Sviyazhsk is essentially a village located in Tatarstan in the Zelenodolsky district and is located on the island with exactly the same name. Tourists attracts here the legendary history of this settlement, they want to look at the vintage monasteries and temples built in the sixteenth-nineteenth centuries. And the island himself, as it were, resembles a fabulous bureau from Russian folklore.
The decision to build a fortress city on a round grief was personally Ivan Grozny after an unsuccessful campaign to Kazan. The base for Russian troops near Tatar Khanate was simply vital. The place turned out to be incredibly successful - the island from two sides lay the River Sviyaga and Pike, and only the day of the transition was before Kazan.
The process of building a fortress is also interesting - first in secret from the enemy it was built under Uglich, and then disassembled and on a log transported to the island on the rafts along the Volga to the very mouth of the Sviyagi. And what is interesting - the city was so to speak "assembled" in four weeks. There were all - fortress walls with eighteen towers, churches and houses. It all happened in May 1551, and after a year, the campaign of Ivan the Terrible on Kazan ended in a complete victory - Kazan Pala, that is, his plan was completely successful.
To get to the Sviyazisk, of course, the easiest most from Kazan. If you go by car, follow the highway M7 to the village of Isakov, well, and then the pointers will bring you to Sviyazhsk. On the island you will get on a bulk dam, at the end of which there is a car parking. For all the way you will have no more than an hour. You can also go to the island on the steamer from the River Station of Kazan. By time it is a little longer - two hours, but the journey will be very pleasant.
To begin inspection of the Sviyazhsk, perhaps with the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Men's Monastery. It was founded in 1555 and his very first Archimandrite - Herman was subsequently canonized. To date, the relics of St. Hermann are the main domain of this monastery. In Soviet times, a correctional colony was located in the building of the monastery, and from 1935 to 1953 the NKVD prison.
Nikolskaya Church is considered the most ancient in the monastery. It was built in two years (1555-1556) Arteel of Pskov Masters from the Taucan Stone. Later, a bell tower of four tiers was attached to her, which is still the highest construction on the island. In this temple, the cells of the German itself is kept.
The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Assumption Cathedral) was also built in the Pskov-Novgorod style under the guidance of the same masters that the Cathedral of Basil Blessed in Moscow was built on Red Square. The inner painting of the walls of this temple is considered a unique monument and the rarity of the ancient Russian art of the second half of the sixteenth century.
The church of the Trinity of the Library is the same Church that was delivered here on the Volga and then on the spot already collected by the people of Prince Silver-Obolensky in 15551. In fact, this church is the only preserved wooden structure from the initial fortress city. Naturally, during this time, the interior of the temple has changed significantly, but the design of the iconostasis has been preserved.
The Cathedral of the Icons of the Mother of God "Allorrow's Joy" in size is the most impressive cathedral in Sviyazhsk, he was built since 1898 to 1906. In its appearance, a marine cathedral in Kronstadt is very similar. The architectural style of the cathedral is the neovicantine. Outwardly, the cathedral has not changed during this time, but it contains restoration work on the restoration of the inner wall painting.