History of Kaluga. Chapter I Historical past of the Kaluga province

Kaluga province during the Kievan Rus

Kaluga province in antiquity (IX century) was inhabited by Vyatichi. Along the Protva and Ugra, the Lithuanian tribe Golyad lived among the Vyatichi; there were also Finnish settlements of the Merya tribe.
It was a wild and inhospitable region, unusually wooded and swampy, with a rare population that hid in the forests. Before the 12th century there were no cities. The main occupation of the population was hunting for fur-bearing animals, with the furs of which they paid tribute. At the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century. Hieromonk Kuksha of Kiev Pechersk, apparently by Vyatich origin, enlightened the Kaluga region with the light of Christianity, capturing the sermon with a martyr's death.
As a separate volost, the land of the Vyatichi appears only under Svyatoslav Yaroslavich (son of Yaroslav the Wise) of Chernigov, from which time cities appeared here. Under 1146, Kozelsk was mentioned for the first time: in 1155 Vorotynsk, in 1158 Gorodensk (now the village of Gorodnya at 12 noon from Kaluga), Mosalsk and others. into many small principalities, the most important of the second were:
1) Mosalskoye with Serensk (now a village near Meshchovsk,
2) Tarusskoye and Obolenskoye (now a village),
3) Kozelskoe,
4) Vorotynskoe, where the descendants of Mikhail Chernigov were,
5) Przemysl with the same line of princes,
6) Mezetskoe, or Meshchovskoe.
Medyn also belonged to Smolensk, and Borovsk, Maloyaroslavets and part of the Kaluga district belonged to Suzdal. Thus, the region began to revive and was of considerable interest to the princes, why princely clashes took place here. But this revival was caused swipe Tatars, who devastated the region under the command of Batu in 1238 and destroyed Kozelsk. However, the remote position of the region from the Tatars made it possible for him to recover, and he soon began to live his former life again.

Kaluga province in the XV-XVII centuries.

In the XIV century, some of the Kaluga lands were already under the rule of Moscow; Kaluga was first mentioned in the same century. However, the clashes between the Moscow princes and Lithuania, which began with Simeon the Proud, gave almost the entire region to the Lithuanians. The cunning and formidable Olgerd entered here three times under Dmitry Donskoy. And Vitovt already owned Medynsky, Mosalsky, Meshchovsky, Zhizdrinsky, Kozelsky, Peremyshlsky and Likhvinsky counties, so the border between Moscow and Lithuania went along the Oka and Ugra. Even Vorotynsk, 15 versts from Kaluga, and Lubutsk were under the rule of Lithuania, while Kaluga and Borovsk were frontier towns. But with Basil I begins the return of the lost cities and the acquisition of others. In 1408, Vitovt ceded Kozelsk and Lubutsk to him (At that time, the possessions of the Seversky appanages were disputed, and therefore part of the uechda belongs to Moscow, and half to Lithuania, etc. This explains why the same appanage is simultaneously listed as Lithuanian and Moscow ), which were given to prince to his uncle Vladimir Andreevich the Brave, and from him passed to his children. From them, these cities are gradually moving away at the disposal of c. prince. Basil II took Medyn from Lithuania. BUT Ivan III according to the peace of 1494, Przemysl, Tarusa, Obolensk finally got. Vorotynsk, Serensk; peace with Lithuania in 1503 returned Serpeisk, Mosalsk and Opakov to Moscow. Only a small part in the west of the province remained behind Lithuania.
In general, the reign of Ivan III is memorable and important in the history of the Kaluga region. Under him in 1480-1481. within the boundaries of the current Kaluga province, the Russian land was liberated from the Tatar yoke and Moscow was transformed from a khan's ulus into a sovereign state.
According to chronicle stories, Khan Akhmat, wanting to teach a lesson to the proud Moscow vassal, in the summer of 1480, counting on difficulties on the Moscow western border (the Livonian Order threatened the recently annexed Novgorod and Pskov) and Ivan’s strife with his brothers, entered the Moscow limits, but met a large army in. prince near Aleksin and Tarusa. The Tatars were repulsed while trying to cross the Oka; a general illness completed their disorder, and they quickly left. But in the next year, 1481, the khan repeated his attempt to cross the Oka and get to Moscow. And this time he ran into Russian regiments. Then he turned to his ally Lithuania, to the river. Ugra and moved along Likhvinsky, Przemyslsky and Medynsky districts. Tatar attempts to cross the Ugra near Opakov (near Yukhnov) ended in failure, and the Tatars waited for the river to freeze. It was the end of cold October, and the river was already covered with ice, opening the way in any place for the khan in the near future. Then Ivan III withdrew all his troops to an excellent position to Kremenets, hoping to give a general battle near Borovsk. The retreat of the Russian troops from the Ugra was carried out very hastily and disorderly, which is why the khan suspected military cunning in the actions of the Russians and, in turn, hastily fled.
However, in the subsequent time, the Lithuanians did not stop disturbing the Kaluga region; Moreover, they have also joined Crimean Tatars, and life in the region was still unsettling.
In 1508, under Vasily III, under an agreement with Sigismund, the unattached part of the Kaluga province also ceded to Moscow, and the previously taken places were finally approved for it. The contract document says that Sigismund approves for the servants of Vasily Ivanovich - the princes of Przemyslsky, Vorotynsky, Mosalsky and others, from the generation of St. Michael all their estates and that he is obliged not to step into Tarusa, Obolensk, Mosalsk, Vorotynsk and in the city of Lubutsk (now the village down the Oka), and in the city of Kozelsk, and in Lyudimesk (the village of Przemysh. U.), and in Serensk and to all Kozelsk, and to Ludemsk, and to Serensk places. But this agreement did not guarantee a peaceful existence for the mentioned volosts. Frontier life was full of incessant quarrels and robberies of Muscovites and Lithuanians; everyone was constantly on guard, and the cities turned into heavily fortified points.
The Crimean Tatars began to disturb the Kaluga region from 1512. Allies of Moscow under Ivan III, they are now changing their tactics and opening a number of raids on the Moscow borders, including Kaluga with its counties. To protect against the Crimeans, a notch was carried out through the Kaluga province, stretching along the southeastern and southern borders, almost to the city of Zhizdra, 193 c. The notch was called Likhvinskaya and Kozelskaya and was divided into sections, named after the notch gates.
The military character of the Kaluga cities left its stamp on the inhabitants, who were little inclined to civil order and a quiet life. Kaluga residents, under the command of the principality of Dmitry Trubetskoy, took part in the liberation of Moscow from the Poles.
When MF Romanov came to the throne, the Kaluga Region was in a very sad state. In 1614 In 1617, during the first Polish war, new disasters rained down on the Kaluga region. It was brutally devastated by the flying detachments of Chaplinsky and Opalinsky, and then hetman Sagaidachny, who took possession of Kaluga itself, completely ruined it.
The Deulino truce ended the troubles, but instead gave Serpeisk, which was returned back in 1634, to Poland. In five months of the epidemic, up to two-thirds of the population died out in some places.

Kaluga province in the XVIII-XIX centuries.

Before Peter the Great, Kaluga land was fragmented between different regions. Initially, under Peter, when in 1708 the provinces were formed, and part of the Kaluga districts went to Moscow, and part to Smolensk. But the reform of 1719 established the Kaluga province, which was part of the Moscow province. All counties were assigned to Kaluga, with the exception of Borovsk, Maloyaroslavets, Tarusa and Obolensk, which were assigned to Moscow. Thus, Kaluga became an administrative center of secondary importance. The population was constantly growing, there were 5924 townspeople alone. In the 30s. 18th century it had more than 60 streets and lanes, 2431 yards and 13 1/2 thousand inhabitants. Kaluga grew very quickly despite the fact that in 1719 and 1720. the government transferred about 20 posad families with up to 80 male souls to the Gzhatskaya wharf. The progressive growth of Kaluga is not stopped by social disasters, which still fell to its lot quite often.
In 1723 and 1733 Kaluga suffered hunger, Kaluga suffered from another ordinary satellite wooden Russia- fires. It burned heavily in 1742, 1754, 1758, 1760 and 1761. During fires, there were also mass casualties: in 1754, 177 people died.
But especially many people died in 1771, when Kaluga was seized by the plague that was then raging in Russia.
From the successors of Peter the Great Kaluga in the XVIII century. I saw only Catherine the Great within my walls. The Empress arrived on December 15, 1775, accompanied by M. Plato and a brilliant retinue. Catherine's trip to Kaluga resulted in the transformation of Kaluga from a province into a province by decree of August 24, 1776. This moment was the most important in the history of the city. The gubernia included 12 uyezds (including Serpeisky), which now make up the gubernia. The viceroy counted 733,000 inhabitants of both sexes. In Kaluga at that time there were 17 thousand inhabitants.
There were 120 factories and plants in Kaluga, of which there were 1,400 workers for 5 sailing factories. Of the factories, sugar deserves mention, at which up to 5 thousand poods of sugar were produced, 3/4 of which was sold to Little Russia. Most of all there were oil mills - 34.
Weekly in Kaluga there were three auctions, to which peasants brought food supplies from nearby villages. Its inhabitants were rich, especially merchants.
On the eve of the 19th century, in 1799, Kaluga was singled out as an independent unit in spiritual terms as well. A diocese was opened in it. Thus the new century began happily for her.
In 1812, Kaluga played an important role, and its name is closely connected with the history of this war. The critical part of the campaign, its turning point, took place precisely in the Kaluga province, which became "the limit of the invasion of enemies." Kaluga itself, for several weeks, was the main artery from which our army was fed and supplied with everything necessary.

Kaluga region during the Civil War

In Kaluga, Soviet power was established on November 28, 1917 after the arrival in the city of the revolutionary detachment of the Porechensky regiment from Minsk.
In the course of implementing the policy of "war communism", by the spring of 1919, 101 enterprises of large and medium industry were nationalized. After graduation civil war economic crisis swept the Kaluga province. Of the 130 enterprises, only 66 operated, mainly engaged in the processing of agricultural raw materials and timber. In agriculture, the old peasant way of life was destroyed, and the collective farms created as a result of total collectivization could not provide the city with food.
During the years of the first Soviet five-year plan industrial production increased by 8 times, and the number of employees by more than five times. The NKPS machine-building plant was the first in the USSR to start producing railcars, motor locomotives and steam boilers, previously received from abroad. The Kaluga Electromechanical Plant mastered the production of the first Soviet direct-printing telegraph sets and payphones, the Duminskiy iron foundry launched the production of the first acid-resistant enameled equipment, and the Pesochinskiy iron foundry - gasoline dispensers for refueling cars. In 1935, the construction of Europe's largest plant for synthetic aromatic substances began in Kaluga.

Kaluga region during the Great Patriotic War

In the very first months of the war, 25 thousand people left Kaluga for the front. Plants and factories of the Kaluga Territory, which only yesterday produced civilian products, began to produce weapons, ammunition, and uniforms. Tens of thousands of residents of Kaluga and the regions in August - September 1941 built defensive structures near Smolensk, Yelnya, Roslavl, Bryansk, Orel, Kaluga, Maloyaroslavets, Tula.
The situation on the fronts of the Patriotic War became more and more difficult, the front was approaching Kaluga. On October 4 and 7, Kaluga was heavily bombarded from the air. On the night of October 11-12, Soviet troops left Kaluga. In the second half of October, the entire territory of the Kaluga region was occupied.
After the capture of Kaluga, the Nazis began mass arrests and extermination of the inhabitants of the city.
In the annals of the Kaluga partisans, an explosion of an oil depot near Govardovo and Kondrovo, destroyed bridges across the Ressa River. Borovo partisans led 5,000 Soviet soldiers out of encirclement. On the night of November 24, partisans under the command of Captain V.V. Jabot struck at the headquarters of the German army corps in Ugodsky Zavod. During the raid, more than 600 German soldiers and officers, more than 130 vehicles, four tanks, two fuel depots were destroyed. December 30 Kaluga was cleared of the enemy.
After the rout Nazi German troops near Kursk and Orel in September 1943, the Kaluga region was finally liberated from the invaders.
For faster recovery National economy and better service workers, on July 5, 1944, the Kaluga Region was formed by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which included, with a few exceptions, the territory of the Kaluga province that existed until 1929.

Kaluga region in the post-war years

Transfer of enterprises to new system production began here in 1966. During the two years of the 8th Five-Year Plan, the average annual growth of labor productivity in mechanical engineering, the leading branch of industry in the region, increased one and a half times, amounting to 6% against 4% in the previous five-year period. However, already in these years, the insufficiency, half-heartedness of the measures taken began to affect.
The period of 1960-70s was characterized by the growing importance of the agricultural sector of the economy, social development villages. On the one hand, the lag of agriculture behind industry had reached a critical level by that moment, on the other hand, the urgent tasks of raising the countryside had to be solved in an unfavorable demographic situation for the countryside. Thus, from 1959 to 1981, the rural population in the Kaluga region decreased from 588 thousand to 368 thousand. Only in the period from 1970 to 1979, the number of rural settlements decreased from 4138 to 3649, and less than ten people lived in 13% of them. In search of an optimal management structure and organization of the economy, the path of transforming economically weak collective farms into state farms was chosen. But even after the completion of this process, there was no significant improvement in production performance.

The city of Kaluga is located 188 km. from Moscow and is the oldest city in Russia. 1371 is the year that is considered to be the foundation of the city, but the exact year of foundation is unknown. After Kaluga became part of the Moscow Principality, from that moment the city began to actively develop.

Where did the name of the city come from? - this issue is debatable, but the following point of view has been put forward: earlier Kaluga was the name of the area in which the city is located. The words "kaluga" and "kaluzhka" from Old Russian mean "swamp" or "quagmire". Another version of the origin of the name: from the phrase "near the meadow", which was previously written "eye-meadows". In the Finno-Ugric language there was the word "Kaliga", which meant - "deaf place in the forest."

There are also other versions of the origin of the name of the city of Kaluga, for example, from the names of people. According to legend, a long time ago in the local forest there was a bunch of robbers, led by a robber with the nickname Koluga.

After the dispersal of this gang, a city was formed on this place, and Kaluga was named in honor of the expulsion of the robbers. 17th century - the beginning of difficult times for Kaluga. At this time, False Dmitry II and Maria Mnishek were hiding in the city. As a result, False Dmitry was killed near Kaluga. In 1618, the city was defeated by the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, as a result of the pogrom, more of the city's inhabitants were killed.

The city suffered greatly in economic terms, and was even exempted from taxes for three years. Two years after the defeat, a fire broke out in the city.

In 1649, the village of Spasskoye became part of Kaluga, and later, in 1654, more than half of the city's residents died from a terrible epidemic.

At the same time, metal production began to improve. Soon one of the first iron foundries in Russia appeared in Kaluga. After the church schism, centered on Kaluga, the city lost its status as an outpost city. In the 18th century, Kaluga became one of the constituent cities of the Moscow province and the center of the Kaluga province.

But the population of the city did not grow, as famine came to the city, fires, and after the plague. But in 1775, Catherine II visited Kaluga, as a result of which the prerequisites for the development of the city appeared.

By the end of the 18th century, it was discovered big number educational and cultural institutions. The favorable location also influenced the development of the city. Trade and industry began to actively develop, as a result of which Kaluga began to provide the main support to the rear troops, for which he received the gratitude of Field Marshal Kutuzov.

After the sudden shallowing of the Oka River, which was the main trade route for the city, the importance of Kaluga suddenly decreased, and the population was reduced to sixty thousand people.

AT Soviet time a new stage in the development of Kaluga began, as a result of which the city again became the center of industry. In the middle of the 20th century, the population was one hundred thousand people. Mechanical engineering began to develop more actively. After the occupation, Kaluga became one of the main suppliers of trained soldiers.
In 1944, Kaluga became the founding center of the Kaluga Region.

Today in Kaluga the most developed ita mechanical engineering and automotive industry. Kaluga is the historical center of Russia, which keeps many monuments of culture and architecture. Many political and cultural figures are associated with the city of Kaluga.

Today it is impossible to imagine the history of Russia without the city of Kaluga. During the Great Patriotic War, there was a battle for Kaluga, which was part of the battle for Moscow.

The following names are associated with Kaluga: Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chizhevsky, Tsiolkovsky and many others.

The largest industrial enterprises of Kaluga are machine building plant, a turbine plant, an electromechanical plant, an auto electrical equipment plant, a synthetic fragrant substances plant, a Kalugapribor plant, a telegraph equipment plant, a Gigant match and furniture plant, a radio lamp plant, a Kaluzhanka sewing association, a Kristall distillery, and a lot others.

Among educational institutions It should be noted the Kaluga State Pedagogical University named after Tsiolkovsky, the Kaluga branch of the Moscow State Technical University named after Bauman, the Agricultural Academy named after Timiryazev and others.

Modern Kaluga is characterized by quiet provincial lanes, ancient churches, high-rise buildings, beautiful nature, many shops, small shops, and factories. Tourists, and everyone who has ever been in the city of Kaluga, remained only with positive emotions.

07.07.2014

563

The Kaluga region traces its official history since its formation in 1944. But this region is much older. The territory of the Kaluga region in ancient times was inhabited by the Slavic tribes of the Vyatichi. During the period of feudal fragmentation of Russia, the Kaluga lands became part of the Chernigov principality. ancient city Kozelsk region (first mentioned in 1146). The territory of the principality was devastated during the Tatar-Mongol invasion. In 1238, the city of Kozelsk was on the way of the Tatar-Mongol, returning from Novgorod. According to legend, the siege lasted 7 weeks. Fierce Tatars destroyed all the inhabitants. They called Kozelsk "evil city". The first mention of Kaluga dates back to 1371. The Grand Duke of Lithuania, Olgerd Gedeminovich, in a letter to Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople, complained about the capture of a number of cities by Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich. In the 14-16 centuries. Kaluga was part of the coastal defense system of the Moscow Principality against Tatar raids along the Oka and Ugra rivers, called the "Belt of the Virgin". In 1480, on the Ugra River, there was a great standing of the troops of Ivan III and Khan Akhmat. It led to the end Tatar-Mongol yoke . In the troubled times of the early 17th century. in Kaluga, detachments of False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II, Polish interventionists, the peasant leader Bolotnikov, operated. Kaluga residents participated in the Moscow militia of Prince Pozharsky and the merchant Minin. In the 17th century Kaluga land was hardly recovering from the consequences of the Time of Troubles. At the same time, in the 17-18 centuries. trade, crafts, and the art of icon painting are developing here. The first factories appear. In 1715 the merchant Demidov built an iron foundry in Dugna, and in 1720 a linen factory appeared near Kaluga. In 1719 the Kaluga province was established, which was part of the Moscow province. The Kaluga province was formed in 1776. In 1777, one of the first public theaters in Russia was opened in the province. In Soviet times, it was called the Kaluga Drama Theater. Lunacharsky. During the Patriotic War of 1812, Napoleon, who was retreating from Moscow, was stopped near Maloyaroslavets. On October 12, a battle took place here, after which the French army was forced to begin an inglorious retreat along the Old Smolensk road. In the 19th century Most of the population of the province were small-land peasants. Industry was poorly developed. In the 18-19 centuries. former enemies of Russia were exiled to the Kaluga province. Here at the end of the 18th century. lived the last Crimean Khan Shahin-Girey, and in 1859-1868. Imam Shamil. In the 18-19 centuries. The Kaluga province was one of the centers of Orthodox Russia. Here is the Borovsky Pafnutiev Monastery (1444), consecrated by the Monk Pafnutiy. In the 15-16 centuries. - the famous icon painter Dionysius worked here. In 1666-1667. the ideologue of the Old Believers, Archpriest Avvakum, was imprisoned in the monastery. 3 km from Kozelsk is the most famous shrine of the Kaluga region - Optina Pustyn. The heyday of the monastery fell on the 18th-19th centuries, the miraculous power of the Optina elders was famous throughout Russia. Historical monuments of Optina Hermitage: Vvedensky Cathedral (1750-1751), Kazan Church (1805-1811), Church of Mary of Egypt (1858). Great Russian writers came to the monastery: N.V. Gogol, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy and others. Historical monuments of the region: "Moshchinskoye settlement" (4-13 centuries), the Church of the Ascension (1620, Kozelsk), St. Nicholas Chernoostrovsky Monastery (16-18 centuries, Maloyaroslavets), the wooden Church of the Intercession (17-18 centuries, the village of Vysokoye, near Borovsk). During the Great Patriotic War, partisan and sabotage detachments operated on the territory of the region, including the detachment of D.N. Medvedev. The Kaluga Region within its present borders was established on July 5, 1944, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The region included: from the Tula region - the city of Kaluga, Babyninsky, Detchinsky, Dugninsky, Kaluga, Peremyshl and Tarussky districts;

from the Moscow region - Borovsky, Vysokinichsky, Maloyaroslavetsky and Ugodsko-Zavodsky districts;

from Smolensk region- Baryatinsky, Dzerzhinsky, Duminichsky, Iznoskovsky, Kirovsky, Kozelsky, Kuibyshevsky, Medynsky, Meshchovsky, Mosalsky, Spas-Demensky, Sukhinichsky and Yukhnovsky districts;

from the Oryol region - Zhizdrinsky, Lyudinovsky, Ulyanovsky and Khvastovichsky districts.

Life and creativity are connected with the region: artists V.E. Borisov-Musatov and V.D. Polenov, writers A.P. Chekhov, A.N. Tolstoy, K.G. Paustovsky; scientists K.E. Tsiolkovsky (native) and A.L. Chizhevsky, P.L. Chebysheva (native); actor and director M.M. Yanshin (born), poets M.I. Tsvetaeva, N.A. Zabolotsky, B.Sh. Okudzhava.

Kaluga has a thousand-year history, as evidenced by three ancient settlements with burial mounds located within the modern city. In total, there were about a dozen ancient settlements on the Kaluga land. Initially, they were inhabited by a patriarchal family, but over time, their population increased, and entire settlements appeared in their neighborhood. Their traces are settlements near the village of Kaluzhka, the Yachenka River, the village of Gorodny. The defensive system of the settlements has continuously developed over the centuries. The hills were carefully fortified. Large ramparts were erected on the vulnerable sides of the field, in front of which deep ditches filled with water were pulled out. And along their crest, a wooden fence-palisade was laid, encircling the settlement from all sides. Paved with wooden logs or cobblestones, the entrance led to the flat top of the fortress. Such was Kaluga in the first millennium of its long history.

Who were the inhabitants of the Kaluga settlements? Archaeological research has shed light on the ethnographic identity of our ancestors in the earliest period of their history; elements of ancient Baltic and Finno-Ugric cultures are found in them. Later layers (X-XII centuries) belong to chronicles Slavic tribes- Vyatichi. The history of the Vyatichi has preserved the names of the Slavic tribes known from the Old Russian Tale of Bygone Years. She also names our legendary ancestor Vyatko: "... And Vyatko is gray-haired with his family along the Oka, from whom he was nicknamed Vyatichi." It was they who made up the bulk of the first Kaluga residents. But when did Kaluga itself emerge?

For the first time in annalistic sources, the Kaluga fortress was mentioned in 1371 in a letter from the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerdt to Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople. The nature of Kaluga in the first three centuries of its existence was explained by the strategic defensive significance of the frontier fortress on the Oka, which defended Russian lands from Lithuanian and Tatar raids. But ancient settlements with barrows in its vicinity existed here long before its foundation.

In 1892, the chairman of the Kaluga Scientific Archaeological Commission, archaeologist D. I. Chetyrkin, became interested in the barrows. He examined 12 mounds near Kaluga and along the banks of the Kaluzhka River, and made a sensational discovery, attributing them to the 1st millennium of a new era.

In 1892, the chairman of the Kaluga Scientific Archaeological Commission, archaeologist D. I. Chetyrkin, made a sensational discovery. He examined 12 mounds near Kaluga and along the banks of the Kaluzhka River, referring them to the 1st millennium AD. Excavations of the settlement on the right bank of the Kaluzhka River near the former village of Kaluzhki (now the village of Zhdamirovo), presumably the original location of Kaluga, revealed fragments of clay pottery, arrowheads, a slate spindle whorl, a bone ring, and iron keys dating from the 20th to 15th centuries. According to scientists, the settlement originally belonged to the patriarchal community of the Eastern Baltic tribes, referred to the so-called Moshchinskaya culture (according to the first such settlement discovered near the village of Moshchiny, Mosalsky district). But the later layers belonged to the legendary Vyatichi Slavs.

The size of the city is amazing. Its area with the remains of earthen ramparts and ditches facing the Oka and Kaluga is about three thousand square meters. However, its ditches are strongly destroyed by time. But even despite this, the height of its shafts in some places reaches six, and the depth - three meters. It was a grand ancient settlement-fortress. It seemed that there was no such reason that forced the inhabitants of this fortified settlement to change their place of residence. However, from this place, for unknown reasons, our city was moved five kilometers lower, to the mouth of the Kaluzhka River, at its confluence with the Oka, where there is another settlement with traces of an earthen rampart and a moat. But what is the age of this settlement? Even at the beginning of the 17th century, in old scribe books, this area was called the "old settlement", owned by the "Kaluga coachmen". According to the description of academician V. Zuev in the 18th century, this place was surrounded by a deep ditch with a high rampart encircling the settlement on three sides. And at its corners there were hills with traces of wooden towers, with slopes in the moat, and above the moat itself there were mounds intended for watchtowers. The length of the shaft from the side of Kaluga was one hundred, from the side of the field - two hundred and thirty steps. It is likely that the annalistic wooden fortress of Kaluga stood on this spot. AT late XIX century Kaluga local historian I. D. Chetyrkin excavated here, finding traces of a fire, numerous animal bones and fragments of pottery. Supporting the assumption of V. Zuev that the first Kaluga stood here, having collected new historical and ethnographic evidence, he put forward a bold hypothesis that the ancient outpost of Kaluga, as well as the neighboring fortress of Gorodensk, mentioned in the Diploma of Yuri Dolgoruky in 1158, stood on the fiery frontier , covering the road to Aleksin and Tula. But why did the inhabitants again leave this fortified settlement, this time moving from the mouth of the Kaluga to the banks of the Yachenka River?

We find the answer to this question in the writings of our fellow countryman, the famous Kaluga local historian D. I. Malinin, who believed that some kind of disaster - pestilence (plague) of 1386 and 1419 or location near the main road and enemy raids, forced the inhabitants to Vasily I or Vasily II again move to a new place - half a mile further - to the bank of the Yachenka River, near the Mironositskaya Church. This area is known as Simeon's settlement, in honor of the first Kaluga appanage prince Simeon Ivanovich (1487-1518), the son of the Grand Duke Ivan Sh. According to the annals, at the beginning of the 16th century, this prince's palace stood here.

The ancient Pyatnitskoye cemetery adjacent to Simeon's settlement reminds of the ancient times of the settlement itself. According to the plans and maps of the general land surveying of Kaluga for 1776, Academician Zuev found out that the second ancient cemetery in Kaluga was only the necropolis of the Lavrentiev Monastery, where priests and especially revered citizens of Kaluga were buried. The area of ​​Simeon's Settlement, adjoining the old cemetery, was called the "Stary Settlement" according to the boundary books and, according to the scribe books of the 17th century, was four acres. Around it were vegetable gardens of coachmen. The first studies of Simeon's settlement were made in 1781 by academician V. Zuev. The settlement was once surrounded by a high earthen rampart with a gate and a deep moat on the east side: from the south the settlement was protected by a deep Serebryakovsky ravine, from the north by Semyonovsky, from the west by a steep slope to the river Yachenka. The length and width of the settlement were 310 and 150 meters. The location itself between two deep ravines and a still noticeable bulk rampart suggested that a small fortress with corner watchtowers and entrance gate. Only from the eastern side did a road lead to the settlement along a ditch filled up near the outskirts. A bridge could have been thrown across this moat earlier, which, if necessary, was raised or dismantled. In addition, in some places the remains of utility pits and cellars have been preserved. Having explored the entire area and its environs, V. Zuev came to the conclusion that it was here that Kaluga crossed from the bank of the Kaluzhka River, and the founder of the fortress could be the Kaluga appanage prince Simeon Ivanovich. Archaeological excavations of the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1956 discovered cultural layers deep in the soil. Scientists have made deep drilling of the rampart, which was the least affected by the destruction, and found that a wooden watchtower stood here at the end of the 15th century. Was it not here that the palace of the first Kaluga prince, Simeon, was located?

The first historical information refers to Kaluga, when it was already on Yachenka. Being given in 1389 to the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Prince Andrei Dmitrievich Mozhaisky, she passed from him to his sons, Ivan and Mikhail. However, in 1445 the Lithuanians attacked Kaluga and ransomed it. In the reign of Ivan III, Kaluga goes to the Moscow principality, and in 1465 it was given, together with Tarusa, to the former bishop of Bryansk and Chernigov, Emfimy, who moved to the Moscow principality from the oppression of Lithuanian Catholics. Before his death in 1505, Ivan III, according to his will, divided the Russian lands between his five sons: Vasily, Dmitry, Simeon and Andrey. He appointed the elder Vasily the Grand Duke and Sovereign of Moscow, gave the rest of the brothers specific principalities, strictly bequeathing to obey the elder brother-sovereign. He bequeathed to Simeon the Bezhetsky top, Kaluga, Kozelsk and Kozelsk volosts. During the years of his reign in 1505-1518, Simeon Ivanovich made Kaluga the center of a specific principality. However, constant strife broke out between him and his crowned brother. Simeon even wanted to flee to Lithuania in 1511, but the Grand Duke ordered him to come to Moscow, where he asked his older brother for mercy. Vasily III forgave him, replacing all the boyars in the princely retinue. In 1512 a new trouble swept over Kaluga; Our city was attacked by the Crimean Tatars-Agarians under the leadership of Khan Mengli-Giray, who devastated Belev, Aleksin and Vorotynsk. Maybe that's why Kaluga was moved from the banks of the Yachenka River for the third time to the banks of the Oka on the territory of the current city park? Kaluga residents heroically defended their city. Simeon fought the Tatars on the Oka and defeated them, according to legend, thanks to the help of the holy fool Lavrenty of Kaluga. For this feat, Prince Simeon and righteous Lawrence became locally venerated saints. After the death of the first and last legendary Kaluga prince, Kaluga became completely at the disposal of Moscow.

Kaluga land keeps many secrets and mysteries. Throughout its centuries-old history, Kaluga has changed its location three times, being rebuilt and reborn again. And now heated disputes of scientists about who was the first founder of Kaluga do not subside. Chronicles indicate to us the name of Simeon Ivanovich. However, local historians M. V. Fekhner, N. M. Maslov and others believe that the Kaluga fortress was laid on the Yachenka River by the Grand Duke of Moscow Simeon Ivanovich Proud (d. 1353). And so the written history of Kaluga becomes two centuries older!

Both parties present their convincing conclusions. Time will tell which of them is right, the science of archeology and history itself. The main thing is that people in our area lived long before any written history of Kaluga - even at the beginning I millennium new era. And this ancient history- part of a great Russian history, a real historical pride and heritage of all Kaluga residents.

Oleg MOSIN,

Svetlana MOSINA

Literature: Karamzin N. M. History of the Russian state. Reprint. ed. (1842-1844) in 3 books. - M, 1988; Zelnitskaya E. G. Research of ancient historical places, or tracts, which should be located in the Kaluga province // Otechestvennye zapiski, 1826. Part 27; Nikolskaya T.N. Vorotynsk // Ancient Russia and the Slavs. - M., 1978; Malinin D. I. Kaluga. The experience of a historical guide to Kaluga and the main centers of the province. - Kaluga, 1992. S.227 -229; Sizov V. I. Dyakovo settlement near Moscow // Proceedings of the Archaeological Society. - St. Petersburg, 1897, S. 164; Zabelin I.E. Research on the most ancient original settlement of Moscow // Proceedings of the 8th archaeological congress. - M.: T. 1, 1897, S. 234; V. E. PRODUVNOV This is my Kaluga. - Kaluga. Golden alley. 2002; V. Pukhov. History of the city of Kaluga. Kaluga. Golden alley. 1998.

Various data about the ancient inhabitants of our places have been collected by archaeologists. But the real historical appearance of that distant era is given by genuine portraits of the Vyatichi people, recreated by the remarkable anthropologist M. M. Gerasimov on the basis of skulls from the Vyatichi burial mounds of the Moscow region. The sculptural reconstructions of Professor Gerasimov and his students have received worldwide recognition. He was the first to establish a direct relationship between the shape of the bones of the skull and the soft facial cover, found standards for marking the thickness of the cover in various parts of the head, with the help of which the individual facial features of a person are recreated from the preserved skull. The method of plastic reconstruction is documented, and its accuracy has been repeatedly tested by practice, including forensic.

Today, in the State Historical Museum in Moscow, one can see a reconstructed documentary accurate sculptural portrait of a young girl from the Vyatichi tribe. She, according to Academician A. G. Veksler, resembles women in the frescoes of Andrei Rublev, paintings by V. M. Vasnetsov and M. V. Nesterov: ... can't describe with a pen. A youthful face with delicate delicate features. The head is decorated with a tribal dress - a bandage with silvery openwork rings with seven diverging lobes attached to the temples and at the same time woven into the hair ... ". According to the tradition of the Vyatichi, every woman wore such rings. A twisted wire hoop - a hryvnia and a necklace adorned the chest and neck. Metal jewelry combined with stone beads and embroidered different color shirt gave the girl an elegant look.

Another restored sculpture is a forty-year-old peasant man. “According to the chronicles and epic, archaeological and ethnographic data, one can imagine the harsh life of this man,” writes A.G. Veksler, “... with an ax and a plow, he worked on a small plot that fed him. More than once, he, the militia - "howl", with the same ax in his hands, had to defend his native land from enemies ... He lived in a tiny log house "istba", drowned in black, as it is said about such a hut in the ancient Russian manuscript "The Word of Daniil the Sharpener" : I can’t endure smoky sorrows, you can’t see the heat. During one of the cruel pestilences, the disease brought down this mighty and tall (and his height exceeded 190 cm) man. One involuntarily recalls the ancient Russian epic hero plowman Mikula Selyaninovich, who surpassed in strength and dexterity the entire princely squad of 30 dashing fellows, and even Prince Volga himself ... The face of a courageous, handsome man is depicted on the sculpture. He has a straight set head, a finely defined nose, an energetic, strongly protruding chin. A wide sloping forehead is cut with wrinkles - traces of deep thoughts, painful experiences. The man is depicted in a "ruba" - a simple peasant shirt, embroidered and fastened with small bells. Such a bell clasp and the remains of clothing with embroidery elements were discovered during excavations of barrows near Moscow. Hairstyle - hair "under the pot", mustache, flexible beard - all this was restored according to miniatures of ancient Russian chronicles. Something like this looked like a peasant-smerd of the 12th century, a contemporary of Yuri Dolgoruky. Thanks to the reconstruction method, the appearance of the Fatyanovite, who lived about 3.5 thousand years ago, was also restored. Scientists agree that all portraits are as close to reality as possible, documentary and at the same time artistically expressive.

So gradually, step by step, the most ancient horizons of the history of the Vyatichi tribe are opened, and our territory is especially rich in these finds, which has become a treasury of the most diverse historical and archaeological monuments. The study of local attractions shows that the territory of Kaluga and the surrounding areas have been inhabited since the Neolithic period, periodically preserving and renewing human settlements over the next several millennia in various historical eras. Dated antiquities and art obtained during excavations of local monuments are important for the study of history ancient settlements on the territory of Kaluga. The uniqueness of the historical and archaeological monuments of the territory of our region requires the most decisive measures to be taken to preserve them for posterity.