Solotcha is an urban microdistrict within the Soviet district of the city of Ryazan. Former village (known since 1390) and former urban-type settlement (in 1958 - 2004). Population (2013) - 2544 people.
There are a lot of old wooden houses with carved porches and
stained glass windows in Solotcha. On one of the streets stands a
house that at the end of the 19th century belonged to the famous
artist-engraver, academician I. P. Pozhalostin. V.Veresaev, K.G.
Paustovsky, A.P. Gaidar, A.A. Fadeev, K.M. Simonov, V.S. Grossman,
F. I Panfyorov, A.I. Solzhenitsyn, V.T. Shalamov and others.
An outstanding architectural monument in the district is the Church
of St. John the Baptist over the Holy Gates of the Solotchinsky
Nativity of the Mother of God monastery, built in 1696-1698 by the
supposedly famous Russian architect Ya. G. Bukhvostov.
The
Ryazan-Vladimir narrow-gauge railway, sung by KG Paustovsky, passed
through the district. Here was the station Solodcha, retaining its
ancient spelling through the "d".
On the territory of the
district there is a specially protected natural area - a natural
monument of regional significance "Solotchinskaya Staritsa".
It is located 11.5 kilometers from the left-bank part of
Ryazan at the entrance to Meshchera on the banks of the Oka River. Near
the territory of the district, the Solotcha River of the same name flows
into the oxbow. The area is surrounded on all sides by the Meshchersky
National Park; the forests located on the territory of the district are
reserved - multi-storey buildings are prohibited here.
Origin of
name
Apparently, the toponym comes from the old Russian word (solot -
swampy, swampy).
The village of Solotcha grew up
around the male Solotchinsky Nativity of the Mother of God monastery,
founded in 1390 by the Ryazan Grand Duke Oleg Ivanovich - according to
legend, at the meeting place of the prince and his wife with two
hermits, Vasily and Evfimiya. The conversation with the hermits sunk
deep into the soul of the prince; having founded the monastery, he took
tonsure and ruled for the last 12 years, being a prince-monk. At the
same time, he lived for a long time in the monastery, on the territory
of which he was buried in 1402. In addition, from the 14th century to
1682, the female Zachatievsky (Zachateisky) monastery operated in
Solotch, on the site of which the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother
of God is now located. It was founded by the wife of Grand Duke Oleg
Ivanovich Efrosinya. Princess Sofya Dmitrievna, the wife of the
successor of Prince Oleg Fyodor Olgovich, transferred land to the
monastery. So did the sister of Ivan III Anna, the widow of Vasily's
brother Fyodor Olgovich. In 1629, 6 nuns lived in the monastery. Due to
the annual floods, from which the monastery, located on the sloping bank
of the river, constantly suffered, and in 1682 it was decided to abolish
it, and transfer the nuns to the Agrafenin desert. At the end of the
19th century, the bell from the abolished monastery was still used on
the bell tower of the Kazan Church.
After 1917 the monastery was
also closed; later, a colony for juvenile delinquents was located on its
territory (in 1993, the Solotchinsky Monastery was revived - but already
as a female one). In 1937, the local priest Fyodor Yakovlevich Orlin,
who held services despite the prohibitions of the authorities, was also
repressed.
In 1939-1959, the village was the administrative
center of the Solotchinsk district of the Ryazan region.
In 1954,
by decision of the Ryazan Regional Executive Committee, the village of
Solotcha was categorized as a dacha settlement. In 1958, the holiday
village of Solotcha was transformed into a resort village[6]; Thus, from
a rural-type settlement, it moved into the category of urban-type
settlements.
By the Decree of the Head of the Administration of
the Ryazan Region No. 128 dated March 3, 1994 “On Approving the
Administrative Borders of the City of Ryazan and the Solotchinskiy
District”, the Solotchinskiy resort village was included in the
administrative boundaries of the city of Ryazan. By Decree of the
Governor of the Ryazan Region No. 799-III dated September 22, 2004, the
resort village of Solotcha was excluded from the registration data of
the administrative-territorial structure of the Ryazan Region and
transformed into an urban microdistrict of Ryazan.