But not by nature."
In Germanic and Slavic coastal villages, they knew how to build dams and sluices. In this matter, they succeeded no worse than the Romans, who erected viaducts. The land below sea level, protected by skillful dams, was extraordinarily fertile. The crops were harvested there twice a year. Although, according to ancient sources, and in particular excerpts from the travel diaries of the traveler-diplomat Ibrahim ibn Yakob (X century), Vineta lands are entirely pastures, forests and swamps. That is, they seemed to be unsuitable for agriculture.
But it turned out that inaccuracy crept into the translation. When Dr. Goldman showed the phrase about swamps to an Arabist scientist, it turned out that the word meant fertile muddy lowlands. By the way, in Latin the word "swamp" is interpreted in the same way.
Vineta's disaster was caused artificially: the enemies, most likely the Danes, broke through the dam and flooded the country. The man-made tide swept away the dams, and the storm waves of the Baltic, unrestrained by nothing, poured into the defenseless city. Vineta's fate was sealed.
However, Klaus Goldman doubts that it was the Danes who signed the death warrant for the prosperous city. Vineta was like a thorn in the eye for a number of living peoples who gazed at the riches of a free land with mixed feelings. The economic system of a rich country could have astounded anyone.
In the city, along with silver coins, there were some kind of checks - scraps, which, probably, could be exchanged for silver at any moment. The city was ruled not by princes and kings, but by elders. The structure of Venice and the Hanseatic cities was the same.
It was very difficult to preserve freedom, being surrounded by peoples who professed a different religion, even Christian. The inhabitants of Vineta felt their involvement with Kiev, Byzantium, Novgorod - this is clearly evidenced by the documents. Perhaps Vineta was an Orthodox city and fell victim to the 1147 crusade?
The Viking cities, stretching to Novgorod, were about one day's journey from each other, strung like pearls on a chain. But in this chain, according to Dr. Goldman, just one link is missing. Vinety?
To test the theory put forward, serious research has to be carried out and finally answer the questions: did the Oder flow in those parts, did the dams support the water level? Pollen analysis will be carried out in the river valleys overgrown with moss. In short, all the weapons of modern archeology will be on alert.
And finally, the most interesting thing. Klaus Goldman is convinced that in the Kiev and Byzantine chronicles there will certainly be information (references) about the sunken city. Therefore, our historians, experts on Byzantium, have a chance to contribute to the discovery of our German colleagues. But what did the Kiev monks-chroniclers call Vineta? This question has yet to be answered …