This holy noble and great prince Georgy Vsevolodovich was the son of the holy noble and great prince Vsevolod, the Pskov miracle worker, who was named Gabriel in holy baptism. This holy noble and great prince Vsevolod was the son of the great prince Mstislav, the grandson of the holy and Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir of Kyiv, autocrat of the Russian land. The Holy Blessed and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich is the great-grandson of the Holy Blessed and Grand Duke Vladimir.

And the holy noble prince Vsevolod first reigned in Veliky Novgorod. But at one time, the Novgorodians grumbled at him and decided among themselves: our prince, unbaptized, owns us, the baptized. And they made a council, and they came to him, and cast him out. He came to Kyiv to his uncle Yaropolk and told him everything for which he was expelled by the Novgorodians. And he, having learned about this, gave him possession of Vyshgorod. And here the Pskovites already begged him to reign with them, and he came to them in the city of Pskov. And after some time he received the grace of holy baptism, and was named Gabriel in holy baptism. And he remained in great polishing and abstinence, and after one year he went into eternal rest, 6671 (1163) years, the month of February on the eleventh day. And he was buried by his faithful son and Grand Duke George. And there were many miracles from his holy relics to the glory and praise of Christ, our God, and all the saints. Amen.

This holy noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, after the death of his father, his noble prince Vsevolod, who was named Gabriel in holy baptism, remained in his place at the request of the people of Pskov. It was in 6671 (1163) year. The holy noble and great prince Georgy Vsevolodovich deigned to go to the noble prince Mikhail of Chernigov. And when the noble and great prince George came to the noble prince Michael, he bowed to the noble prince Michael and said to him: “Hello, O noble and great prince Michael, for many years, shining with piety and faith in Christ, in everything like our great-grandfathers and great-grandmother our blessed Grand Duchess, Christ-loving Olga, who has found the dearest and greatest treasure - Christ and the faith of his holy prophets and apostles and holy fathers, and to the faithful Christ-loving Tsar and Equal-to-the-Apostles great-grandfather, our Tsar Konstantin. And the right-believing Prince Michael said to him: “May you also be healthy, O right-believing and great prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, come to me with good advice and an unenvious eye. After all, what did Svyatopolk gain because of envy of our grandfathers, who desired power and killed his brothers, faithful and great princes! He ordered Boris to be pierced with a spear, and Gleb to be slaughtered with a knife, during the years of their reign. After all, he deceived them flatteringly at the instigation of Satan, as if their mother was dying. They, like gentle lambs, became like their good shepherd Christ, did not stand against their brother, their enemy. The Lord glorified his holy saints, the noble princes and great miracle workers Boris and Gleb.

And Prince George and Prince Michael kissed each other, and celebrated spiritually, and rejoiced; and the faithful and great prince George said to the faithful prince Michael: "Give me a letter, in our Russia, in the fortified places of the church of God, build cities." And the faithful and great prince Michael said to him: “As you wish, build the churches of God to the glory and praise of the most holy name of God. For such a good intention of yours, you will receive a reward on the day of the coming of Christ.

And they feasted for many days. And when the right-believing prince George decided to return to his inheritance, then the right-believing prince Michael ordered the letter to be written and put his hand to the letter. And when the faithful prince George went to his fatherland and city, then the noble prince Michael with great honor released him and saw him off. And when both princes were already on their way and bowed to each other in farewell, the right-believing Prince Mikhail gave a letter. Blessed Prince George took the letter from Blessed Prince Michael and bowed to him, and then he answered him.

And Prince George went to the cities, and when he arrived in Novgorod, he ordered to build a church in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary in the year 6672 (1164). From Novgorod he went to Pskov, his city, where his father, the blessed Prince Vsevolod, died, and in holy baptism Gabriel, the miracle worker of Novgorod and Pskov. And he went from Pskov-grad to Moscow, and ordered to build a church in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady. and Ever-Virgin Mary in the year 6672 (1164). And he went from Moscow to Pereslavl-Zalessky, and from Pereslavl-grad to Rostov-grad. At that very time, Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky was in the city of Rostov. And the right-believing prince George in the city of that Rostov ordered to build a church in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary in the year 6672 (1164), the month of May on the twenty-third day. In the days of Grand Duke George, they began to dig ditches under the foundation of the church and found the buried relics of St. Leonty of Christ, Bishop of Rostov, a miracle worker, who converted people in Rostov-grad to the faith of Christ and baptized them from young to old. And the noble prince George rejoiced with great joy, and glorified God, who gave him such a valuable treasure, and sang a prayer service. And he ordered Andrei, the prince of Bogolyubsky, to go to the city of Murom and build a church in the city of Murom in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary.

The noble and great prince himself left the city of Rostov and arrived in the city of Yaroslavl, which stands on the banks of the Volga River. And he got into a plow, and went down the Volga, and landed on the shore at Small Kitezh, which stands on the banks of the Volga, and rebuilt it, and all the people of the city of that blessed Prince George began to pray, so that the image of the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos Fedorovskaya would be transferred to the city to them. He fulfilled the request. They began to sing a prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos. And when they finished and wanted to carry that image to the city, the image did not leave the place, it did not move at all. Blessed Prince George, seeing the will of the Most Holy Theotokos, who had chosen a place for herself here, ordered to build a monastery in that place in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos Fedorovskaya.

The faithful prince George himself went from that place by land, and not by water. And he crossed the river Uzola, and the second river, named Sandu, and the third river crossed, named Sanogtu, and the fourth crossed, named Kerzhenets, and came to the lake, named Svetloyar. And I saw that place, extraordinarily beautiful and crowded; and at the begging of its inhabitants, the noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich ordered to build a city on the shore of the lake of that Svetloyar, named Big Kitezh, for the place was unusually beautiful, and on the other side of the lake there was an oak grove.

And with the advice and command of the right-believing and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich, they began to dig ditches to strengthen this place. And they began to build a church in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of the Lord, and the second church - in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of our Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, and the third church - in the name of the Annunciation of our Most Holy Lady of the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. In the same churches, Prince George commanded to make aisles in honor of other holidays of the Lord and the Mother of God. Likewise, he commanded to write the images of all the saints.

And that city, Big Kitezh, was a hundred fathoms long and wide, and this first measure was small. And the noble prince George ordered to add another hundred fathoms in length, and the measure of the hail became two hundred fathoms in length, and one hundred fathoms in width. And they began to build that stone city in the year 6673 (1165), the month of May on the first day, in memory of the holy prophet Jeremiah and others like him. And that city was built for three years, and they built it in the year 6676 (1167), the month of September on the thirtieth day, in memory of the Holy Hieromartyr Gregory, Bishop of Great Armenia.

And he went to Small Kitezh, which stands on the banks of the Volga, the right-believing Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich. And after the construction of those cities, Small and Large, he ordered to measure in the fields how much distance they have between themselves. And at the behest of the right-believing Prince George, they set out a hundred fields. And the noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, having learned this, gave glory to God and the Most Holy Theotokos and also ordered the chronicler to write a book. And the faithful and Grand Duke George himself ordered to serve the entire service. And having sung a prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos Fedorovskaya, after completing that service, he sailed in his plow on his way to his previously mentioned city of Pskov. The people saw him off with great honor; and, having said goodbye to him, they let him go.

The noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, having arrived in his city, formerly called Pskov, spent many days in prayer, and in fasting, and in vigil, and distributed much alms to the poor, and widows, and orphans. And after the building of those cities, he lived seventy-five years.

It was in the year 6747 (1239). By the grace of God, for our sins, the ungodly and godless Tsar Batu came to Russia in a war. And he destroyed the cities, and burned them with fire, and also destroyed the churches of God, and burned them with fire. He betrayed people to the sword, and stabbed small children with a knife, defiled young virgins with fornication. And there was a great cry.

Blessed Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, hearing about all this, wept bitterly. And, having prayed to the Lord and the Most Holy Mother of God, he gathered his army, and went against the impious king Batu with his soldiers. And when both armies entered the battle, there was a great slaughter and bloodshed. At that time, the noble prince George had few soldiers, and the noble prince George fled from the impious king Batu down the Volga to Small Kitezh. And for a long time the faithful prince George fought with the wicked king Batu, not letting him into his city.

When night fell, then the noble prince George went secretly from this city to the Great City of Kitezh. In the morning, when that wicked king woke up, he attacked the city with his soldiers and captured it. And he beat and chopped all the people in this city. And, not finding the right-believing prince in that city, he began to torment one of the inhabitants, and he, unable to endure the torment, opened the way for him. The same wicked one chased after the prince. And when he came to the city, he attacked it with many of his soldiers and took that city of Big Kitezh, which is on the shores of Lake Svetloyar, and killed the faithful Prince George, on the fourth day of February. And the wicked king Batu left the city. And after him they took the relics of the right-believing Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich. And after that ruin, those cities were deserted, Small Kitezh, which stands on the banks of the Volga, and Big, which is on the banks of Lake Svetloyar.

And Big Kitezh will be invisible until the coming of Christ, which happened in former times, as the lives of the holy fathers testify, the Patericon of Monasia, and the Patericon of Skit, and the Patericon of Alphabet, and the Patericon of Jerusalem, and the Patericon of the Holy Mountain, and these holy books, in which the lives of the holy fathers are written, they agree that the innermost abode is not one, but there are many monasteries, and in those monasteries there is a great multitude of holy fathers, like the stars of heaven, shining with their life. As the sand of the sea cannot be exhausted, so it is impossible to describe everything. It is about them, foreseeing in the holy spirit, that the blessed prophet David the king, marveling, cries out in the holy spirit, in the inspired book of his Psalter he says: planted in the house of the Lord, they bloom in the courts of our God.” And also the same prophet King David: “Exalted are your thoughts to me, O God, how great is their number; If I begin to number them, they are more numerous than sand.” About them, foreseeing with the holy spirit, the blessed apostle Paul in his epistle speaks, foreseeing; such a word refers to us: “They wandered in sheepskin and goat skins, enduring hardships, sorrows, bitterness, those that the whole world was not worthy of.” Saint John Chrysostom also spoke the same word, in his teaching he speaks on the third week of Lent. The same word is addressed to us, foreseeing, by St. Anastasius from Mount Sinai. The same apostolic word addresses us, foreseeing, and our reverend father Hilarion the Great, about the saints, he writes: “And it will be the same in the last times: there will be hidden cities and monasteries, because the Antichrist will begin to reign in the world, Then they will run to the mountains, and into dens, and into the abysses of the earth. And the philanthropic God will not leave then those who want to be saved. By zeal, and tenderness, and tears, a person receives everything from God. The divine lips proclaimed the Savior himself in the most holy Gospel that “everything that has and wants to be saved will be given.”

And after the murder of the holy and faithful and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich, and after the burial of his honest relics, in the sixth year that Tsar Batu came to fight in the Russian kingdom. The noble Prince Mikhail of Chernigov went against Batu the Tsar with his boyar Theodore. And when both armies fought, there was great bloodshed. And that wicked Tsar Batu killed the faithful and Grand Duke Mikhail of Chernigov with the boyar Theodore in the year 6750 (1241), the month of September on the twentieth day. And after the murder of the right-believing Prince Mikhail of Chernigov, two years later, that impious Tsar Batu killed the right-believing Prince Mercury of Smolensk in the year 6755 (1246), the month of November on the twenty-fourth day. And there was a desolation of the Muscovite kingdom, and other monasteries, and that city of Greater Kitezh in the year 6756 (1248).

Legends say that during the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the whole city of Kitezh went under the water of Lake Svetloyar - the whole city, along with its defenders, along with the elderly and children. It is believed that divine intervention hid it from the eyes of the enemy for hundreds, and perhaps thousands of years. According to the legend, sooner or later another settlement will appear in the Nizhny Novgorod region - the ancient city of Kitezh.

Remember the legend of Atlantis? About the mainland, which plunged into the ocean, punished by the gods because its inhabitants were mired in sins. There is a similar legend in Russia - however, it has nothing to do with sins. Rather, on the contrary, the reasons for the flooding of this city should be sought in the spiritual purity of its inhabitants.

Only the righteous and saints can see this city. Only a true believer is worthy to hear the chime of its bells. City of Kitezh. The city is a legend. Until now, many Orthodox Christians gather to make a pilgrimage to the lake, in the depths of which the legendary city supposedly rests. Centuries have passed, but people still strive here. They believe that Kitezh is at the bottom of the lake, and their faith is unshakable.

So why is the legend of the city of Kitezh so popular? Why can't people forget about this place?

Kitezh as imagined by Ivan Bilibin

The emergence of the city

The only hints of the real existence of Kitezh can be found in the book "Kitezh Chronicler". According to scientists, this book was written at the end of the 17th century.

According to her, the city of Kitezh was built by the great Russian Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir at the end of the 12th century. According to legend, the prince, returning from a trip to Novgorod, stopped on the way near Lake Svetloyar - to rest. But he did not really manage to rest: the prince was captivated by the beauty of those places. He immediately ordered to build the city of Great Kitezh on the shore of the lake.

Yuri Vsevolodovich, the founder of Kitezh, is depicted at the entrance to the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin

The case was set to work immediately. The length of the built city was 200 sazhens (a straight sazhen is the distance between the ends of the fingers spread out in different directions of the hands, approximately 1.6 meters), the width was 100. Several churches were also built, and on occasion the best masters began to “paint images”.

There are many churches, icons too - what else does a simple Russian person need? The city was not slow to be called "saint", and the people reached out to the lake Svetly Yar.

Svetloyar

Lake Svetloyar is located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. It is located near the village of Vladimirsky Voskresensky district, in the Lunda basin, a tributary of the Vetluga River. The length of the lake is 210 meters, the width is 175 meters, and the total area of ​​the water surface is about 12 hectares.

There is still no consensus on how the lake appeared. Someone insists on the glacial theory of origin, someone defends the karst hypothesis. There is a version that the lake arose after the fall of a meteorite. The very word "Svetloyar" can be translated as "Light Lake".

Batu invasion

Those were times far from peaceful and idyllic. Discord between the principalities, the raids of the Tatars and Bulgarians, forest predators - a rare person decided to get out of the city walls without a weapon. And in 1237, the Mongol-Tatars under the leadership of Batu Khan invaded Russia.

Now let's forget about the legend for a while and remember history.

Diorama "Heroic Defense of Old Ryazan"

Ryazan princes were the first to be attacked. They tried to seek help from Prince Yuri Vladimirsky, but were refused. The Tatars ravaged Ryazan without difficulty; then moved to the Vladimir principality. The son Vsevolod, sent by Yuri, was defeated near Kolomna and fled to Vladimir. The Tatars captured Moscow and captured another son of Yuri - Prince Vladimir.

Prince Yuri, when he found out about this, left the capital to the sons of Mstislav and Vsevolod. Went to gather troops. He set up camp near Rostov on the river Sit and began to wait for his brothers Yaroslav and Svyatoslav. In the absence of the Grand Duke, on February 3-7, Vladimir and Suzdal were taken and ruined, the family of Yuri Vsevolodovich died in the fire.

The prince managed to learn about the death of the family. His further fate was even more unenviable: Yuri died on March 4, 1238 in a battle with the troops of Batu on the Sit River. Bishop Kirill of Rostov found the decapitated body of the prince on the battlefield and took him to Rostov. Later, the head was found and attached to the body.

The death of Yuri Vsevolodovich

Here ends the facts that are confirmed by scientists. Let's get back to the legend.

Batu allegedly heard about the riches that were stored in the city of Kitezh, and sent part of the army to the holy city. The detachment was small - Batu did not expect resistance. The troops went to Kitezh through the forest, and cut a clearing along the way. The traitor Grishka Kuterma led the Tatars. He was taken in the neighboring city, Small Kitezh (now Gorodets). Grishka could not stand the torture and agreed to show the way to the Holy City. Alas, Susanin from Kuterma did not work out: Grishka led the Tatars to Kitezh.

On that terrible day, not far from the city, three Kitezh heroes were on patrol. They saw the enemy first. Before the battle, one of the soldiers told his son to run to Kitezh and warn the townspeople. The boy rushed to the city gates, but the Tatar's evil arrow caught up with him. However, the brave boy did not fall. With an arrow in his back, he ran to the walls and managed to shout: "Enemies!", and only then fell dead.

The heroes, meanwhile, tried to restrain the khan's army. Nobody survived. According to legend, at the place where the three heroes died, the holy key of Kibelek appeared - it still beats.

A variant of the legend says that George the Victorious himself descended to earth to help the defenders of Kitezh. But George's horse stumbled. Then the saint realized that saving Kitezh was not his task. And retreated. And in the place where the horse's hoof fell, the holy source of Kibelek gushed.

Vasily Maksimov "Mongols near the walls of Vladimir"

The Mongol-Tatars besieged the city. The townspeople understood that there was no chance. A handful of people against the well-armed and organized army of Batu is certain death. Nevertheless, the townspeople were not going to give up without a fight. They went out to the walls, with weapons, as well as icons and crosses in their hands. People prayed in the evening and all night long. The Tatars, on the other hand, were waiting for the morning to launch an attack.

And a miracle happened: suddenly the church bells rang, the earth shook, and before the eyes of the astonished Tatars, Kitezh began to sink into the waters of Lake Svetloyar.

And this city of Big Kitezh became invisible and guarded by the hand of God - so at the end of our many-rebellious century and worthy of tears, the Lord covered that city with his hand.

"The Tale and the Penalty of the Secret City of Kitezh"

K. Gorbatov. "The Invisible City of Kitezh"

The legend is ambiguous. And people interpret it differently. Someone claims that Kitezh went under water, someone - that he plunged into the ground. There are adherents of the theory that mountains closed the city from the Tatars. Others believe that he ascended into the sky. But the most interesting theory is that Kitezh simply became invisible. It is not clear, however, why then no one has come across the city by accident.

Amazed by the power of the "Russian miracle", the Tatars rushed to run in all directions. But God's wrath overtook them: whom the animals devoured, who got lost in the forest or simply disappeared, taken away by a mysterious force.

The city has disappeared. According to legend, he should "manifest" on the day of the Last Judgment. On the day when the dead rise from their graves, Kitezh will also rise from the water. But you can see it and even reach it now. A person in whom there is no sin will distinguish the reflection of church domes and white stone walls in the waters of Lake Svetloyar.

Kitezh modern

Fast forward now to times close to our century.

The legend of the city of Kitezh excited the minds of the intelligentsia. First of all, writers, musicians and artists. The 19th century writer Pavel Melnikov-Pechersky, inspired by Lake Svetloyar, told his legend in the novel In the Forests, as well as in the story Grisha. The lake was visited by Maxim Gorky (feature "Bugrov"), Vladimir Korolenko (feature cycle "In Desert Places"), Mikhail Prishvin (feature "Light Lake").

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the opera The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh about the mysterious city. The lake was painted by artists Nikolai Romadin, Ilya Glazunov and many others. The poets Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva mention the city of Kitezh in their works.

Scenery by Ivan Bilibin for Rimsky-Korsakov's opera

Nowadays, science fiction writers and especially fantasy authors are interested in the legend of Kitezh. It is clear why: the image of the hidden city is romantic and fits perfectly into a fantastic work. Of the works of this kind, one can name, for example, the story "The Hammers of Kitezh" by Nick Perumov and "Red Shift" by Evgeny Gulyakovsky.

In the Soviet TV movie The Magicians, based on the Strugatskys' novel Monday Begins on Saturday, a musical instrument factory worker travels to fictional Kitezhgrad. He wants to save the bride from evil spells, and finds himself in the realm of good and evil wizards.

Lake Svetloyar today

Naturally, scientists did not ignore the mystery of Kitezh. Expeditions went to Lake Svetloyar, more than once. Drilling near the shores of the lake yielded nothing. The search for archaeologists ended in nothing. There were no traces of the mysterious city on the approaches to the lake. In the 70s of the last century, the expedition was equipped by Literaturnaya Gazeta: trained divers descended to the bottom. Their work was not easy, since the depth of the lake is more than 30 meters. At the bottom there are many snags and sunken trees.

Unfortunately, they did not find irrefutable evidence of the existence of the city. For believers, this fact, of course, means nothing. It is known that Kitezh will not reveal its secrets to the wicked.

There were hypotheses that Kitezh was not at all on Lake Svetloyar. Other alleged places of "habitat" of the holy city immediately arose. They even talked about China, allegedly Kitezh and the legendary Shambhala are one and the same place.

Nicholas Roerich "The Song of Shambhala"

In our time, scientists have forgotten about Kitezh - it's not up to that. But the legend was at one time speculated by businessmen who hoped to turn the legends into a source of self-financing.

Currently, the territory of the lake is protected by the state. The lake and its surroundings are part of the reserve, which is under the protection of UNESCO. Every year on July 6, on the day of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, Orthodox believers make a procession from the Vladimir Church in the village of Vladimir to the chapel in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The chapel was built near Lake Svetloyar in the late 1990s.

Orthodox pray on the shore of the lake. Someone is secretly looking at his reflection in the lake - will Kitezh flash by? Some believe that the earth collected in a holy place heals ailments. They take it from the graves of "killed heroes" and then take it home along with plastic bottles in which water from the holy spring splashes. There is a belief that water from Svetloyar will not deteriorate, even if it stays in a bottle for several years.

Chapel of Our Lady of Kazan on the bank of Svetloyar

Russian utopia

The city of Kitezh is a symbol of something inaccessible, but desirable. This is a heavenly place where the righteous can flee from the hardships of a cruel world. It doesn't matter if Kitezh existed - a beautiful legend gives hope to the desperate. And in the past, in search of fertile land, peasants-bast shoes fled, and now there are fanatics who go to the Nizhny Novgorod forests, where they hide from modern life.

Kitezh is a Russian utopia. This is the place where milky rivers flow in the jelly banks. For many, this is the country of Fantasy, a fabulous state in which goodness and justice rule. The most important thing about the Kitezh utopia is that people need such a city anyway. And if this legend did not exist, they would have invented another one. People need faith that it is possible to escape from this world full of pain and despair. People need a place to run to. At least in thought. And this place was the sacred Russian city of Kitezh.

Konstantin Gorbatov "The Drowned City"

Belovodie

Many medieval legends tell about the kingdoms of Goodness and Justice, like Kitezh. In these "secret places" one can supposedly hide, escape from the intrigues of evil. One of such places is the magical country of Belovodie. This is a fabulous land where the sages live, who bestow eternal life and secret knowledge of the past. According to legend, the country is located somewhere in the Altai.

After the introduction of serfdom in Russia, many peasants left for the east. In the 17th century, Russian settlers moved to Altai. The reason for this was not only the "crowding" of Central Russia and poverty, but also the hope to find Belovodie. Approximately at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century, the "Traveler of Mark Topozersky" was created, which described the road to Belovodie. The "Traveller" pointed the way through Krasnoyarsk and China to the "Oponsky" (Japanese) kingdom, which lies in the middle of the "Okiyan-sea" of Belovodie.

Lake Svetloyar is located 130 km from Nizhny Novgorod, in the Kerzhen forests, not far from the town of Semyonov, famous throughout the world for Khokhloma painting. It is famous for the legend of the city of Kitezh. Kitezh (Kitezh-grad, Kidish) is a mythical wonderful city, which, according to Russian legends, escaped from the troops of Batu during the Tatar-Mongol invasion in the 13th century due to the miraculous property of being invisible. When the troops approached, the city allegedly disappeared from the eyes of the astonished enemy and sank to the bottom of Lake Svetloyar. In subsequent centuries, the legend was transformed, the Old Believers described Kitezh as a refuge for the followers of the old faith.

But, unlike other mythical dead cities, Kitezh did not suffer for the sins of its inhabitants - on the contrary, it is believed that divine intervention hid it from the eyes of the enemy for hundreds, and perhaps thousands of years.

The only hints of the real existence of Kitezh can be found in the book "Kitezh Chronicler". According to scientists, this book was written at the end of the 17th century.

According to her, the city of Kitezh was built by the great Russian Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir at the end of the 12th century. According to legend, the prince, returning from a trip to Novgorod, stopped along the way near Lake Svetloyar to rest. But he did not really manage to rest: the prince was captivated by the beauty of those places. He immediately ordered to build the city of Great Kitezh on the shore of the lake.

Lake Svetloyar is located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. It is located near the village of Vladimirsky Voskresensky district, in the Lunda basin, a tributary of the Vetluga River. The length of the lake is 210 meters, the width is 175 meters, and the total area of ​​the water surface is about 12 hectares. There is still no consensus on how the lake appeared. Someone insists on the glacial theory of origin, someone defends the karst hypothesis. There is a version that the lake arose after the fall of a meteorite.

The very name of the lake comes from two ancient Russian words: “light”, that is, pure, righteous, and<яр>, which is the root of the name of the Russian solar deity Yarila, who was worshiped by the ancient tribes of the Slavs.

Many legends of the period before the capture of Russia by Christians are associated with Lake Svetloyar. They also mention the city of Kitezh.

According to one of the legends, in the area of ​​​​Lake Svetloyar, the magical half-horse-half-human Kitovras, a powerful wizard and builder of ancient temples, as well as the god of wisdom and hop Kvasura, were born. From their names came the name of the city of Kitezh.

In the area of ​​​​Lake Svetloyar lived the Slavic tribe of the Berendeys. Their descendants to this day have preserved the legend that since ancient times in Kitezh there was one of the largest religious centers of the Yarila cult. This place was considered sacred to the Russian princes.

The bloody baptism of Russia deprived the native Russian faith of both the Magi and churches, taking true Russian sacred places.

Allegedly, Kitezh was turned into the center of the Orthodox faith, and the princes continued to visit it, as if nothing had changed.

Many Orthodox churches were built on the site of temples, as it was believed that such places are special - they are sources of strong positive energy. The names of the ancient gods were gradually replaced by the names of saints, but the very place of worship of higher powers, which has a truly magical energy, remained the same. That is why the region of Lake Svetloyar has been shrouded in legends and mysticism since ancient times.

Big Kitezh was conceived as a majestic city. There were many temples in it, and it was built entirely of white stone, which at that time was a sign of wealth and purity.

The length of the built city was 200 fathoms (a straight fathom is the distance between the ends of the fingers spread out in different directions of the hands, approximately 1.6 meters), the width was 100.

Those were times not best adapted for a peaceful existence. Discord between principalities, raids by Tatars and Bulgarians, forest predators - a rare person dared to get out of the city walls without a weapon.

In 1237, the Mongol-Tatars under the leadership of Batu Khan invaded the territory of Russia.

Ryazan princes were the first to be attacked. They tried to seek help from Prince Yuri Vladimirsky, but were refused. The Tatars ravaged Ryazan without difficulty; then moved to the Vladimir principality.

The son Vsevolod, sent by Yuri, was defeated near Kolomna and fled to Vladimir. The Tatars captured Moscow and captured another son of Yuri, Prince Vladimir. Prince Yuri, when he found out about this, left the capital to the sons of Mstislav and Vsevolod. Went to gather troops.

He set up camp near Rostov on the river Sit and began to wait for his brothers Yaroslav and Svyatoslav. In the absence of the Grand Duke, on February 3-7, Vladimir and Suzdal were taken and ruined, the family of Yuri Vsevolodovich died in the fire.

The prince managed to learn about the death of the family. His further fate was even more unenviable: Yuri died on March 4, 1238 in a battle with the troops of Batu on the Sit River. Bishop Kirill of Rostov found the decapitated body of the prince on the battlefield and took him to Rostov. Later, the head was found and attached to the body.

Here ends the facts that are confirmed by scientists. Let's get back to the legend.

Batu heard about the riches that were stored in the city of Kitezh, and sent part of the army to the holy city. The detachment was small - Batu did not expect resistance.

The troops went to Kitezh through the forest, and cut a clearing along the way. The traitor Grishka Kuterma led the Tatars. He was taken in the neighboring city, Small Kitezh (now Gorodets). Grishka could not stand the torture and agreed to show the way to the Holy City. Alas, Susanin from Kuterma did not work out: Grishka led the Tatars to Kitezh.

On that terrible day, not far from the city, three Kitezh heroes were on patrol. They saw the enemy first. Before the battle, one of the soldiers told his son to run to Kitezh and warn the townspeople.

The boy rushed to the city gates, but the Tatar's evil arrow caught up with him. However, the brave boy did not fall. With an arrow in his back, he ran to the walls and managed to shout: "Enemies!", and only then fell dead.

The heroes, meanwhile, tried to restrain the khan's army. Nobody survived. According to legend, at the place where the three heroes died, the holy key of Kibelek appeared - it still beats.

The Mongol-Tatars besieged the city. The townspeople understood that there was no chance. A handful of people against the well-armed and organized army of Batu is certain death. Nevertheless, the townspeople were not going to give up without a fight. They went out to the walls, with weapons. People prayed in the evening and all night long. The Tatars, on the other hand, were waiting for the morning to launch an attack.

And a miracle happened: suddenly the bells rang, the earth shook, and before the eyes of the amazed Tatars, Kitezh began to sink into the waters of Lake Svetloyar.

The legend is ambiguous. And people interpret it differently. Someone claims that Kitezh went under water, someone - that he plunged into the ground. There are adherents of the theory that mountains closed the city from the Tatars. Others believe that he ascended into the sky. But the most interesting theory is that Kitezh simply became invisible.

Amazed by the power of the "Russian miracle", the Tatars rushed to run in all directions. But God's wrath overtook them: whom the animals devoured, who got lost in the forest or simply disappeared, taken away by a mysterious force. The city has disappeared.

According to legend, he should "appear" only before the end of the world. But you can see it and even reach it now. A person in whom there is no sin will distinguish the reflection of white stone walls in the waters of Lake Svetloyar.

According to legend, Kitezh plunged into the waters of the sacred lake Svetloyar. The sanctity of its waters was extended to the city itself and its inhabitants. Therefore, the image of a city inhabited by the righteous was born, which passed unscathed through the sacred waters and passed into a better world.

Fast forward now to times close to our century.

The legend of the city of Kitezh excited the minds of the intelligentsia. First of all, writers, musicians and artists.

The 19th century writer Pavel Melnikov-Pechersky, inspired by Lake Svetloyar, told his legend in the novel In the Forests, as well as in the story Grisha. The lake was visited by Maxim Gorky (feature "Bugrov"), Vladimir Korolenko (feature cycle "In Desert Places"), Mikhail Prishvin (feature "Light Lake").

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the opera The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh about the mysterious city. The lake was painted by artists Nikolai Romadin, Ilya Glazunov and many others. The poets Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva mention the city of Kitezh in their works.

Nowadays, science fiction writers and especially fantasy authors are interested in the legend of Kitezh. It is clear why: the image of the hidden city is romantic and fits perfectly into a fantastic work. Of the works of this kind, one can name, for example, the story "The Hammers of Kitezh" by Nick Perumov and "Red Shift" by Evgeny Gulyakovsky.

Naturally, scientists did not ignore the mystery of Kitezh. Expeditions were sent to Lake Svetloyar, and more than once.

Drilling near the shores of the lake yielded nothing. The search for archaeologists ended in nothing. There were no traces of the mysterious city on the approaches to the lake. In the 70s of the last century, the expedition was equipped by Literaturnaya Gazeta: trained divers descended to the bottom. Their work was not easy, since the depth of the lake is more than 30 meters. At the bottom there are many snags and sunken trees.

Unfortunately, they did not find irrefutable evidence of the existence of the city.

For believers, this fact, of course, means nothing. It is known that Kitezh will not reveal its secrets to the wicked.

There were hypotheses that Kitezh was not at all on Lake Svetloyar. Immediately, other alleged places of "habitat" of the holy city arose - they even talked about China (supposedly Kitezh and the legendary Shambhala are the same place).

In our time, scientists have forgotten about Kitezh - it's not up to that. But the legend was at one time speculated by businessmen who hoped to turn the legends into a source of self-financing.

Currently, the territory of the lake is protected by the state. The lake and its surroundings are part of the reserve, which is under the protection of UNESCO.

Modern legends about Kitezh

During the Great Patriotic War, old people made pilgrimages around Svetloyar, praying for fellow countrymen who had gone to the front.

About 20 years ago, Svetloyar wanted to investigate a visiting hydrobiologist. After several dives into the water, his temperature rose sharply. The man went to the doctors, but they could not even make a diagnosis: an unknown disease developed without any objective reasons.
And only when the hydrobiologist left these places, the disease receded by itself.

Once, a resident of Nizhny Novgorod came to pick mushrooms in the vicinity of Svetloyar. He did not return home that day or the next. Relatives sounded the alarm. Search and rescue operations did not yield results. The man was put on the wanted list. A week later he returned home alive and unharmed. He answered all questions evasively: they say, he got lost, wandered through the forest. Then he generally said that he had a memory lapse. Only later did he confess to his friend, who specially made him drunk, that he was in the invisible city of Kitezh, where he was met by miraculous elders. "How can you prove it?" the friend asked. And then the mushroom picker took out a piece of bread, which he was treated to in Kitezh. However, in an instant, the bread turned into stone.

They also say that before the 1917 coup, one of the museums allegedly kept a letter in Old Slavonic, which was addressed from son to father. Its content boiled down to the following: a young man ended up in Kitezh thanks to some miracle and asks his parents not to bury him ahead of time.

In the recent past, divers dived to the bottom of Svetloyar. The most interesting thing is that they do not tell anyone about the results of their research. According to rumors, they never found the bottom and were very frightened by this circumstance. The reservoir cannot be bottomless! There is a belief that
the secrets of the lake are guarded by a miracle fish, a kind of Loch Ness monster, only in a Russian way.

There is an even more fantastic legend about Lake Svetloyar. Locals say that it has an underground bottom and connects with the waters of Lake Baikal. And again, no confirmation of this was found. However, these popular beliefs were not refuted.

However, the inhabitants of the otherworldly Kitezh themselves often visit our world. Old-timers say that an old man with a long gray beard in ancient Slavic clothes used to come into an ordinary village shop. He asked to sell bread, and paid with old Russian coins from the time of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. And the coins looked like new. Often the elder asked the question: “How is it in Russia now? Isn't it time for Kitezh to rise up? However, local residents replied that it was still too early. They know better, because the place around the lake is special, and people here live in constant contact with a miracle. Even those who come from other areas feel an unusual halo.


The legend of Kitezh is the most famous legend about a city hidden from the enemy. However, there are many such stories. In a number of regions of Russia, myths still exist about how, under the threat of plunder, monasteries or entire cities went under water or hid in the mountains. It was believed that only the chosen ones could get there from our world. In the book The Brotherhood of the Grail, Richard Rudzitis cites a letter from a Russian monk who sends a message to his loved ones and asks not to consider him dead. He says that he simply went to a hidden monastery to the ancient elders.

However, scientists have not come to a final conclusion: one or more hidden cities or monasteries are discussed in the question of Kitezh. One way or another, the prevalence of such legends and their undoubted similarity once again proves the authenticity of this story. However, the more research is being done on Lake Svetloyar, the more questions scientists have that have yet to be answered.

This holy noble and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich was the son of the holy noble and Grand Duke Vsevolod, the miracle worker of Pskov, who was named Gabriel in holy baptism. This holy noble and great prince Vsevolod was the son of the great prince Mstislav, the grandson of the holy and Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir of Kyiv, autocrat of the Russian land. The Holy Blessed and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich is the great-grandson of the Holy Blessed and Grand Duke Vladimir.

And the holy noble prince Vsevolod first reigned in Veliky Novgorod. But at one time, the Novgorodians grumbled at him and decided among themselves: our prince, unbaptized, owns us, the baptized. And they made a council, and they came to him, and cast him out. He came to Kyiv to his uncle Yaropolk and told him everything for which he was expelled by the Novgorodians. And he, having learned about it, gave him<во владение>Vyshgorod. And here the Pskovites already begged him to reign with them, and he came to them in the city of Pskov. And after some time he received the grace of holy baptism, and was named Gabriel in holy baptism. And he stayed in great fasting and abstinence, and after one year he went into eternal rest, 6671 (1163) years, the month of February on the eleventh day. And he was buried by his son, the faithful and great prince George. And there were many miracles from his holy relics to the glory and praise of Christ, our God, and all the saints. Amen.

This holy noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, after the death of his father, his noble prince Vsevolod, who was named Gabriel in holy baptism, remained in his place at the request of the people of Pskov. It was in 6671 (1163) year. The holy noble and great prince Georgy Vsevolodovich deigned to go to the noble prince Mikhail of Chernigov. And when the noble and great prince George came to the noble prince Michael, he bowed to the noble prince Michael and said to him: “Be healthy, noble and great prince Michael, for many years, shining with piety and the faith of Christ, in everything you became like our great-grandfathers and great-grandmother Our Blessed Grand Duchess, Christ-loving Olga, who has found the dearest and greatest treasure - Christ and the faith of His holy prophets and apostles and holy fathers, and the Blessed Christ-loving Tsar and Equal-to-the-Apostles great-grandfather, our Tsar Constantine. And the right-believing prince Michael said to him: “May you be healthy, right-believing and great prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, you have come to me with good advice and an unenvious eye. After all, what did Svyatopolk gain because of envy of our grandfathers, who desired power and killed his brothers, faithful and great princes! He ordered Boris to be pierced with a spear, and Gleb to be stabbed with a knife, in the years of their reign. After all, he deceived them flatteringly at the instigation of Satan, as if their mother was dying. They, like gentle lambs, became like their good shepherd Christ, did not stand against their brother, their enemy. The Lord glorified his holy saints, the noble princes and great miracle workers Boris and Gleb.

And Prince George and Prince Michael kissed each other, and celebrated spiritually, and rejoiced; and the faithful and great prince George said to the faithful prince Michael: "Give me a letter, in our Russia, in the fortified places of the church of God, build cities." And the faithful and great prince Michael said to him: “As you wish, build the churches of God to the glory and praise of the most holy name of God. For such a good will of yours, you will receive a reward on the day of the coming of Christ.

And they feasted for many days. And when the right-believing prince George wished to return to his inheritance, then the right-believing prince Michael ordered the letter to be written and put his hand to the letter. And when the right-believing prince George went to his fatherland and city, then the right-believing prince Michael with great honor released him and saw him off. And when both princes were already on their way and bowed to each other in farewell, the right-believing Prince Mikhail gave a letter. Blessed Prince George took the letter from Blessed Prince Michael and bowed to him, and then he answered him.

And went<князь Георгий>in the cities, and when he arrived in Novgorod, he ordered to build a church in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary in the year 6672 (1164). From Novgorod he went to Pskov, his city, where his father, the noble Prince Vsevolod, reposed, and in holy baptism Gabriel, the miracle worker of Novgorod and Pskov. And he went from Pskov-grad to Moscow, and ordered to build a church in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary in the year 6672 (1164). And he went from Moscow to Pereslavl-Zalessky, and from Pereslavl-grad to Rostov-grad. At that very time, Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky was in the city of Rostov. And the right-believing Prince Georgy ordered in the city of Rostov to build a church in the name of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary in the year 6672 (1164), the month of May on the twenty-third day. In the days of Grand Duke George, they began to dig ditches under the foundation of the church and found the buried relics of St. Leonty of Christ, Bishop of Rostov, a miracle worker, who converted people in Rostov-grad to the faith of Christ and baptized them from young to old. And the noble prince George rejoiced with great joy, and glorified God, who gave him such a valuable treasure, and sang a prayer service. And he ordered Andrei, Prince Bogolyubsky, to go to the city of Murom and build a church in the city of Murom in the name of the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary.

The faithful and great prince himself left the city of Rostov and arrived in the city of Yaroslavl, which stands on the banks of the Volga River. And he got into a plow, and went down the Volga, and landed on the shore at Small Kitezh, which stands on the banks of the Volga, and rebuilt it. And all the people of that city began to pray to the right-believing Prince George, so that the image of the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos Feodorovskaya would be transferred to them in the city. And he did as he was asked. They began to sing a prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos. And when they finished and wanted to carry that image to the city, the image did not leave the place, it did not move at all. Blessed Prince George, seeing the will of the Most Holy Theotokos, who had chosen a place for herself here, ordered to build a monastery on that place in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos Feodorovskaya.

The faithful prince George himself went from that place by land, and not by water. And he crossed the river Uzola, and the second river, named Sandu, and the third river crossed, named Sanogtu, and the fourth crossed, named Kerzhenets, and came to the lake, named Svetloyar. And I saw that place, extraordinarily beautiful and crowded. And at the begging of its inhabitants, the noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich ordered to build a city on the shore of the lake of that Svetloyar, named Big Kitezh, because the place was unusually beautiful, and on the other side of the lake there was an oak grove.

And with the advice and command of the right-believing and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich, they began to dig ditches to strengthen this place. And they began to build a church in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of the Lord, and a second church in the name of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, and a third church in the name of the Annunciation of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. In the same churches he commanded<князь Георгий>to make aisles in honor of other holidays of the Lord and the Theotokos. Likewise, he commanded to write the images of all the saints.

And that city, Big Kitezh, was a hundred fathoms long and wide, and at first there was little space. And the noble prince George ordered to add another hundred sazhens in length, and the hail became the measure of that in length - two hundred sazhens, and in width - one hundred sazhens. And they began to build that stone city in the year 6673 (1165), the month of May on the first day, in memory of the holy prophet Jeremiah and others like him. And that city was built for three years, and they built it in the year 6676 (1167), the month of September on the thirtieth day, in memory of the Holy Hieromartyr Gregory, Bishop of Great Armenia.

And he went to Small Kitezh, which stands on the banks of the Volga, the right-believing Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich. And after the construction of those cities, Small and Large, he ordered to measure in the fields how much distance they have between themselves. And at the behest of the right-believing Prince George, they set out a hundred fields. And the noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, having learned this, gave glory to God and the Most Holy Theotokos and also ordered the chronicler to write a book. And the faithful and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich himself ordered to serve the entire service. And having sung a prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos of Feodorovskaya, after the completion of that service, he sailed in his plow on his way to his previously mentioned city of Pskov. The people saw him off with great honor, and after saying goodbye to him, they let him go.

The noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, having arrived in his city, formerly called Pskov, spent many days in prayer, and in fasting, and in vigil, and distributed much alms to the poor, and widows, and orphans. And after the building of those cities, he lived seventy-five years.

It was in the year 6747 (1239). By the permission of God, for the sake of our sins, the ungodly and godless Tsar Batu came to Russia by war. And he destroyed the cities and burned them with fire, and he also destroyed the churches of God and burned them with fire. He betrayed people to the sword, and stabbed small children with a knife, defiled young virgins with fornication. And there was a great cry.

Blessed Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, hearing about all this, wept bitterly. And, having prayed to the Lord and the Most Holy Mother of God, he gathered his army, and went against the impious king Batu with his soldiers. And when both armies entered the battle, there was a great slaughter and bloodshed.

At that time, the noble prince George had few soldiers, and the noble prince George fled from the impious king Batu down the Volga to Small Kitezh. And for a long time the faithful prince George fought with the wicked king Batu, not letting him into his city.

When night fell, then the noble prince George went secretly from this city to the Great City of Kitezh. In the morning, that wicked king attacked that city with his soldiers, attacked it and captured it. And he beat and chopped all the people in this city. And, not finding the right-believing prince in that city, he began to torment one of the inhabitants, and he, unable to endure the torment, opened the way for him. The same wicked one chased after the prince. And when he came to the city, he attacked it with many of his soldiers and took that city of Great Kitezh, which is on the shores of Lake Svetloyar, and killed the faithful Prince George, on the fourth day of February. And the wicked king Batu left the city. And after it<ухода>they took the relics of the noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich.

And after that ruin, those cities were deserted, Small Kitezh, which stands on the banks of the Volga, and Big, which is on the banks of Lake Svetloyar.

And Great Kitezh will be invisible until the coming of Christ, which happened in former times, as the lives of the holy fathers testify, the Monasian patericon, and the Skete patericon, the ABC patericon, and the Jerusalem patericon, and the paterikon of the Holy Mountain; and these holy books, in which the lives of the holy fathers are written, agree that the innermost abode is not one, but there are many monasteries, and in those monasteries there is a great multitude of holy fathers, like the stars of heaven, shining with their life. Just as it is impossible to count the sand of the sea, so it is impossible to put everything in writing and describe everything. It is about them, foreseeing by the Holy Spirit, that the blessed prophet King David, wondering, cries out with the Holy Spirit, in the inspired book of his Psalter he says: planted in the house of the Lord, they bloom in the courts of our God.” And also the same prophet King David: “Exalted are your friends to me, O God, how great is their number; If I begin to number them, they are more numerous than sand.” About them, foreseeing by the Holy Spirit, the blessed apostle Paul in his epistle speaks, foreseeing, he addresses such a word to us: “They wandered in sheep and goat skins, enduring hardships, sorrows, insults, those that the whole world was not worthy of.” Saint John Chrysostom also spoke the same word, in his teaching he says in the third week of fasting. The same word is addressed to us, foreseeing, by St. Anastasius from Mount Sinai. The same apostolic word addresses us, foreseeing, and our reverend father Hilarion the Great, about the saints, he writes: “And it will be the same in the last times: there will be hidden cities and monasteries, because the Antichrist will begin to reign in the world. Then they will run to the mountains, and to dens, and to the abysses of the earth. And the philanthropic God will not leave then those who want to be saved. By zeal, and tenderness, and tears, a person receives everything from God. Divine lips proclaimed the Savior Himself in the most holy Gospel that everything will be given to the one who has and wants to be saved.

And after the murder of the holy and faithful and Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich, and after the burial of his honest relics, in the sixth year that Tsar Batu came to fight in the Russian kingdom. The right-believing Prince Mikhail of Chernigov went against Tsar Batu with his boyar Theodore. And when both armies fought, there was great bloodshed. And that wicked Tsar Batu killed the faithful and Grand Duke Mikhail of Chernigov with the boyar Theodore in the year 6750 (1241), the month of September on the twentieth day. And after the murder of the right-believing Prince Mikhail of Chernigov, two years later he killed the right-believing Prince Mercury of Smolensk, that wicked Tsar Batu in the year 7655 (1246), the month of November on the twenty-fourth day. And there was a desolation of the Muscovite kingdom, and other monasteries, and that city of Greater Kitezh in the year 6756 (1248).

If a person promises to truly go into it, and not falsely, and from his zeal begins to fast, and sheds many tears, and goes into it, and it is better to die of starvation rather than leave him, and endure many other sorrows and even death die, know that God will save such that his every step will be known and recorded by an angel. For he went on the path of salvation, as books testify to this, such as the patericon of Skitsky. There was a certain father, and he turned one harlot from fornication. The harlot went with him to the monastery. And she came to the gates of that monastery, and died. And she was saved. And the other also went into the wilderness with her father and died. And the angels took her soul and led her up the stairs to heaven.

It's the same with that person. If it happens that he dies, he will judge according to Divine Scripture. For that runner is spiritually similar to one fleeing from the whore of Babylon, the dark and full of filth of this world, about which St. John the Theologian wrote in Revelation, his book. He speaks of the end time as of a woman sitting on a seven-headed beast, naked and shameless, but in her hands she holds a bowl full of all filth and stench, and gives it to those who live and love it in the world - first of all to patriarchs, kings , and princes, and governors, and all rich rulers, and all people in this vain world, who love its sweetness.

The one who wants and desires to be saved must flee from the world and its sweetness, as the same John said, foreseeing by the Holy Spirit: the woman will flee into the wilderness, and the serpent will chase after her, the one that seduces from the right path who wants to live humbly and spiritually. And that accursed serpent teaches to walk in a wide and spacious way, the path of malice, and leads astray from the right path, and seduces, and orders to live a corrupt life, and frightens those who walk along the right path.

But the one who wants, and seeks, and desires salvation, that person is greatly admonished by the grace of God, and helps him, and teaches, and leads him to a perfect spiritual humble life. For no one has ever been left anywhere by the Lord. Whenever he called him, he was heard by him. And when he asks, does he not receive? And what he seeks, does he not find in him? For the Lord accepts everyone who comes to him, with joy and calls everyone. After all, usually even the powers in heaven do not see the face of God. And when a sinner repents on earth, then all heavenly powers clearly see the face of Christ, and the glory of his Divinity is revealed, and they see his face. For only for the sake of the soul of a sinful repentant joy happens in heaven to all the powers of heaven and to all his saints. And the forces are angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, principles, and authorities, and dominions. And the saints are who they are: the prophets, and the apostles, and saints, and the saints, and the righteous, martyrs, and martyrs, and all the saints. For the sake of the repentance of a single sinner, there is joy for all the powers of heaven and all his saints.

And the one who does not want, does not strive, does not want to receive salvation for himself is not forced by the Lord by force and involuntarily. But according to the zeal and desire of the heart, the Lord does everything for man. When someone with a non-hypocritical mind and unshakable faith makes a vow and does not think about anything vain in himself, then even if he turns back without telling his father, mother, sisters, or brothers, then the Lord also opens the way for such a person and directs him to such a good and quiet haven by the prayers of our venerable fathers, who work day and night unceasingly. The prayer of their mouths is like a fragrant censer. They also pray for those who want to be saved with a sincere heart, and not with a false vow. And if someone wants to be saved and prays, if someone turns to them from somewhere, they are accepted with joy as being instructed by God.

And whoever wants to go to such a holy place has no thought not to have a crafty and depraved one, confusing the mind and leading the thoughts of that person who wants to go to the side. Strongly beware of evil thoughts, seeking to excommunicate from that place. And don't think about this and that. The Lord will guide such a person on the path of salvation. Or a notice will come to him from that city or from the monastery of the one that is hidden both, the city and the monastery. After all, there is also a chronicler-book about the monastery. I will return to the first word.

But if he goes, and begins to doubt, and praises everywhere, then the Lord will close the city to such. And it will seem to him a forest or an empty place. And he will not receive anything, but only his labor will be in vain. And the temptation, and reproach, and reproach to him will be for this from God. Execution will take here and in the next century, condemnation and pitch darkness for desecrating such a holy place, over a miracle that appeared at the end of our century: the city became invisible, just as in former times there were many monasteries that became invisible, about this was written in the lives of the holy fathers, you can read more there.

And this city of Big Kitezh became invisible and guarded by the hand of God - so at the end of our many-rebellious century and worthy of tears, the Lord covered that city with His hand. And he became invisible at the prayer and petition of those who worthily and righteously fall to him, who will not see sorrow and sorrow from the beast-antichrist. Only we are grieved day and night, about our retreat, our entire Moscow state, because the Antichrist reigns in it and all his commandments are filthy and unclean.

The fathers tell about the desolation of that city, and they heard from the former fathers who lived after the destruction of the city and a hundred years after the impious and godless king Batu. For he destroyed all that Zauzol land and burned villages and villages with fire. And the whole Zauzol country was overgrown with forest. And from that time that city and the monastery became invisible.

We wrote this book-chronicler in the year 6759 (1251), and approved the council, and gave God's holy church for strengthening to all Orthodox Christians who want to read or listen, and not blaspheme this divine scripture. If any person abuses or mocks this scripture, bequeathed by us, let him know that he did not blaspheme us, but God and his most pure mother, our mistress Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary. In whom is glorified, and magnified, and commemorates her great name, the mother of God, those she also observes, and preserves, and covers with her hand, bringing prayer for them to her son: “Do not leave in contempt my, oh dear son, petitions. You, who washed the whole world with your blood, have mercy on these and save and keep those who call on my name with undoubted faith and a pure heart. And therefore the Lord covered them with His hand, about which we wrote, and confirmed, and informed.

And to this our decision, neither add nor subtract, and in no way change, not a single dot or comma. If anyone adds or changes in any way, let him be cursed, according to the holy fathers of tradition, according to tradition, who informed about this and confirmed it. If this seems untrue to anyone, then read the lives of former saints and find out that there was a lot of this in former times. Glory in the Trinity to the glorious God and his most pure Mother of God, who observes and preserves this place, and to all the saints. Amen.

The life of the holy noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich, based on the text of the Simeon Chronicle of the 15th century, was compiled by the time of the transfer of his relics in 1645. There is also a special version of the Life of the Grand Duke ("Life and Suffering"), which was created around the middle of the 17th century in Kostroma, based on the text from the Book of Degrees. Apparently, this version of the Life of the saint was used when the Old Believers compiled the Tale of the City of Kitezh at the end of the 17th century - “The Book of the Verbal Chronicler”. The main character of the work is George Vsevolodovich, who suffered "from Tsar Batu for the faith in Christ and for the holy churches."

Igor Geko.

According to this legend, Georgy Vsevolodovich rebuilt Small Kitezh (presumably modern Gorodets), founded the Feodorovsky Gorodetsky Monastery in it, and then went to a very remote region, where he placed Big Kitezh, the legendary city of Kitezh, on the shores of Lake Svetloyar.

B.A. Smirnov-Rusetsky. City not sinking (Kitezh) 1977

“The book is said to be a chronicler” tells about it this way: “... I came to the lake, named after Svetloyar. And I saw that place, extraordinarily beautiful and crowded. And at the begging of its inhabitants, the noble prince Georgy Vsevolodovich ordered to build a city on the shore of the lake of that Svetloyar, named Big Kitezh, because the place was unusually beautiful, and on the other side of the lake there was an oak grove.<…>

K. Gorbatov. The invisible city of Kitezh

And they began to build a church in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of the Lord, and the second church - in the name of the Assumption of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, and the third church - in the name of the Annunciation of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary.<…>And that city, Big Kitezh, was a hundred fathoms long and wide, and this first measure was small. And the noble prince George ordered to add another hundred fathoms in length, and the measure of the hail became two hundred fathoms in length, and one hundred fathoms in width ... ".

painting by M. V. Nesterov "City of Kitezh (In the forests)". Nizhny Novgorod

Despite the incompatibility of the dates given in the legend with historical reality, as well as the fact that Yuri Dolgoruky is considered the founder of Gorodets, as well as the Fedorovsky Monastery, the legend is most likely based on actual events. The connection of Small Kitezh (Gorodets) with the name of Georgy Vsevolodovich has a completely historical background: after the victory of Konstantin Vsevolodovich in 1216, Prince Georgy left for his inheritance in Gorodets. In 1238, when the hordes of Batu approached Vladimir, Georgy Vsevolodovich went to the Yaroslavl land, within which both cities, Big and Small Kitezhi, were located, and where the battle lost by the Russians took place.

Konstantin Ivanovich Gorbatov

The legend further tells about the great cry, about how Batu Khan, having conquered the Russian principalities, found out about the bright city of Kitezh and was about to capture it. One of the prisoners told the Mongol Khan about secret paths to Lake Svetloyar and the city. And the city was devastated and all the inhabitants were killed along with Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich and his troops. And after the devastation, the holy city became invisible and "And Great Kitezh will be invisible until the coming of Christ."

Korovin Konstantin Alekseevich. The invisible city of Kitezh. 1930

According to folk legends, when the Tatar troops reached the walls of the city, they were amazed that the city was not fortified, its inhabitants did not prepare to defend themselves, they only prayed. Khan's troops attacked the city, but suddenly fountains of water began to beat from the ground, the invaders had to retreat and they could only see how the city plunged into the lake. The legend says that the lake hid Kitezh until the end of time, and only before the end of the world it will rise again from the waters: “this city of Great Kitezh became invisible and guarded by the hand of God, so at the end of our many-rebellious century and worthy of tears, the Lord covered that city with his hand ... "

Mikhail Kozlov-Bestuzhev. Kitezh - hail

This legend gave birth to numerous incredible rumors that have survived to this day. Not everyone can get into the sacred city of Kitezh. Only a person who is absolutely pure in spirit is able to enter there: “And whoever wants to go to such a holy place has no thought not to have a crafty and depraved one, confusing the mind and leading away the thoughts of that person who wants to go. Strongly guard the thoughts of the evil ones, seeking to excommunicate from that place. And don't think about this and that.<…>If he goes, and begins to doubt, and praises everywhere, then the Lord will close the city to such. And it will seem to him a forest or an empty place ... "

Avanesov Vladislav. The road to Kitezh.

Monks from neighboring Christian monasteries, who regularly visit Svetloyar, hear only the ringing of bells, and only a few manage to see the outlines of the beautiful white stone churches of Kitezh in the waters of the lake. According to local residents, the lake has healing properties and can cure many ailments, and those who see the reflection of the golden domes of churches in it will be happy.

Klimenko Andrey. Guardians of Kitezh city.

The legend of the earthly paradise - the invisible city of Kitezh attracted people in ancient times and attracts people now, it served as the basis for many works of art in literature, music, fine arts and cinema.

I. Glazunov. City of Kitezh. 1986

Yuri Somov

***

History of Russian Goverment