Karachev is an ancient city in the east of the Bryansk region, which in the 13th-14th centuries was the capital of a fairly large appanage principality. The city suffered greatly during the Great Patriotic War, most of its historical monuments were destroyed, but even now here you can see archaeological sites from pre-Mongol times and several temples of the 18th-19th centuries.
Cathedral of the Archangel Michael. Located on the right bank of the
Snezheti River, in the middle of a small square in the southern part of
the city, on the territory of an ancient settlement of the 12th-17th
centuries. Rising above the surrounding buildings. At the beginning of
the 17th century, there was a wooden Cathedral of the Archangel Michael,
which was replaced by a stone one in the 1st third of the 18th century
(known from documents since 1745). In 2012, the remains of a stone
temple from the pre-Mongol era were discovered at the site of the
temple.
Church of All Saints on Novaya Sloboda. Located on the
south-eastern outskirts of the city, on the former Orlovskaya Street. It
stands on a high slope facing the Snezheti River. Built in 1865-1874 by
order of priest F. Korenev and elder A. Khudyakov instead of the wooden
church of 1776 that burned down in 1863. The brick and whitewashed
building is made in baroque stylized forms. In 1890, a stone fence was
built (now dismantled).
St. Nicholas Church. Located opposite the
city hospital and clinic. Three aisles. Active.
In the suburban
village of Berezhok there is the Resurrection Church of the 17th-18th
centuries. Tikhonova Hermitage, abolished in 1764 (the monastery was
restored in 2004).
Temple in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. Located on Uritsky (Uspenskaya) street. Revived. After
construction, it was consecrated by Archimandrite Moses, the governor of
the Beloberezhskaya Hermitage (later Moses of Optina).
By train
1 Station Karachev. The station is located on the
northern outskirts of the city. Suburban trains (rail buses) stop here,
running four times a day on the route Orel - Bryansk.
By bus
2 Bus station.
Cafe "Snezhet", str. Sovetskaya, 53B/1.
Hotel "Paradise". ☎ +7 (920) 605-25-25.
Karachev comes in the form of a possessive adjective from the nickname Karach of Turkic origin: in Crimean Tatar qaracy is one of the highest feudal titles in the meaning of “faithful servant, observer, minister”. The word “kara”, in turn, comes from the Turkic as “black”, as well as “look, watch, looking.”
The city of Karachev is located on the Central Russian Upland in the center of the East European Plain on the Snezheti River (a tributary of the Desna) in the eastern part of the Bryansk region.
The city of Karachev, like the entire Bryansk region, is located in the MSC time zone (Moscow time). The applied time offset relative to UTC is +3:00.
Karachev belongs to the temperate continental climate (in the Köppen
classification - Dfb), which depends on the northwestern oceanic and
eastern continental air masses interacting with each other. Winter is
moderately cool. Summer is unstable.
The average annual
precipitation is 610 mm.
The main river is Snezhet. Until approximately the middle of the 20th century, it was navigable for small-tonnage vessels. However, at present it has become shallow, in particular, due to the construction of a number of dams on it (one within the boundaries of an urban settlement).
Karachev was first mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle in 1146. The
most ancient part of the city was the Karachevsky Detinets, on the
territory of which the remains of a stone temple from pre-Mongol times
were discovered. Since 1247, after the collapse of the Chernigov
principality, Karachev became the center of the appanage Karachev
principality; from the 2nd half of the 14th century it was under the
rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In 1500 it became part of
the Russian state; was a guard city on the Crimean side. Mentioned in
the “History of the Russian State” by N.M. Karamzin as one of the cities
devastated by Polish troops after the murder of False Dmitry.
In
1708 it was assigned to the Kyiv province, in 1719 it became part of the
Sevsk province (since 1727 - as part of the Belgorod province), since
1778 - a district town of the Oryol province. In 1920 it became part of
the Bryansk province. Since 1929 - a regional center (initially as part
of the Western Region, since 1937 - in the Oryol Region, since 1944 in
the Bryansk Region).
On October 6, 1941, Guderian's 47th Motorized Corps of the 2nd Panzer
Group occupied the city. The 43rd Army Corps, bypassing Bryansk from the
north and advancing to Karachev, sought to connect with units of the
47th Motorized Corps of the Germans and complete the encirclement of the
troops of the Bryansk Front.
On August 12, 1943, the 11th Guards
Army (I. Kh. Bagramyan), after a short artillery preparation, began an
assault on the Karachev defensive positions. The enemy continuously
counterattacked, introducing more and more reserves. On the night of
August 13, the Germans reinforced their Karachev group with the 78th
assault infantry division, fifty tanks and two armored trains. The 11th
Guards Army, having failed to capture the command heights on August 12
and 13, began to bypass Karachev from the north and south. The enemy, in
order to avoid encirclement, began to retreat from Karachev.
Following occupation during the Holocaust, a Jewish ghetto was
created in Karachev in October 1941. It was located in two places at
once. Some prisoners were in private houses across the Snezhet River
(near the bridge on Yurasovo), while others were put in a barracks at
the end of Uritsky Street. The living conditions were terrible and many
people died from hunger, torture and disease. On October 10, 1941, one
hundred representatives of the city intelligentsia were shot, including
Professor Levin. Then there were executions in December 1941. On May 2,
1942, another 260 people were shot.
On August 15, the 11th Guards
Army (I. Kh. Bagramyan) and the 11th Army (I. I. Fedyuninsky) liberated
the city. By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of August 15, 1943,
the 16th and 84th Guards Divisions were given the honorary name
Karachevsky.
In the city there are JSC Karachevsky Plant Elektrodetal, JSC Metaclay (formerly the Metalist plant), the Machinery and Spare Parts plant (bankrupt, external management introduced), JSC Karachevmolprom, JSC Silhouette (garment factory ), LLC "Veza" (ventilation equipment), JSC "Interior" (production of Christmas tree decorations), Peasant Farm Enterprise "Dolgov" (production of starch), LLC "Karachevskoe ATP" (liquidated).
Elder Dosifei - first lived in the Ploshchanskaya hermitage, and here
he became a monk. Lived for 40 years in the forests of Roslavl. He spent
a year in prison, in October 1827 he arrived at the Optina Hermitage
monastery, and died at the age of 75.
Schemamonk Fedor (Perekhutov)
(1756 - April 7, 1822, Alexandrosvirsky Monastery). He was a student of
Paisius Velichkovsky at the Nyametsky monastery. He was the spiritual
father of Lev Optinsky. His biography was compiled by novice Fr. Leo
(Nagolkin) Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov, future Saint Ignatius
Brianchaninov
Father Ioannikiy (in schema Leonid), in the world
Joakinf Tikhonovich Bocharov. Nephew Fr. Fedora. He was a resident of
the Beloberezhskaya Hermitage until 1814 and cell attendant to Fr. Lev
(Nagolkin), then moved to the Valaam Monastery, then to the Alexander
Nevsky Lavra. He died on December 4, 1853 at the age of 70 in Optina
Pustyn.
Sergius (Khrameshin) is the rector of the Slavic-Greek-Latin
Academy, a Russian religious figure, religious scholar and theologian.
Ponomarev, Vitaly Vasilyevich (June 11, 1939 - December 17, 2020) -
Soviet and Russian theater and film actor, People's Artist of the RSFSR.
Shagin, Anton Aleksandrovich (born April 2, 1984) - Russian theater,
film and voice actor, poet. Winner of awards from the Government of the
Russian Federation and the President of the Russian Federation First he
lived in the city of Kimry, Tver Region, then at the age of eight months
he moved to Karachev, where he spent his childhood. He studied at the
school of S. M. Kirov.
Aaron (Moryakin) (1780-1844) - archimandrite,
governor of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Apatov, Kuzma Pavlovich
(1896-1920) - revolutionary, hero of the civil war. Commander of the
first Mariupol shock Soviet battalion.
Boev, Nikolai Ivanovich (c.
1825-1896) - Russian entrepreneur, major Moscow philanthropist.
Bulgakova (Pokrovskaya), Varvara Mikhailovna (September 5/17, 1869 -
February 1, 1922) - mother of the famous Russian writer Mikhail
Afanasyevich Bulgakov
Golovina, Vera Leonidovna (1902 -1988) - Soviet
dramatic theater and film actress.
Zayats, Mikhail Vladimirovich
(born 1981) - mixed style fighter
Zolotarev, Anatoly Gavrilovich
(1921-2011) - Doctor of Geographical Sciences, professor, Honored
Scientist of the RSFSR.
Kabanov, Nikolai Alexandrovich (1864-1942) -
Russian general practitioner, scientist and teacher, Esperantist.
Karpov, Evtikhiy Pavlovich (1857-1926) - Russian playwright, Honored
Director of the Republic (1921).
Kachenovsky, Dmitry Ivanovich
(1827-1872) - Russian lawyer, professor.
Kolyakin, Vladimir Ivanovich
(1965-2001) - First holder of the Order of Courage in the Bryansk region
Lev Optina, in the world Lev Danilovich Nagolkin (1768-1841) - canonized
by the Russian Orthodox Church, one of the great elders of the Optina
Hermitage
Lokshin, David Borisovich (1921-1995) - Soviet and Russian
musician and artist
Menshikov, Ivan Aleksandrovich (1858-after 1917)
- Karachev merchant, timber merchant, member of the Union of October 17
party, deputy of the III State Duma from the Oryol province, honorary
citizen of Karachev.
Mulyar, Dmitry Sergeevich (born 1972) - theater
and film actor
Nozdrachev, Alexander Danilovich (born 1931) - Soviet,
Russian scientist, specialist in the field of physiology of the
autonomic nervous system and physiology of visceral processes.
Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1997), professor
Ovchinnikov, Adolf Nikolaevich (born 1931) - leading artist-restorer of
the All-Russian Art Scientific and Restoration Center named after
Academician I. E. Grabar
Petrov, Alexander Nikolaevich (1902-1980) -
Soviet military leader, major general of artillery (1944)
Titus
Mstislavich (died after 1365) - Prince of Kozel, mentioned once in the
chronicle without a patronymic under the year 1365 in connection with
the victory over the Horde at the Shishevsky forest.
Tikhon
Karachevsky (?—1609) - venerable, abbot of the Russian Orthodox Church,
founder of the Karachevsky Resurrection Monastery
Khodotov, Nikolai
Ivanovich (1888-after 1940) - Socialist Revolutionary, delegate of the
All-Russian Constituent Assembly.
Chebotarev, Vladimir Aleksandrovich
(1921-2010) - director, screenwriter.
Shimkevich, Vladimir
Mikhailovich (1858-1923) - Russian zoologist, academician of the Russian
Academy of Sciences (1920). Propagandist and theorist of evolutionary
doctrine.
The storyline of M. D. Karateev’s novels from the cycle “Rus and the Horde” (1958-1967) develops around Karachev and the Karachev principality.