Cyclone "Saint Jude" has already reached St. Petersburg, causing eschatological sentiments. It's time to remember the legendary predictions for the city on the Neva.
Inkerimaan commandment
Those who have lived in St. Petersburg for a long time or were interested in the legends of the city must have heard the myth about the so-called "Inkerimaan's commandment to those wandering in the labyrinth." This mysterious book, which many antiquaries were looking for like the Grail, allegedly contains ominous prophecies to the city on the Neva.
In the manuscript, which, according to legend, was created over 1000 years ago by the aborigines who lived on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, there is a prediction that one day a great city will grow on the swamps. This city will be cursed, and for several generations it will be haunted by "three tormenting troubles" - evil water, evil fire and hunger. On the eve of each calamity, mysterious wanderers-prophets will appear in the city and will announce the coming sign - the appearance of the Red Moon in the sky.
It is curious that the memories of the residents of the Northern capital who survived the severe flood in November 1824 have come down to us, in which people said that during the disaster they saw the Red Moon behind the clouds. There is a city tale that the Inkerimaan commandment to those wandering in the labyrinth contains a recipe for lifting the curse: a blonde rider on a white horse with three flowers must appear and drive around the city three times with the words - "The end of the city's troubles!"
Atakan Stone
Promotional video:
The legend of the ominous Atakan stone, on which human sacrifices were made in ancient times, has been around for several centuries. When Peter I began to build a new capital, the stone was thrown by the builders into the Neva, even the exact place was indicated - in the area of the Liteiny Bridge. However, even after the "drowning" of the stone, it did not lose its great strength and continues to demand new sacrifices. Many associated the mysterious explosion in the autumn of 1876 during the construction of the bridge (22 people died) and the disaster (near the bridge) of the dry cargo ship Kaunas in 2002 with the ominous influence of Atakan. The old-timers said that the stone causes floods to satisfy their "hunger".
The serpent under the Bronze Horseman
Another old St. Petersburg legend claims that under Senate Square, exactly under the monument to Peter, a giant prehistoric Serpent sleeps. So, for example, under the Senate Square, according to ancient beliefs, a giant snake lives, for the time being without showing any signs of life. The old-timers said that when the monster wakes up (or is awakened), the city will be crushed. There is also a tale that Etienne Maurice Falcone, the sculptor of the Bronze Horseman, knew very well about this legend and took it very seriously. It was he who chose as a pedestal a huge boulder, the so-called thunder-stone, which was brought from the Izhora forests by thousands of people and horses. Allegedly, the sculptor knew that the Snake can only hold the stone that was struck by lightning. And, of course, it is no coincidence that Peter tramples the snake on horseback.
Sphinxes
In the spring of 1834, Egyptian sphinxes, specially delivered from Egypt to St. Petersburg, were installed on the University Embankment. The sculptures are more than 3.5 thousand years old - they once guarded the temple to the god Horus near the city of Thebes. Probably hundreds of city tales are dedicated to these monuments. So, according to one of the legends, the sphinxes should not be disturbed - this can threaten with death.
According to another legend, the sphinxes survived more than one flood (the knocked-down chins of the sculptures, according to the urban myth, speak just about this), and allegedly Nicholas I ordered them in Egypt to protect the city from floods. The then authorities assumed that there was a sacred connection between St. Petersburg and Egypt: the city was located practically on the same meridian with the Cheops pyramid. Moreover, if the ancient structure is located at 30th latitude, then the city on the Neva is at 60th. Thus, the "Egyptian meridian" is the axis of symmetry for the "Petersburg latitude", and the line itself at this point becomes perpendicular to it.
The Bolsheviks, who decided not to tempt fate and leave the statues in place, allegedly knew about what awaits the city if the sphinxes are removed.
Madame de Tabes prediction
In the middle of the 19th century, the Parisian Madame Tab (aka Anna Victorine Savigny) was one of the most famous soothsayers in Europe. In the 1850s, she warned the residents of St. Petersburg - “Fear fire and water! A major natural disaster is coming. Petersburg will suffer the fate of Messina … Petersburg is threatened by a grandiose wave being washed into the Gulf of Finland or, on the contrary, into Lake Ladoga, depending on which side the water rushes from”. True, Madame did not indicate the exact date.
Schema nun Nila's prediction
The famous Russian eldress of our time, the schema-nun of the Nile, is known for many of her prophecies. For example, in 1994 she predicted the start of the war in Chechnya. The future that Mother Nile saw looked rather sad (the coming of the Antichrist, the war with China, famine), nevertheless, the ascetic said that Russia was under the protection of the Mother of God and could avoid global catastrophes. True, the schema-nun promised nothing good to the city on the Neva, as well as to Moscow: according to her, there will be a sea in the place of St. Petersburg, and the capital will partly go underground.
Chronograph icon
A relatively modern urban legend. Allegedly, in the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood, there is an icon on which four fateful dates for Russia are encrypted. Three dates - 1917, 1941 and 1953 - were allegedly announced, the fourth date is still known only to initiates. There is a legend that the last date means the flood in St. Petersburg, and according to other versions, the beginning of the Third World War.