In the summer of 6738 (1230), events took place in Russia that no one can explain unambiguously until now. But the scale of these events was such that we can confidently call them one of the "black swans" of Russian history. The Black Swan is an unpredictable and rare historical event with significant consequences. There were many such "black swans" in the history of Russia (the death of the heirs of Grozny and the crop failure of 1601-1603, the subsequent Troubles, the Church Schism and the First World War, the revolution of 1917). If most of such events are more or less clear to us, from the point of view of their causes, manifestations and consequences, then the events of 1230 occupy a special place in this series. Why? Because we cannot answer the main question: what was it? Let's turn to the sources.
In the year 6738 from the creation of the world (1230 by modern chronology), ancient Russian chronicles and European written sources record an extreme number of natural disasters. Several years of drought were abruptly replaced by years of extremely wet and cold weather. Cold and rain cover the whole of Europe for several years, which causes crop failures and the reign of pestilence for 17 (!) Years.
In Russia in 1230 it rains non-stop (!) From March (April 7, new style) to the end of July (August 2, new style): “And God was angry and devastated the earth; and it started raining from the day of the Annunciation to Ilyin's day, day and night; and the cold came, and there were severe frosts; and all the bread was frozen. And they bought bread at eight kunas, and a quarter of rye at 20 Novgorod hryvnias; and in some empty rural areas a quarter of rye was bought for 30 hryvnias, wheat for 40 hryvnias for Novgorod, and millet for 50 hryvnias for Novgorod, and a quarter for oats for 12 hryvnias; and the people had a great pestilence from hunger, so they could not bury them."
Among other things, the old Russian chronicles contain information about a strong earthquake in Russia (!) That occurred on May 3, 1230. The earthquake was observed over a very large area from Novgorod to Kiev.
The largest chronicle-chronographic work of ancient Russia and the whole of medieval Europe - the Facial annalistic collection, created in the 16th century in the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda - tells about these events:
“About shaking the earth. On the 3rd day of May, during the Holy Liturgy, when the Holy Gospel was read in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Vladimir, the earth shook; and the church, and the throne, and the icons moved on the walls; and chanted with candles, and the candlesticks shook; people were amazed and thought that each of them was dizzy; and they began to tell each other what had happened to them, and wondered what it was. It was in …
… Many churches and noble houses; and in other cities it was.
Promotional video:
In Kiev, the city is even more, the biggest shock was. In the Pechersk Monastery, the stone church of the Blessed Virgin Mary split into 4 parts; there were Metropolitan Kirill, and Prince Vladimir (Rurikovich - YF), and the boyars, and many people came together; for the holiday was on that day, the day of the memory of Father Theodosius."
“The stone throne also shook, when Food and Drink had already been brought to it; and all this was suppressed by stones falling from above; the whole throne did not fall, nor the top of it.
In Pereslavl the Russian Church of St. Michael split in two; the vault of three arches with a roof also fell; and suppressed the icons, and chanted with candles, and candlesticks; it happened in one day, and in one hour, all over the earth, during the Liturgy."
We find the same descriptions of earthquakes throughout Russia in the Novgorod annals, in Lavrentiev's and others. Thus, the fact of the most powerful earthquake can be considered unambiguous. Its peculiarity is that it affected many lands of Ancient Rus: from Novgorod to Kiev and Pereyaslavl, Vladimir, Smolensk. Note that in Kiev (in the south) it was stronger, which even led to the destruction of stone churches in Kiev itself and in Pereyaslavl. What could have caused such a cataclysm that engulfed a seismically stable area? Below we will try to figure it out.
However, the tests for Russia were not over yet. A few days later, anomalous atmospheric phenomena occurred, which were also recorded in different parts of Russia from Novgorod to Kiev, but the most amazing ones occurred in Kiev.
“The same month on the 10th day. Some saw the sun rise early in the morning, and it was triangular; then it stayed a little like a star: and in this form it disappeared; then it rose in its usual form.
The same month on the 14th day. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon the sun began to disappear before the eyes of all people; and it remained a little, it was like a three-day month; and began to grow again. Many thought that it was a month passing through the sky, since the moon was full then; others thought it was a sun going backwards, as small patches of clouds from the north side were rapidly moving south towards the sun."
“On the same day and hour it was the same, and even more terrible, in Kiev; before everyone's eyes the sun became a month; and on both sides of it appeared red, green, blue pillars; also, fire came down from heaven, like a great cloud, onto the Lybid stream; people all said goodbye to their lives and thought that the end had already come; and began to kiss each other and ask for forgiveness; and wept bitterly, and all cried out to God with tears.
All-merciful God carried that terrible fire through the whole city without harm; and he fell into the Dnieper river; there he disappeared. This was told to us by eyewitnesses who were there at the time."
All these events taken together paint a picture that is associated with some kind of cosmic incidents that have taken place on our planet. As it turned out, in scientific historiography it is customary to associate this large-scale cataclysm with the probable eruption of a large volcano in the Iceland region. According to this theory, the ash ejected by the volcano caused the effect of "volcanic winter" - the pollution of the atmosphere by ash, which entails a cooling due to the anti-greenhouse effect. However, the supporters of this theory overlook a number of chronicle facts that do not fit into this explanation. Firstly, the epicenter of the earthquake recorded in the annals on the territory of ancient Russia could not be located in Iceland. Otherwise, Western Europe should have been completely in ruins. Secondly,the effect of a volcanic winter should have been accompanied by a long period of dense cloudiness with characteristic precipitation - ash fall, which was not noted by the chroniclers. On the contrary, written sources clearly indicate an abnormal amount of cold, incessant rainfall. Let us pay attention and fix for further disclosure of the topic an important chronological fact, reflected in the sources: torrential rains and cold snap begin “from the day of the Annunciation”, that is, more than a month before the earthquake (May 3). And fourthly, there are a number of recorded anomalous atmospheric phenomena, which are extremely difficult to link with a volcanic eruption or its consequences.written sources clearly indicate an abnormal amount of cold, incessant rainfall. Let us pay attention and fix for further disclosure of the topic an important chronological fact, reflected in the sources: torrential rains and cold snap begin “from the day of the Annunciation”, that is, more than a month before the earthquake (May 3). And fourthly, there are a number of recorded anomalous atmospheric phenomena, which are extremely difficult to link with a volcanic eruption or its consequences.written sources clearly indicate an abnormal amount of cold, incessant rainfall. Let us pay attention and fix for further disclosure of the topic an important chronological fact, reflected in the sources: torrential rains and cold snap begin “from the day of the Annunciation”, that is, more than a month before the earthquake (May 3). And fourthly, there are a number of recorded anomalous atmospheric phenomena, which are extremely difficult to link with a volcanic eruption or its consequences. There is also a number of recorded anomalous atmospheric phenomena, which are extremely difficult to link with a volcanic eruption or its consequences. There is also a number of recorded anomalous atmospheric phenomena, which are extremely difficult to link with a volcanic eruption or its consequences.
The second hypothesis connects these events with a comet, through the tail of which our planet passed and which fell to the ground, splitting into fragments. Personally, I am somehow cautious about this theory, although the author gives a very interesting analysis of these events. I will quote him and, with your permission, I will express my thoughts, or rather doubts, in the course of his arguments. I took the material here. I am quoting part of his article.
So, let's take a look at the facts that the chronicles give us:
1 … “… the sun rose in the morning, and it was triangular; then […] disappeared; then it ascended in its usual form”- this narrative as accurately as possible describes a rare atmospheric phenomenon called“false sunrise”- one of the types of an optical phenomenon called“halo”. As a rule, the halo can be observed only in winter on frosty days, since its appearance requires a high concentration of ice crystals in the upper layers of the troposphere, which create this beautiful and unusual light effect. Therefore, on May 10, 1230, the Earth's troposphere was filled with ice crystals - we fix this statement. (Well, if this is a halo effect, then why did this triangular sun rise earlier than usual, and why is it not described later that there were two more suns next to the sun? The halo effect suggests exactly that, look at the photo on the net. If I'm wrong,let the physicists correct me. I am also confused by the phrase in the chronicle that such a triangular sun was in the sky like a star, that is, it changed its shape, and then disappeared. But when the sun usually rose, there should have been two more next to it, as the halo effect suggests. And this is not described in the annals. Or what, they described one part of the halo, and the other two did not, because this is so clear to everyone. So what? Or, when the sun rose, these crystals in the atmosphere had already evaporated? - Yu. F.)So what? Or, when the sun rose, these crystals in the atmosphere had already evaporated? - Yu. F.)So what? Or, when the sun rose, these crystals in the atmosphere had already evaporated? - Yu. F.)
2. Both in Vladimir and in Kiev, partial solar eclipses were observed (“the sun became a month”), but at that time there was a full moon period (“since there was a full moon then”). It turns out a paradox - an eclipse of the Sun can occur ONLY during the new moon, when the Moon is facing the Earth with its shadow side. Full (illuminated) Moon cannot be full and at the same time be between the Earth and the Sun. Conclusion: the cause of the eclipse was not the Moon, but another cosmic body passing between the Earth and the Sun. (One cannot but agree with the author, the only question is what kind of body it is. And it is still not clear what the chronicler meant by the patches of clouds going from north to south, by the way, this direction is obviously connected with the motion of the comet, we will mention this below.- Yu. F.).
3. “… and there appeared on both sides of it [the Sun] pillars red, green, blue” - this phenomenon was observed in Kiev. Judging by the description, this is nothing more than one of the types of halo already known to us, when light decomposes into a spectrum, which makes it look like a rainbow. Various non-rounded halo shapes such as lines or a cross are also known. (If this is a halo, then why did it suddenly begin and suddenly end, while further in the text of the chronicle a fire descending to the earth in the form of a cloud is described. It is more logical to assume that some object covered the sun and then fell to the earth. Events of the eclipse of the Sun and the appearance of colored pillars does not need to be separated, it happened simultaneously. - Yu. F.)
4. “Also, fire came down from the sky, like a large cloud, on the Lybid stream” - I believe there is no doubt that this is an obvious description of the fall of a meteoric body. (Yes, the fall of some body is obvious. But if it was like a large cloud, can you imagine what this body should have done in Kiev ?! But the chronicle says that it, i.e. fire, did not cause any harm by its fall, and fell exactly into the Dnieper. And they do not even talk about the water overflowing the banks. This is extremely strange. And yet, the fire descended on the Lybed stream, it is not clear what this means, because further it is said that it passed through Kiev and fell into the Dnieper. If this is a falling cosmic body, then how can it first fall into one place, and then change its trajectory and fall into another place. - Yu. F.).
Based on the facts described in the chronicles, the reader is offered a version that unites and links all the available data set forth in ancient sources … Apparently, in 1230, the Earth passed through the tail of an unknown comet, whose orbit lay between the Sun and our planet. As you know, the main substances in comets are ice, gas and fine dust. Approaching the Sun, the comet heats up and forms a tail - a cloud of matter directed from the Sun under the influence of the solar wind pressure. In March 1230, the substance of the comet's tail begins to penetrate the earth's atmosphere, filling it with ice crystals, which gives rise to prolonged cold rains. After a month and a half, the comet approaches the point of closest approach to the earth. As it appears,a relatively large fragment of a comet falls to Earth on May 3 somewhere in the vastness of the Russian Plain, generating a powerful earthquake in a geologically inactive region from Novgorod to Kiev. May 10 Vladimirtsy observe a "false sunrise" in the atmosphere saturated with ice crystals. May 14 - the day of the closest approach to Earth - the comet nucleus eclipses the solar disk. The eclipse is observed over a wide area. In the area of Kiev, the fall of the second, relatively small debris is recorded, which burns up in the atmosphere and falls into the Dnieper. By the end of July, the freezing rain stops. The comet is moving away from the earth. The eclipse is observed over a wide area. In the Kiev area, the fall of the second, relatively small fragment, which burns up in the atmosphere and falls into the Dnieper, is recorded. By the end of July, the freezing rain stops. The comet is moving away from the earth. The eclipse is observed over a wide area. In the area of Kiev, the fall of the second, relatively small debris is recorded, which burns up in the atmosphere and falls into the Dnieper. By the end of July, the freezing rain stops. The comet is moving away from the earth.
In the same Chronicle in the period from 1223 to 1232 we find several mentions of comets - “… a star appeared, called a spear, stretching from east to west in the form of a spear; and there were more than seventeen days, foreshadowing the invasion of the godless Moabites on Russia for our sins, which came true "- and the periods of heavy rains with cold snaps that followed them -" In the same year it rained without stopping, day and night from the day of the Transfiguration to Nikolina's day "," That same autumn there was a large flood beyond any measure; overflowed lakes and rivers; […] And the big water in the Ilmeni lake froze; […] And brought more ice to Volkhov than usual, and broke links 9 of the large bridge”. It can be assumed that all these comets were fragments of a once single body that fell apart and in the period from 1223 to 1232 passed in the vicinity of the Earth.
End of quote. Of course, the author expressed a very interesting and explanatory hypothesis. But there are points in it that need clarification. In any case, many thanks to him for his work. Moreover, we have no other hypotheses yet *))
It is not difficult to assume that these events had serious consequences for Russia. Famine begins in Russia, especially in the north, in the annals we find reports of a terrible famine in Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk. For example, the Pskov Third Chronicle reports: “In the summer of 1230, frost beat down the crops, and a prolonged famine set in again, as if there were no such tacos: there were no people on the streets, and no one would bury them, but their psi, like and dead cattle ….
The summer of 1230 was very cold, and on September 14 frost "beat the abundance" in all Russian lands, except Kiev. As a result of the poor harvest, more than 3 thousand people died from hunger in Novgorod, and 32 thousand people were buried in mass graves in Smolensk.
Let's turn to the sources that describe these consequences.
Pskov Second Chronicle, 1230. In 6738, on the third indict, on May 14, at 3 pm, a sign happened. And in the same year the grain harvest was beaten by frost, and a terrible famine set in all over the earth as it had never happened before: people were dying right in the streets and there was no one to bury them; both human corpses and fallen cattle were eaten by dogs … people were forced to eat horse meat …
Trinity Chronicle, 1230-1231. The famine continued in Smolensk for 2 years. They dug 4 skudelnitsa, in two of which they buried 16 thousand, in the third - 7000, and in the fourth - 9000 people … In the same year, a hungry pestilence covered Novgorod; people killed their brothers and then ate them, ate human corpses, dog, horse meat, ate all the cats, ate moss, pine needles, leaves …
Chronicle according to the Voskresensky list (Sofia time), 1230. There was a famine in Novgorod: the famine was so strong that many went to kill loved ones and then ate them, ate corpses, horse meat, dogs, cats, collected moss and pine bark … and there was no one bury the dead.
Chronicle according to the Resurrection List (Sophia Times), 1231. In 6739 from the CM God sent mercy to the Novgorodians, having done mercy: the Germans came from across the sea with grain and flour, thus doing a lot of good for the city, whose inhabitants were already dying of hunger …
Chronicle of Abraham, 1230. A terrible famine set in: kad of rye was sold at 4 hryvnias, and oats - at 5; in the market and along the streets, dogs ate human corpses, pulling their heads, arms, legs apart … 3,030 people were buried in the scum near the Temple of the Apostles, and in the spring two more holes had to be dug at the end of Chyudintseva Street and at the Nativity Church. At this time in Smolensk 4 skudelnitsa were dug up, in two of which 36,000 people were buried, in the third - 7,000, and in the fourth - 9,000 people. This trouble lasted two years. And German merchants urgently brought grain and flour to Novgorod … (here most likely a misprint is not 36, but 16 thousand people, a characteristic of this source).
Tver Chronicle, 1230. Famine in Novgorod. Who could - fled. Those who were rich did not live in poverty. The rest lay in the streets. Dead. Then 3030 people were transported to the skodelnitsa.
Tver Chronicle, 1231. The chronicler continues the description of the horrors of famine in Novgorod. Trouble also covered Smolensk, where 32,000 people were buried in four skudelnitsa. The famine affected everyone in Russia, except Kiev, but which was in no hurry to help the unfortunate … unlike the Germans, "from overseas with rye and with flour pribogosh"
The obverse annals of Ivan the Terrible (Tsar-Kniga), 1230. In the summer of 6738. And God was angry and devastated the earth; and it began to rain from the day of the Annunciation to Ilyin's day, day and night: and the cold came, and there were severe frosts: and all the bread was frozen. And they bought bread for eight kunas. And a quarter of rye for 20 Novgorod hryvnias; and in some empty rural areas they bought a quarter of rye for 30 hryvnias, wheat for 40 hryvnias of Novgorod, and millet for 50 hryvnias of Novgorod, and a quarter for oats for 12 hryvnias: and people had a great pestilence from hunger, so they could not bury them … The famine spread even more, it was not only in Novgorod, but throughout the land of Rus, with the exception of Kiev alone. And such was the wrath of God. that not only did they eat dead people, but living people killed and ate each other: horses, dogs, cats, and the like, where anyone found they ate; others are moss, and pine,and elm, and linden bark, and ate leaves. Evil people, if they found out somewhere that someone had bread, would force their way into that place, rob and kill. And the wrath of God was spread; and people in all the earth died without number; this also lasted two years.
6739 (1231). The Lord God of many mercies sent his mercy, and the year came, rich in all kinds of grain and all kinds of vegetables. Foreigners from across the sea, having learned that there was a famine throughout the Russian land and in Novgorod, came in many ships with all kinds of grain and flour to Novgorod and the whole Russian land and did a lot of good. If the Lord God had not sent bread through them, and every grain, and flour, then it’s scary to say that it would have been, so all Russian [land from hunger] was already close to destruction.
Thus, the events of 1230 brought a severe famine to the Russian lands, Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk were especially badly affected. In general, as it turned out, in the first third of the XIII century. one of the longest-lasting groups of especially dangerous natural phenomena is observed, which caused 17 hunger years. Of these, two famines lasted several years. In 1214-1216 and especially in 1230-1233, that is, just before the Tatar invasion, the population of Rus dropped sharply. The population of some cities has almost completely died out (Smolensk). The cities of northeastern Russia, especially Vladimir and Suzdal, suffered great losses in people from starvation. Kiev suffered the least, followed by Novgorod the Great. In the first, in 1230, the harvest did not die, and in 1231 overseas merchants brought bread to Novgorod and “revived people”.
The increased extremeness of meteorological phenomena in the first third of the 13th century, at first glance, confirms the conclusions about the gradual deterioration of climatic conditions. However, in nature, everything was probably much more complicated. After the catastrophic year 1230 for almost 20 years, Russian chroniclers have noted only solar and lunar eclipses and are silent about extraordinary meteorological phenomena …
The echo of the 1230 earthquake.
Studying materials on the events of 1230, I came across several articles that mention this phenomenon. The connection of times is interesting. Here are excerpts from several articles.
Belarus.
Belarus intends to restore the ancient Turov cross. Presumably, the shrine disappeared in an earthquake in the 13th century.
The ancient diocesan cross of Turov (Gomel region) is going to be restored in the near future on behalf of the President of Belarus. Banks should provide funds for the restoration of the shrine, the president said on June 16 during a meeting with reporters. We are talking about the cross of the Turov diocese of the Orthodox Church, which disappeared, as scientists believe, during the earthquake of 1230. Then the tremors that came from Romania (! ?? Well, where else could they have been, according to modern historians, something else is not logical. - Yu. F.) to the territories of Russia, brought destruction in several Slavic cities at once, in particular, in Turov the diocesan church was completely destroyed. However, in 1962, during excavations, four lead icons with the faces of saints were found here, which date back to the 12th century - apparently, they decorated the throne cross of the Turov Episcopal Church. One of the icons, presumably, depicts Cyril Turovsky (saint in the Orthodox Church, Bishop of Turov, theologian, church leader, writer, one of the prominent spiritual leaders of the Old Russian state in the 12th century, preacher).
Smolensk.
"That summer there was a pestilence in Smolensk"
Nikolai Voronin and Petr Rappoport, analyzing their long-term studies of the monuments of ancient Smolensk architecture, came to the conclusion that at the beginning of the XIII century in Smolensk there was "not a slowdown in the pace of construction, not a decrease in intensity, but a complete cessation of construction, its breakage." The search for the reasons that led to such a tragic ending of the construction business in medieval Smolensk led researchers to a certain date. Nikolay Voronin and Peter Rappoport write: “Is it possible to find in the history of Smolensk at that time any event or date that would explain such a sudden cessation of monumental construction? It turns out you can. Under 1230, a terrible epidemic ("pestilence") in Smolensk was noted in the annals. 32 thousand people have died here in two years.”
Despite the fact that this date is firmly rooted in the historical literature, and is used by many authors, the very number of dead Smolyans in this message looks absolutely fantastic. One might think that if such an event had actually happened, then not only stone construction would have stopped in Smolensk, but, probably, due to the complete extinction of the capital, the Smolensk principality itself could have disappeared. Researcher Zaitsev also confirms our doubts: “This very message about the sea, in our opinion, is an attempt to rethink the inner content of the article of the Novgorod First Chronicle, not understood by the editor or scribe of the Sofia First Chronicle, where the description of the famine that befell the city (Novgorod - the author) is presented divided.
Why, when processing the information, this correlated with Smolensk is unclear, perhaps, this is how they tried to connect the news of the death of the Smolensk prince present here (Mstislav Davidovich - the author). Neither the Novgorod First Chronicle, nor the Laurentian Chronicle know anything about such catastrophic incidents. The famine in Novgorod continued in 1231 (the second year!), While "Nemtsi came to me and za-moria with wheat and flour and a lot of good things." All of the above shows that the date chosen by Peter Rappoport, which ends the period of construction activity in Smolensk, cannot be considered either successful or sufficiently substantiated. Instead, at the moment it is possible to offer only a very conditional "middle of the XIII century." End of quote.
As you can see, some modern historians categorically do not want to deeply understand the events and themselves look into the annals. From the above sources, one can make an unambiguous conclusion that there really was a famine, and not only in Novgorod, but also in all Russian lands, to a lesser extent only in Kiev. The fact that Smolensk suffered so seriously is beyond doubt, because we saw in various sources the death toll at 32 thousand, and this is just a disaster at that time. And naturally, after that Smolensk and the principality as a whole weakened and became politically dependent on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Let us recall that the so-called Tatar-Mongol invasion did not touch Smolensk and could not cause serious harm or destruction to it. So the reason for the termination of stone construction is still in the aftermath of the natural disaster of 1230.
Legends and history of 1230 near us
The most interesting legend that is associated with the date of 1230, as it turned out, is the most fabulous and beautiful Russian legend that we have all heard about - the legend and Kitezh-grad. Yes, yes, about the one who went under the water. These are the miracles. The fact is that this famous legend is associated with Lake Svetloyar in the Nizhny Novgorod region. So, remember what we said above and the collision of the Earth with a space object, possibly a part of a comet, what caused the earthquake? So, I dare to assume that this is exactly the place where part of the comet fell (if, of course, it was a comet). But everything is in order. Legend first. Do not be embarrassed that it is associated with Batu - the dates are too close, besides, there are other reasons to tie this event to the invasion.
So, there are a great many legends about the city of Kitezh, on the site of which Lake Svetloyar is today. According to one of them, it was built in just three years, it was completely stone, which was an unprecedented phenomenon for Russia in those years. There were no merchants, no artisans, no nobility in the city, but only righteous people, sages, philosophers, and spiritual teachers lived behind its stone walls. The relics of the Russian land were also kept here.
Long ago, even before the coming of the Tatars, Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich (son of Vsevolod the Big Nest, died in the battle on the City River on March 4, 1238 - Yu. F.) built the city of Small Kitezh (present-day Gorodets) on the Volga, and then, “Having crossed the quiet and rusty rivers Uzolu, Sandu and Kerzhenets”, he went to Lunda and Svetloyar to the “very beautiful” place where he had placed the city of Kitezh Bolshoi. This is how the glorious Kitezh-grad appeared on the shore of the lake. In the center of the city were six heads of churches.
Coming to Russia and conquering many of our lands, Batu heard about the glorious Kitezh-city and rushed to it with his hordes … When the "evil Tatars" approached Kitezh Maliy and killed the prince's brother in a great battle, he himself hid in the newly built forest city. Batu's prisoner, Grishka Kuterma, could not endure the torture and gave out secret paths to Svetloyar.
The Tatars surrounded the city with a thundercloud and wanted to take it by force, but when they broke through to its walls, they were amazed. The inhabitants of the city not only did not build any fortifications, but did not even intend to defend themselves. Residents prayed for salvation, since they did not have to expect anything good from the Tatars. And as soon as the Tatars rushed to the city, high-water springs suddenly clogged up from under the ground, and the Tatars retreated in fear. And the water kept running and running …
When the noise of the springs died down, there were only waves in the place of the city. In the distance the lonely head of the cathedral glimmered with a gleaming cross in the middle. She slowly plunged into the water. The cross soon disappeared. Now there is a path to the lake called the Batu trail. It can lead to the glorious city of Kitezh, but not everyone, but only the pure in heart and soul. Since then, the city is invisible, but intact, and the especially righteous can see the lights of the processions of the cross in the depths of the lake and hear the sweet ringing of its bells.
This is the legend. But according to scientists-hydrobiologists, it was not the evil intentions of Khan Batu that destroyed the city of Kitezh (if there was one), but two deep faults in the soil. The most mysterious reservoir of the Nizhny Novgorod region is located at their junction. This version sounds very plausible. Everyone knows that in the event of a strong earthquake, sinkholes consume entire blocks of modern cities. And as a small settlement with wooden houses as a result of a natural disaster, it could easily disappear from the surface.
However, many researchers talk about the meteoric origin of the lake (!!!). This lake is in the form of an ideal oval - the largest (length - 410 m, width - 315 m) with a long axis in the north-south direction and deep (maximum depth - about 36 m) in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The deepest point is in the southern part of the lake, where the lowering of the bottom has the shape of a funnel, which is a continuation of the steep southern shores. Its area is about twelve hectares. The water in Svetloyar is very clean, not overgrown with mud, it can be kept in vessels for years, while maintaining its purity, transparency and taste.
So, in favor of the meteoric origin of the lake is evidenced by: the correct shape, depth, geological structure of the surrounding hills, the stratigraphy of bottom sediments, numerous fragments of fused rocks, rounded drop-like formations of a black foamed glassy mass, similar to impactites. The celestial body that created Svetloyar could move from north to south (!) Along a low trajectory at an angle of 30-40 ° to the Earth's surface. I would like to remind you from the chronicle of those "clouds" that ran across the Sun at the time of its eclipse, and precisely in the direction from north to south. And finally, the date of birth of Svetloyar. It was suggested that this lake, which is quite young in terms of geological time, was formed in a multistage cyclical-periodic formation as a result of neotectonic processes. Based on the idea of the periodicity of the process,the central basin was formed a little more than a millennium (approximately 1100-1200 years ago) in the form of a small lake 15-17 m deep, and the lower terrace subsided approximately 700-800 years ago, which quite accurately corresponds to the time of the events we are describing (although the official history and legend connect them with the time of the invasion of Batu in 1237-1238, but you yourself understand that an amendment of 8 years is negligible here).an amendment of 8 years is negligible here).an amendment of 8 years is negligible here).
Thus, we have one more evidence of the natural catastrophe that the Russian lands experienced in 1230. Therefore, we can assume that in that year the Earth collided with a significant cosmic body, presumably a comet, a significant fragment of which fell 130 kilometers northeast of Nizhny Novgorod.
The question is why the strength of the earthquake was greater in the south, in Kiev, Pereyaslavl? Although in Turov (Belarus), for example, also a stone temple collapsed. Vladimir-on-Klyazma is closer to the epicenter, but there was no such destruction. About Kiev. This city stands entirely on faults and deep cracks. As you know, the Dnieper flows along the faults of the Ukrainian granite shield, and on the boundaries of the faults, karsts, caves and depressions are necessarily formed, which have a bad property to create resonance during ground vibrations. That is why, despite the remoteness of the Dnieper, for example, from the Carpathians, where there is a stationary seismic source in the Vrancea region (one of the rare zones of continental deep seismicity on our planet), the strength of earth oscillations in the central and northern parts of Ukraine can resonantly increase by 1-1, 5 points and make 6-6.5 points on the Richter scale. Perhaps this explains the great strength of the earthquake in 1230 in the south, especially since the meteor (?) Impact was directed precisely to the south.
An unexpected fact about Kolomenskoye
Yes, oddly enough, this more beautiful village in the vicinity of Moscow is also connected with our theme. So, according to legend, the village of Kolomenskoye was founded in 1230. Natives of Kolomna fled from the invasion of Khan Baty. Kolomenskoye is located on a hill that bends around the river. This is an advantageous location for the settlement. So it is written on one of the sites. Don't you notice anything? Again, the date is 1230 (as in the case of Lake Svetloyar), but it is associated with the invasion of Batu (and what else can we associate with our contemporaries?). It turns out that in 1230 (!) The inhabitants of Kolomna after the earthquake were forced to climb the Moskva River and found a new settlement, since the city of Kolomna itself was most likely badly damaged by the earthquake. And after all, an interesting thing is our national memory - the date is kept accurate, but the explanation is tied to another, more popular event for this.
Author: yulia-orel
