Mozhaisk is located in the west of the Moscow region. An ancient
Russian city, the administrative center of the Mozhaisk region. Included
in the list of historical cities of the Moscow region.
First
mentioned in 1231. In the 14th-15th centuries, the center of the
Mozhaisk Principality. It suffered greatly after the Lithuanian
devastation (16-17 centuries), the Patriotic War (1812) and the Great
Patriotic War (1941-1945). Since the mid-20th century, industry has been
developing, new residential areas, schools, etc. have been built.
Churches in the city center are suitable for inspection. There is little
pre-revolutionary civil architecture in the city, and the center is
mostly built up with Soviet five-story buildings.
1 Mozhaisk Kremlin. An ancient fortress that once stood on a high
hill in a bend of the Mozhaika River. First mentioned in 1231, the city
already had a wooden fortress. In the 16th century, the stone Nikolsky
Gate was built, and in 1624–1626 the wooden walls of the Kremlin were
replaced with stone ones. Only fragments of the foundation and the image
on the city’s coat of arms have survived to this day.
2 Novo-Nikolsky Cathedral (1779–1812), Borodinskaya Street, 8. A very
remarkable Mozhaisk temple, made in the pseudo-Gothic style, was built
on Nikolskaya Mountain on the site of the Nikolsky Gate of the Mozhaisk
Kremlin shortly before the invasion of Napoleon. The cathedral is
picturesquely located on the cliff of a hill and looks very impressive
from the side of the bridge on Moskovskaya Street. Around this place it
was first photographed at the beginning of the 20th century by the
famous Russian photographer S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky. It is interesting that
despite the century separating us from those times, the area around the
Kremlin has changed little.
The three-apse pillarless temple was
built of red brick with white stone decoration according to the design
of A.N. Bakarev (1762–1817), a student of the famous representative of
Russian pseudo-Gothic M.F. Kazakova. The Gothic spire of the bell tower,
the turrets at the corners of the main volume, the Stars of David, the
pyramids with balls - all this does not really correspond to the usual
appearance of Orthodox churches. Inside, fragments of paintings have
been preserved in places on the walls and columns. The famous wooden
carved figure of the city’s patron saint, Nikolai of Mozhaisk, is also
kept here - an image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, with a sword in
one hand and a temple in the other. According to legend, it was in this
image that the saint appeared to the Tatars besieging the city in the
13th century and put them to flight. The strange appearance of the
cathedral, its symbolism and multiple proportions of sizes gave rise to
legends around it, connecting it with the Order of the Templars and the
Masonic movement. In the basement of the cathedral (now a church museum
is located there) the masonry of the wall and gate of the Mozhaisk
Kremlin has been preserved.
During the Great Patriotic War, the
cathedral was badly damaged and was restored only in recent years. Apr
2023
3 Church of Peter and Paul (Old St. Nicholas Cathedral) (1849),
Borodinskaya street, 8. The Old St. Nicholas Cathedral is located a
stone’s throw from the Novo-Nikolsky Cathedral, on the territory of the
former Mozhaisk Kremlin. The current building was built on the site of
an ancient white-stone cathedral of the 14th-15th centuries, of which
only the basement has survived. The current four-pillar church repeats
the forms of the previous structure.
4 Kremlin chapel for the
centenary of the Battle of Borodino (1911-1912), Borodino street, 8. A
small chapel in the colors of the Kremlin ensemble was built at the base
of Nikolsky Hill on the centenary of the Battle of Borodino. During the
Soviet years it was partially destroyed, but restored in 1990.
5 Chapel of Nicholas Mozhaisky (1998), Komsomolskaya Square. The chapel
was designed by V.M. Klykov and is dedicated to the patron saint of
Mozhaisk - Nikola Mozhaisky, whose image is installed inside the chapel.
6 Church of Joachim and Anna, st. Krupskaya, 6. The name, which the
church inherited from the Yakimansky monastery founded in the 16th
century, actually refers to two temples. The newer one, built in 1871
according to the design of K.V. Grinevsky in the pseudo-Russian style,
attracts attention from afar with a pair of high tents that complete the
bell tower and the octagonal drum. Next to it is a small 18th-century
church, built mainly of white brick. Taking a closer look, you will
notice that part of its southern wall between a pair of buttresses is
made of ancient white stone blocks. This part of the wall was once part
of the chapel of the former cathedral of the Yakimansky monastery and
dates back to the end of the 14th century.
7 Ilyinskaya Church
(1846-1852). It was built in the former settlement of the Luzhetsky
Monastery, now Ilyinskaya Sloboda, on the site of a wooden church that
burned down in 1812.
8 Theotokos of the Nativity Ferapontov
Luzhetsky Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1408 by Feropont
Belozersky, who in 1397, together with Kirill Belozersky, founded the
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, and a year later left Kirill and laid the
foundation for the Feropont Monastery, where he became abbot. The
Luzhetsky Monastery was founded by Feropont at the insistence of Prince
Andrei Dmitrievich, the son of Dmitry Donskoy. He was the head of the
Mozhaisk principality, whose inheritance was the Belozersk principality
at that time.
The oldest building of the monastery - the five-domed
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - dates back to the
first half of the 16th century. It was erected on the site of the first
stone cathedral and lost the galleries surrounding it during alterations
in the 18th century. The cathedral preserves frescoes attributed to the
disciples of Dionysius.
The three-tiered tented bell tower, under
which the funeral chapel is located, appeared at the end of the 17th
century and is fully consistent with the trends of its time. The
single-domed gateway Church of the Savior, placed above the southern
gate of the monastery, is very interesting. It was built in 1590-1610,
although the upper part of its walls was rebuilt in the middle of the
18th century, and the domed completion appeared after the events of
1812.
In addition, on the territory of the monastery, the Church of
the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary with refectory chambers (the
existing building dates back to the 17th century), the cell building
(XVII-XIX centuries) and the foundation of the Church of St. Feropont
have been preserved. The stone monastery fence with towers was built in
the 17th century, and the now closed eastern entrance gate appeared in
the 18th century. Just outside the enclosure walls, at the southeastern
edge of the monastery, there is a one-story abbot's building from the
19th century.
Mozhaisk Museum of History and Local Lore
The Mozhaisk Museum of
History and Local Lore was founded in 1920 on the basis of the Zemsky
Museum, which existed with the support of P. S. Uvarova since 1905 and
was seriously damaged by a fire in 1920. The revival of the museum took
place on the initiative of local historian N. I. Vlasyev, who became its
first director, and the itinerant artist I. L. Gorokhov. It existed
until 1941, when, after the evacuation of exhibits, which was
accompanied by their partial loss, it was decided not to revive the
museum, but to transfer the collections to the Moscow Regional Museum of
Local Lore in Istra (now the New Jerusalem museum and exhibition
complex). The new collection began to take shape in 1964 as the museum
of secondary school No. 1 in Mozhaisk through the efforts of its
teachers A. A. and B. L. Vasnetsov. The museum was opened in 1981 to
mark the 750th anniversary of the city of Mozhaisk. Since 1986, it has
become a branch of the State Borodino Military Historical
Museum-Reserve. The museum's collection includes works by Mozhaisk
artists (including I. L. Gorokhov, his son I. I. Gorokhov and grandson
Ig. I. Gorokhov), a collection of materials on local history collected
by V. I. Gorokhov, materials from archaeological expeditions of the
Institute of Archeology RAS, historical and everyday objects of the
18th-20th centuries.
Currently, the museum has an exhibition
hall, which hosts rotating exhibitions of paintings and historical and
everyday objects from the museum’s collection. The exhibition hall and
funds are located in a one-story brick building in the central part of
the city, built in 1907 as an outbuilding of the nearby gymnasium.
The objects of excursion display of the Mozhaisk Museum of History
and Local Lore are also:
The territory of the former Mozhaisk
Kremlin, earthen ramparts, entrance gates,
Novo-Nikolsky Cathedral
(1802-1814, pseudo-Gothic; transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church, a
functioning church, in the basement there is a museum exhibition on the
history of the cathedral and the Kremlin created by the parish),
Church of Peter and Paul (Old St. Nicholas Cathedral), (1849-1852;
transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church, assigned to St. Nicholas
Cathedral),
Luzhetsky Monastery (founded in 1408, cathedral from the
time of Ivan the Terrible with partially preserved frescoes from the
same time, bell tower of the 17th century; transferred to the Russian
Orthodox Church, active monastery),
Memorial complex dedicated to the
memory of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, the defenders and
liberators of the Mozhaisk land in 1941-1942.
House-Museum of the
artist S. V. Gerasimov
On September 26, 1985, on the 100th
anniversary of his birth, on the initiative of his granddaughter,
Lyudmila Leonidovna Gerasimova, the House Museum of the People's Artist
of the USSR, academician, Lenin Prize laureate Sergei Vasilyevich
Gerasimov was opened in Mozhaisk in the building in which he lived from
1915 to 1964 S. V. Gerasimov, a native of Mozhaisk, a student of V. A.
Serov and K. A. Korovin, is known for landscapes, illustrations to the
works of N. A. Nekrasov, A. M. Gorky, subject paintings “Collective Farm
Holiday” and “Mother of the Partisan” "(now in the collection of the
Tretyakov Gallery), and also as a prominent teacher, founder of an art
school.
In 1990, the museum became a branch of the State Borodino
Military Historical Museum-Reserve as part of the Mozhaisk Museum of
History and Local Lore. From October 9, 2009 to November 3, 2015, the
museum was closed for reconstruction. Currently, the museum has a
permanent exhibition “The Life and Creative Path of the Artist”, which
presents the works of S. V. Gerasimov himself, his son L. S. Gerasimov,
students, including G. M. Korzhev, P. P. Ossovsky, S.P. and A.P.
Tkachev. The memorial furnishings were reconstructed in the workshop of
S.V. Gerasimov.
Part of the house, now an attic (in which the
artist’s studio was located), was built in 1915 by S. V. Gerasimov
himself. In the 1920s, it was raised to the second floor of a newly
built house. In 1947, according to the owner’s design, a veranda and a
workshop for the artist’s son, Leonid, were also added to the house.
Near the museum building there is a bronze bust of the painter by
sculptor Joseph Moiseevich Tchaikov, executed in the 1930s.
Mozhaisk Museum and Exhibition Complex
In January 2016, the Mozhaisk
Museum and Exhibition Complex opened in the former building of secondary
school No. 5, currently operating as a branch of the Mozhaisk regional
cultural and leisure center. Currently, the museum's exhibition includes
5 halls: the history of the city and region, historical and everyday
objects of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, the Great Patriotic War
on Mozhaisk land, Mozhaisk residents - participants in local wars and
conflicts of the late 20th century. (the last two halls are also a
museum of the local branch of the “Combat Brotherhood” organization), as
well as an exhibition hall.
Mozhaisk House of Artists
In 2014,
on City Day, the House of Artists was opened. At the opening, paintings
by artists who left their mark on the cultural life of Mozhaisk were
presented. Currently, the building hosts rotating exhibitions of new
works by Mozhaisk artists.
City estate of Khlebnikov (Rolle)
The history of the estate begins
in 1898. The owner and developer of the house was a nobleman of French
origin, Leonty Vladimirovich Rolle. The Rolle estate is a monument
included in the list of architectural monuments of the Moscow region.
Estate Ilyinskoye (Varzhenevsky)
The estate, 7 km from the city,
was founded in 1674 by the steward A.P. Savelov and in the 18th century.
was in his family in the middle of the 19th century. The estate was
owned by captain captain A.N. Bove and then by her heirs, from the end
of the 19th century. - noblemen Varzhenevsky, in 1911 - Sergei and Anna
Gavrilovich Varzhenevsky and until 1917 - their family. A small
landscape park has been preserved, mostly linden trees, with ponds. The
manor buildings and the wooden St. Elias Church from 1872 have been
lost. Around 1920, the library and art treasures were removed from the
estate. In the post-war years - pioneer camp "Kirovets". In the
1990-2000s, the remains of the estate buildings were completely
demolished.
Mass media
The first Mozhaisk newspaper, “New
Life,” began publication on April 8, 1918. The newspaper often changed
its name - "News of the Mozhaisk Council of Peasant and Workers'
Deputies" - "Voice of the Farmhand" - "Red Dawn" - "Zarya" - "Plowman" -
"New Plowman" - "For the Collective Farm" - "For the Bolshevik
Collective Farms" - " Along the Leninist path."
Local newspapers
are also regularly published in the city: “Little Town” (since 2002),
“Advertising Week” (since 2002), “Mozhaisk Review” (since 2006),
“Mozhaisk News” (since 2011), “Mozhaisk Today" (since 2012).
In
2005, television broadcasting of the Mozhaisk Television channel was
launched. In 2012, television broadcasting of the Orbita Plus Mozhaisk
channel was launched.
There are cable TV operators in the city -
Orbita Plus Mozhaisk, SPIDI-LINE Group of Companies, MKS, Rostelecom,
WELLCOM.
In 2014, on the city day, the first issue of a new
printed publication was published - the Mozhaisk magazine “Reflection
Plus”
Monument to V.I. Lenin (square near the Administration). stands on a
2-meter pedestal made of marble, without a cap, his left hand in his
coat pocket. Previously, another monument to Lenin was in Glory Square
behind the monument to signalmen, now there is a fountain in this place.
Monument to Nikola Mozhaisky, on Nikolskaya Square. The original carved
image of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk is in Moscow, and there is a metal
copy here.
Monument to the Soldier Liberator, on Oktyabrskaya Square.
It was probably installed in honor of the liberation of the city from
the Nazi invaders.
Monument to Signal Soldiers, on Oktyabrskaya
Square. The only monument in Russia to signalmen who died during the
Second World War.
Monument to Radio-Locator Warriors, on the corner
of Mira and Academician Pavlov streets. located at the site of the RUS-2
radar station.
Monument in honor of the 70th anniversary of the
liberation of Mozhaisk on January 20, 1942 (west of Bagrationovskaya
Square, on the hillside). opened January 20, 2012
Monument to
Internationalist Warriors (Veterans of Local Wars) (west of
Bagrationovskaya Square, in a young park). opened in autumn 2011
Monument “Glory to the Armed Forces of the USSR”, Khimik village (behind
the railway station).
Monument to the victims of repression (in the
park behind the monument to Signal Soldiers). opened in 2000.
By plane
The closest airports to the city are in Moscow.
By
train
Railway station, Vokzalnaya street, 20. Located near the city
center and its main attractions. You can get to it from Moscow from the
Belorussky railway station on Lastochka trains (the journey takes just
over an hour) going to Smolensk, express trains (the journey takes about
1.5 hours) and regular trains (the journey takes just over 2 hours)
going to Mozhaisk or Borodino.
By car
From Moscow along the
Minsk or Mozhaisk highway, the distance is about 90 km (from the Moscow
Ring Road).
By bus
From Moscow from the Park Pobedy metro
station. Bus number 457. Departure from Moscow at 7:35, 9:15 (except
Sunday), 10:20, 12:00, 13:20, 14:50, 15:50, 18:30, 20:10. From Mozhaisk
at 5:00, 5:40 (except Sunday), 7:30, 9:10, 10:35, 12:00, 13:00, 15:40,
17:20. The journey takes 2-3 hours.
Bus station, Station Square,
1. Buses to Moscow, Ruza, Vereya and around the area.
On the ship
The Moscow River, which flows through the city, is not navigable in this
place.
There are regular buses and minibuses running around the city. There are several taxi services. There is a railway station at the Mozhaisk station, Belorusskoe direction.
Flower shop - st. Mira, 5 (1st floor, entrance on the south side,
opposite the entrance to Culinary)
Shopping center Pyramid - Polevaya
street, 1.
Shopping center - Polosukhina street, 6A. Children's store
"Fidget", grocery store.
Shopping center - Mira Street, 9.
"Investtorgbank", Computer Center (basement from the north), "Ellegia"
(Clothes) (2nd floor), toy store (2nd floor).
1st Zheleznodorozhnaya
Street, 28. (Northern entrance to the city from the station, to the
right after the pedestrian bridge). grocery store "Grand", Pharmacy
Point, communication salon "Euroset".
1st Zheleznodorozhnaya Street,
Bus Station (Northern entrance to the city from the station, to the left
after the pedestrian bridge). Cafe, equipment store "Tekhnomag",
clothing store, gift store "Present"
1st Zheleznodorozhnaya Street,
54, Clothing Market, southern part. Gift shop, stationery, keys.
“Teremok” - Dmitry Pozharsky Street, 1. Grocery store, clothing store,
children's toys.
Shopping center "Prestige" - Dmitry Pozharsky
street, 2A. Pet store, furniture store, gift store, children's toy
store, flower shop.
Shopping center "Anton" - 1st Zheleznodorozhnaya
street, 43. "Dixie", "Pyaterochka", bank "Vozrozhdenie",
"Spetssetstroybank", pharmacy "A5", communication stores "Megafon",
"MTS", "Svyaznoy", " Euroset", a sausage and meat store, a clothing
store, a shoe store, furniture stores "Iskona" and "Lazurit", a
pawnshop, a jewelry store.
Red Partizan Street, 40. Grocery store.
20th January Street, 3. Department store No. 26, “Pyaterochka”,
“Avicenna” pharmacy, 24-hour grocery store, flower shop, “Alt”
communication salon.
RaiPo - Outpatient street, 31/1st
Zheleznodorozhnaya street, 40.
Moskovskaya street 12. Grocery store,
“Cookware and gifts from Europe”, clothing store “Diana”.
Shopping
center "Voznesensky" - Volodarskogo street 1. Clothing stores.
Shopping center "Everything for you" - Moskovskaya street 20. Shop
"Everything for fishing" (in the basement in the northern part and on
the 1st floor of the western part), clothing store, grocery store,
stationery, children's toys.
Shopping center "Kvant" - Moskovskaya
street, 24. Supermarket "Gourmet", flower shop, disc store, cosmetics
store "L'etoile", jewelry store, clothing store of the company "Frant",
goods for children, pharmacy.
Shopping center "40" (Sorokovaya) -
Krasnykh Partizan Street 1. Communication salon "Euroset", communication
salon "Alt", clothing store "TVOYO", communication salon "Svyaznoy",
department store, pharmacy.
Moskovskaya street 30. Grocery 24 hours.
Moskovskaya street 32. Grocery.
Moskovskaya street 34. Disc store
"MYTH", "Shoe Center",
Karakozova Street, 40A. Grocery.
Shopping
center "Zolotoe Runo" - Akademika Pavlova Street, 13A. "Dixie", goods
for children, clothing store, perfumery.
Polosukhina Street 17.
Grocery, club (seems closed), furniture store "Furniture Row".
Cake
shop and Bun shop - near Moskovskaya street 52 and Makaronka.
Moskovskaya street 52. Megafon communications store, grocery, clothing
store, household goods.
RaiPo - Mira Street, 7. Pyaterochka, photo
salon, jewelry, Soyuzpechat (kiosk right inside), CD store, cosmetics
store, clothing store, children's toys, flower shop, coin store,
pharmacy, gift store.
Mozhaisk milk, famous in Soviet times.
Mozhaisk bread.
Until
2011, the meat processing plant operated. Now abandoned.
Cheap
Cafe-Beer "Taverna", st. Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky, 30.
Cafe
"Bagrationi", st. Chertanovskaya 1 (near the Polygraph Plant).
"Cooking", st. Mira, 5 (1st floor, entrance from the south).
Average cost
Restaurant “Nostalgia”, Komsomolskaya Square, 12 (In the
very center). ☎ +7 (49638) 20-205. Full lunch about 500 rubles (2012).
An ordinary restaurant, of normal quality, in good weather you can sit
outside.
Restaurant "Podmoskovny Dvorik", st. Mira, 5 (2nd floor).
Fast food restaurant "McDonald's", st. Mira, 2 (1st floor).
Expensive
Restaurant "Golden Fleece", st. Academician Pavlova, 13.
Borodino Club - Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky street 36.
Billiards -
Polevaya street 1 (Pyramid shopping center).
RKDC - Moskovskaya
street 9.
Cheap
Courtyard on Yamskaya - Kaluzhskaya street 32 (near the
village of Yamskaya). (Tel. +7(906)053-07-43)
Average cost
Hotel "Yubileinaya", Pionerskaya street, 7. (Tel. +7 (49638) 24-457) (~
500 rubles per bed)
Megafon branded sales and service salon, Pervaya Zheleznodorozhnaya
st., 43 (Anton supermarket, 1st floor). Mon-Fri 09:00-21:00, Sat-Sun
10:00-20:00.
Post office - 143200 (20 January Street, 18) and 143204
(Red Partizan Street, 2. Old Post Office)
The name of the city was mentioned in the 16th century as “the city of Mozhaesk on the river on Mzhay”. The primary hydronym is also mentioned in the forms Mozhai and Mozhai. The name is presumably of Baltic origin. In Lithuanian, “Mažoji” means “small”. This is the name given to the river flowing here and flowing into the large Moscow River. V.V. Sedov speaks about this in his article “Baltic hydronymy of the Volga-Oka interfluve” (1971) - “The name of the Mozhaika river, which gave its name to the city, comes from the Baltic word “Mažoji”, that is, “small” (in relation to Great Moscow River), to which the Russian suffix “k” was added.” A. L. Shilov in his note “On the name of Mozhaisk” reproduces the opinion about the Baltic origin of the city’s name from the language of the Golyad tribe.
In 9700-9600 BC. the last glacial glaciation ended, the glacier is
leaving the territory of the present Mozhaisk Territory for good. As a
result of this, in 9000-8000 BC a large landslide occurs, as a result of
which the current Nikolskaya Mountain (on which the Mozhaisk Kremlin is
located) broke away from the main “mainland” (now the city center). It
is for this reason that Cathedral Mountain itself is located lower than
the main city.
After the retreat of the glacier, there was a slow
development by man of the central regions of the Russian Plain. The
climate was more severe than today. This area was a cold steppe with
small copses of spruce, pine, birch and aspen. The animal kingdom was
dominated by now extinct animals such as the mammoth. However, traces of
the development of the Moscow River valley by Paleolithic man are very
rare. During the Mesolithic, the climate became warmer, but remained
colder than today. The leading role began to be occupied by taiga-type
forests, mainly mixed. Mammoths became extinct.
The Neolithic era
(4000-3000 BC) is represented by the discovery of a flint tool found on
the territory of the Kremlin. At this time, there is significant warming
in Europe; the Moscow region is covered with deciduous forests. Many
finds of this time on the territory of the Mozhaisk region indicate that
in the Neolithic era almost the entire territory along the Mozhaisk
course of the Moscow River and its tributaries was inhabited.
The
existence of a settlement of the Fatyanovo era of the Bronze Age
(2500-1500 BC) is indicated by the finds of two axes, which often mark
the sites of the Fatyanovo burial grounds. They were found in the city
of Mozhaisk - on Vlaseva Mountain and near the police department
building. Among the finds of this era, a hoe made of elk horn was
discovered in the city on the banks of the Mozhaika River. In the Bronze
Age, not only the coastal parts of rivers and lakes were developed, but
also the high edges of valleys, individual hills and capes. The high
hill on which the Mozhaisk Kremlin is now located was an even more
noticeable landscape dominant in the Bronze Age. Therefore, there is a
very high probability of discovering artifacts from this time here.
The archaeological monument “Mozhaisk Settlement”, located on the
territory of the Kremlin, dates back to 700 BC - 400 AD This is a
typical Iron Age settlement of the Dyakovo culture, around which there
are no clusters of ancient Russian monuments. Opposite the Kremlin,
finds dating back to 800-900 years were found, which belong to the
pre-Slavic Finno-Ugric tribes. This allows us to look for a pre-Slavic
burial ground and settlement in this place.
According to archaeologist I. I. Kondratyev, the original princely
churchyard (which later grew into a fortress) on the territory of the
Mozhaisk Kremlin was founded in 1097-1113, when Vladimir Monomakh
“blazed the path through the Vyatichi.” It was during this period that
the city of Vladimir Zalessky was founded (1108), as well as, following
this hypothesis, two more fortresses, one of which later became Moscow,
and the other Mozhaisk. Since Monomakh needed a path between the
friendly Smolensk and Rostov principalities, a “row” was arranged - an
agreement between the prince and the Vyatichi who lived in these parts.
Attempts to reach agreement with them were made both by the Smolensk
principality and by the Rostov principality. Of the four centers that
existed in the area, it was not Tushkov town, not the Trinity settlement
and not Dolgininskoye, but precisely the mountain in the bend of
Mozhaika that was most suitable for controlling the new route “through
the Vyatichi”. After all, from the upper reaches of the Mozhaika River
it is no more than 1500 meters to the sources of the Mzhut River, which
flows into the Protva River, which flows into the Oka. This river route
is the shortest route from the unfriendly Principality of Chernigov to
the upper reaches of the Moscow River.
According to
archaeological finds, the first Slavic settlement and fortified detinets
on Cathedral Hill appeared in the 12th century, in the area of the
Novo-Nikolsky Cathedral. This small fortress occupied an area of only 50
by 50 meters. The fortifications were similar to the early
fortifications of Moscow. They were a wood-humus mound, structured with
oak log structures, and covered with a layer of clay. The shaft lining
was a “hack” design. A fragment of such a structure, typical of
fortification of the 11th-12th centuries, was found by archaeologists
inside the Novo-Nikolsky Cathedral in 2006. A complete analogy of this
find is the shaft design discovered in 1959 in the Moscow Kremlin. This
fact strengthens the hypothesis about a unified urban development
program on the path “through Vyatichi”.
A wooden wall made of
logs was built along the top of the shaft. There were no towers on the
walls for fortresses of this time. To the east of the fortress there was
a 12th-century settlement and an Orthodox cemetery. The entrance to the
fortress was located on the site of the current Peter and Paul Church
and was a zahab equipped with a passage gate. This is probably where the
first church was located, the existence of which is confirmed by finds
of Byzantine amphorae for wine and oil. By the end of the 1130s. the
function of the settlement changes from a princely estate-“place” to a
graveyard, which played an important role in the process of
feudalization, princedom and Christianization of the local population.
According to I.I. Kondratyev, it is also possible that Mozhaisk owes
its appearance to the ancient portage, one of the options for the route
from the Varangians to the Greeks.
Mozhaisk was first mentioned in Russian chronicles (starting with the
Moscow Academic Chronicle and including a number of later chronicles,
including the Novgorod IV, Resurrection and Nikon chronicles) in 1231 as
a city that in that year the Vladimir-Suzdal prince Yaroslav tried to
capture during an internecine war. conflict with the Chernigov Grand
Duke Mikhail. At the same time, this mention is controversial, since in
a number of chronicles (including the Novgorod I Chronicle of the
younger edition) the same news mentions not Mozhaisk, but Mosalsk
(currently the regional center of the Kaluga region). In addition,
further chronicles mention Mozhaisk only as the possession of the
Smolensk princes, without also mentioning any events that could lead to
its transfer from Chernigov to Smolensk. Historian A.K. Zaitsev, who
devoted a special study to this issue, points out that Mosalsk is
mentioned in more ancient manuscripts of chronicles that include this
news than Mozhaisk. In addition, Mosalsk turns out to be closer to other
settlements mentioned when describing the route of this campaign of
Yaroslav. Therefore, A.K. Zaitsev suggests a later distortion of the
text, replacing Mosalsk with Mozhaisk.
However, the version of
the name of the city in the most ancient part of the Novgorod Chronicle
sounds like “Mosaisk”, as Zaitsev himself writes about. The historian
believes that “Mosaisk” later became “Mozhaisk” by mistake. Thus, the
historian Zaitsev pointed out that Mosalsk stands on the Mozhaika River,
just like Mozhaisk. Based on this, he concluded that Mosalsk could at
that time be called “Mosaisk” after the river. But this conclusion is
controversial, since the current Mozhaika River in Mosalsk was
previously called the Mosalka River, which can be seen even from sources
of the early 20th century. Whereas the Mozhaika River in Mozhaisk in the
16th century was referred to as the “Mzhaya (Mozhaya)” river, and
received its modern form “Mozhaika” by the end of the 18th century.
Therefore, the dispute about Mozhaisk-Mosalsk in 1231 is still open.
The historical center, the first settlement and fortifications stood
on a high hill in the lower reaches of the Mozhaika River. Later, the
Mozhaisk Kremlin will be built on this hill. For a better overview of
the surrounding areas, the forest was cut down (which contributed to the
fact that the Mozhaika River became very shallow and has now turned into
a stream). At the same time, the settlements around the fortifications
grew so large that they soon reached the Moscow River.
In 1237-1238, the first Mongol invasion of Rus' took place under the
leadership of Batu. However, the Mozhaisk inheritance of the Smolensk
principality, by the will of fate, avoided not only the Tatar defeat,
but also the Lithuanian raids on Smolensk.
In the middle of the
13th century, Mozhaisk became the center of an independent principality
within the Smolensk Principality. The city was inherited by Fyodor
Rostislavich Cherny, who became the first appanage prince of Mozhaisk.
The exact date of the emergence of the Mozhaisk principality is unknown,
since the fact of the creation of the Mozhaisk inheritance by the
brothers for Fyodor Rostislavich was mentioned in the chronicles in 1277
as having occurred sometime before this date.
It would be a
stretch to call the small fortress a city. Full-fledged settlements
around the princely fortress appeared in the second half of the 13th
century, which does not contradict the chronicle. From this year
Mozhaisk becomes a real city.
In 1293, the city was captured and
devastated during the campaign of Duden's army against Rus'.
In
1303, Moscow Prince Yuri Danilovich attacked the city, captured Prince
Svyatoslav Glebovich and annexed Mozhaisk to the Moscow Principality.
The city became an important fortified point to the west of Moscow.
In the middle of the 14th century, Mozhaisk was under the rule of
Ivan the Red. In 1341 and 1370, the fortress withstood the siege of the
Lithuanian prince Olgerd.
In 1352-1354, many people died from a
pestilence, and the city was severely depopulated.
In 1380, 60
Mozhai boyars, along with their retinue, died on the Kulikovo field.
Taking revenge for this battle, in 1382 the city was burned by the
Tatars of Tokhtamysh.
In 1397, Novgorod ravaged Mozhaisk
Beloozero.
In the 14th century, Mozhaisk experienced its heyday.
It was one of the religious centers of Moscow Rus', thanks to the
especially revered icon of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk. Legend says that
one day, when the city was besieged by enemies, St. Nicholas appeared
before them with a sword and a fortress in his hands. Frightened by his
menacing appearance, the enemy retreated. The earthen rampart that has
come down to us was built no earlier than this century.
In
1389-1493, Mozhaisk was the center of the appanage Mozhaisk
principality, which included such places as Vereya, Kaluga, Medyn. Since
1389, the estate was ruled by Prince Andrei Dmitrievich, the son of
Dmitry Donskoy. Under him, Mozhaisk minted its own coin, built stone
churches, and founded the Luzhetsky Monastery by Ferapon Belozersky.
Under him, one of the first stone buildings in the city was built - St.
Nicholas Cathedral (later Staro-Nikolsky). In appearance it resembled
the Assumption Cathedral of the late 14th century in the Zvenigorod
town. At the same time, an unknown author made a wooden statue of St.
Nicholas of Mozhaisky, which later stood on the St. Nicholas Gate.
The city also built the stone Cathedral of Saints Joachim and Anna
(1390), which was demolished in 1867. All that remained of the temple
was a white stone wall, built into the later temple of the Akhtyrka Icon
of the Mother of God, and the northern wall of the former cathedral
became the southern wall of the new temple. The current church of
Joachim and Anna was built nearby in 1871-1893.
In 1410, the
temnik of the Golden Horde Edigei ravaged the Verei volosts (regions) of
the Mozhaisk principality, but did not touch the city itself.
In
1419-1422, there was a terrible famine in the Mozhaisk regions, and in
1427 there was another epidemic.
From 1432 to 1454, the appanage
prince of Mozhaisky was Ivan Andreevich, the eldest son of Andrei
Dmitrievich, grandson of the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy. The
governor during the reign of Ivan Andreevich was Vasily Ivanovich
Zamytsky-Cheshikha. Ivan Andreevich, unlike his father, was more
inclined to intrigue and politics than to the development of his own
principality. In 1434, Ivan Andreevich Mozhaisky went over to the side
of his uncle, Prince Yuri Dmitrievich, a rival of Vasily II. In 1444,
Ivan Andreevich burned his boyar Andrei Dmitrievich Mamon in Mozhaisk
because he was “pulling” towards Moscow.
1445 - Lithuanian prince
Kazimir Jagiellonczyk sends his army to Mozhaisk. The Lithuanians sacked
five cities until the forces of Mozhaisk, Vereya and Borovsk stopped
them at the Battle of the Sukhodrev River.
On February 12, 1446,
Ivan Andreevich Mozhaisky and Dmitry Shemyaka rob the grand ducal
treasury and archives in Moscow. The next day, Ivan Mozhaisky will
captivate Vasily II in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. After which, together
with Shemyaka, he blinds Vasily II, for which he receives the nickname
“Dark”. Vasily the Dark is sent into exile.
In 1454, the city was
captured by Vasily II, and Ivan Andreevich fled to Lithuania. After
this, the Mozhaisk inheritance was liquidated and began to be governed
by the Grand Duke's governor. Since 1462, Mozhaisk was in the
inheritance of Yuri Vasilyevich. Later, the city was ruled by governors
from Moscow, and the last prince of Mozhaisk was Andrei Vasilyevich
Bolshoi (1481-1491). In 1490, Semyon Ivanovich Vorontsov served as
governor in Mozhaisk. In 1491, the Nikolskaya Tower was built in Moscow,
which received its name from the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
In 1492, Alexander Vasilyevich Obolensky, the son of Prince Vasily
Ivanovich Obolensky - Kosoy, became the governor in Mozhaisk, and in
1493 the governor was Andrei Fedorovich Chelyadin.
At the end of
the 15th century, the white-stone Nikolsky Gate with the Church of the
Exaltation on it was built from “Myachkovo” stone. This building is the
earliest on the territory of the Kremlin that has reached us. The
current Novo-Nikolsky Cathedral was built on the site of the tower,
including the old church and the gate itself with 11 meters of the
Kremlin wall (now can be seen in the basement of the cathedral).
Since the 16th century, the city has been a significant trade and
craft center. Wooden city structures were often repaired, and some were
replaced with stone ones. Among them is the main, Nikolsky, gate of the
Kremlin, where a carved sculpture of Nikola was kept in the gate chapel.
In the 16th century, there were about 16-17 monasteries in the city,
of which only the Luzhetsky Monastery has survived to this day. In
addition to him, there were:
The Annunciation Convent is located
on the outskirts opposite the Cathedral Mountain.
Borisoglebsky
Monastery - opposite the Trinity Monastery in the area of the street.
Pionerskaya and Frunze.
Petrovsky Convent - on the site of the
Petrovsky Cemetery.
Peter and Paul Monastery.
Sretensky Monastery
- on the site of the city hospital.
Trinity Monastery - the last
church of the ensemble was destroyed by the Germans in January 1942.
Assumption-Bogoroditsky Convent - on the site of the Assumption
(Nikolskoye) Cemetery.
Yakimansky Monastery - fragments of old
buildings inside the later ones have been preserved.
Alekseevsky
Monastery - in the area where the Chentsovsky stream flows into the
Moscow River.
Vasilyevsky Monastery - on Vasilievskaya Hill. Now they
want to revive it as a tourist attraction.
Resurrection Monastery -
opposite the Petrovsky Monastery on Resurrection Mountain.
Nastasya
Convent - on the banks of the Kushirka River.
Mironovsky
(Mironositsky) convent - area of Strelkovaya street.
Mokro-Nikolsky
Monastery - Herzen Street on the bank of the Nikolsky Stream.
Pyatnitsky Convent - stone church destroyed by the Germans. Presumably
church houses have survived.
Pokrovsky Monastery (presumably)
During the Russo-Lithuanian War, Mozhaisk was a gathering center for
Russian governors. At this time, Vasily III often visits Mozhaisk, lives
in it, and hunts. In the city there appear 2 sovereign gardens, 2
menagerie parks, the Tsar’s courtyard and an embassy, where Vasily III
receives foreign ambassadors, including Herberstein, the author of the
famous “Notes on Muscovy”.
In 1526, Abbot of the Luzhetsky
Monastery Macarius was nominated to the post of Archbishop of Novgorod
and Pskov. Later he would become Metropolitan of All Rus'.
In
1536 and 1538, Elena Glinskaya, the second wife of Vasily III, visited
Mozhaisk twice on pilgrimage.
In 1541, the old fortress was
rebuilt after a severe fire. The memory of this event was preserved by
an inscription on the wall of the Peter and Paul Church: “in the summer
of 7049 they made a porch, and they also burned the city in the same
summer.” A probable translation is “In 1541 they made a porch and even
made a city, since they were burned that year.” The causes of the fire
are unknown; archaeologist I. I. Kondratyev connects this with riots and
robberies during the reign of Elena Glinskaya and the implementation of
the first stage of the provincial reform. After that fire, all that
remained of the fortifications of the tree-earth fortress were earthen
ramparts and the charred white stone Nikolskaya Tower of the 15th
century.
In 1549, the first abbot of the Luzhetsky monastery,
Ferapont, was canonized at the suggestion of Macarius.
In 1559,
Ivan the Terrible and his wife Anastasia Romanova stayed in Mozhaisk.
In the 1560s, during military operations in Livonia, Tsar Ivan the
Terrible made Mozhaisk his headquarters. Here he received Swedish,
Danish, German and Polish ambassadors, here he received reports from
governors and Cossack atamans from the Polish and Lithuanian border
regions of Russia. In 1564, he was present at the consecration of the
oak five-domed Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, which he
ordered to be built in Mozhaisk opposite his palace[26]. Probably, at
this time, Mozhaisk became a place of gathering and concentration of
Russian troops before the campaign against Lithuania, and in some cases,
due to the relatively short distance from the Coast, against the Crimean
Tatars.
In 1562, Dmitry Grigorievich Pleshcheev was appointed
okolnichy. He was engaged in the distribution of households in Mozhaisk.
With the beginning of the Livonian War, the life of the townspeople
deteriorated sharply. Funds were needed to maintain the army, which
resulted in an increase in oppression, especially on the townspeople.
The city was not spared by the oprichnina since 1565, due to which the
outflow of people to the Volga region increased. The chronicle reports
that many people “dispersed” from Mozhaisk and from Volok to Ryazan and
Meshchera, and to the Ponizov cities, to Nizhny Novgorod. And the plague
epidemics led to the desolation of the city.
In 1566-1572, there
was a pestilence in Mozhaisk, from which entire villages in the
surrounding area died out. From the very beginning of the epidemic, Ivan
the Terrible built an outpost in Mozhaisk to protect the capital from
infection. In 1580-1581 the epidemic repeated. Compared to the middle of
the century, only 11% of households remained in the suburbs.
In
1586, Patriarch Joachim V of Antioch passed through Mozhaisk and was
solemnly greeted here for the first time. In 1593, the ambassador of the
Roman Emperor Nikolai Varkoch visited Mozhaisk and called it the “Holy
City of the Russians.”
In 1592, Tsar Feodor I visited Mozhaisk
for the only time on a pilgrimage.
The scribe books of the
Mozhaisk district of 1596-1598 contain the first detailed painting of
the Kremlin fortress:
The Kremlin had the shape of an irregular
hexagon measuring 269 fathoms. From the north it was surrounded by the
Mozhaika River, an artificially raised dam, and from the east, west and
south by a deep, partly natural, in some places dug to 10 arshins depth,
ditch. The fortress was connected to the settlement in the trading area
on the south-eastern side by a wooden “vzrubekh” bridge. The fortress
had two gates: stone Nikolsky with the Church of the Exaltation from the
south and wooden Petrovsky from the north with a steep descent running
along the slope of the rampart parallel to the wall, to the Mozhaika
River and the city piers. On the Nikolskaya Tower there was a tower for
striking clocks, to which a watchmaker was assigned. In addition, there
were 4 towers in the fortress: Naugolnaya from the Mozhaika River, near
the chapel (White), opposite Torg (Red) and Naugolnaya opposite the
Joachim-Annensky Monastery. By the time of painting, the wooden walls
and towers had fallen into disrepair - “the wooden wall covered with
clay had collapsed, and the roof of the city had rotted.” The armament
of the fortress was in dire straits.
Mozhaisk is also described
in the same scribe books. The city is divided into 60 settlements,
streets, alleys and more. Includes 30 households of average people, 175
minors, 127 empty households, and 1446 courtyard places, 4 monastery
settlements with 45 yards, a market consisting of 304 1/4 shops, 41
barns, 3 shelves, 69 benches, 12 benches and 5 barns, 21 forges. In the
fortress there were 8 huts, public places, 4 cells, 2 almshouses, 2
prisons, 1 barn, 7 granaries, 7 courtyards. There were 30 churches in
the city (5 of them in the fortress), not counting 16 monastery
churches. Population: 13 nobles and boyar children, 1 janitor, 60
military men, 2 gunners, 5 collars, 6 messengers, 1 gardener, 1
fisherman, 1 watchmaker, 48 coachmen, 204 black townspeople, 30 monks of
the black clergy, 80 white monks, 25 church watchmen, 2 monastery
gatekeepers (collars), 1 monastery servant and 1 cab driver. In the
monastery settlements: 70 people, 7 living on church lands, 145 beggars,
153 merchants. There are 244 artisans in the city. There are 56 shops
selling food, 49 - clothing and materials, 61 - household items. The
books indicate a sharp outflow of the city's population to the outskirts
of the state.
In 1601, Boris Godunov consecrated the tented Borisoglebskaya Church
in Borisov-gorodok and visited Mozhaisk.
In 1603, Mozhaisk was
captured by robbers under the leadership of Khlopok. Noble detachments
from Moscow were sent to destroy the gang.
On May 2, 1606, Marina
Mnishek, the wife of False Dmitry I, visited Mozhaisk to look at the
Mozhaisk shrine.
In the fall of 1606, Mozhaisk was occupied by
the troops of Ivan Isaevich Bolotnikov.
In 1608, the troops of
False Dmitry II approached Mozhaisk and besieged it. The fortress
garrison resisted them, but the Poles forced it to surrender.
In
1610, Vasily Shuisky (Russian Tsar from 1606 to 1610) bought Mozhaisk
for 100 rubles from the Polish-Tushino governor Mikhaila (Nikolai)
Vilchek.
On June 21, 1610, the Tsar’s 30,000-strong army with the
governor Dmitry arrived in Mozhaisk. Shuisky and meet near the village
of Maslovo together with Delagardi’s Swedish allies to battle the troops
of Hetman Zholkiewski. On June 24, in the battle of Klushino, the hetman
defeated the troops of Shuisky, who was betrayed by the Swedes. Shuisky
runs to Mozhaisk and informs the Mozhaisk people that “everything is
lost, ask for mercy and mercy from the Poles.” On June 25, defenseless
Mozhaisk swears allegiance to the Polish prince Vladislav - the
commandant in the city was Nikolai Strus. In 1613, the invaders
retreating from Moscow took with them a sculpture of St. Nikola
Mozhaisky. Mozhaisk was liberated, but almost completely destroyed.
The patrol book of the governor of Smirny Otrepyev in 1614 reports
that of all the streets and settlements described in 1598, only 15
remained. In total, the patrol discovered in the recently populous city
only 5 “good” people, 9 “average”, 40 “ thin" and 45 males. At this
time, Mozhaisk and the surrounding area are unsafe due to gangs of Poles
and various adventurers and easy money. The city governor Nashchokin
reports that Lisovsky’s gang wants to come to the city. Prince Yuri
Suleshov leaves governors, military men and grain reserves for the siege
in Dorogobuzh, Mozhaisk and Vyazma. This order saved the city in 1617
and 1618.
In 1616, the watch books of Mozhaisk governor S.D.
Shekhovsky reported the desolation of the city. Of the 99 households in
the settlement, 54 remain, of which 19 are Bobyl. What survived from the
formerly huge Mozhaisk trade were: a customs hut, a tavern hut at a
trading place, 34 benches, 2 huts, 9 benches, 7 tables, 1 closet, 3
cellars, 6 forges in Zaryadye. Tsely on the river In Mozhaika there is a
mill and a public bathhouse, and on the Moscow River there is fishing (8
people).
In November 1617, the regiments of Voivode Lykov secretly approached
Mozhaisk from Moscow. In December 1617, during his campaign against
Moscow, Prince Vladislav tried to recapture the devastated Mozhaisk, but
to no avail. The city governors Fyodor Buturlin and Danila Leontyev were
ready to meet him. Vladislav goes to Vyazma for the winter.
In
1618, the Battle of Mozhaisk begins. One of the governors was Boris
Mikhailovich Lykov-Obolensky. At the beginning of June, the Poles
besieged Borisov twice in vain. Cherkassky comes to Lykov’s aid. On June
29, the Poles come to Mozhaisk from Borisov, but the people fight them
off and the prince goes back to Borisov. On July 21, Cherkassky came to
Mozhaisk and wrote about the appearance of the Poles at the Luzhetsky
Monastery in order to stop the communication from Mozhaisk to Ruza.
Lykov reports that the Poles decided on a siege. The Boyar Duma
developed a campaign plan, according to which, if something happened,
Lykov and Cherkassky would retreat to Moscow and leave the governor
Fyodor Volynsky in Mozhaisk with the siege people in addition, “so that
they could sit fearlessly under siege.” On July 27, D. M. Cherkassky was
wounded. On July 29, Lykov writes that Lithuanian people come to the
prison every day and “beat the military people.” The Poles are building
fortifications behind the Yakimansky monastery, deployed cannons on
Brykina Mountain and are firing at the Kremlin and Yakimanka, and are
repairing great crowding. During this siege, it survived in 1608-1613.
part of the city was finally burned and plundered, and the local
population was massacred, tortured and drowned in the Moscow River by
angry Lithuanian camps.
In the same 1618, the frontal stone parts
of the fortress were blown up - the corner stone tower from the bridge
and the market and the powder tent at the fortress altar at the gates of
the Vozdvizhenskaya Church. Even during the first attack of Vladislav,
part of the monks of the Luzhetsky monastery, headed by Archimandrite
Mitrofan, was tortured. The ominous legend of Goat Mountain about the
drowning of the entire staff of one of the Mozhaisk monasteries near
Igumnovo dates back to this time. At the beginning of August, the
defenders of the city Cherkassky and Lykov leave the prisons, and
Volynsky’s detachment remains in Mozhaisk. The Poles, having never taken
the city, decided to go to Moscow, leaving the city in the rear.
However, the campaign is unsuccessful.
On December 14, 1618, the
Treaty of Deulino was signed, where a separate clause included the
return of the icon of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk. In 1619, Mozhaisk was
freed from the siege, and in early June, Patriarch Filaret (father of
Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, exchanged for the captured Colonel Strus (who
operated in Mozhaisk) solemnly resides in Mozhaisk. Here he is met by
Prince D. M. Pozharsky and Prince G. K Volkonsky Posad, completely
destroyed by wars, is being rebuilt again.
After the loss of Smolensk, Mozhaisk became a border city. It was
decided to build a new stone Kremlin on the site of the ancient wooden
fortress. In 1624, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich sent Alexei Timofeevich
Borzetsov to the city, where he was the head of construction. Initially,
the project of the Mozhaisk fortress was ordered to the Englishman John
Thaler (Ivan Toler), but he executed the project without taking into
account the features of the terrain.
The head of the Tsar's Order
for Stone Affairs, Ivan Vasilyevich Izmailov, noted the weaknesses of
the project and Thaler's agreement with his comments in a letter to the
Tsar. Subsequently, construction was carried out under the leadership of
Ivan Izmailov. The architects Bazhen Ogurtsov (author of the Terem
Palace and the tent of the Spasskaya Tower in the Moscow Kremlin),
Mikhail Ushakov (who died during work and was buried in Mozhaisk), as
well as the famous Yaroslavl master Fyodor Vozoulin worked with him.
From 1624 to 1626, in record time, Russian craftsmen built a
powerful Kremlin in the city in the image of Moscow's China Town. Two
gates led to the fortress - Nikolsky and Petrovsky. There was a gate
church on Nikolskiye. The builders included the already existing
Nikolsky Gate into the new structure. The wall, 2 to 4 meters wide, had
bottom, middle and top battlements, as well as towers. The Kitchen Tower
was so named because a flour mill and other outbuildings were located
next to it. In the north-western corner of the Kremlin stood the Oblique
Corner Tower, followed by the Petrovsky Gate (modeled on the Varvarsky
Gate in Moscow), the half-tower Surino Kleno, the Deaf and Red Towers,
and finally the White Tower, built under Boris Godunov. The height of
the towers ranged from 10 to 20 meters. There were plank tents on the
roof of the towers. The Kremlin was whitewashed with lime and from a
distance seemed entirely made of white stone, although it was built
partly from brick and partly from stone, which was mined on the banks of
the Moskva River near the current Tuchkovo station. The Mozhaisk
fortress replaced the Smolensk fortress, which was in the hands of the
Poles.
In 1627, scribe books paint a picture of the complete
devastation of the county. Most of the villages and hamlets were
completely devastated and burned, often pointing to entire volosts
abandoned and desolate due to the Lithuanian pogrom. The decline in the
population of the Mozhaisk district was so significant that official
scribes could not always accurately complete their task due to the lack
of old-timers who could indicate the villages that had turned into
wastelands. Therefore, in the scribal books there are omissions and
incomplete information.
In 1632, the famous Dmitry Pozharsky was
appointed governor of the fortress. There was a strong garrison inside,
and stocks of weapons and gunpowder were stored. The same year refers to
the indignation of Cossack detachments in the city.
In 1634, Osip
Ivanovich Shcherbatov was appointed governor. In 1642, Ivan Timofeevich
Vadbolsky served as governor in the city. During the Sovereign's
campaign, on May 26, 1654, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich stayed in Mozhaisk.
In 1683-1685, the St. Nicholas Tower with the gateway St. Nicholas
Church was rebuilt by order of Patriarch Joachim. Now the church has
become a copy of the Nativity Cathedral in the Luzhetsky Monastery.
In 1686, an eternal peace was concluded with Poland and the Mozhaisk
fortress began to gradually decline. Its walls cracked and collapsed.
Useless to anyone, the neglected Kremlin attracted only local residents
(with its bricks and white stones) and travelers with its unusual
appearance.
During the reign of Peter I, during the provincial
reform, Mozhaisk received the status of a district city of the Moscow
province. At the same time, the voivodeship position was abolished and
replaced with a magistrate headed by the burgomaster. In the 18th
century, the appearance of Mozhaisk changed - the settlement grew, the
construction of which was carried out according to the approved plan,
some wooden buildings were replaced by stone houses. Shops, a postal
yard, hotels and a two-class school appeared in the city. The main
occupation of the residents was maintaining taverns, and trade was
concentrated on the needs of those passing along the busy Smolensk road.
At the very beginning of 1702, a message was sent to the Discharge
Order about a treasure of 28 altyns found in the city, and a “small hut
millstone” was also found during excavations.
In 1704, Voivode
Larionov described a bleak picture of the Kremlin. By that time, the
fortress had lost its roof, the Oblique and Petrovskaya towers “settled
in two” from top to bottom, the Surino Knee half-tower was “broken out
by a whirlwind”, instead of it “a log house was installed and that log
house rotted”, the water pipe at the Petrovsky Gate immediately became
clogged. The doors at the crawl spaces fell out, bricks from the walls
were crumbling in places, the water in the Clear Lake has deteriorated,
there is scree around the walls of the fortress, the artillery is weak,
and the gunpowder is damp, the Filthy Lake has dried up, the wooden
bridge to the settlement has rotted and collapsed.
In 1719, Peter
I founded the Gzhatsk pier (now the city of Gagarin); by Peter's decree,
part of the townspeople's families and merchants from Mozhaisk and a
number of other cities around were resettled here.
In 1723, the
Mozhaisk glass factory opened. In the 1740s, Maltsov's Mozhaisk plant
became one of the most famous in Russia. In 1747, the Senate adopted a
decree banning the operation of glass and metallurgical factories near
Moscow in order to protect the forest from destruction. Maltsov was
forced to move the Mozhaisk factory to a new location. It was decided to
locate the plant on the Gus River, and so the famous Gusev Crystal
Factory (city of Gus-Khrustalny) was founded.
In 1748, a huge
fire raged in the city, and the Kremlin was partially damaged.
In
1765, a two-class school “for the education of youth” was opened in the
fortress.
In the 1760s. The famous scientist G. F. Miller visits
Mozhaisk.
In 1775, the Petrovsky Gate was closed due to
disrepair. In those years, the famous historian Gerhard Miller visited
Mozhaisk: “In the city there is a stone fortress, standing on a certain
hill, and in which nothing is located except the church and the
voivode’s office.”
In 1779, a major reconstruction of Nikolsky on
the fortress gates of the cathedral began. The reason for this was the
cracks in the cathedral and the dilapidation of the old bridge. But
soon, due to the theft of church funds, construction was temporarily
suspended.
On December 20, 1781, the first coat of arms of
Mozhaisk was approved. The coat of arms depicted “a stone wall with six
towers, which actually still exists.”
In May 1782, a government
decree was issued giving permission to dismantle the fortress walls in
Kolomna, Serpukhov and Mozhaisk “due to their extreme dilapidation,”
since falling stones threatened people.
In 1784, a regular plan
for Mozhaisk was adopted. A significant part of the center of the old
city was moved according to the plan to be divided into blocks and
streets of regular rectangular shape: of the 524 houses that existed
here at the end of the 1780s, 102 wooden and seven stone were built
again according to the plan. New government buildings also appeared: two
salt shops, a postal yard, a “public house” with a city magistrate, five
government drinking houses.
In 1792, in the center of the city,
on the site of an ancient lost monastery, the Trinity Cathedral was
built, now made of stone.
In 1802, dismantling of the Mozhaisk
Kremlin began. And since it was recommended to use stone and brick to
repair old churches, it was decided to rebuild the old gate cathedral
(Novo-Nikolsky Cathedral). A few years later, by 1803-1805, the most
interesting structure of Russian architecture disappeared from the face
of the earth.
For the construction of the New St. Nicholas
Cathedral, the fortress St. Nicholas Gate and the gate church were used.
It was decided to build the cathedral in the neo-Gothic style. The
Vozdvizhensky chapel was dismantled to the ground and rebuilt. The gates
of the fortress are sealed on both sides with brickwork. The bell tower
was dismantled, like the old five-domed building, and instead a
rotunda-dome with four “Moorish” turrets in the corners was built. A new
multi-tiered bell tower with a high spire was added to the west. The
outside of the cathedral was lined with 2.5 bricks. Construction of the
cathedral lasted from 1802 to 1814.
From 1805 to 1812, the judge
in the city was Belago, Gavriil (Gavrilo) Osipovich. Shortly before the
Battle of Borodino, M. I. Levitsky was appointed commandant of Mozhaisk.
By the beginning of the 19th century, Mozhaisk had more than 300
wooden houses. It is spread out on the hills and has largely retained
its medieval layout: its 15 settlements were connected by 18 streets and
5 alleys. In the city there were 60 shops, three drinking houses, 12
forges, five factories, including a tannery, two breweries, two malt
factories, and four brick factories.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the city again became the
center of military operations, this time it was Napoleon's Grand Army
that had to resist.
But the city ceased to exist as a defensive
line - all that remained of the Kremlin were ruins, and sieges ceased to
be the dominant type of warfare. The main battle of the Patriotic War of
1812 took place on a field near the village of Borodino.
A few
weeks before the battle, columns of refugees and convoys with the
wounded stretched through Mozhaisk. Hospitals, military supply stores,
warehouses, and armories were created in the city. The townspeople left
their homes and went north to Volokolamsk district. The forces of the
Russian army accumulated in the city before the Battle of Borodino, and
after the battle the wounded were housed.
On August 20, the city
forces gathered 1927 soldiers, 5 Jaeger rifles, 1 rifle, 4 pistols, 3
sabers, 101 units of Turkish daggers and a pike with shafts for battle.
At noon on August 27, on the Borodino field, Marshal Berthier
ordered Murat's vanguard with the reserve cavalry corps and Dufour's
division to pursue the Russians and stop seven or eight versts beyond
Mozhaisk. Platov's rearguard took up a position in front of the city.
Already at three o'clock the battle began. It lasted almost five hours.
The attacks of Murat's corps were courageously repulsed by Platov's
rearguard. The Neapolitan king hurried to bring all the regiments of his
vanguard into action, and became angry when they explained to him that
the Mozhaika River ravine was impassable for cavalry on the way. The
battle at Mozhaisk, according to the recollections of the French, was
“bloody, hot, very hot, stubborn...”. The French suffered losses. In
this battle, General O.D. Bellyar was wounded. By August 27, Napoleon's
soldiers entered the Luzhetsky Monastery. Half a mile away from it there
were warehouses with provisions (current Proviantskaya Street). In view
of the threat of the enemy, the warehouses were set on fire so that they
would not fall to the enemy. The daily supply for the 40,000-strong army
burned out.
With the onset of darkness, Napoleon arrived at the
battlefield and slowly walked towards Mozhaisk. Someone stopped the
emperor, reminding him that between him and Mozhaisk there was a Russian
rearguard, in front of which were the lights of a 50,000-strong army.
Napoleon turned back.
On August 28, from six o'clock in the
morning, Platov's rearguard continued to hold the city with six
battalions of rangers, regular and irregular cavalry. Kutuzov's main
forces moved away from the village of Zhukovo (Kozhukhovo), where his
headquarters was located these days. The French deployed batteries,
under the cover of which the enemy launched an attack. The fire of the
Don Horse Artillery guns located on the hills of Mozhaisk and
Chertanovsky Heights could not hold back the enemy’s advance. Platov's
rearguard retreated to the village of Modenovo, three kilometers from
Kutuzov's main forces. General M. S. Vorontsov noted the long-term
consequences of this retreat: “Platov’s quick retreat to Mozhaisk...
decided the retreat from Mozhaisk of the entire army, which no longer
found a favorable location, and was, perhaps, the reason for the loss of
Moscow.” Dissatisfied with Platov’s actions, Kutuzov on the evening of
the 28th appointed General M.A. Miloradovich as head of the rearguard.
Due to the rapid retreat, it turned out to be very difficult to
evacuate the wounded after the Battle of Borodino. According to French
memoirists, the wounded, picked up on the battlefield and left in
Mozhaisk, numbered about seven thousand. The numbers of 10 thousand
people are also called. “Almost all of them died, not only from lack of
help, but also from hunger, to which the French were also subjected. The
French treated our wounded in the most inhumane manner."
On
August 28, French troops entered Mozhaisk. In Mozhaisk, “on the descent
from a huge steep and crooked mountain...”, one hundred and twenty
meters from St. Nicholas Cathedral, Napoleon’s headquarters settled for
three days. This landmark was marked in the 1880s with a sign on
Borodinskaya Street. In that house, the emperor sketched out an order to
the chief of staff, Marshal Berthier. The military historian
Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky explains the three-day stop of Napoleon's
headquarters in Mozhaisk (August 28-30) for four reasons: the emperor's
illness (cold); army rest; preparation for a new battle; delivery of
artillery shells.
Taking care of the protection of
communications, Napoleon left in Mozhaisk the Westphalian corps of
General Junot (Duke d’Abrantes), whose headquarters were located in the
Luzhetsky Monastery. The Emperor was concerned about unsatisfactory
affairs in Russia, despite what he believed was a won battle on the
Borodino field. He was worried about the strong reduction in the number
of corps. Napoleon hoped for peace proposals from Kutuzov, was ready to
enter into negotiations, and at certain moments did not want to go
further than Mozhaisk. The occupiers of General Junot made holes in the
fence of the Luzhetsky Monastery and installed up to 200 cannons. When
retreating from the city on October 10, they set fire to the Nativity
Cathedral, its entire interior burned out.
During his retreat
from Moscow, Napoleon did not enter Mozhaisk. On October 16, he stopped
near the city to find out how the evacuation of the wounded was going
and the distribution of rations to them. The Emperor ordered the wounded
remaining in Mozhaisk to be seated not only in light carts and
carriages, but also on the roofs of wagons, on forage carts, on the
backs of carts and on the fronts, on boxes and sawhorses. The city
almost did not exist. The captain from the headquarters of the Italian
Guard, E. Labom, saw the destroyed Mozhaisk, striking him with the
contrast of the black smoking ruins and the whiteness of the recently
built and miraculously preserved bell tower, on which the clock
continued to chime.
A terrible picture appeared in mid-October
before the doctor De la Flise in Mozhaisk: in a field adjacent to the
city gardens, there rose a pyramid of naked corpses (up to 800 bodies)
collected by order of the city commandant for burning “There were
Russians and French.” The memories of the surviving soldiers of the
Great Army create a tragic image of the destroyed, burned Mozhaisk,
which became a disastrous city for the retreating troops of Napoleon.
The enemy was driven out. To prevent epidemics, the Mozhai leader
mobilized the population to clean up the corpses. At the beginning of
January 1813, he reported: “... Seventeen thousand nine hundred and
sixteen corpses were buried and burned, eight thousand two hundred and
thirty-three carrions were buried...”.
In 1812, the Polish composer K.K. Kurpinski wrote a composition for
orchestra entitled “The Battle of Mozhaisk.”
The War of 1812
caused great damage to the unfinished cathedral. The French burned the
iconostases, and the bells fell and were damaged in the fire. However,
the icon of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk and rich utensils hidden in the
basements survived. By 1814, the bell tower was completed, and a
striking clock was installed at the top. In 1829, the Church of the
Savior Not Made by Hands was built in the rotunda.
On February
21, 1818, Alexander I visited the city. The last time Mozhaisk was
visited by a Russian ruler was only 150 years ago, it was Alexei
Mikhailovich in 1654. As Mozhaisk Archpriest Georgy writes, “... the
city here was blessed by the arrival of His Imperial Majesty the
All-August Sovereign in the afternoon at 1 o’clock...”. After dinner,
the emperor visited Trinity Church, and then “deigned to march” on foot
from his apartment to the chapel near the recently completed St.
Nicholas Cathedral.
In the 1830s, a chapel was built near the
Trinity Cathedral in memory of the slain soldiers of Borodino (in the
1910s it will be demolished, and in its place in 1912 a new one will
appear, which will stand until the 1960s).
In 1830, the Old St.
Nicholas Church fell into disrepair and required major repairs. The
church became so dilapidated that services ceased on August 27.
Approvals for its renovation lasted a total of 14 years. While this
administrative red tape continued, the temple was destroyed,
In
1844, the 14th-century temple became so dilapidated that when work
began, on June 3 at midnight the cathedral collapsed - one of the most
ancient stone buildings in Mozhaisk was lost. In 1846-1852, a new
cathedral in honor of Peter and Paul was built in its place, repeating
the features of the old one and incorporating part of the foundation.
Around this time, the building of the parish school appeared, which was
located to the right of the cathedral, between the Peter and Paul Church
and the bridge (destroyed in 1942).
In 1848, a prison was built
in the city center, the building of which at various times housed
government offices, a police department with a prison and a zemstvo
government.
In 1849, the refectory of the Trinity Cathedral was
rebuilt.
In the 1820s, in the village of Marfin-Brod, Prince
Gagarin built a weaving and spinning factory, which worked on local raw
materials, using the labor of serfs. From 1850 to 1898, the factory
belonged not only to different owners, but also changed the profile of
its products. In 1918, the factory was nationalized and the equipment
was dismantled. The basis of the plant was private handicraft workshops
for the production of veterinary instruments. In 1928, private workshops
were united into an artel. In 1931, the artel moved to the empty
premises of the former factory in the village of Marfin-Brod and
received the name “Plant named after the 14th anniversary of the October
Revolution.” About 30 types of instruments were produced. In pre-war
1940, the plant produced about 100 items. Along with the production of
veterinary instruments, the plant began to develop medical instruments
of the simplest design for surgery, gynecology, and dentistry. In
February 1941, Gavriil Andreevich Andreev was sent to Mozhaisk to
restore the plant. The work of the plant during the Great Patriotic War
was subordinated to the needs of the front; along with the production of
medical instruments, the production of ammunition was organized. The
number of workers increased to 900 in the 1850s. In 1947, the plant was
renamed the Mozhaisk Medical Instrument Plant. Mozhaisk MIZ presents up
to 500 types of medical instruments.
In the 1850s, the Mozhaisk
district leader of the nobility was Nikolai Pavlovich Shipov, and at the
end of the second half of the 19th century, this position was held by
Vladimir Karlovich Von Meck.
On Schubert's 1860 map you can see
the structure of the city.
In 1862-1873, the five-domed church of
the Trinity Cathedral was rebuilt (it became wider than before).
In 1870, the Aleksandrovskaya Railway passed through the city,
undermining the former importance of the old Smolensk Highway. To supply
the railway, a grandiose water supply system is being built from the
Moscow River to the station through Trubochka, 3-4 km long. In Mozhaisk,
the number of industries and industries is immediately reduced. The
Mozhaika River continues to become shallower, as the river bed itself is
cut off from the vast swamps south of the city.
During the
Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the Black Sea coast was guarded by the
Mozhaisk 141st Infantry Regiment.
In 1885, the bell tower of the
Trinity Cathedral was rebuilt.
According to N.I. Vlasyev, in
1893, “rafts” stopped sailing along the Mozhaika River, even during high
water.
In 1897, Alexander Alexandrovich Petrov was elected
Mozhaisk city mayor.
In 1898, the Mozhaisk meat processing plant
was founded on the basis of a private French agricultural slaughterhouse
(closed in 2013).
In 1905-1907, a series of peasant unrest
occurred.
In 1908, the newspaper “Russkoye Slovo” published an
article about the Luzhetsky Monastery - “Today the 500th anniversary of
the existence of the Luzhetsky Monastery, located two miles from the
city, was solemnly celebrated. By 9 o'clock in the morning a religious
procession with a crowd of thousands of worshipers arrived from
Mozhaisk. At the monastery church, the religious procession was greeted
by Metropolitan Vladimir, Bishop Vasily of Mozhaisk and Trifon of
Dmitrov. During the solemn liturgy, the Moscow governor V.F.
Dzhunkovsky, the Mozhaisk leader of the nobility Varzhenevsky and many
Muscovites were present in the church. At the end of the liturgy, a
religious procession took place around the temple. Bread and leaflets
with a historical description of St. were distributed to the people.
monastery."
In 1911, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky visited
the city and its surroundings, taking photographs of the Novo-Nikolsky
Cathedral, Luzhetsky Monastery and Borodino. Color photographs of Sergei
Mikhailovich are included in the collection of landmarks of the Russian
Empire.
In 1912, in honor of the centenary of the Battle of
Borodino, a chapel was erected at the base of the Kremlin hill
(completed by 1913). The city also received additional funds, which were
used to build a telephone exchange, water supply and a power plant.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the chairman of the Mozhaisk
district zemstvo government, the leader of the Mozhaisk district
nobility was Varzhenevsky, Alexey Konstantinovich.
Between the
two revolutions of 1905-1907 and 1917, there were no sharp changes in
the economic life of the city. Only two large industrial enterprises
operated near the city - the Buvier and Gustel silk-spinning factory
(now the old part of the MIZ plant) in the village of Marfin Brod and
the Talankina brick factory at the Mozhaisk station (later the Pyotr
Voikov brick factory). In the pre-war and war years of the First World
War, the first organizations of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties -
the Cadets and the Socialist Revolutionaries - appeared in the city.
After the victory of the February Revolution, dual power was
established in the country. The power of the provisional government was
exercised by the Commissioner of Public Security, a member of the Cadet
Party I. Pavlov. The power of the working people was represented by the
Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, in which Bolshevik influence
predominated.
After receiving the first news in Mozhaisk about
the overthrow of the provisional government in Petrograd and the
transfer of power into the hands of the Bolsheviks, an emergency meeting
of the Bolshevik faction of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers'
Deputies elected a body of revolutionary power - a revolutionary
committee of five people.
On January 21, 1918, a district
congress of workers, soldiers and peasants' deputies was created in
Mozhaisk. At the congress, a resolution was adopted to dissolve the
zemstvo and concentrate all power in the hands of the council. At the
congress, an executive committee of 15 people was elected. R. S. Tsarsky
became the representative of the executive committee, and A. A. Karavaev
became the secretary. From that time on, complete and undivided Soviet
power was established in the city and district. This three-story stone
building, which housed the Council of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants'
Deputies in 1918, was built in the city center in 1834 and is still
standing.
In 1919, after the unification of single artisans from
the village of Kolychevo, an industrial artel named after May 1 was
formed, numbering 382 people. In the early 1930s, the factory mastered
the production of an assortment that was difficult to sew - men's suits,
which are now the main product produced at ZAO Frant (located 3 km from
the city, in the village of Kolychevo). In 1939, the artel was
transformed into a state enterprise - the May 1st Factory. In 1965, the
factory named after May 1 initiated the merger of several small
factories in Mozhaisk, Ruza, Yudino, as a result of which the Mozhaisk
Sewing Production Association arose. In 1990, the company developed and
registered a new trademark and approved the new name “Frant”.
On
December 15, 1920, V.I. Lenin visited the Mozhaisk village of Modenovo
(at that time it belonged to the Bogorodskaya volost of the now
abolished Vereisky district).
In 1922, the Luzhetsky Monastery
was closed, the main cathedral continued to work as a parish cathedral.
On the territory of the monastery there was a furniture factory, a
workshop for a medical equipment plant, and in the cell building,
soldiers of the guard company were located in the cell building since
1918. In the same year, jewelry was confiscated from St. Nicholas
Cathedral, including the chasuble and miter from the icon of St.
Nicholas of Mozhaisk.
On December 6, 1924, the Moscow Railway
Administration organized a city meteorological station.
In 1926,
the Mozhaisk Museum of the local region opened. In the same year, the
library, archive and sacristy of the Luzhetsky Monastery were
transferred to the new museum.
In 1928, the Trinity Church
closed, the Moscow Provincial Executive Committee transferred the
premises to the Oktyabr cinema. On the upper tier of the bell tower, the
tent was dismantled and a water tank was placed. A food stall was set up
in the chapel nearby. In the same year, the Church of St. Ferapont in
the Luzhetsky Monastery was dismantled.
In 1929, Mozhaisky
district was abolished, and Mozhaisky and other districts were formed on
its territory.
On November 11, 1929, the church in the former
Luzhetsky Monastery was closed.
In 1930, the artel named after
Molotov began its history, later renamed JSC Mozhaisk Reinforcement
Plant. In 1931, a regional agricultural technical school, a tuberculosis
clinic, a regional radio station were opened, and a telephone network
was installed.
In 1933, the city lost its main shrine. The image
of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk was taken by N.N. Pomerantsev to the Central
State Museum of Art, the restoration workshop of Igor Grabar, from where
in 1934 the sculpture entered the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery.
In the same year, the Novo-Nikolsky Cathedral was closed. During these
same years, the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Kremlin was also closed.
A little earlier, the Ascension Church was also closed. Thus, only the
Elijah Church and the Church of Joachim and Anna remained active
churches in the city (they were never closed).
In the summer of 1941, by decision of the State Defense Committee,
construction of the Mozhaisk defense line began. In October 1941,
formations of the Center group. directed their main efforts to withdraw
their troops to the Minsk highway, along which it was planned to break
through to Moscow. Particularly heavy fighting took place in the area of
Yelnya and the village of Artyomka. From October 13 to October 18,
German troops continuously launched unsuccessful assaults on the
positions of the Mozhaisk defense line. Soviet units delayed the advance
of German troops in the Mozhaisk direction for five days, thanks to the
defensive operation of the Western Front.
But on October 18,
having broken through the Soviet defenses, German troops burst into the
streets of Mozhaisk. During the German occupation in 1941, a camp for
prisoners of war was organized on the territory of the Kremlin, shopping
arcades and vegetable storage at the station. At the same time, during
the fighting in the fall of 1941, the rotunda of St. Nicholas Cathedral
above the central part was destroyed by an aerial bomb.
In 1941,
on the anniversary of the October Revolution, the Moscow Circus sent a
large group of artists to the front in the areas of Mozhaisk and
Volokolamsk.
During the occupation, four partisan detachments
operated in the Mozhaisk region. In Mozhaisk there is a street named
after them - Red Partisans Street. On November 30, partisan Tolya Shumov
was captured by the Nazis in Ostashev. After interrogation, which was
accompanied by torture and lasted several hours, Anatoly Shumov was tied
to a sleigh and, guarded by six machine gunners, sent to Mozhaisk. In
the forest near Mozhaisk, Tolya was shot. The exact place of his death
is not known.
On January 17, 1942, troops of the 5th Army of
General L.A. Govorov, who took command after D.D. Lelyushenko was
wounded, approached Mozhaisk. The main battles took place in the area of
the Ilyinsky Bridge (north), Chertanovo and the railway station (south).
On the morning of January 20, the city was finally taken by storm from
three sides. At 8:30 a.m., a red flag was raised on the city council
building. In honor of the liberation of the city from the invaders, the
street of January 20th received its name. During the retreat, the
Germans blew up the Trinity Cathedral, the Ascension Church, and a
number of other buildings. Many stone buildings in the city center were
burned to the roof.
On February 18, 1942, near the village of
Semenovskoye, in an area that is now called the Valley of Glory, Colonel
Viktor Ivanovich Polosukhin died. By the decision of the 8th session of
the City Council of People's Deputies of the city of Mozhaisk of the
17th convocation on October 20, 1981, Comrade Viktor Ivanovich
Polosukhin (posthumously) was awarded the title of honorary citizen of
the city of Mozhaisk. One of the city streets is named after him.
In the post-war years, industry began to be restored in the city.
The history of the KZHI 198 enterprise begins in 1949, when a
construction site for the processing of slag waste into blocks was
created at the Mozhaisk station of the Moscow Military District. And on
its basis, already in 1952, a reinforced concrete plant was formed by a
Directive of the General Staff. In 1955, the Mozhaisk PATP began.
In 1961, production began at the Mozhaisk bakery.
In the
1960s, restoration of St. Nicholas Cathedral was carried out. The
rotunda was not restored, and the damaged clock was not restored either
- its mechanism is stored in the storerooms of the Borodino Museum.
After restoration, a knitting factory was opened inside the cathedral. A
Park of Culture and Recreation was opened on the territory of the
Kremlin. At the same time, during the leveling of Moskovskaya Street,
the oldest stone civil building, the Salt Barn, was lost. In addition to
it, the chapel of 1912 was demolished.
In 1963, the Mozhaisk
Dairy Plant was opened, producing the Mozhaisk Milk brand, which was
later renamed the Mozhaisk Sterilized Milk Plant CJSC.
In the
same year, CJSC MEMP (Mozhaisk Experimental Mechanical Enterprise) was
formed as an experimental base of the Gidrospetsstroy trust of the USSR
Ministry of Energy to provide the country's energy construction projects
with special construction equipment, tooling and tools. In 1965, on
October 1, school No. 2 was opened.
In 1972, the city House of
Culture “Yubileiny” was opened, later renamed the “Mozhaisk Regional
Cultural Center”.
In the 1970s, at the Leipzig Fair, a set of 24
instruments for ocular microsurgery, manufactured at the Medical
Instrument Factory (MIZ), was awarded a Grand Gold Medal.
In
1974, on September 30, the Mozhaisk Printing Plant was opened, which at
first specialized in printing literature, primarily political, as well
as in foreign languages. In 1997-1998, on the basis of the production
facilities of the state enterprise, the open joint-stock company OJSC
Mozhaisk Printing Plant was formed, which fully preserved the positive
experience and glorious traditions of its predecessor. The production
capacity of the plant allows us to produce a variety of printed
products, including: books with a binding cover, books with covers,
magazines, and advertising products.
In 1979, a decision was made
to create a memorial complex in the center of Mozhaisk in memory of the
fallen heroes of the Great Patriotic War.
In 1980-1990, a new
district “Cheryomushki” was built in the city with a new school, five-
and nine-story buildings, kindergartens and shops.
In January
1987, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Nikolai Ryzhkov
signed a decree on the creation of a book depository of the State Press
Archive of the USSR in Mozhaisk. In less than two years, two book
depositories were built and put into operation. From 1989 to 1996,
archives from Moscow were transported to book depositories. The Central
State Archives of the Moscow Region (TSGAMO) has been located in the
adjacent building since 1990.
In the city center on Komsomolskaya Square in 1993, the
Spaso-Borodinskie Waters Plant was opened. The first enterprise of the
Borodino Group of Companies was founded on the basis of a small regional
beverage bottling enterprise.
Since 1993, Mozhaisk has hosted the
annual “Makarievsky Readings” - scientific research readings in memory
of Metropolitan Makariy of Moscow and All Rus'. Materials from the
readings are published annually in collections called “Makarievsky
Readings”. One of the initiators of the Readings was Gennady Mokeev.
In 1998, a chapel with a two-meter sculpture of St. Nicholas the
Wonderworker was installed on Komsomolskaya Square of the city.
In 1999, Mozhaisky LDK LLC, a sawmill and wood processing plant, was
launched.
On September 12, 2001, in the city of Bari (Italy), on
the territory of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the first
stone of which was laid on May 9 (22), 1913, a monument to St. Nicholas
was solemnly opened. The monument, authored by the Russian sculptor
Vyacheslav Klykov, is based on the image of St. Nicholas, known from a
14th-century wooden sculpture (Nikola Mozhaisky), kept in the State
Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The monument is a gift to the city of Bari
and its Orthodox community from the International Foundation for Slavic
Literature and Culture.
On December 11, 2001, construction of the
Bagration Sports Palace began. Opening on June 23, 2004, the Palace
became the center of the city's sports and cultural life.
In
Mozhaisk, on May 11, 2005, the first monument to signalmen soldiers in
Russia was unveiled.
The Ksella-Aeroblock-Center Mozhaisk plant
was launched in 2007. It is a subsidiary of Xella Baustoffe GmbH.
In 2008, the city celebrated its 777th anniversary.
On July
10, 2011, in the park near the printing dormitory, a city fountain was
opened.
On January 20, 2012, in honor of the 70th anniversary of
the liberation of Mozhaisk from the Nazi invaders, a monument was
unveiled. In the center of the city there is a memorial complex where an
eternal flame burns.
On May 7, 2012, by decree of President V.V.
Putin, the city of Mozhaisk was awarded the honorary title “City of
Military Glory.”
On July 2, 2012, a commemorative coin with the
image of the Luzhetsky Monastery was issued.
On May 27, 2013,
Mozhaisk Meat Processing Plant CJSC was declared insolvent (bankrupt).
On September 24, 2013, Mozhaisk was included in the list of
“Historical settlements of regional significance in the Moscow region.”
A new list of historical settlements has been adopted to preserve
landmarks created in past centuries and representing archaeological,
historical, architectural, urban planning, aesthetic, scientific and
socio-cultural value.
On February 23, 2014, the Mozhaisk regional
swimming center was opened in the city.
On October 20, 2014, the
construction of the “City of Military Glory” stele began near the
Bagration sports complex. The grand opening took place on January 20,
2015, on the day of the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of Mozhaisk
from the Nazi invaders.
On February 24, 2015, a postage stamp was
issued from the “Cities of Military Glory” series, dedicated to the
city. The 20-ruble stamp depicts a U-2VS aircraft, a 12-pounder gun and
anti-tank hedgehogs.
On March 16, 2018, the city of district
subordination was transformed into a city of regional subordination,
becoming, together with the administrative territory, an
administrative-territorial unit instead of the Mozhaisky district, which
was abolished on the same day.
Mozhaisk is located in the west of the Moscow region, in the Gzhatsk
depression of the Moscow Upland, 4 km southeast of the Mozhaisk
reservoir, 110 km west of Moscow. Covers an area of 17.8 km². The
coordinates of the center are 55°30′00″ N. w. 36°02′00″ E. d. The Moscow
River flows along the northern border of the city. The city stretches
from west to east for 6 km, and from north to south for 5 km. The height
above sea level is 227 m. It is the largest settlement included in the
urban settlement of Mozhaisk.
Borders:
in the north - with the
rural settlement of Klementyevskoye,
in the north-west - the rural
settlement of Goretovskoye,
in the east - with the rural settlement
of Sputnik,
in the south - with the rural settlement of Borisovskoye,
in the west - with the rural settlement of Borodinskoye.
According to the climatic zoning of Russia, Mozhaisk is located in
the Atlantic-continental European (forest) region of the temperate
climate zone. Winters are moderately cold, summers are warm and humid.
The coldest month of the year is January (average temperature −6.8 °C),
the warmest is July (18.7 °C). On June 23-24, 2021, the temperature for
the first time in June during the measurement base increased to
+33.7°-+33.8° C.
The World Meteorological Organization decided on
the need to calculate two climate norms: the climatological standard and
the reference. The first is updated every ten years, the second covers
the period from 1961 to 1990.
Due to the fact that there are a large number of trees in the district and in the city, as well as a small number of operating factories, the city has a very good environmental situation. Mozhaisk district is one of the most environmentally friendly areas of the Moscow region.
Mozhaisk is located in the time zone designated by international standard as the Moscow Time Zone. The offset from UTC is +3:00.