Island Sviyazhsk
Fascinating story of ancient city Sviyazhska (photo by the island Sviyazhska). It has been suggested that AS Pushkin
traveling to the Volga region, notably Sviyazhsk wrote the famous verse:
Wind funny noise,
Vessel fun runs
Go around the island Buyana,
In the kingdom of glory Saltan --
And countries like
It was visible from afar ...
The history of the city goes back to the military operations undertaken to Ivan the Terrible conquered Kazan. Despite the fact that Kazan Khanate to the middle of the XVI century, experiencing an economic crisis, Kazan remained a strong fortress and its defenders, led by the Imam of Kul Sharif differed powerful martial spirit. Hiking, made Ivan the Terrible in 1547 were unsuccessful. Even with a numerical advantage in troops and artillery, to Kazan Ivan the Terrible not. By this time, the boundary of the Kazan Khanate ran just 25 kilometers west of the capital, the river Sviyage. Boyars Ivan the Terrible had developed a plan to construct a fortress on the approaches to the capital of Kazan Khanate. 
However, in this history of the town did not cease. Sviyazhsk became a full-fledged town, and while in Kazan was a guerilla war on the island carpenter Yakovlev and Ivan Shiryaev building unique specimens of Russian architecture. A long time, namely Sviyazhsk rather than Kazan, the capital of the region.
Kazan, however, remained a major city, and already in the middle of the XVIII century to use the city as an administrative center, it was unprofitable. Since then, the decline began Sviyazhska and it turned into a small district town.
By the beginning of XX century Sviyazhska population became so low that in 1926 the city was transformed into the village. But shortly before that, in the civil war in Sviyazhske some time settled the rate of Lev Trotsky (the house where he lived, survived and now).
In 1955, after completion of the Kuibyshev hydroelectric power station in Togliatti, Volga has become a huge reservoir. Hundreds of villages and dozens of cities have been flooded, but Sviyazhsk, who stood at the top of the mountain, avoid this fate, a village with a white-stone cathedrals has turned into a unique sightseeing in Russia.
Church Sviyazhska islands are visible from the water. As a small island and a small number of storeys lost in Sviyazhske difficult. From the heart of the Sviyazhske to preserve the historic street names.
The main attractions Sviyazhska - this is the monasteries: Uspenskoye male-and female Bogoroditsky John-Predtechensky. Both are located in the western part of the island and clearly visible from the right bank Sviyagi, which is the famous ski sports complex "Kazan".
John-Predtechensky monastery (originally - the Trinity-Sergius) is now abolished, while its built-transmitted Uspenskoye Bogoroditsky monastery. The ensemble of the monastery has three churches. Home - Wooden. Trinity Church - is the oldest building Sviyazhska. This is the last surviving part Sviyazhskoy fortress, it is built of logs, melted from Myshkin.
The first stone building in the monastery - Sergievskaya church was built in the XVII century, Pskov architects working on the construction of the Russian Kazan `` ``. This cubiform temple, built of white stone, and crowned by a small head. In the center rises the cathedral monastery icons Joy of All Who Sorrow, which was built in 1896-1906 of the architect Malinovsky. Now it is - just a sample of `` textbook `` psevdovizantiyskogo style, but the temple of the most significant in size Sviyazhske and clearly visible from the Volga River. Also in the ensemble of the monastery includes the cells (1820) and building the Mother Superior (1830). Uspenskoye-Bogoroditsky monastery, located on the opposite side of the island. The ensemble of the monastery - it is one of the most famous sights in Tatarstan. Monastic cathedrals erected plostniki Yakovlev and Ivan Shiryaev - perhaps the authors of St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square and the Church Useknoveniya Head of John the Baptist in Kolomenskoye. Furthermore, the Monastery's Cathedral is a unique frescoes of XVI century. Entrance to the monastery passes through the holy gates. In the monastery of the XVI century temples are located. In 1556 was built St. Nicholas Church, which is a rare type of the church-bell tower with a massive tower on the monolithic foundation. St. Nicholas Church is open only to the monks.
Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin was built in 1560. The main attraction of the cathedral is not architecture, and preserved wall frescoes. They cover the whole surface of internal walls of the church and written in the life of Ivan the Terrible. The most interesting picture of Ivan IV, but you can not see it because it is part of the altar. At one of the columns of the cathedral is the image of St. Christopher - According to legend, it just had a great beauty, thus constantly exposed to temptation. In the end, he asked God to make it ugly, and therefore St. Christopher is always depicted with the head of the animal. In Russia, two famous frescoes of St. Christopher - in Nyrobe (Perm Region), where he is depicted with a dog head, and Sviyazhske, where the saint's head like a horse. In general, the fresco Uspenskoye-Bogoroditsky monastery stand on a par with the frescoes in Dionisy Ferapontov, and for their examination to better negotiate with the monks the monastery.
Monuments Civil architecture Sviyazhske also of great interest. Ensemble Sviyazhska, this is one of the most coherent, and at the same time, the typical county urban ensembles. Sviyazhsk - classic town, which before the revolution bylimnogie hundreds throughout Russia. But Sviyazhske since then, due to insularity, has changed almost nothing: not built modern houses or factories, no cars there (because there is nowhere to go), and even the street names remain pre-revolutionary. Ensemble Sviyazhska civil buildings survived almost unchanged.
Once in Sviyazhske had a lot of churches, and the ringing of bells made an unforgettable impression on the swim on the Volga. In Soviet times, all the parish churches Sviyazhska were destroyed, and there was even the design of the monument in the city of Judas Iscariot (the idea belonged to Trotsky), and not implementation. The oldest surviving church - Constantine and Helen, built at the end of the XVI century and rebuilt in the XVIII century. It is difficult to imagine how to expressive than the silhouette looked `` `` City on the island, if all of these churches were there to this day.