In the middle of water

The Kalyazinsky bell tower was in jeopardy - although the authorities and the church consider this historical monument a symbol of unsinkability of Russia

The administration of the city of Kalyazin and the city fund "Renaissance" conduct a campaign to raise funds to save the bell tower of the Nikolsky Cathedral , standing on the artificial island in the middle of the Uglich reservoir. The well -known symbol of Russia, a monument of the beginning of the 19th century, the bell tower miraculously survived during the construction of a cascade of hydraulic fires on the Volga and now again was in danger.

The bell tower at the beginning of the 19th century was added to the St. Nicholas Church of the Nikolo-Jabensky Monastery. This is a fifth -tier belfry in the style of classicism 75 meters high, which at one time housed 12 bells. In 1939, with the expansion of the Volga channel, the old part of Kalyazin, along with the monastery, ended up in the flooding zone for the construction of a cascade of hydraulic fires. The cathedral was destroyed, and the bell tower was left-according to some reports, planning to use it as a lighthouse, useful because of a steep turn of the river. In the late 1980s, the bell tower was strengthened, because it was tilted due to the fragility of the foundation, and an artificial island with a moor for boats was poured around it.

The world -famous bell tower, which is called "floating on the waters", should not remain in this state

Now this “half -stored bell tower” is the main symbol and tourist attraction of Kalyazin, which attracts many believers and onlookers, as well as a symbol of the attitude of the Soviet government to religious monuments - according to experts, was again in jeopardy. Concerned to the state of the famous building, citizens turned to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' and the Minister of Culture of Russia with a request to help the bell tower in the federal targeted program for the restoration of the cultural population for 2016. Their appeal was supported by the district administration.

The director of the Renaissance Foundation, the head of the parish of the Temple of the Ascension of Christ in Kalyazin Sergey Kruglov , spoke about the plans to save the bell tower Radio Radio.

- The bell tower of the Nikolaev Cathedral stands, as you know, in the middle of the Volga water. An artificial island has been poured around it, but recently this island began to erode. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out work on the study of the base of the bell tower and strengthen the shores of this artificial island. The restoration of the bell tower was developed, but the parameters were not agreed for a long time (we are talking about plaster, restoring architectural elements, stucco moldings) and, most importantly, design documentation for the study of the basis of the structure was not developed. All this causes us an alarm. People want to participate in the search for funds so that restoration work begins as soon as possible.

- And there is no money for this in the budget? After all, the bell tower is an object of culture of federal significance.

- We must first “enter” the federal program. Project documentation was developed for several years and lay as if under a cloth, inconsistent. It was necessary to give an impetus to bring everything to mind, so that this documentation could work.

- Do you understand how it happened that the bell tower was at risk? She is one of the most famous Russian history monuments, how did it happen that no one is particularly monitoring his condition?

- This is our anxiety: it would seem, this is a well -known monument, a symbol of unsinkability of the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church, as Patriarch Kirill noted . The significance of this monument to our country is great, everyone knows about this bell tower, but there is still no significant steps towards the design documentation consistent and work begins.

- It will be bitter and ridiculous if the bell tower drings after all the statements about the unsinkability of the state and the Russian Orthodox Church. As far as is known, in the summer, an artificial island around the bell tower can be reached by small water. Have you been there for a long time?

The more bell tower towards the Volga fairway, in the direction to the northeast, is not noticeable. But there were no additional studies in this regard, we do not know for sure whether there is a progression of the departure from the vertical

- This year there was a unique situation, a very low water level. There was little precipitation, and the base of the bell tower, and part of the flooded city were on the surface, came out from under the water. For a long time, for probably a month, part of the flooded city was visible, it was possible to walk on it. The experts just say, by the way, that the change in the medium affects the foundation of the bell tower - the weathering begins, the brick is exfoliated (the belfry is composed of local brick made of Kalyazinsky clay). The world -famous bell tower, which is called "floating on the waters", should not remain in this state.

- Are the cellars of the bell tower flooded?

- The base of the bell tower, the basement is flooded. The artificial island around the bell tower was poured in the late 1980s, by the decision of the then Minister of Culture, and the disproportionality of the first tier is visible to the naked eye. The Nikolsky Cathedral no longer exists, only fragments of the base and the basement remained from it. This year I personally walked through the ruins, looked, took pictures.

- Is the bell tower or not?

- Tilted, and the slope is not eliminated. There were measurements (also in the 80s, when they carried out the last restoration), the vertical deviation vertically was approximately 21 centimeters. Now, after an additional study, a greater bias towards the Volga fairway, in the direction to the northeast, is not noticeable. But there were no additional studies in this regard, we do not know for sure whether the slope has increased.

- The bell tower is part of the large temple complex, which was destroyed in connection with the appearance of the reservoir. They say that the Soviet government was going to turn the bell tower into a lighthouse. In your opinion, in this bell tower, God's spirit remains?

Kalyazin. The history of flooding

- Yes, such an idea was nurtured so that the bell tower becomes a guide for passing ships. But it is not known for sure what exactly caused the preservation of the bell tower, why it was not blown up. I believe that this is a special fishing, the special favor of Nikolai the Wonderworker to our places. Kalyazin survived the raids of both the Mongol-Tatars and the Polish-Lithuanian invaders, and the last insight is associated with the Volgostroy period, with the actions of the NKVD, when the main part of the city plunged to the bottom. After all these destruction, the Church of Nicholas the Wonderworker arose in the same place, and the bell tower of the Nikolaev Cathedral remained there. On the left bank of the Volga was the Trinity Kalyazinsky Monastery, founded in the 15th century by the Monk Makariy Kalyazinsky. Although there is shallow water, the monastery could remain above the surface, the Bolsheviks completely demolished it. But the bell tower remained.

- If you had unlimited power and financial resources, what would you do with the bell tower? Do you have to restore the temple, pour the island further? Or just leave everything unchanged - as a monument of handling shrines in Russia?

- I think that you need to leave everything as it is. There is no particular need to restore the temple. It has already happened here that the bell tower has become a special symbol, a symbol of changing the past, present, future. It's like a nail in the wall, which if you pull out, the entire wall will collapse. The chapel can be arranged inside the bell tower, if such a need arises. If restoration work is carried out, you can organize a chapel, an observation deck inside and restore the belfry. Moreover, there are already two modern bells - one was hanged by the Kalyazins who bent the bell ringing, and the other bell was sacrificed by the RusHydro organization.

- Are these the heirs of those people who built the reservoir?

- This company is the heiress of the entire hydrocascade. The anniversary of RusHydro, the 70th anniversary, just coincided with the anniversary of the bell tower-210 years turned 210 years old, and they donated a bell weighing 320 kilograms. And now you can call from the bell tower. The bell tower is such a peculiar monument, not only something destroyed, left, which will never return, but also a monument of hope for the revival of our state. She opens a lot of faces.

-Is there any practical result of your broad civilian initiative? Did any money come? Of the high offices, some reaction entered the initiative of the Kalyazis?

- From high offices - not yet. Local entrepreneurs support us. Our possibilities are small, but at least we conducted an independent examination of the already made part of the project and submitted documents for approval to the Tver Cultural Heritage Committee. If the design documentation is agreed, then in the future a real opportunity may appear in the state financing program. We expect that research will be conducted, that there will be a further fundraiser and it will be possible to finalize the documentation to strengthen the bulk, since it exists. After all, people come to the bell tower and private, boats with tourists organized groups come here. That is, interest in this monument is very large, even poems about it are written, ”said Sergey Kruglov, the head of the parish of the Ascension of Christ in Kalyazin, told Radio Liberty.

“The Kalyazinsky bell tower, the sad image of Russia has been attracting tourists and pilgrims from different parts of Russia for many years ,” the authors of the appeal about the salvation of the historical object explain to the Minister of Culture and the Patriarch. “ The lonely bell tower in the middle of the water surface is everything that remains of the once noisy trading city of Kalyazin, whose first -class Trinity Monastery was visited by great Russian tsars and commanders " .

Fragment of the final issue of the Freedom Time program

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  Andrey Shary

  I.O. Regional Director of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for Russian -Sound Content

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  Sharya@rferl.org