Where did the Scandinavians come from in Maskovichi
The ancient Greek myth of the sunken state of Atlantis is widely known. In world history, there were also real cities that went under water - Bayi in Italy, Titicaca in Peru, Olus in Greece and others. Slowly but surely beautiful Venice is sinking into the sea.
However, few people know that the sunken city also exists in the Vitebsk region, only 8 km from Braslav. Part of it was located on a picturesque settlement near the village of Maskovichi, from where an excellent view of the surroundings opens, and part of it disappeared forever in the waters of Lake Derba.
How to get from Braslav to the Maskovichi settlement.
For a long time nothing reminded historians that there was once an ancient Slavic city in these delightful places. Only in 1899, the settlement near the then village of Ratishki was put on the archaeological map by researcher Fyodor Pokrovsky. Subsequently, the village of Ratishki split into several farms, and at the beginning of the twentieth century, the village of Maskovichi arose on the shore of the lake, by the name of which the settlement is known today.
Security board at the site of the settlement in Maskovichi. Photo: Sergey Martinovich.
The first survey of the Maskovichi settlement was carried out in 1955 by archaeologist Leonid Alekseev. In 1972, the monument of antiquity was examined by Mikhail Chernyavsky. Finally, from 1976 to 1983, excavations in Maskovichi were carried out by archaeologist Lyudmila Duchits. It was thanks to her research that incredible discoveries were made.
Excavations of the Maskovichi settlement. Photo from the collection of the Braslav Museum of History and Local Lore.
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It is interesting that in those years Belarusian archaeologists were provided with the most modern technical means for carrying out work. Aerial photography of the area was carried out, and in 1982, underwater excavations were carried out on Lake Derba. The found materials were transferred for storage to the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR and the Museum of Ancient Belarusian Culture in Minsk, Polotsk and the newly formed Braslav Museum of Local Lore.
Items found at the settlement in Maskovichi in the exposition of the Braslav Museum of History and Local Lore. Photo: Sergey Martinovich.
What was the ancient city on a high hill near the village of Maskovichi, whose fame has stepped far beyond the Braslav district?
Unfortunately, historians have not been able to establish either the date of the foundation of the city on the shores of Lake Derba, or even its name. Only in the "Historical Atlas" by Nikolai Pavlishchev, published in Warsaw in 1845, the settlement of Rubezh is indicated on the map of Russia in 1054. Probably, this was the Maskovichi settlement.
View of the lake from the Maskovichi settlement. Photo: Sergey Martinovich.
Based on the materials of many years of excavations, Lyudmila Duchits concluded that a fortified settlement arose here in the XI-XII centuries (although people lived here before). Apparently, in those distant times at the Maskovichi settlement there was a manor-castle of a feudal lord associated with the princely family of Rurikovich (as evidenced by the finds of animal bones and pottery with images of tridents - the emblem of the Rurikovich).
Perhaps this is how the medieval inhabitants of the fortress on the settlement in Maskovichi looked like (from the collection of the Braslav Museum of History and Local Lore). Photo: Sergey Martinovich.
The owner of the fortress had his own squad, which is confirmed by the finds of images of soldiers with bows, chain mail and helmets. In peacetime, the warriors and the population subject to the feudal lord were engaged in farming and breeding domestic animals, especially sheep and pigs, as evidenced by the finds of clay figurines.
The inhabitants of the medieval city also loved fishing, as well as hunting for moose, wild boars, bears, roe deer, wolves, beavers, martens and other animals that are found in these places today.
Craftsmen lived next to the soldiers and peasants. Their settlement - posad - was outside the fortress walls. It was discovered during the first underwater excavations in Belarus in 1982.
1982 year. Underwater excavations in Maskovichi. Photo from the collection of the Braslav Local History Museum.
Archaeologists-divers raised a metal lock, a spindle, a fragment of a ring, ceramics and other handicrafts from the bottom of Lake Derba. Perhaps 900 years ago, the water level in the Braslav lakes was lower than it is now, which allowed people to settle at the foot of the hill, whose steep slope abruptly drops off towards the lake. Subsequently, the settlement of artisans was abandoned and went under water.
The slope of the settlement in Maskovichi. Photo: Sergey Martinovich.
But the most interesting were the finds in Maskovichi of 106 fragments of bones with drawings and runic inscriptions similar to those found in Scandinavia. The finds were transferred to Moscow, to the USSR Academy of Sciences, where the famous runologist Elena Melnikova worked with them. With the help of radiocarbon analysis of the bones, their dating was carried out - the end of the XIII - the beginning of the XIV centuries.
But where did the Scandinavians come from in Maskovichi? Outstanding Belarusian archaeologist Georgy Shtykhov expressed the opinion that they came here with the crusaders. Braslav land was the first on the territory of Belarus to take their blow at the end of the 13th century. Probably, during the struggle of the Polotsk principality with the crusaders at the beginning of the XIV century, the fortress on the shore of Lake Derba was destroyed.
Settlement Maskovichi. Photo: Sergey Martinovich.
However, a beautiful settlement has survived, from which an excellent panorama of the surrounding forests and lakes opens. You can get here from Braslav by buses to Druya, Slobodka, Bystromovtsy, Sprinda, Oplisa.
Author: Sergey Martinovich