Zaraysk, Russia

Zaraysk is located in the southeast of the Moscow region. A historical ancient Russian city on the Sturgeon River in the far Moscow region with a perfectly preserved 16th-century Kremlin.

Zaraysk is one of the ancient cities of the Moscow region, located 160 kilometers from Moscow on the border with the Ryazan region. Zaraysk is known primarily for its Kremlin - the smallest military Kremlin in Russia and the only one completely preserved in the Moscow region. At one time, Zaraysk belonged to the Ryazan province and was a large trading city, thanks to its economically advantageous position at the crossroads of the main trade routes. Now the city is located far from major highways and almost all city guests note the unique atmosphere of unhurried provincial life and preserved antiquity.

 

Orientation

Tourist Information Center (TIC “Sunduk”), pl. Revolutions, no. 1, p. 5. ☎ 8-499-347-20-97. Mon-Fri: 09:00-18:00 Sat-Sun: 10:00-15:00

 

Sights

Zaraysk Kremlin
The Zaraisky Kremlin, the only completely preserved Kremlin in the Moscow region, was built by order of Vasily III in 1528-1531. It was built to repel Tatar raids at the confluence of the Monastyrka River and the Osetra. The Kremlin is made of brick and white stone in the form of a regular rectangular fortress with seven towers and three passage gates. The tallest tower, Karaulnaya, is located on the most vulnerable northwestern side. The northeastern Treasury (Green) Tower also received its name from its purpose: the sovereign’s “Green Treasury” - weapons and gunpowder - was stored in its basements. The southeastern tower was called “Nugolnaya, near the tavern” after the drinking establishment that stood opposite, and the name of the southwestern tower, “Nugolnaya, near the hiding place,” preserved the memory of a secret passage discovered during the restoration in 1958. The passage towers - Yegoryevskaya (Epiphany), Spasskaya and Nikolskaya - were named after the churches standing nearby.

There are several buildings on the territory of the Kremlin:

1  St. Nicholas Cathedral, st. Museum, inside the Kremlin. St. Nicholas Cathedral, built at the end of the 17th century, is the oldest church building on the Zaraisk land. The first St. Nicholas Church was built of wood by order of Vasily III for the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, brought in 1225 from Korsun (Chersonese). According to one of the stories about St. Nicholas of Zaraz, in 1225, in the southern city of Korsun, now Chersonesus, the priest Eustathius, who served under the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, had a vision. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker asked Eustathius to take his miraculous image and, together with his wife Theodosia and son Eustathius, go to the Ryazan land. “I want to stay there, and perform miracles, and glorify that place.” But the priest did not want to leave Korsun and he began to delay his departure. Immediately an illness attacked him, his eyes became covered with scabs, and he lost his sight. In grief and despair, Eustathius understands that he was so punished for not fulfilling Nikola’s instructions, repenting, he fell before the miraculous image and promised that he would fulfill Nikola’s will. He was immediately healed and began to prepare for the long journey. At this time, the wonderworker Nikola appeared to Prince Fyodor Yuryevich Ryazansky and announced to him the arrival of the miraculous image of Korsunsky and said: “Prince, go meet my miraculous image of Korsunsky. Because I want to stay here and work miracles.” The meeting of Efstafiya and Prince Fyodor took place on the site of the current White Well. The sacredness of this place is associated precisely with this icon, because at the moment of its transmission, a source began to flow, which henceforth began to be considered holy. Icon of the 13th century. Unfortunately, it has not survived to this day, but the list is from the 16th century. is now in the Cathedral of John the Baptist.
2  St. John the Baptist Cathedral, st. Museum, inside the Kremlin. The Cathedral of John the Baptist was built in 1904. financed by the merchant Bakhrushin and donations from local parishioners. The monumental building of the Cathedral of John the Baptist occupies a leading position in the cathedral complex and in the Kremlin ensemble as a whole. Placed in the middle part of the fortress, it serves as its compositional center. The high dome of the cathedral, together with the five-domed dome of the neighboring temple and the hipped towers of the citadel, form a picturesque silhouette of the Zaraisk Kremlin. In the altar of the cathedral there was a monument erected in 1665 by the steward Nikita Grigorievich Gagarin, who had an estate not far from Zaraysk; when the cathedral was rebuilt in 1904, the monument was outside, and a canopy was erected over it. In 1992, the temple was handed over to believers. In 1997, an accurate copy of the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas of Zaraz was made.
3  3  The building of the former Zaraisky Theological School (today it houses the Zaraisky Kremlin Museum), st. Museum, inside the Kremlin. The State Museum-Reserve "Zaraisky Kremlin" is one of the largest museums in the south-east of the Moscow region. The museum's samples include collections of painting, sculpture, graphics, applied and decorative art from Russia, Western Europe, Japan and China. Samples from the collection of Russian paintings from the 18th century - early. XX centuries represented by the works of I. Repin, L. Bakst. And the main historical and unique monument of Zaraysk is the Kremlin: it is the smallest Kremlin preserved in Russia (its area is 2.3 hectares) and the only one completely preserved in the Moscow region. The museum displays a huge number of finds from the archaeological site of federal significance “Zaraisk Upper Paleolithic site”. Among the most interesting finds were a necklace made of arctic fox teeth, a hoe made of mammoth tusk and large bones with a cruciform pattern applied to them. The first significant discovery, which placed the Zaraisk site on a par with the most famous Paleolithic monuments in Europe, was made in September 2001, when a bison figurine made from mammoth ivory, outstanding in its naturalism, was discovered. In 2005, two female figurines made from mammoth ivory were discovered. In 2007, the transfer of the collection from the Zaraisk site to the Zaraisk Museum began. Currently, the collection includes more than 180 thousand items. The Zaraisk site is an archaeological monument of world significance, widely known not only in our country, but also abroad. The site is often visited by major domestic and foreign researchers. Russian and foreign students come to Zaraysk for internships.

 

Around town

4  Trading rows. Gostiny Dvor is a center of trade transactions with warehouses and utility rooms for merchants (“guests”), built of brick at the end of the 18th century. in restrained forms of classicism. There were about 135 shops in the Trade Rows, where they sold fabrics, leather, shoes, and agricultural products. The Trade Rows served as the center of all mass trade, especially on market days (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) and fair days.
5  Trinity Church (next to Gostiny Dvor). Trinity Church was built in 1776 from brick and was built in several stages. This church was the most democratic compared to other churches in the city. Trinity Church is an architectural monument of the 18th-19th centuries. From the 1930s to 2012 At that time, the Zaraisk Historical and Art Museum was located in the building of the Trinity Church.
6  Monument to the Zarayans soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War, pl. Revolutions.
7  Monument to D.M. Pozharsky, pl. Revolutions. In memory of the events of the Time of Troubles, a bas-relief depicting Pozharsky was installed on the wall of the Zaraisky Kremlin. And in 2004, a monument to governor D.M. was erected not far from the Kremlin. Pozharsky (author - sculptor Ivanov Yu.F.).
8  Ilyinskaya Church. In 1612, the Archbishop of Ryazan built the wooden St. Elias Church in Zaraysk. In 1740 it was replaced by a brick building, but it was quickly dismantled, and in 1818 construction began on a new brick church. There is a legend that the construction of the Elias Church was undertaken in honor of the Victory of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812. The church was considered aristocratic and was richly decorated inside.
9  House I.I. Shcherbakova.
10  House N.I. Yartseva.
11  Water tower, Crossing st. Krasnoarmeyskaya and st. Gulyaeva. Construction of the water tower began in Zaraysk in 1914. The tower was finally built in 1916. A good location was chosen for construction; it is located at the highest point of the city (about 200 meters above sea level) and has a height of 29 m. An overview of the tower allows consider objects located at a distance of 30-40 km. The water tower was built of brick and has 8 sides, consists of 4 tiers and is an example of Romanesque architecture of the early 20th century. The water tower was created for industrial purposes, to improve the city's water supply, but a successful first-class project made it one of the city's landmarks. Now it no longer fulfills its original function, but plays a significant role in the panorama of the city and has exceptional urban planning significance. In May 2016, thanks to the patronage of local entrepreneurs and the help of local residents, a project for repair and restoration work and illumination of the tower was developed, and on the day of the celebration of the 870th anniversary of the city of Zaraysk, visitors were able to go up to the observation deck for the first time. And at the moment the water tower is one of the main attractions of Zaraysk.
12  Monument to the soldiers of the 140th Zaraisk Infantry Regiment.
13  Source “White Well”, Zaraysk, descent to the river from the square. Uritsky according to the pointers to the source. “White Well” is a holy spring on the right bank of the Sturgeon River. In 1225, the transfer of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (Nicholas of Zarazsky) to the appanage prince Fyodor Yuryevich took place here, and at the time of the transfer of the icon, a spring began to flow, which began to be considered holy. The image was brought by the priest Eustathius, who served under this icon, from Korsun (Chersonese). The miraculous icon of St. Nicholas of Zarazsky is to this day the most famous Zaraisk shrine. In 1996, it was taken for restoration to Moscow to the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after. Andrei Rublev and in 2012 the icon was returned to its homeland, to Zaraysk, where it is now located in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. People from all over Russia, absolutely all classes - from peasants and artisans, to the great Moscow princes, such as Ivan III, Vasily III, and Ivan IV the Terrible, Alexander II - came and came to venerate the Miraculous Icon and venerate the image of Nicholas of Zaraisky. In 1990, the holy spring was restored - a chapel over the well was installed, which was subsequently consecrated by the Ryazan Archimandrite Avelius. In 2002, the “White Well” became again accessible to visitors after improvements (a bathhouse was erected, a protected area was landscaped) and consecrated by Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomna.
14  Zaraisk station. A dead-end Russian Railways station, there has been no passenger traffic since the 1960s, but the line remains with Russian Railways. There is a brick and wood water tower, not disfigured by corporate paint.
15  House of the Loktev merchants.
16  House-Museum of A.S. Golubkina, st. Dzerzhinsky, 38.
17  Monument to V.I. Lenin, st. Soviet.
18  Monument to Marshal K. A. Meretskov, st. Oktyabrskaya.
19  Church of the Annunciation with a bell tower. The church dates back to 1777. Completely restored.
20  Mass grave of soldiers of the Moscow-Arzamas militia who died during the defense of the city in 1608, corner of Dzerzhinsky and Komsomolskaya streets.
21  Stela to the poet A. I. Polezhaev.
22  Stele to D. Blagoev.

 

Things to do

State Museum-Reserve "Zaraisky Kremlin" (Zaraisky Kremlin Museum), st. Museum, Kremlin. ☎ (496-66) 730-72. from 10 to 18. Acquaintance with the museum begins with the archaeological collection, which presents, for example, a figurine of a bison, carved 20 thousand years ago from a mammoth ivory. The exhibition is equipped with interactive panels and 3D installation. The rest of the exhibition is devoted mainly to objects from the surrounding estates. Excellent Russian porcelain, portraits of the merchant elite of the 19th century. Full-length portrait of Countess Maria Keller by Lev Bakst.
House-Museum of A.S. Golubkina, st. Dzerzhinsky, 38. ☎ (496) 6625615. from 10 to 18. The works of the first Russian woman sculptor, Auguste Rodin’s student Anna Semyonovna Golubkina are presented, and the furnishings of the Golubkins’ house are also restored.
Theater Museum A.A. Bakhrushina, st. Krasnoarmeyskaya, 51. Wednesday-Sunday: from 12:00 to 17:00. For many years this building was a school for working youth, and several years ago it was transferred to the Theater Museum. A.A. Bakhrushin. To representatives of one of the richest and most famous merchant families in Moscow.
Equestrian club "Angel", st. Uritsky, 7. ☎ +8-905-775-75-80 . Daily: 9.00-21.00. The club hosts open days, show jumping competitions, horse riding, and costumed horse shows. The club is located 200 meters from the city, next to the holy spring “White Well”.
Boat station "Elling", st. Right Bank. ☎ 2-45-47 + 2-45-47. Daily: 11:00 - 19:00 (during the warm season). The station is located very close to the Kremlin on the picturesque bank of the Sturgeon River. In the warm season, there is a rental of boats and catamarans, and extreme sports enthusiasts can go wakeboarding or paddle boarding.
“Svyatopol”, Zaraisky district, 400 m behind the village of Potlovo. ☎ +7-916-097-08-58 (Alexandra), +7-916-874-04-10 (Alexey). The activity of this place began with a childhood dream of a horse, which soon came true and became a small gray Oryol trotter named Kefir. Here you can meet the puppy Kvasur, who, despite his size, loves to climb into arms, the Husky dogs, which have unusual names - Blueberry, Irga, Blueberry, Tiramisu and Snowball, the cat Tortinka and the little white goat Smetanka.

 

How to get there

By plane
The nearest airports are in Moscow.

By train
From the Kazansky railway station by train to the Golutvin station. Then take bus number 31 from the Golutvin bus station to the final stop. There are many more flights per day on this wave.

Also, from the Kazansky railway station by train to the Lukhovitsy station. Then take bus No. 24 or No. 31 from Lukhovitsy to the final stop.

The local bus carrier at the bus station reports about the bus + train connection Ozyory - Bogatishchevo - Moscow-Paveletskaya.

By car
From Moscow along the Novoryazanskoe highway, the M5 Ural highway through Bronnitsy, along the Kolomna bypass road, in Lukhovitsy turn to Zaraysk.
From the M6 "Caspian" highway through Kashira or Serebryannye Prudy.
Along the M4 Don highway through Stupino.
From Ryazan along the M5 highway to Lukhovitsy, then turn to Zaraysk.

By bus
From Moscow from the bus station at the Kotelniki metro station by bus route No. 330.

From Ryazan from the bus station by bus number 130.

There is also a bus service with Lukhovitsy, Kolomna, Ozyory, Serebryannye Prudy.

Zaraysk bus station. There is a waiting room and restrooms in a separate building.

 

Transport around the city

There is one city bus route in the city - No. 1 (Bus Station - Elevator), runs once an hour.

 

Eat

There is a bakery in the city.

1  Cafe “Sturgeon”  , Karl Marx str., 8/5. ☎ 8(496)662-53-52
2  Cafe “Zaraiskaya Izba”, Karl Marx St., 47.
3  Temburger, Sovetskaya st., 28.
4  Sushi Set, Sovetskaya St., 21. ☎ 8 (495) 150-55-22.
5  Restaurant-Pub Yaponoff, Leninskaya street, 31. ☎ +7(926)532-24-94. business lunch, kitchen, free wi-fi, karaoke, food delivery, children's room.
6  Restaurant “Zaraisk”  , Sovetskaya str., 43.

 

Hotels

1  Hotel “Zaraisk”, Oktyabrskaya str., 4a. ☎ +7(496)662-72-87.
2 “Inn”, Krasnoarmeyskaya St., 46. ☎ +7(496)662-59-45.

 

Connection

Megafon branded sales and service salon, st. Dimitra Blagoeva, 40, bldg. 2 (Meridian shopping center, 2nd floor). Mon-Fri 09:00-19:00, Sat 09:00-17:00, Sun 09:00-16:00.

 

Geography

The city is located in the center of the European part of Russia, on the northeastern slope of the Central Russian Upland, 145 km from Moscow. The area of the city is 2,046 hectares; the Sturgeon River flows through its territory. The city is also cut through by small tributaries of the Osetra - Monastyrka, Osetrik and Stabenka - flowing in deep ravines.

 

Climate

The city is located in a temperate climate zone, combining both pronounced continental properties and some marine ones. Sea air from the Atlantic comes to Zaraysk mainly in the summer; the influence of arctic air is observed throughout the year. The hottest month is July (average temperature +18.6°C with an average maximum of +23.9°C), and the coldest month is January (average temperature −10.2°C with an average minimum of −13.5°C). The average annual air temperature is +4.7°C. Winds from western and southwestern directions predominate. The average wind speed in winter is 3.7-5.3 m/s, in summer 2.6-3.3 m/s. The average annual precipitation is 562.7 mm, with the greatest amount falling in summer.

 

Vegetation

The natural vegetation of Zaraysk is represented by forests, trees and shrubs on the slopes of ravines and river valleys, dry and floodplain meadows. There are two parks within the city: the city park named after Leonov on Uritsky Square and the park named after Kirov (the former park at the estate of the industrialist August Reders, has existed since the 19th century). The Bespyatovsky Forest forest area, with an area of 46 hectares, adjacent to the city from the southeast, has an important recreational value.

 

City coat of arms

The heraldic description of the coat of arms of Zaraysk, supremely approved on March 29 (April 9), 1779 (re-approved in 1991), reads: “In the first part of the shield, in the golden field, part of the coat of arms of Ryazan: a silver sword and scabbard placed crosswise; above them is a green cap, like the one on the prince in the viceroyal coat of arms. In the second part of the shield, on a blue field, there is an old city tower, illuminated by the rising sun, meaning that this city has been restored again with a new institution.”

 

Name

Historical documents contain over thirty variant names of the city, including Osetra (1146, 1541), Krasny (1225), Zaraisk (1146), Novgorodok-on-Osetra (1377), Zarazesk (XV century), Zaraevsk (1501), Nikola Zarazskaya-on-Osetra (1531), Nikola-on-Osetra (1532), Nikola Zarazsky (1610), Zoraysk (1660), Zarask (1681), Zaraysk ( XVII century), Zarazskaya (first half of the XVIII century). Since the 19th century, the modern name Zaraysk was finally established. There are several versions about the origin of the name:
The name of the city comes from the Old Russian word “zaraz”, meaning “river bank cliff”.
The name “Zaraisk” comes from the word “cassock” (swamp): the city, relative to Ryazan, was located behind the swamps, or “beyond the duckweeds”.
The name comes from the place in the city where, during epidemics of cholera and plague, the dead were buried.
According to historian M.N. Tikhomirov, the name of the city comes from the word “infection” (impenetrable, reserved forest).
The name of the city comes from the word “infect” in its Old Russian meaning “to kill, strike to death.” According to legend, in 1237, Eupraxia, the wife of Prince Fyodor Yuryevich, in order to avoid Tatar captivity, threw herself from her tower and thus killed herself, that is, she became “infected.”

 

History

Foundation of the city

Zaraysk was first mentioned in the Nikon (as the city of Osetra) and Ipatiev (under the name Osetra) chronicles in 1146. The location of this Sturgeon mentioned in the chronicle was confirmed by archaeological excavations carried out in the 1980s under the leadership of B. A. Rybakov. Subsequently, the town, apparently, was burned by nomads.

The next mention of the newly rebuilt city dates back to 1225 in “The Tale of the Bringing of the Icon of St. Nicholas of Zarazsky from Korsun,” where the future Zaraisk is called Red. This year, the miraculous image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (Korsunsky) was transferred from Korsun (Chersonese) to Krasny. Soon a wooden temple was built in honor of this saint. Later, in this temple, the cycle “Tales of Nikola Zarazsky” was created, which includes, in particular, the Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu. The first known appanage prince of the city was Fedor Yuryevich, the son of the Ryazan prince Yuri Ingvarevich. Under him, a wooden fort was erected in the city, surrounded by ramparts and ditches with water.

In 1237, Krasny was burned by Batu, who was advancing on Rus'. According to the cycle of “Tales of Nikola Zarazsky,” Prince Fyodor Yuryevich was killed by Batu on the Voronezh River, and the prince’s wife, Princess Eupraxia, not wanting to be in Tatar captivity, together with her young son Ivan, jumped out of her mansion and “got infected” (hit) to of death. After this, the icon of Nikola Korsunsky began to be called the icon of Nikola Zarazsky. During this period, Zaraysk was called the city of St. Nicholas of Korsun and Zarazsk.

Then, until the 14th century, Zaraysk was not mentioned in historical sources. The city that re-emerged in the 14th century began to bear the name Novgorodok-on-Osetra.

 

16th century

In 1521, together with the Ryazan principality, the city became part of the unified Russian state. Zaraysk became an outpost near its southern borders, which were subject to raids by the Crimean Tatars throughout the 16th century. In 1528-1531, by order of Grand Duke Vasily Ioanovich, a stone Kremlin with seven towers was built inside Ostrog; The thickness of the walls of the new fortress reached three meters, the height - nine. The fortress was a powerful fortification; Natural borders were also an obstacle for the enemy - the steep bank of the Osetra River at the western walls of the fortress and the deep ravine of the Monastyrka River south of the Kremlin. Presumably, Italian architects invited to Moscow at the end of the 15th century took part in the construction.

The city became an important defense point on the southern approaches to Moscow as part of the Great Zasechnaya Line that was being created. Already in 1533, the Kremlin was subjected to the first attack by the Crimean Tatars under the leadership of Islam I Giray and Safa Giray. At the same time as the Kremlin, in 1528, instead of the wooden St. Nicholas Church, a stone one was founded. During this period, the city bore the names Nikolo-Zarazskaya-on-Osetra, Nikola-on-Osetra. In 1541, the city was besieged by the Khan of Crimea Sahib I Giray, who was unable to take the Kremlin and was defeated by the governor N. Glebov. Crimean attacks on the city were also carried out in 1542, 1570, 1573, 1591.

In March 1533, the city was visited by Vasily III, and in 1550, 1555, 1556 and 1571 by his son, Ivan the Terrible. In 1550, by his order, the Church of St. John the Baptist was erected in the Kremlin. In 1551, Prince Andrei Kurbsky performed military service in Zaraysk.

In the 1570s, a wooden fort, cut into cages, was built surrounding the Kremlin. Wooden bridges were thrown across the ditches surrounding the fort. Inside the fort there were settlements. Outside the walls of the fort, settlements began to form along the ravines and rivers; Trade developed - important roads to Ryazan, Kolomna and Kashira began from the walls of the Zaraisk Kremlin. In the 16th century, in addition to merchants and archers, the population of Zaraysk also included “arable” (peasants) and “craftsmen” (artisans) people. The largest building in the city was the St. Nicholas Church in the Kremlin with the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker kept in it. Within the boundaries of the fort there were also administrative buildings: the Duty House, the city treasury, the city government; Shopping arcades arose on the site of the modern Gostiny Dvor.

 

Time of Troubles

In February-March 1607, in the vicinity of Zaraysk, skirmishes took place between the troops of Ivan Bolotnikov and the troops of Vasily Shuisky. On March 30 (April 9), 1608, the detachments of False Dmitry II (namely, the Poles of Colonel Alexander Lisovsky) defeated the Ryazan-Arzamas militia in Zaraysk and occupied the city. The city was liberated on June 1 (11), 1609 by detachments of the Ryazan militia under the leadership of Prokopiy Lyapunov. In 1610-1611, the Zaraysk governor was Prince D. M. Pozharsky. Pozharsky suppressed the rebellion of supporters of False Dmitry II in the city, expelled the “thieves’ detachment of the Ryazan governor Isaac Sumbulov, who went over to serve the Poles, who captured the city in December 1610, and at the beginning of 1611, having joined the First Militia, Pozharsky set out with his Zaraisk detachment to Moscow. More than three hundred soldiers who fell at the walls of the city were buried in a mound near the city; This mound, called Lisovsky, remains to this day. In the 18th century, a stone church was built near the mound.

 

XVII-XVIII centuries

In the 17th century, the name Zaraysk was finally assigned to the city.

In 1625, the scribe books mention the Ascension (Round) Monastery located in the suburb to the west of the Kremlin with the wooden Church of the Life-Giving Trinity. The monastery was abolished in 1764, and the Trinity Church became a parish church and, after a fire in 1774, was rebuilt in stone.

In 1669, in the Zaraisk village of Dedinovo, the first Russian warship “Eagle” was launched.

In 1673, the last attack of the Crimean Tatars on Zaraysk took place, and from the end of the 17th century the city lost its defensive significance, becoming a significant center of crafts and trade on the Astrakhan Highway. Zaraysk turned into a center of grain trade, and transit trade also developed - livestock was transported through the city from the southern regions to Moscow and meat was supplied. In 1681, Zaraysk experienced a devastating fire. In the same year, by decree of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, a brick St. Nicholas Church was built instead of a dilapidated stone one. In the 18th century, stone and wooden construction began in the city.

In 1778, by decree of Catherine II, Zaraysk received the status of a district city of the Ryazan governorate (since 1796 - the Ryazan province). A year later, the coat of arms was approved, and then the regular plan of the city. To the east of the Kremlin, on a relatively flat area of the terrain, an orthogonal grid of blocks was formed (the size of the latter is mainly 130×260 m), in the southern and western parts of the city, due to the terrain features (steep slopes of the Osetra River, deep river valleys and ravines) a ragged building front has been formed. The township churches, around which large squares had formed by the 18th century, were, according to the master plan, at the intersection of the main streets of Zaraysk. The main compositional and spatial core of Zaraysk remained the Kremlin; to the northeast of it there were shopping arcades (Gostiny Dvor) built in stone in the 18th century, which until the 1930s had the shape of a closed square with a courtyard. The main planning axes were the Great Moscow Road (now Karl Marx Street) and the road to Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky (now Sovetskaya Street). Ensembles of squares were formed: Bazarnaya (now Revolution Square), Sennaya (now Pozharsky Square), Oblupinskaya (now Sovetskaya Square), Spasskaya (built at the end of the 19th century). Along the streets connecting the main squares, stone buildings were erected - religious, residential and public buildings. On the main roads near the city borders, customs outposts were built - paired stone pillars topped with double-headed eagles and guard rooms (guardhouses). In total, 4 outposts were built - Moskovskaya (road to Moscow), Kashirsko-Venevskaya (road to Kashira and Venev), Mikhailovskaya (road to Mikhailov) and Ryazanskaya (road to Ryazan). By 1798, the master plan for the layout of city blocks was largely implemented.

 

19th century

Zaraysk met the 19th century as a major trade center. At this time, there were over five hundred merchants and 136 shops in the city. Zaraisk fairs were held regularly, where Moscow merchants brought fabrics and food products and where active trade in local products was carried out. Up to two thousand horses were brought to the annual horse fairs. Zaraysk was a city not only of merchants, but also of artisans: tanners, shoemakers, potters, butchers, tailors, bakers, etc. The products of Zaraysk blacksmiths were very popular at fairs. There were small industries in the city (woodworking, dyeing, tanning, oil pressing, flour milling, brick making, wool making; production of agricultural implements).

The new Ryazan road, built in 1847, bypassed Zaraysk, and the importance of the city as a trading center was significantly reduced. In 1860, the central part of the city was badly damaged by a large-scale fire. The Moscow-Ryazan railway, built in 1864, also did not pass through Zaraysk (a 27-kilometer branch was built from it to Zaraysk in 1870), which negatively affected the economic development of the city. Despite this, by the end of the 19th century, industry was developing in the city. In 1858, German entrepreneur August Reders founded a feather-down factory in Zaraysk (now OJSC Peropukh), and later a shoe factory (now LLC Zaraysk-Obuv). In 1881, a large city-owned steam mill was started up; in 1883, 2 brick factories, owned by A. S. Morozov, began operating (at the beginning of the 20th century there were already 3 brick factories). In the 1880s, the iron foundry and peat factories of the Baltic German entrepreneur E. A. Lipgart also appeared. In 1900, two more large enterprises were founded in the city: a spinning and weaving factory (now the Krasny Vostok factory, the Zaraysk branch of Tekstil-Prom LLC) and a paper spinning factory of the Swiss Anonymous Society. Despite the decline in Zaraysk trade in the middle of the 19th century, many trade-related objects remained in the city (for example, in 1890 there were 243 small shops, 6 hotels, 22 taverns, 51 wine shops and 2 wine warehouses). Fairs continued to be held (at the beginning of the 20th century - three times a year), reoriented towards trade in food and livestock. Numerous social infrastructure facilities also appeared. During the reforms of Alexander II in 1865, the Zaraisk zemstvo was formed, the main efforts of which were aimed at solving social problems. Already at the beginning of the 19th century, there was a hospital in Zaraysk, initially located in a house rented from the merchant Goretnin; in 1888 the hospital received its own building. At the expense of the zemstvo, in addition to the hospital, 28 schools and 3 paramedic stations were opened in Zaraisky district. By the end of the 19th century, the city had a parish, district, real and theological schools, a women's gymnasium, a merchant meeting and a noble club, and a bank. There was a hospital and an almshouse. The industrialist Reders laid out a city park on Natalinskaya Street (now Pervomaiskaya Street) with a rose garden, greenhouses, ornamental shrubs and artificial ruins of a Medieval castle; The park had a bowling alley and a tennis court.

 

XX century

At the beginning of the 20th century, the development of industry and social infrastructure of the city continued. In 1910, a stone zemstvo building was built, in 1914, the operation of the water tower that has survived to this day began, and in the same 1914, a new city hospital building, built at the expense of A. A. Bakhrushin, was opened. A stone prison building with a church, erected at the expense of the merchant I. I. Yartsev, appeared in the city. The newspaper “Good Way” was published in the city. Thanks to the efforts of the zemstvo, the first library readers were accepted: the public library named after A. S. Pushkin, the library at the zemstvo government, the library of the trusteeship of people's sobriety. On the eve of the 1917 revolution in Zaraysk there were 14 places of worship: 2 cathedrals, 8 stone churches and 2 wooden ones, 2 chapels. The city had 800 residential buildings, 10 factories and one factory.

On November 19, 1917, the Zemstvo district congress in Zaraysk proclaimed Soviet power. The zemstvo government was abolished; Soon the nationalization of enterprises and the confiscation of landowners began. In Zaraisky district, over two hundred landowner estates were liquidated, many of them were destroyed and looted (especially actively after the 1st district congress of the RCP (b), held on August 3-5, 1918, which called on organized committees of the poor to create detachments to “introduce the dictatorship of the poor over the rich" ). Some valuables (in particular, from the estates of the Komarovskys, Perle, Bazins, Dostoevskys, Selivanovs, Konoplins) were saved from looting and transported to the Zaraisk Museum of Local Lore. Volunteer detachments of the Red Army were formed in the city. On September 29, 1918, the 1st Moscow (Zaraisk) school of military pilots of the RKKVF was created in Zaraysk, which existed until March 1922, then transferred to the village of Kacha in Crimea. In the early 1920s, in some volosts adjacent to Zaraisk (Bulyginskaya, Grigorievskaya, Ilyitsynskaya), uprisings of peasants dissatisfied with the policy of military communism broke out, which were quickly suppressed by detachments of the Red Army and the district Cheka.

In 1929, the city became the regional center of the Ryazan district in the Moscow region, and in 1937, after the formation of the Tula and Ryazan regions, it was transferred directly to the Moscow region. In the 1930s, some churches were destroyed, the bell tower of the Cathedral of John the Baptist was blown up, and dismantling of the Gostiny Dvor buildings began. The development of urban infrastructure continued; sewerage, telegraph and telephone appeared in Zaraysk. In 1935, a cinema was equipped and the hospital was overhauled. To ensure municipal construction, a brick factory with a capacity of 3.5 million bricks per year was put into operation in 1936. The products of the new plant were used for the construction of city council buildings, a maternity hospital, a kindergarten, residential buildings and a veterinary hospital. A shoe factory, Reders's former enterprise, also developed; in 1929, a medical education institution was opened under her. In 1928, a machine and tractor workshop was opened in the city center, which was later transformed into a mechanical plant.

During the Great Patriotic War, when in mid-November 1941 German troops launched the second general offensive on Moscow, the Zaraisk combat sector of the Western Front was created in the Zaraysk region. The people's militia and the 58th Zaraisk fighter battalion were formed in Zaraysk. The work of industrial enterprises was reorganized in accordance with wartime requirements; Thus, the mechanical plant began producing grenade casings and pistons for tank engines, and the Krasny Vostok spinning and weaving factory produced gymnastics fabric; Tank repair workshops were established in the city. At the end of November, units of the 2nd Tank Army of the German Army Group Center, advancing on Moscow from the south, entered the Zaraisky region. Zaraysk was bombed; A state of siege was declared in the city, and a defense committee was created. Barricades appeared on the streets. Equipment from shoe and feather factories was evacuated to Siberia, and equipment from the Krasny Vostok factory was partially dismantled. The 10th Army of the Western Front deployed near Zaraisk, which on December 6 went on the offensive and drove back the Germans. After the front line retreated, the restoration of the urban economy began; enterprises continued to supply the front with products - for example, 5 million sets of soldier uniforms were made from fabric produced at the Krasny Vostok factory. During the Great Patriotic War, 5.4 thousand Zarees died at the front.

In 1949, the construction of the Zaraysk-Lukhovitsy highway was completed, which made it possible to open a bus service on the routes Zaraysk-Moscow and Zaraysk-Kolomna. In the second half of the 20th century, 4-5-story residential buildings were built in the eastern part, and a new industrial zone was formed in the northern part of Zaraysk, along Moskovskaya Street; it included a building materials plant, a dairy plant (launched in 1949) and an offset plate plant (founded in 1972). In 1980, the Zaraisk site began to be explored. In 1980-1984, the shoe factory was reconstructed and expanded, receiving a large four-story building on Meretskova Street.

 

21st century and large-scale reconstruction

In pursuance of the law “On Local Self-Government”, the first Head in the history of the city was elected in 2006. It became Safronov Alexander Semyonovich.

In 2012, a new master plan for the city was approved. In 2018, the city of Zaraysk became one of the winners of the All-Russian competition for creating a comfortable urban environment in small towns and historical settlements. As part of the project, the area near the ancient Trading Rows, which has been a socially significant place for centuries, has been landscaped. The implementation of the project transformed Revolution Square, followed by Krasnoarmeyskaya Street and the area around the Water Tower into a lively public space. In December 2020, part of the city embankment from the city beach to the dam on the Sturgeon River was also reconstructed. Zaraysk has become one of the most modern small towns in Russia.

 

Around the city

1  Village Darovoye (Located 13 km from the city on the road to Serebryannye Prudy). ☎ (496) 6625734. This village once belonged to the father of F. M. Dostoevsky, a surgeon. It was here that the future great writer often lived in the summer in his childhood and wrote about the indelible impression that these places made on him. Here the writer’s father died in 1839, according to rumors, at the hands of his own serfs. The only surviving building of the estate now houses a small museum.
Darovoye is the estate where the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky spent his childhood, so this place has the status of a cultural heritage site of federal significance. It was here that the future great writer spent his summer days. This place left an indelible impression on the writer and was reflected in most of his works.

Mama's Pond - at the time the Dostoevskys acquired the Darovoye estate, there was no pond nearby. Maria Fedorovna, mother of F. M. Dostoevsky, ordered to dig a pond filled with good water. Then the peasants had the opportunity to water their cattle, and a swimming pool was set up for children on the pond. F. M. Dostoevsky's father, Mikhail Andreevich, sent a barrel of live crucian carp from Moscow for divorce.

In memory of Maria Feodorovna’s idea, these days the pond is called “Mama’s Pond.”

Ilyitsino (11 km east of Zaraysk, on the Bryukhachevka River). On the eastern outskirts of the former Zaraisky district is located one of the ancient villages - Ilyitsino.
In 1700, the Znamenskaya Church was built at the expense of the then owner of the village, Ekaterina Andreevna Goncharova. The estate itself was located on a low hill. Its complex included the residential building itself, outbuildings, orchards, a park with linden alleys and ponds.

Relatives of the Pushkins and Goncharovs and people close to the poet lived and visited Zaraysk.

Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova - Pushkina - Lanskaya - did not like to remember her childhood, associated with the discord of her parents and her father’s illness. The happy moments and impressions of these years were mainly associated with her grandfather Afanasy Nikolaevich, with whom Natalya Nikolaevna spent holidays in the winter and long summer visits to his estates near Moscow. A particularly favorite place was the village of Ilyitsino in Trans-Raisk. Jun 2018 edit

3  Village Cheremoshnya  (A little further than Darovoe). This village also belonged to the writer's father, and was described in detail by Dostoevsky in the novel The Brothers Karamazov. Little has changed here over the years.