Legendary treasures of Razin's walls.

I. LEGENDS AND WAS

“There are records about these treasures: it is written where the treasure is buried, what kind it is and with what vow it is laid ... These treasures are terrible ...”. This is how Melnikov-Pechersky, a well-known expert on the Volga antiquity, wrote about robber treasures. Many similar stories were told in Russia on long winter evenings by the stove or by the fire at a halt. Quite a few seekers of a better life served as pytari - professional treasure hunters. There were entire villages engaged in this trade.
And almost every second treasure was associated with the name of Stepan Razin. And this story began on June 6, 1671, when the earthly life famous ataman. At the same time, the legend of the Razin treasures began its journey through the centuries. And not only a legend.

Razin's brother Frol at the last moment shouted: "The sovereign's word and deed!", which meant a readiness to talk about an important state crime, and Stepan managed to tell him: "Be quiet, dog!" This last phrase of the ataman was heard and recorded by the German Konrad Sturtzfleisch, who was standing near the platform. Not relying on his knowledge of the Russian language, he even did it in Latin letters.

The English merchant Thomas Hebdon reported a week later: “It is reliably known that the recently executed rebel was indeed their main rebel, Stepan Razin. His brother's wounds were healed after being tortured, and they should soon be sent to Astrakhan to find the treasures buried there by Stepan.
Many years later, the famous Russian historian Kostomarov, having gained access to old investigative files, will restore the picture of what happened in more detail.
The authorities very quickly became convinced that you would not get any information from Stepan Timofeevich, but Frol, not heeding his brother’s last order, the very next day “... he said about letters that were sent from nowhere and all sorts of things that he had , then his brother Stenka buried everything in the ground ... put it in a jug and buried it in a pitch on an island on the Don River. In addition, he showed that when the ataman fled after the defeat from near Simbirsk on the Don, there was a chest with junk and jewelry. Frol especially remembered the model of Constantinople made of ivory for some reason, which his elder brother carried with him all the time.
Thus, the secret Razin archive was hidden on the Don, but the mysterious treasure chest apparently disappeared somewhere along the way. In any case, the detachment sent by tsar's decree with Frol Razin for five whole years was engaged in searches not only on the Don, but also in the foothills of the Zhiguli. There was nothing surprising in this, because Razin, wounded near Simbirsk, sailed past Samara on plows, and then moved to the upper reaches of the Don by land. Somewhere in this area, he got rid of the bulky luggage. Frol and the archers did not find anything, the further fate of the Razin brother is lost in the darkness of obscurity. Either he died under torture, or he was exiled somewhere forever.
This ends the documentary history of the treasure and begins the legendary one. It starts, as we see, not from scratch. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich would not just drive a detachment of archers along the Volga for five whole years. Razin also had considerable values. This is how a foreign eyewitness described the return of the Cossacks from the Persian campaign. “They came from there in detachments to the city, and ordinary Cossacks were dressed like kings, in silk, velvet and other clothes woven with gold. Some wore crowns of pearls and precious stones on their hats. The Cossacks came to the city every day and sold there unspeakably and incredibly expensive booty. They sold a pound of silk for three stavers, and it was mostly bought by the Armenians and Persians, who in this way made up great treasures and riches. I bought from a Cossack a large chain, 1 klaft long, consisting of links, like a bracelet, and five precious stones were fused between each share. For this chain, I gave no more than 40 rubles, or 70 guilders. Then, during the uprising, the city of Astrakhan, which was then the center of eastern trade in Russia, fell into the hands of the Razintsy for two years. As follows from official documents, then many Persian, Indian, Armenian, Tatar merchants were robbed, the royal treasury was seized. The riches these merchants possessed can be judged by their gifts, now exhibited in the Kremlin Armory. The Armenian company, for example, presented Tsar Boris Godunov with a gilded throne studded with diamonds.
It is not surprising that the brilliance of these treasures so strongly influenced the image of the famous ataman, which is known to us from numerous legends, fairy tales and songs. Moreover, Stepan Timofeevich himself was an outstanding person. The Tsaritsyn voivode, in all seriousness, reported to Moscow: “That ataman, neither a squeaker, nor a saber, takes anything,” and the same English merchant Thomas Hebdon, who was present at the execution of the rebel, wrote: “This Razin kept his angry look of a tyrant all the time and , as it was seen, was not at all afraid of death.

All these stories, real and invented over time, mixed with the stories of other Volga robbers, legends and legends created on our shores by numerous peoples who lived here and, as a result, gave rise to that amazing image of an enchanted ataman-sorcerer who floats on the water on a magical felt mat and one with a wave of his hand, he smashes entire caravans. And how many gloomy superstitions were added by the annual anathemas uttered to Stepan Razin in churches.
Perhaps the most beautiful legend connected with our places. It tells that the island on the Volga opposite Syzran is actually the roof of an underwater palace that stands in the middle of the enchanted Peaceful City. A beautiful river princess lives in it. There Stenka Razin hid for the time being. Only occasionally moonlit nights he comes to the surface and floats along the Volga on his magical felt mat or flies in a boat full of gold. And sometimes the Peaceful City itself rises out of the water.
Joking aside, but for centuries, many people have seen a mysterious mirage over the southern bend of the Samara Bend. They say it looks like a city. The Kalmyks-Buddhists who once wandered in our area considered it a vision of Shambhala. The tale is a lie - but there is a hint in it. After all, the action of our story about the treasure of Stepan Razin will take place in the same place. Amazing coincidences often happen in treasure-hunting stories.
It's a pity, of course, but you have to leave the halls of the enchanted palace and the romantic world of legends and go back to the beginning of the pragmatic 20th century. It was a time when fairy tales became true, the science of archeology was developing with might and main, and scientists were again interested in many ancient secrets. Schliemann found the legendary Troy, Carter the tomb of Tutankhamun, and here in Russia they were looking for the famous library of Ivan the Terrible. The archaeologist Ignatius Stelletsky, who was engaged in this, among other things, drew attention to the story of the treasures of Stepan Razin. To his surprise, he found in it not only fairy tales and old documents covered with dust.
It turned out that a certain Myatlev was looking for these treasures just before the First World War. A serious man, a military engineer, he certainly had good reasons for such an occupation. And it soon became clear that the maternal officer belonged to the family of the Baltic nobles von Rode. This already gave the whole story a completely different shape.
If you believe the numerous publications that have appeared recently and the authors of the Seekers program, then a certain August von Rode, a Swedish nobleman in the Russian service, was at the time of the Razin uprising in the Volga region and was even familiar with the legendary ataman. Then he got away from our places and peacefully lived out his life in a small estate, bestowed for faithful service. He allegedly hid at home, and then gave the authorities a certain Alena, whom rumor considered Razin's mistress. Here are some papers of this very von Rode that caught the eye of military engineer Myatlev two centuries later. But not only them.
It turned out that even before, someone from the von Rode family was engaged in mysterious searches in the Middle Volga region. It ended unsuccessfully. During earthworks, a collapse occurred, three workers were crushed to death, and the unlucky seeker himself was put on trial.
Now a very definite picture was emerging. Alas, not documented in any way. After the arrest of Razin, a certain Yesaul Luka Cherepok became the owner of the secret of his treasures. After his death, either Ataman's or Yesaul's mistress Alena took refuge with von Rode, to whom she revealed the secret. Many years later, a descendant of the baron came across these papers and went on a search that ended tragically. And after some time, the secret fell into the hands of military engineer Myatlev. Alas, the story ends there. Myatlev himself died, what and where he was looking for remained a mystery. Only a faint trace remained. When an officer took leave to go in search, he, as a military man, was obliged to indicate his location. In the papers of Myatlev, Samara is listed as such.
It is on this trail that modern search engines have moved. The authors of the television cycle for some time rummaged through the caves and quarries in the vicinity of Samara and got away without slurping salty. Nothing that, one way or another, could be correlated with Stepan Razin, or at least the engineer Myatlev, they did not come across. It seemed that now this story will sink into oblivion forever.
But the expedition should not have traveled a hundred kilometers downstream of the Volga in vain. There, where the enchanted Peaceful City still appears to some lucky ones. It was there, in the depths of the State Archives of the city of Syzran, that one curious document lay and waited in the wings.

II. FINDING IN THE SYZRAN ARCHIVE

A few years ago I rummaged through the papers of the Syzran district court of the end of the 18th century. This occupation, as well as possible, is characterized by the words of Pushkin: "The past passes before me." You slowly turn over the thick pages of bluish paper, decorated with filigrees of long-forgotten factories, peering into the handwriting of the clerks. No, no, and it will blow on you with snuff, which was so loved in this gallant age. And as if long-gone shadows come to life.
What you will not find here. Records of interrogations and inspection of incident sites, inventory of property, complaints, lawsuits, merchant's fortresses. A real encyclopedia of the then life. Here, among other things, I came across a mention that a certain Fedor von Rode was hired by the local landowner Vasily Samarin to make cars. Such a story could not but interest. Cars at the end of the 18th century, and even in our provincial wilderness. And the personality of Samarin himself was quite remarkable.
He just moved to our area. He acquired vast lands in the Syzran Trans-Volga region and began to settle down here. New possessions were completely deserted. Previously, some princes owned them, but purely nominally. Right next to it were the summer camps of the Kalmyks, which is why it was dangerous to live there. Only in the summer did the inhabitants of Syzran come to the farms, and the peasants of the landowners Dmitriev and Bestuzhev for haymaking.
Samarin decided to stand with a firm foot in the Volga region, fortunately, there were funds. He resettled more than 2,000 peasants in the Syzran district, founded several villages and hamlets. At the time described, they had not even had time to acquire permanent names. All settlements, which belonged to Samarin were called either by the name of the owner Vasilevsky or Annina. It was also jointly owned with Prince Urusov the village of Vyazovka with vast lands on the right bank of the Volga. At the time described, a lengthy litigation was going on over the division of this estate, which, by the way, played an important role in all subsequent history.
Samarin conducted business on recent achievements contemporary economics. He ordered pedigree cattle from abroad, built a distillery to process surplus grain. At the same time, I wanted to mechanize part of the production processes. For which he hired a certain Baron von Rode, a retired major in the engineering corps. But this case turned out to be in the Syzran district court because the work was never completed. Having abandoned business halfway, the major left. That, in fact, is the whole story.
The very story about the treasures of Stepan Razin made me return to it again. After all, a certain Baron von Rode was mentioned there, who was looking for a treasure somewhere on the Middle Volga and ended up on trial. Moreover, during earthworks, a collapse occurred, and three people died. So after all, in the Syzran case, a collapse was also mentioned that claimed three lives! I read the case more closely, and immediately discovered a lot of oddities in it.
Let's go through the chain of events that took place near Syzran more than two centuries ago.
An announcement appeared in No. 43 of the Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper. A retired military engineer, Major Fyodor Ivanovich von Rode, wrote that, “knowing mechanical and hydrological art, he can fix thin mills, dams and locks with a very small amount. He can lift water up with the help of a machine he invented. At the same time, the author expressed his readiness to conclude a long-term contract for several years.
Quite a lot of time passed until the newspaper caught the eye of the Syzran landowner Vasily Samarin. He wrote to Moscow to his friend Colonel Yakov Aprelev to offer von Rode a contract. He readily agreed, demanding 1,200 rubles of annual salary and food for the three people who accompanied him in the amount of one and a half pounds. rye flour and one and a half garnets of cereals per month. In October 1790, the baron arrived in Simbirsk.
Here, as usual, the final contract has already been drawn up. The baron did not know Russian well, so the document had to be translated into German. Von Rode had to make a sawmill, a device for grinding roughage and much more. But the most important were water-lifting machines for supplying Volga water. After brief negotiations, during which the feed grinder was excluded from the document, on October 23, 1790, the contract between Samarin and von Rode was finally endorsed in the Simbirsk brokerage office, after which the engineer received 1200 rubles, provisions for servants and left for Syzran district.

True, one more person was not mentioned here, who, nevertheless, arrived with him. This is the Major's aunt. Why did you need to drag her into our wilderness?
During the winter, von Rode made only a sawmill and a couple of pumps at the wells. And also prepared drawings. In order to properly look around the area, there was time. He began to show genuine zeal only in the spring, when he began to make a large water-lifting machine. This work required significant earthworks.
It was evident that Rode was in a hurry. He constantly demanded from Samarin to double the number of diggers and, under various pretexts, evaded other work. And on October 13, there was a collapse. A trench three fathoms deep collapsed, burying three workers under it.
Samarin took this news calmly. He only, according to the existing procedure, notified the county police about the accident. There has not even been an investigation into this case. But von Rode behaved more than strange.
On the fifth day after the incident, when Samarin left for Syzran to hush up the case of the death of people in the local court, a mysterious guest arrived at the major. It was nothing more, nothing less than a messenger from Prince Alexander Kurakin himself.
Those who went to school in the 70s probably remember the portrait of a pompous nobleman studded with diamonds that adorned a seventh grade history textbook. This was Prince Alexander Kurakin. The Diamond Prince, as his contemporaries called him for his passion for jewelry. Also, a friend of the heir Russian throne Pavel Petrovich. At the time described, Empress Catherine II just sent Kurakin into exile in the Saratov estate in order to protect the Grand Duke from his bad influence. After all, in addition to love for gems, this man also had numerous and very dubious connections in Masonic circles. At that time, the persecution of “free masons” had just begun in Russia, who, not without reason, were suspected of having contacts with foreign secret organizations.
Later, when testifying to the court, von Rode let slip that the appearance of Prince Kurakin's envoy was not accidental. He arrived at the request of the Vice-Chancellor of the Russian Empire, Andrei Osterman, to whom, in turn, the major had sent a letter shortly before. What connected the powerful nobleman with the unlucky builder of sawmills and water pumps remains a mystery. Subsequent events showed too clearly that very influential people stood behind the major.
In any case, having barely spoken with the envoy of the prince, von Rode immediately appeared to Samarin's wife and announced that he was leaving. She, of course, advised to wait for the return of her husband, but for now she forbade to leave. She directly advised the Kurakinsky envoy to get out. The Samara manager quite transparently hinted that we often drown here in the Volga.
The fact that these are not empty jokes became clear after the arrival of Samarin. He returned late on October 19, and already in the morning he ordered to sound the alarm, calling the peasants, who then broke down the door of the baron's dwelling and grabbed the envoy. Von Rode himself, in one coat, jumped out the window and ran away. He took refuge in floodplain swamps, of which there were so many before on the banks of the Volga.
Don't envy the Baron. October 20 is the first of November according to the new style. Finding himself without warm clothes in sparsely populated areas, where there was practically no one except the Samara peasants, he was doomed. The only hope was the manager of Prince Urusov, the same one who was suing Samarin because of the right-bank lands. Von Rode reached him "through the cold and the swamp." There, the fugitive was given a boat and a couple of escorts, who ferried him across the Volga at night and provided him with a cart, which delivered the major already to Repyevka, to the house of the landowner Vasily Bestuzhev.
On October 26, von Rode finally reached Kurakin. He immediately begins to fuss about rescuing the baron's aunt and his property from "captivity". Already on November 10, the Simbirsk governor Karpov sent the strictest order to the Syzran district police immediately to go to Vasilyevskoye and bring the woman.
Samarin, of course, did not calm down. He had the most extensive connections at the very top, his brother-in-law was even the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, and here some Livonian rogue leads by the nose. Samarin called the provincial architect, examined all the work done and demanded either their completion or monetary compensation in 5000 rubles, But, the scythe found on a stone. The case seemed to hit a blank wall. Someone very powerful obviously did not give him a move.
And after 1796, when Pavel Petrovich became Emperor of Russia, and Prince Kurakin became Prosecutor General, the case disappeared altogether, leaving only a few copies of the protocols in the journal of the district court. There were a lot interesting documents. For example, a detailed description of the work of von Rode, made by the architect Toscani. Interrogation testimonies of many actors. It is clear that the baron did not talk too much, but they could blurt out something unnecessary out of ignorance. What details this case brought with it, one can only guess. We will try to put together what we have.
A certain von Rode, whose ancestor August was familiar with Stepan Razin and his entourage, and whose descendant Myatlev was looking for, the treasures of the ataman somewhere near Samara, goes to Syzran and shows considerable interest in earthworks. The depth to which it deepens at the same time reaches six meters. At the same time, he does not notify anyone about his trip, but the Vice-Chancellor of the Russian Empire himself.
In October, events begin to develop at a feverish pace. The baron notifies his patrons about something, and they send a man to him. At the same time, a collapse occurs, and the diggers die. After that, the major stops work and runs from the estate. But, it is quite obvious - it is not running because of the collapse. Samarin hushed up the matter, demanded the continuation of work, paid good money. So why did the baron run? Why did he correspond so feverishly with Kurakin and with someone else? Why did you bring your aunt with you into the wilderness?
It seems that von Rode did what he wanted. Just what? It remains only to build versions. It was a very eventful time. Catherine II began the persecution of Masons, suspecting them of having connections with foreign organizations, which led to significant financial difficulties not only for the Russian "freemasons", but also for the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, who at that time, according to rumors, even applied for money to Old Believers. Quite, someone from his entourage could decide on an adventure with the search for treasure.
Now about von Rode himself. Why did he go to the Volga at this particular time? The answer suggests itself - up to this point, south of Syzran, they were deserted and dangerous. In the summer, Kalmyks roamed there, and robbers ruled on the river itself. The appearance of an expedition in these parts would inevitably attract the attention of the authorities, and all this was too costly.
And just then Samarin turned up with his economic projects. It remains only to advertise and wait for the prey to bite itself. And you don't have to worry about the diggers. But these are only versions that you can build as much as you like.
I outlined this whole story in an article that was published a year ago in the magazine "Apartment 63" and thought that now it is unlikely that I will ever return to it. But I completely forgot that the treasures live according to some of their own, only known laws to them. They themselves choose the hour, when and how to be born, when to finish the story and when to continue. Quite a bit of time passed, and the treasure of Stepan Razin again reminded of itself.

III. THE MYSTERY OF THE ANCIENT GUN

The more I study the history of our region, the more I am surprised - how rich it is. How many secrets, exciting stories, disappeared treasures in it. We just don't know about them. “Lazy and incurious,” said the classic. The same legendary treasures of Stepan Razin. Wherever they are not looked for. Films are shot, expeditions are organized. And the trace, apparently, goes here - to our native Syzran.
When I saw in the local newspaper a mention that an old cannon had been found across the Volga, at first I could not even think where this story would lead me. It just got interesting. In the old days, the population had a lot of guns. Merchants put them on their ships to protect themselves from dashing people, who then abounded on the Volga route, and landlords kept them in their estates. Two originals from the village of Komarovka even invited each other to visit with cannon shots. Among other things, ships often sank in the Volga during storms, and then local population hunted by getting all the good from them. And all sorts of good things happened, including cannons from state-owned Ural factories, intended for the southern fortresses.
However, what I saw immediately puzzled me. There was no mark on the cannon. And the casting itself was not of very high quality, completely different from the factory one. A weld on the side indicated that the gun had once been cast in the form of two halves and connected. Strict state regulations did not allow this.


Actually, this gun was not intended for excessive loads. It did not even reach half a meter in length, it was equipped with a metal pin from below for rigid fastening and served, most likely, to protect a river plow or bark.
It was not possible to establish the place of its initial discovery. It just lay around from time immemorial under the roof of the bath, until they paid attention to it. One detail was especially noteworthy - the cannon was filled with resin. Not wrapped in tarred rags, but completely flooded. For what purpose was this done? But what if the purpose of such a powerful conservation was not a gun, but some papers hidden in the barrel? I immediately remembered the words from the investigative case of Frol Razin "and buried it with a tar." Alas, the gun was soaked in kerosene, if anything was lost.
And another item was found with the cannon.


Rusty nondescript, at first it did not attract attention, and I even mistook it for some kind of artillery equipment, like a bannik. But, a closer look immediately determined that it was not always like this.


It clearly showed traces of gilding. Good, conscientious thick forged foil.


Someone mercilessly scraped it off, but traces remained.
Front mace! A symbol of ataman power! It is quite obvious that it hardly belonged to the leader of some small gang. Such a regalia was needed only by someone who led a very impressive detachment. That was the thought that immediately popped into my head.
I think you can imagine with what reverence I now held this mace in my hands. After all, it is possible that it once belonged to one of the Razin chieftains, or maybe, what the hell is not joking, to Stepan Timofeevich himself. Alas, little has survived from its original appearance. All the decorations were mercilessly torn off a long time ago.
Only at the very end of the handle remained a few points, which I initially took for a trace from the braid fasteners. Like nail marks. And only later, when I looked at the photographs, did the idea occur to me that the braid fasteners should have been evenly distributed over different sides handles.


Here, the mysterious points lined up very clearly along this line. And they were clearly divided into groups. Two points, rub, four.
I immediately remembered my childhood, the film "Dirk", mysterious dots and lines on the scabbard. Old Russian cipher - litorea. Is it the same here? Remember, there was only half of the cipher in the film, and the other half had to be found. Maybe it's the same here? Alas, none of the specialists I contacted could help with anything. They advised me to contact the State Historical Museum.
The situation was complicated by the fact that I only had photographs in my hands.


It's good that I guessed to copy the mysterious signs into a notebook.
With such baggage, I turned to specialists. Their opinion was unanimous - this type of mace was encountered for the first time. She's kind of weird. The situation was saved by the very signs copied into a notebook. Barely glancing at them, the restorer immediately slapped his forehead. It's a steelyard! A simple device used in the old days for weighing heavy loads. It's just that his hook was broken, which made him look like a mace. That's why no one could determine the type of weapon.
Seeing my disappointment, the restorer decided to reassure me. It turns out that all kinds of weight tools: weights on strings, steelyards were very widely used by dashing people as weapons. This, widely publicized and in fiction. In the same novel by Valentin Pikul "Word and Deed", the Syzran merchants "departed" as steelyards to Vanka Cain. So it was no coincidence that someone carefully wrapped a seemingly broken and unnecessary object in a tarred rag and hid it along with the gun. But this steelyard was not a sign of the ataman's power.
In the meantime, let's return to the materials of the archaeologist Ignatius Stelletsky. The same one that searched for many years for the library of Ivan the Terrible in the dungeons of the Kremlin, and told us the story of the treasure-hunting odyssey of the descendants of Baron August von Rode. After all, it is from there that a barely sweeping thread stretches to our edges.
The story of the Baron's acquisition of the secret of Razin's treasures is as follows. After the arrest and death of the ataman, his associate Yesaul Luka Cherepok either hid or hid some valuables, and he himself soon died. The owner of the secret becomes a certain Alyona-cottage woman, who takes refuge with von Rode. After all, this perfectly explains why the detachment of the royal archers, led by Frol Razinam, did not find anything. The skull hid everything.
Here the question involuntarily arises, who exactly are these Yesaul and Alena. Why did they so resolutely and arbitrarily dispose of Razin's secrets, unceremoniously hiding valuables and secret archives?
First of all, Alyona-cottage girl. For some reason, everyone who writes about this story invariably identifies it with the old woman Alena, the famous ataman who fought near Arzamas. This person is undoubtedly legendary. The nun who led the rebel detachment, successfully smashed the royal governor, was subsequently declared a witch and burned at the stake. Soviet historiography even tried to declare her Russian Joan of Arc.
It is too obvious that only the name unites her with our Alena the vatozhnitsa. Perhaps the secret of the Razin treasures really fell into the hands of a woman not so famous, most likely a mistress, either of the ataman himself, or of someone from his inner circle. She was simply overshadowed by the image of a more famous namesake.
Nothing was found out about Yesaul Luka Cherepok either.
There is only one thing left - to go back to the distant 1671 again and see what happened in our area after the execution of Stepan Razin.
The middle Volga was completely in the hands of the Cossacks. At the very time when Frol Razin was giving his testimony in the royal dungeons, Ataman Fyodor Sheludyak again stormed Simbirsk. It was repulsed with great difficulty, and the Cossack detachments retreated south to Tsaritsin. But already on July 13, Simbirsk was again subjected to an unexpected attack, and from the north. Ataman Maxim Osipov's detachment, which had previously operated near Nizhny Novgorod, made its way to the lower reaches of the Volga, trying to use the surprise factor. But he had too little strength. Active fighting were fought until late autumn, when the governor Miloslavsky finally convinced the rebellious Astrakhan to surrender, promising royal mercy and forgiveness.
Tellingly, the nobleman kept his word. By the way, it was on this campaign that Miloslavsky had an icon with him. Mother of God Life-giving source, which he then took to Moscow. It was in front of this image that a solemn prayer service was served there on the occasion of the successful termination of the rebellion. This icon had an interesting fate. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich took her to his rooms, and when, eleven years later, the Syzran fortress was founded, it was this image that was transferred to our city cathedral, erected in her honor.
Only after Miloslavsky left for Moscow in 1672 did the search and persecution of the participants in the uprising begin. During this time, many managed to escape without a trace, including major leaders. Nikifor Chertok, the uncle of Stepan Razin, was never found; Asan Karachurin, who was active just in our area, eluded the detectives. What can we say about a small fry? About what was lost and hidden in all this whirlwind, only the lines of later documents speak.
Sagittarius Karp Semyonov, who went over to the side of Razin, and later lived in Astrakhan, hid a notebook in his cellar, in which sentences and “sheets” were collected. It was given to him during the battle near Simbirsk by the mortally wounded Cossack Grigory. Don ataman I. Ivanov, who moved in 1682 with his detachment to the Volga, had with him "banners and ensign Stenka Razin." But most of the secrets of that time remained hidden in the reserved tracts.
Razin's relics could get into our region in a variety of ways. Indeed, when the city was founded, almost everyone who received land in its vicinity: Karsun Cossacks under the command of Vasily Zhemkov, Mordovian and Chuvash Murzas, were former participants in the uprising. At the same time, clerks sent to inspect the lands unexpectedly discovered an unknown Tatar village in a deaf valley near the Metley River, the inhabitants of which reported that they had moved here from the Temnikovsky district. Was it not there that Asan Karachurin and his comrades found refuge?
But we are still more interested in the trail that leads through Baron von Rode. After all, apparently, in this case we are talking about really great values ​​that could only belong to Razin himself. It is quite obvious that after his death, former comrades-in-arms could not help but try to find the hiding place of the ataman. They had where more possibilities than the royal detectives. But for some reason it didn't work. Maybe here lies the reason for the death of that very Yesaul Luka Cherepok? And Alena the vatazhenka was just a romantic person who inadvertently got mixed up in bloody men's affairs? After all, something connected her with Baron August von Rode, it was not for nothing that she sought refuge with him? Considering that Alena is called Razin's mistress by some, the most piquant versions come to mind. But this is a good plot for a novel. It is no coincidence that the first Soviet time drew attention to this story, was none other than Yulian Semyonov, who wrote the essay “Closed Pages of History” back in 1984. We will stop our assumptions at this point. Moreover, they are perfectly superimposed both on the official description of historical events and on Stelletsky's data.
Perhaps it was the Syzran Trans-Volga region that became the last refuge of the famous Razin treasure.

As soon as in Russian history the figure of the leader of a major peasant and Cossack uprising appears, so it will certainly be connected with the story of countless treasures and treasures. So it was with Emelyan Pugachev, whose treasures in the Southern Urals, according to local legends and beliefs, are found in almost every village. This could not but happen to the leader of the first truly major uprising, the famous Cossack ataman Stepan Razin ...

Brother let me down...

Numerous stories, often turned into legends, about the treasure of Stepan Razin date back to June 6, 1671. On this day, the execution took place on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow.

Stepan Razin himself and his brother Frol, who also played an important role in the uprising, were to be executed, but only Stepan Timofeevich died that day. He was executed first, and through quartering - that is, first they chopped off the limbs one by one, and then the head.

Foreign eyewitnesses of the execution of Razin (the Russian authorities invited many foreigners to the spectacle - Europe should have learned firsthand that the leader of the most dangerous turmoil was dead) in their written memoirs said: after Stepan was cut off his hands and feet, Frol Razin, frightened by the bloody spectacle, said “The Word and the business of the sovereign!

In pre-Petrine Russia, these were truly magical words - the one who uttered them let them know that he had information of paramount national importance, he must be delivered to the "competent authorities" and interrogated. Witnesses also say that Stepan tried to silence his brother, but the formidable ataman was immediately beheaded.

After that, Frol Razin was interrogated and he said that he knew where the hidden treasures of his older brother were. According to his version, the treasure was buried in a hidden place on the banks of the Volga.

Soon Frol was sent to Astrakhan as part of a special expedition. This expedition searched several places that fit this description, but found nothing. As a result, in 1776, Frol Razin was nevertheless executed on the same Bolotnaya Square.

Treasure as part of folklore

The legends about the treasure of Stepan Razin became so widely popular that they became part of Russian and especially Volga folklore, for two main reasons. Firstly, because of the magic of the name of Razin himself - in the popular mind he was not only a dashing ataman and a thunderstorm of the boyars and the tsar, but also a kind of superhero, endowed with mystical abilities.

It is not for nothing that in many legends Razin is presented as the owner of magical abilities, and the fact that his treasures have not yet been found is simply explained - they are “spellbound”, that is, bewitched by the ataman himself.

Secondly, the existence of the Razin treasures also has rational grounds. First of all, one should not forget that the social component of the speeches led by Razin appeared already at a late stage. Initially, Razin and his Cossacks were nothing more than hunters for rich prey.

His uprising began with the famous "campaign for zipuns" of 1667-1669 along the Volga and into the Caspian Sea. It was a predatory campaign, standard for the Cossacks of that time, when both Russian and foreign merchants fell under the hot hand.

Razin's campaign reached outstanding proportions, in addition, after entering the Caspian Sea, he managed to defeat the Persian troops and fleet and take rich booty.

Enough options for everyone

Finally, after the start of the uprising, the predatory actions of the Razintsy did not stop, but, on the contrary, became more and more large-scale - as now merchants' yards, Church property, noble yards, boyar estates and the state treasury in the captured cities were plundered. So Razin has accumulated a lot of values.

It is known that during the capture of Razin, his traveling treasury was not with him, therefore, there is a high probability that, having got into a difficult situation, the ataman decided to save his treasures and hid them. Most likely, not even in one, but in several hiding places, for reliability. That's just where these treasures are not known for certain.

It is difficult to say whether Frol Razin really knew about the location of the treasure or simply invented this story in order to prolong his life (which he succeeded). In the meantime, it has reached our days great amount versions about the location of Razin's treasures. It will not be an exaggeration that such hypothetical places are located almost along the entire course of the Volga - because during his campaigns Razin camped in dozens of places.

Great sinner

According to legend, the largest treasure was buried near the village of Shatrashany in the Sursky district of the Ulyanovsk region (formerly Simbirsk province). According to legend, a sick barge hauler, taken off the ship, met an old man in the forest, to whom he asked for an overnight stay. At first, he did not let him in, and therefore he allowed it with the words: “Stay, if you are not afraid ...”

What is a burlak to be afraid of? There is nothing to take from him, he is erratic. And the next morning the old man decided to introduce himself. Stenka, says Razin. Great sinner. “I don’t know death, and here I endure my torment for my sins.”

According to legend, the old Stenka gave the barge hauler a letter with clear instructions on how much, what and how to take from the treasure. First of all, distribute part of the treasure to the poor and in the church. Then take the charmed gun, loaded with grass, with Stenka's death, shoot from it and shout three times: "Eternal memory to Stepan Razin!"

At the same moment, the torment of the ataman will end, and his soul will rest in peace. Yes, that's just the trouble - the wrong person met. The treasure was not given to an illiterate barge hauler. He gave the letter to another person, the treasure from that into the ground and left ...

Under the protection of evil

Stenka's freemen had so much good that they buried it along the mounds and along the hills. In the former Tsaritsyno bridle (now the Saratov region) near the village of Peskovatki there is a mound in which, according to legend, Stenka hid the whole ship as it is, stuffed with gold and silver.

The ataman ran the ship aground on the water, and when the water left, he "marked the mound." I planted a willow for signs. The people knew that the treasure was hidden in the mound, but they were only afraid to dig - with every attempt, all sorts of evil spirits jumped out, which, you see, guarded Stenkino's good.

Hillock Stenka Razin

Not far from the village of Bannovka, at a cliff on the Volga, between the village of Zolotoy and the mouth of the Bolshoy Eruslan River, there is the so-called "Stenka Razin's Hillock". This place, according to local residents, at the beginning of the century could be easily spotted at sunset. They say that there was an ataman's "office". Allegedly, Razin with his gang stood for a long time on the indicated hillock.

A luxurious tent, upholstered in velvet and silk, on top of a mound - an ivory notched throne chair, from which the ataman looked out for new victims on the Volga. The treasure here, they say, was buried fabulous, but so far nothing has been found except for human bones.

Lizard treasure hunter

The captain of the Gatchina regiment Yascherov began his search in 1893. He knocked out permission to carry out work to search for the treasure from the Imperial Archaeological Commission in St. Petersburg. With assistants, he went to the Volga in late autumn, but the winter disrupted the plans of the treasure hunters.

At that time, there was evidence that a dungeon was found in the area of ​​the Volga villages of Pechi and Mikhailovka, the entrance to which was blocked by oak doors locked with bolts and locks. According to assumptions, the dungeon was equipped with a ventilation pipe, into which a horse plowing the ground fell through.

Two daredevils descended into a hole the size of a wheel. The first was dragged out with a face contorted in horror. That same night he died. The second was a local psalmist, he stayed in the dungeon for several minutes, and, despite the horror, managed to still make out those very doors.

A new attempt to find Razin's treasures was made by Yascherov in 1904. He was rewarded for his perseverance. They found a stone with a secret sign and the remains of a dam, next to which there was supposedly a flooded treasure boat. But again, the affairs of Yaschurov were prevented - this time Russo-Japanese War with which the officer did not return.

without losing hope

Another attempt to find the treasure of Stenka Razin dates back to 1914. Near the Tsaritsyno Church of the Holy Trinity in Volgograd, the ground went 4 meters.

Burials were found at the bottom of the sinkhole. The watchmen recalled that, allegedly, a secret underground passage, which led from the city to the Volga itself, where the "painted Stenki Razin boats" laden with good sailed.

The search for the treasure was unsuccessful - when trying to walk along the underground passage, the earth began to collapse. There were no people willing to give their lives for Stenka's treasures!

War veteran's story

The story of a participant in the battles near Stalingrad, captain 1st rank Bessonov, has been preserved. According to him, as a result of a raid by fascist bombers, the Volga coast crumbled. The soldiers noticed the bare barrels of old cannons, which were tightly stacked in a row. The muzzle of one of the cannons broke off, and treasures poured out of it: earrings, bracelets, pearls, rings, silver and gold items that quickly disappeared into the bosoms of the soldiers.

It was suggested that these could be the treasures of Stenka Razin himself. Brief attempts to remove the guns from the frozen ground under enemy fire were unsuccessful. Soon the offensive began, and somehow it became completely unreported.

By the way, Razin liked to hide jewelry in "spoiled" guns, clogging their barrels with gags and burying them on the banks of the Volga. The place of the treasure was marked with a landmark, and the description of the place was recorded in the charter. But even under the terrible torture that Razin underwent before quartering, he did not name a single such place ...

The execution of Stepan Razin, which took place on Red Square in Moscow, marked the beginning of the study of mysterious and enigmatic phenomena. When the executioner's henchmen dragged Frol, S. Razin's brother, to the chopping block, he suddenly shouted in a voice that broke from the effort: "The sovereign's word and deed!" And then he said that he knew the secret of his brother's letters and treasures.

The execution of Frol Razin was postponed, but two days later he was severely tortured, and his testimony was reported to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who showed a lively interest in all sorts of rumors about treasures. After all, “according to the replies” of the governor, boyars and all other rich people, “the robber stole a lot of good things”, and among other things there was “Tsargrad” made by an unnamed master from ivory, which Stepan Razin really liked.

When the uprising was defeated, when the ataman himself fled to Kagalnik, he did not want to part with Tsargrad even in a moment of mortal danger and sent his brother for this treasure.

Razin treasures are countless. Along the banks of the Volga, where the ataman once walked with his dashing freemen, some hills have since been named: Table, Hat, Stenka Razin's Mounds ...

In Razin's "Bugry", according to popular belief, the famous robber hid his wealth in deep cellars, and now it lies "sworn" there. “Stenka Razin himself is still alive, sitting somewhere in grief, guarding his luggage,” the famous Russian fairy tale collector A.N. summarizes the legends about them. Afanasiev.

Regarding the fact that Stenka Razin identified himself as a watchman, N. Aristov gives the following version: got to no one, especially an unworthy person.

It was as if Razin sensed that he was a great sinner, that he would not know death on earth, that the forces of the underworld would torment him with unheard-of torment. According to some legends, he suffers in the Zhiguli mountains; as if he had two woman's breasts and both were sucking snakes.

According to folk legends, the daring ataman was not a thief and a robber, but a defender of the common people. Violators of people's interests and rights (property and personal) were landowners and governors, therefore it is not surprising that many legends and tales say that the Razin treasure is buried for the poor and persecuted.

But although there are many stories about the treasures of Stenka Razin, not one of them has yet been found, although the exact places of their burial and even the “vows” on which these treasures are laid seem to be known. And they will not be found because S. Razin is a sorcerer and warlock. And Marina, his main wife, was also a sorceress, charmed and had her own treasures - gold and silver in charmed barrels, and Stepan Razin himself could not unravel her treasures.

“When Marina and his associates were caught, almost every one of them had a treasure. But Razin left and hid on the shore between the Oka and the Volga, and still lives there: all overgrown with moss, not to know either lips or teeth. And he does not die because mother earth does not accept him, he has sinned so much, he has committed blasphemy that he cannot descend into the earth. Stenka Razin left to guard his treasure, and will live as long as the treasure is alive, thereby he gained his robber immortality.

The legend that not only the ataman’s treasures are “spellbound”, but he himself is a “spellbound” and invulnerable person, existed during the lifetime of Stepan Razin. As early as 1610, the Tsaritsyno voivode wrote to the tsar: “They don’t take anything from that ataman and Yesaul Razin.” And the people said this: “Stenka, in addition to human strength, had another strength - from an early age he sold himself to the unclean, he was not afraid of either a bullet or iron; did not burn on fire and did not sink in water. It happened that he would sit in a felt mat, swim along the Volga and suddenly rise into the air above it, because he was a warlock.

The treasures of Stenka Razin are special, they are hidden in the ground on a human head, or even on several heads. In order to get them, the “treasure hunter” must kill a certain “spellbound” number of people, and then the treasure will be obtained without much difficulty. Sometimes the treasure is buried on the "lucky one", but this happens very rarely. Then the “sign of the treasure” is a black cat or dog. In this case, you need to go after such a cat (or dog), and when it meows (or barks), you need to hit it with all your might and shout: “Scatter!”. And then dig in this place ...

On the Volga, among the Cossacks, barge haulers and other people, there was a belief for a long time that at night Stepan Razin travels around all the places where he laid his treasures - through the settlements and caves, along the mountains and mounds, or even just along the Volga Mother - and checks. They saw him as if in a broken hat on a white horse, he would rush - they only saw him. And then in a plow sails under white silk sails ...

The treasures of Stepan Razin are cunningly and safely hidden. It has already been mentioned above that their locations seem to be known (for example, that “a robber left a treasure under the roots of six birches”), but even the “Testament” of Stepan Razin himself does not help to dig them out:

“I walked, Stepan Timofeevich, son of Razin, from the city of Alatyr to the top of the Sura River and reached the Transleika River (30 versts from Alatyr) and asked Mordvin where to go beyond the Sura River, and crossed with all my army. I got to the mountains and found a key on the right side, and here we lived for a year and a half, but this place did not seem to us. And we found a beekeeper, and he told us the place we wanted, and we walked for four days and reached the mountain - another mountain, and in the mountain the spring flows at noon; in the upper mountain, two winter houses go out at noon ... three apple trees are planted in a small arrow (a cape between two ravines), in the half-mountain - crowbars, spikes, studs and a copper board, on the upper mountain - with a helmet. Here is a stump - an oak tree drilled through with a drill and boarded up with black oak, and here trunks and bombs are laid, and here an exit is dug, and made, covered, overlaid with oak plates, and in it is laid the fraternal treasury, 40 copper coins, and mine - the merchant Babushkin, alatarskavo a clubber, forty thousand, and his Ivan two chests of dress, the third chest - cufflinks of precious pearls and all sorts of precious things. Another four pounds of special pearls and seven guns, and my gun is in the right corner, loaded and plugged, namely, with grass. In the middle stands an unappreciated image of the Mother of God, adorned with all sorts of diamonds. Whoever finds this place, and there will be shaking for one minute, and the distance from the hemp is half a hundred fat (shafts); and having found it, distribute this treasury forty thousand on a white horse, and having distributed it, shoot from my Turkish and say: “Here you are, Stepan Timofeevich son Razin, eternal memory!” And cut off the horse's head ... First, say three prayers - to the Mother of God, to the Archangel Michael and Nicholas the Wonderworker, and then there will be three shakings.

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Do you think the treasure of Stenka Razin does not exist? No matter how! Let me tell you my story of finding it! So! I live in Tolyatti (former Stavropol-on-Volga), when I was only 4 years old my Father (God rest his soul) always took me fishing (because there was no one to leave with) and I was "not a gift"! So I always dangled with him and his friends all over the Volga! By the way, my Father was professional, tireless, and lucky in fishing! He was always invited to go fishing! Because they knew where he was, there and the fish! Can't you imagine now? But then (in the 70s) we brought the caught fish on the "Zila" with a tipping body !! FULL BODY!!! Then they didn’t take “weedy” fish: perch, verkhmelka, bream, cucumber, chahon, etc. and they took: sterlet, bester (if anyone knows what it is) - this is a mixture of beluga with sterlet !, and pike perch! In! what kind of fish we had in the Volga literally 40-45 years ago! But I will continue! On the next fishing trip in the morning, our men pull the seine! On the one hand, "zil" on the other, "tragus" - they pull it out! And the men beat with "mallets" or "grease" (who does not know thick sticks) on the water - they drive fish into the seine! From this I woke up, got out of the tent and said to the Father: "Dad, I'm thirsty." what did my father say to me: “Don’t bother you, that the Volga is not enough? I took a mug, climbed knee-deep into the water, scooped up and drank water! Yes !!! before we drank water directly from the Volga-Mother! It was about 5 hours 6 am! I drink water, raise my eyes and see on the clouds (and Dawn is just rising) a city with stone-paved streets, towers, stone houses, a protective wall! In short, a fortress! with all communications! Wells, plums ( external sewerage ), streets built according to architecture !!! STUNNING!!! I ask the Father: "Dad, what is it?" He told me: "This is a lost city where Stenka Razin hid his treasures!" THIS IS HERE THIS IS GOING TO ME! And I began (and there are plenty of people like me) to look for the Treasure of Stenka Razin! The first outing was when I was 12 years old! I agreed with my comrades, who were 17 and 21 years old. I persuaded them. We rented a plywood boat for 20 kopecks. in hour. And swim to the caves! Through the Zhiguli Sea! Complete adventure! Do you know what the Zhiguli Sea is? It's the same with storms! But we are lucky! Dochapali on 2 oars through the fairway! (give me a million dollars now - I won’t go). And most importantly, the caves of Stenka Razin open only when the water leaves! This is when the volume of the hydroelectric power station is filled. And there is less water below! This is what we are waiting for to "rub" where there was depth! But further! There are a lot of such caves on the Zhiguli Mountains, cut through by Stenka and his comrades! There is a labyrinth and all sorts of traps (very tricky). So we waited on the Zhiguli for 2 days. Then the water left and we went to the Central Cave! knee-deep in water! I'm 12, my friends are older. I prepared an expedition (as I thought)! Big Cave is the main entrance and transition of Stenka to Perevoloki! The transfers are named because Stenka and his comrades dragged their boats along the ground along logs greased with grease! There we have an isthmus 3-3.5 km.! When the troops caught him on the right bank, he ferried his boats on dry land, and the army calmly with horses and all belongings passed through the tunnels cut into the mountain! So when he was "pressed", then naturally he left all the loot only with us in the Mountains! Because they squeezed from all sides, and all his army, sensing the gallows, fled in 2 days! On the scaffold, when he was "quartered" he shouted to his brother: "Be quiet!" So, the treasure somewhere remained in the Zhiguli Mountains! We know this and that's why we're looking for it! I will continue! Expedition (we thought so): prepared correctly: Food, matches, flashlights! Let's go to the main cave! You will not believe! The height of the cave is 3-4 and where it is 5 meters! It was cut down with axes (so that the rider on the horse could pass! And the width is decent! We go in, then the unpredictable begins! After 50 meters, everyone’s flashlights go out! We move back a meter, they work! Got it, we light the torches with a solarium! No traction !!! Passed 100 meters - the torches go out! And what an animal necessity to leave! Let's leave! Again, across the sea on a boat, we return back! On the fairway, we were almost crushed by a dry cargo ship! Thanks to the captain, turned off! Calm down! I went to the Army, and the dream is itching! I'm coming from the Army! And again we are going! Already experienced! During this time, everyone learned, thought through. Prepare thoroughly! They are no longer children, they have experience, they found a "caveman" - a pro! AND-TO THE EXPEDITION! By the way, I forgot to say! When we entered the cave for the first time, we marked arrows with chalk! When they came out, for some reason they were not there! Second expedition! They took the rope (like Ariadne's thread) Two friends remained outside! And let's go! Torches were made from alcohol, gasoline, ether! (for verification) and I took sticks that glow in the dark when you break them! Tied up with a halyard (rope) and let's go! We walked 300 meters, the lights went out, only the ethereal one burned, but not for long! Broken sticks - work! Let's go! And this is where miracles begin! Voices, disgusting melancholy, shadows! In short, they don't want to let us in! We meet and continue! We go in the labyrinth, we don’t know where and how much! Let's go to the Big Cave! The cave is 30-40 meters high, 120 meters wide. We see a black polished stone in the middle and a skeleton on it! Do not be afraid, and then 4 exit caves! And we have one fell! We decided to go back and analyze! Let's go, my friend stumbles and pulls out a curved saber! We go further - the second one falls - finds a coin! Falls again, finds a saber, but broken! The water is starting to come in! Let's go ankle-deep! We run past that stone, but the skeleton is no longer on it! We see the light - on it! Behind the wild consonance-creepy! The water is starting to come in! Let's run out! We have no torches, no lanterns, no ROPE with which everyone was tied!!! It is clear that they could lose everything in the confusion! But rope-spelunkers! You can't even cut it with a knife! We looked again into the cave - where they tied him - not even a hint! Then our friends came up to us and said that we were gone for 6 hours! and our watch (one had electronic) we have a mechanic! showed that we were in the cave for 2 hours! The most important thing is that we took out these sabers, and for some reason I had a stone in my hand that glows! They made more attempts! But then a lot of expeditions disappeared! Even the pros! You can read it on the internet! They blew that entrance! But there are 200 more caves! We know! If you are in our area? 5-6 o'clock in the morning, look (in clear weather) at the sky! This City is still displayed! Clearly, clearly! You can take a photo! And my stone glows!!!

A legendary personality, surrounded by a mass of legends, a fighter for justice, a robber, an ataman - how much can be said about Stepan Razin!

It is not surprising that an aura of glory and mystery has developed around him, supported even during his lifetime by the ataman himself. Instilling fear in the rich, and giving gifts to the poor, he earned the hatred of some and literally divine reverence from other residents of what was then Russia.

Legends and tales began to take shape already during his lifetime, and after the execution they acquired new details and became so ornate and long that it is already difficult to make out now where was the truth and where was the fiction added by the ancient masters beautiful word…

But the earth is strong in hearing, it lives and fills with it, and there is no doubt that the truth, albeit in a greatly distorted and greatly exaggerated form, has come down to our days, telling about the wonderful and richest treasures that the great ataman buried and hid , about treasures that excite the ear and imagination all the years and centuries since their owner was executed.

Surprisingly much is known about these undiscovered riches. Most impressive is the scale with which the ataman approached the issues of sheltering the looted, his way of thinking and actions, in line with which he hid treasures obtained by robbery and robbery. In the recent past, Stepan Razin was presented almost as a revolutionary, but in fact, he was a noble, but a robber.

Initially, Razin was the chieftain of the Don Cossacks and participated in campaigns against the Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire along with Russian troops. But in 1663, the tsarist governor Dolgorukov orders the execution of Stepan Razin's elder brother, Ivan, after which Stepan decides to choose a different path, and in an effort to take revenge on Dolgorukov and the tsarist administration, he creates a Cossack freeman, and then his plans begin to include the idea of ​​​​spreading the spirit of freedom throughout the territory of Russia ... Thus, Razin, from an ataman-hero, turns for the tsar into an ataman-robber and begins his campaigns not together, but against those people who serve the autocracy, raising peasant uprisings throughout the Volga ...

In 1671, after the execution of Stepan Razin, a search expedition was organized, the purpose of which was to find the treasures of the ataman and transfer them to the treasury. Even then, under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, there were legends about these gigantic treasures.

Stepan's brother, Frol, volunteered to show the places where the riches were hidden. Led to the execution, he demanded a meeting with the king in order to inform him that he had information about the hidden treasures. The king was extremely interested in finding them, so Frol was given the opportunity to rehabilitate himself. For five whole years, he led the expedition “by the nose”, while Stepan's mistress, Alena, and his associate, Yesaul Luka, hid all the treasures in new places.

Frol was beheaded in Moscow, on Bolotnaya Square, in 1676, and Yesaul Luka died. Having in her hands maps with marks applied to them corresponding to the locations of the treasures, Alena moved under Lodeynoye Pole to the patrimony former friend and adviser Razin, a Swede by birth, Baron Augusta von Rode. As a wedding gift, she gave him these maps and diagrams. But the baron, frightened of the persecution of the authorities, betrayed the failed bride, leaving all the documents for himself.

And it was here that various mystical events began to fully manifest themselves, which people associated with Stepan Razin himself, who, as you know, not only hid treasures, but made conspiracies on them.

In general, charmed treasures are not uncommon. It just so happened that, trying to secure their treasures, people invented various rituals to help ward off "bad" people from the treasures, that is, those to whom this treasure was not intended. Such conspiracies limited "access" to the caches, and the legends with which they were shrouded had the most serious influence on ordinary people of that time. Stepan Razin did not hide the fact that his treasures were conspired, each in his own way. To find and take away one of his treasures, it was necessary, for example, to bring to this place 12 human heads, 6 male and 6 female. So they said that the treasure was buried "on the head." At the same time, the treasure hunter must not only know the exact number of heads needed to remove the spell, he must also personally kill all these people, only in this case he will be able to find and calmly use the treasures, not being afraid of the persecution of otherworldly forces ...

Much is known about Razin's treasures. Until now, in the places where his freemen were operating, these legends are passed from mouth to mouth, the places where, allegedly, Stenka Razin hid his wealth are indicated. But it is also surprising that not a single treasure of the dashing ataman has been found from the moment of his death to the present day. Many believed, after his execution, that he did not die, but moved underground, closer to his treasures, that his sinful soul toiled and could not find peace. Somewhat later, many “eyewitnesses” met with the ataman himself, he was overgrown with moss, you can’t make out where the eyes are, where the teeth are ... Or they see a dashing ataman on a white horse - different describe cases when Razin personally guards his possessions ... They say about Stepan, like about his main wife, Marina, that both of them were warlocks and sorcerers, in a word, they knew how to safely hide treasures from strangers.

If you believe in these legends and compare the facts that indicate that the treasures of Razin, although they were opened to people, but also suddenly disappeared, then it turns out that it’s true - you shouldn’t look for them on purpose, you definitely won’t make good! The foregoing is confirmed by many different examples of how the search for some of Razin's caches took place.

So, the daughter of Baron von Rode, the same one who took possession of all the diagrams and maps indicating shortcut to the treasures, decided to get to them together with her husband, but failed. It must be said that Razin, in addition to the art of conspiracy, is credited with remarkable engineering talent, with which he equipped each treasure vault, building entire underground galleries, extensive cellars and equipping caves.

The unlucky treasure hunters did not get to the treasure - the arch and walls of the vault collapsed, and the treasure hunters themselves were taken into custody by the authorities.

The great-grandson of von Rode, military engineer Pyotr Metlyaev, also tried to storm the impregnable treasuries, but also to no avail: using old schemes, he discovered a complex of underground galleries near the legendary Volga cliff. But he did not have time to finish the excavations, he died ...

The amazing discovery of the Razin treasure is also told by an incident that allegedly occurred during the Great Patriotic War, during the days of the battles for Stalingrad: after a raid by German aircraft and the most severe bombing, part of the coast crumbled, exposing for a while several ancient cast-iron cannons lying side by side. Due to a chip in the muzzle of one of the cannons, a rain of gold jewelry suddenly poured down the slope from it! Rings, brooches, earrings - all this turned out to be in the hands of the soldiers who watched this picture. But before they had time to try to extract the rest of the trunks from the frozen ground, the bombing was repeated, and vintage cannons were covered with earth and lost forever! ..

Another treasure attributed to the ataman was found a hundred years ago in Tsaritsyn. In one of the local churches, the earth failed, revealing coffins filled with Persian gold. Later, an underground passage was discovered there, leading to the pier, to which the ships of the great ataman came ...

There are a lot of legends, they are one more colorful than the other. For example, there is a legend about a whole ship filled with gold, which is hidden in a mound near the village of Peskovatovka ... And the largest treasure of Stepan Razin is hidden near the village of Shatrashany, in an underground gallery: behind iron door, in the depths of the earth, chests with pearls and gold bars are still stored.

There are many Razin treasures, but only ... where are they? For so long, nothing has been found, it has not opened itself so that you can see, feel these innumerable treasures! From Astrakhan to Zhiguli there are legends about sunken ships and boats with gold, about ingenious underground structures, storing the charmed chests, but many who tried to find them, who died suddenly, and who simply disappeared ... It seems that the conspiracy is stronger than the desire of people to become owners of the stolen treasures! Even the "testament" drawn up by Stepan himself does not help open at least one of his richest treasuries. Here is an excerpt from this text (we are talking about one of the very valuable treasures hidden in the ground using various engineering tricks): “... Whoever finds this place, and there will be shaking for one minute, and the distance from the stump of the flight is fat (shafts); and having found it, distribute this treasury forty thousand on a white horse, and having distributed it, shoot from my Turkish and say: "Here you are, Stepan Timofeevich son Razin, eternal memory!" And cut off the head of the horse... First, say three prayers - to the Mother of God, to the Archangel Michael and Nicholas the Wonderworker, and then there will be three shakings ... ".

According to those who tried to get closer to the caches of the ataman, visions arose in front of them, so strong that the seeker forever lost the desire to look for the charmed treasures.

If we speak in modern terms and obey modern ideas, then, despite the abundance of information about the adventures of the ataman, in those territorial spaces where the life of the ataman Razin's army proceeded, where great riches should be buried and hidden, then in fact it turns out that it will be specifically to look for them based on the available information is not possible. This happens with many events that at first glance are described in detail, but upon closer examination lose all the authority of the collected facts.

Many have tried to find them, and many will look for them in the future. Probably, you should not rely only on the information that has come down to our days and which seems to be very accurate. It is possible that someone will still be able to discover the treasures of the ataman, which he hid with such care and wit. The search continues. They are led not only by single researchers, but also by professional historians, archaeologists, local historians. Gold and pearls, weapons, utensils and jewelry, everything that was collected by Razin, is waiting in the wings and its owner.