Few people now, apparently, know what the Volga above the Zhigulevskaya hydroelectric station looked like before, before the Kuibyshev reservoir was filled.
As you know, in addition to many small villages and villages, the Kuibyshev reservoir also flooded the city of Stavropol-on-Volga.

The city was founded in 1738 as a fortress on the Volga channel, called Kunya Volozhka, by Tatishchev, who then ruled the Orenburg region.
As the "Illustrated Guide to the Volga 1898" tells us, The city was populated overwhelmingly by baptized Kalmyks, and Stavropol, the “city of the Holy Cross,” remained for a long time "a run-down town, engaged, among other things, in selling grain on a small scale"- the mentioned guidebook says nothing more about Stavropol.

The population fluctuated greatly, in 1859 there were 2.2 thousand people, by 1900 - about 7 thousand, and in 1924 the population decreased so much that the city officially became a village (city status was returned in 1946).
In the early 1950s there were about 12 thousand people. In the 1950s, it found itself in the flood zone of the Kuibyshev Reservoir and was moved to a new location.

The scale of the transformation of nature can be judged from these two maps.

Fragment American 2.5-kilometer race 1948:

Stavropol itself looked something like this before the flooding:

As you can see on the flood map, there is now nothing left of the former city on the surface, everything has gone under water

Although there was nothing special to leave - the city was mostly made of wood

Now the former Stavropol can only be judged by old photographs...

Yes to pre-revolutionary postcards

I came across a wonderful site with a large archive of old maps. There is a lot there, but I was especially interested in the map of Tataria from 1940. On the one hand, the administrative changes that have occurred since those times are insignificant, and this makes it easy to navigate the area and look for small “geographical news”. On the other hand, the republic was heavily flooded. Two huge puddles appeared on the map - the Kuibyshev and Nizhnekamsk reservoirs. Thanks to these hydro-dominants, Tatarstan, which is small in general, is noticeable even on the map of the entire country. Here, look what TASSR looked like before the great flood. The two “great rivers” of Russia, the Kama and the Volga, flow in frivolous, barely visible streams.

Kuibyshev. Not to be confused with Samara. Both Kuibyshevs were on the Volga. To distinguish them they said Kuibyshev regional (present-day Samara) and Kuibyshev district - now the city of Bolgar. Before the flooding, it was strictly speaking far from the Volga, on the Abyss River. And then... Kuibyshev was moved to a new place. See s. Bulgarians? So the whole city moved there. In general, during the construction of hydroelectric power stations in Tataria there were 78 settlements were completely relocated. Not flooded, as adherents of pristine ecology like to say, but rather transported. Houses, factories, schools, hospitals and even cemeteries.

Same place now. Kuibyshev in a new place and with a new name.


The confluence of the Volga and Kama. Look how it was before. At this point they flowed almost parallel, forming an unusual peninsula with its banks washed by two different rivers. The title photo shows a still from the film Volga, Volga. Unfortunately, this was filmed in a completely different place, but it will do for clarity. This is probably what it looked like. Two narrow but fast rivers flow together, nothing special.


Now there is water for fifty kilometers. The shore is not visible. Grandiose views now open from the Kama Ustye. The dachas here in Kazan are rich.


This is what it looks like now:

We go a little east, up the Kama. I have designated the Key Us with numbers. points. Was.


It has become. A large bridge across the Kama has now been built here. Previously, there was a ferry here and sometimes it took a whole day to travel from Chistopol to Kazan (130 km) due to long queues.


A little higher is the city of my childhood, Chistopol. Everything here has been covered by bicycles and covered with feet. Everything is familiar here.


And there is a lot here that is completely unfamiliar. Glass factory??? Never heard of him. What happened to him? He drowned(s)
Pay attention to the MTS icons. Already in 1940 there was cellular communication here.


You can see the place on the map along the arrow. There is nothing there except a couple of villages.

And now here is the third largest city in Tatarstan. 235 thousand population. Europe's largest chemical plant. You can admire its beauty from our Elabuga shore.
The Kama here is narrow and pristine, but this is because it flows immediately after another dam - the Nizhnekamsk hydroelectric station. Immediately behind it is the sea again.


This is what Kama was like in patriarchal times. At number 1 Bondyuzhsky district and village. Bondyuga (emphasis on the first syllable of course). In 1940 it was a separate district. Then it will be attached to Elabuga, and then it will again become an independent unit. It will also be renamed Mendeleevsk. Here, too, a strong chemical plant is smoking, and an even larger one is being built. At number 3 is the Ik River, at number 2 is the city of Menzelinsk on the Menzel River. Remember them like this.


There was the city of Menzelinsk and the port of Menzelinsk on the Kama. There is such a distance between them.


And now here it is. Menzelinsk ended up on the Kama (actually the spilled Ik). In Soviet times, such an incident happened there. The old port sank, but the water did not reach the new one. The fact is that the water level was raised lower than planned, and the pier was built with this in mind.

"> " alt="At the bottom of reservoirs lie 7 Russian cities. They were once home to thousands of people">!}

In August 2014, the city of Mologa (Yaroslavl region), which was completely flooded in 1940 during the construction of the Rybinsk hydroelectric power station, again appeared on the surface due to the extremely low water level in the Rybinsk reservoir. In the flooded city, the foundations of houses and the outlines of streets are visible. Babr suggests recalling the history of 6 more Russian cities that went under water

View of the Afanasyevsky Monastery, destroyed in 1940 before the city was flooded

Mologa is the most famous city, completely flooded during the construction of the Rybinsk reservoir. This is a rather rare case when the settlement was not moved to another place, but was completely liquidated: in 1940 its history was interrupted.

Celebration in the city square

The village of Mologa has been known since the 12th-13th centuries, and in 1777 it received the status of a county town. With the advent of Soviet power, the city became a regional center with a population of about 6 thousand people.

Mologa consisted of about a hundred stone houses and 800 wooden ones. After the impending flooding of the city was announced in 1936, the relocation of residents began. Most of the Mologans settled far from Rybinsk in the village of Slip, and the rest dispersed to different cities of the country.

In total, 3645 square meters were flooded. km of forests, 663 villages, the city of Mologa, 140 churches and 3 monasteries. 130,000 people were resettled.

But not everyone agreed to voluntarily leave their home. 294 people chained themselves and were drowned alive.

It is difficult to imagine what tragedy these people experienced, deprived of their homeland. Until now, since 1960, meetings of Mologans have been held in Rybinsk, at which they remember their lost city.

After every winter with little snow and dry summer, Mologa appears from under the water, like a ghost, revealing its dilapidated buildings and even a cemetery.

Kalyazin center with St. Nicholas Cathedral and Trinity Monastery

Kalyazin is one of the most famous flooded cities in Russia. The first mention of the village of Nikola on Zhabnya dates back to the 12th century, and after the founding of the Kalyazin-Trinity (Makaryevsky) Monastery on the opposite bank of the Volga in the 15th century, the importance of the settlement increased. In 1775, Kalyazin was given the status of a county town, and from the end of the 19th century the development of industry began in it: fulling, blacksmithing, and shipbuilding.

The city was partially flooded during the creation of the Uglich hydroelectric power station on the Volga River, which was built in 1935-1955.

The Trinity Monastery and the architectural complex of the Nikolo-Zhabensky Monastery were lost, as well as most of the historical buildings of the city. All that remained of it was the bell tower of St. Nicholas Cathedral sticking out of the water, which became one of the main attractions of the central part of Russia.

3. Korcheva

View of the city from the left bank of the Volga.
On the left side you can see the Church of the Transfiguration, on the right - the Resurrection Cathedral.

Korcheva is the second (and last) completely flooded city in Russia after Mologa. This village in the Tver region was located on the right bank of the Volga River, on both sides of the Korchevka River, not far from the city of Dubna.

Korcheva, early 20th century. General view of the city

By the 1920s, the population of Korchevka was 2.3 thousand people. There were mostly wooden buildings, although there were also stone structures, including three churches. In 1932, the government approved the plan for the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal, and the city fell into the flood zone.

Today, on the unflooded territory of Korchev, a cemetery and one stone building have been preserved - the house of the Rozhdestvensky merchants.

4. Puchezh

Puchezh in 1913

City in Ivanovo region. Mentioned since 1594 as the Puchische settlement, in 1793 it became a settlement. The city lived by trade along the Volga, in particular barge haulers were hired there.

The population in the 1930s was about 6 thousand people, the buildings were mainly wooden. In the 1950s, the city's territory fell into the flood zone of the Gorky Reservoir. The city was rebuilt in a new location, and now its population is about 8 thousand people.

Of the 6 existing churches, 5 turned out to be in the flood zone, but the sixth also did not survive to this day - it was dismantled at the peak of Khrushchev’s persecution of religion.

5. Vesyegonsk

City in the Tver region. Known as a village since the 16th century, a city since 1776. It developed most actively in the 19th century, during the period of active functioning of the Tikhvin water system. The population in the 1930s was about 4 thousand people, the buildings were mostly wooden.

Most of the city's territory was flooded by the Rybinsk Reservoir; the city was rebuilt on non-flooded areas. The city lost most of its old buildings, including several churches. However, the Trinity and Kazan churches survived, but gradually fell into disrepair.

It is interesting that they planned to move the city to a higher place back in the 19th century, since 16 of the 18 streets of the city were regularly flooded during floods. Now about 7 thousand people live in Vesyegonsk.

6. Stavropol Volzhsky (Tolyatti)

City in Samara region. Founded in 1738 as a fortress.

The population fluctuated greatly, in 1859 there were 2.2 thousand people, by 1900 - about 7 thousand, and in 1924 the population decreased so much that the city officially became a village (city status was returned in 1946). In the early 1950s there were about 12 thousand people.

In the 1950s, it found itself in the flood zone of the Kuibyshev Reservoir and was moved to a new location. In 1964, it was renamed Tolyatti and began to actively develop as an industrial city. Now its population exceeds 700 thousand people.

7. Kuibyshev (Spassk-Tatarsky)

Volga near Bolgar

The city has been mentioned in chronicles since 1781. In the second half of the 19th century there were 246 houses, 1 church, and by the early 1930s 5.3 thousand people lived here.

In 1936 the city was renamed Kuibyshev. In the 1950s, it found itself in the flood zone of the Kuibyshev Reservoir and was completely rebuilt in a new location, next to the ancient settlement of Bulgar. Since 1991, it was renamed Bolgar and soon has every chance of becoming one of the main tourist centers in Russia and the world.

In June 2014, the ancient settlement of Bulgar (Bulgarian State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve) was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Agrafenovka, Black Zaton, Bolshaya Fedorovka

Zolnoe, Zadelnoe, Solnechnaya Polyana

Volzhsky, Great Tsarevshchina

Samara, Rozhdestveno, Tarasov plant

Koroviy Island, Podzhabny

Volozhka Tushinskaya, Bystenky Island

Bezenchuk

Perevoloki

Pecherskoe, Pervomaisky

Oktyabrsk, right Volga

Syzran, Bestuzhevka, Kashpir, Rudnik

Panshino, Volga region

Village Panshino- an amazing place on the right bank of the Volga, about forty kilometers south of Syzran.

Administratively, this region of the Right Bank is included in the Ulyanovsk region. However, it so happens that, in addition to local residents, Syzran residents are engaged in fishing here, so it would be unfair to exclude this area of ​​the reservoir from among the favorite fishing spots for residents of the Samara region.

Having driven south from Syzran along the highway leading to Vozrozhdenie to Kalinovka, you should turn left, pass the crossing and move east a few more kilometers along the ridge of a high hill. Soon a picture of colorful scale and amazing beauty opens up: on the right in the hollow is an abandoned garden, on the left is a deep ravine covered with bushes and isolated trees, and right on the hillside is the small village of Panshino, behind which stretches an endless expanse of water for ten kilometers to the left bank.

An extensive network of islands opposite the village and downstream divides the reservoir into several branches, forming channels and bays.

The coast here is high and hilly. There is a cliff up to three meters high near the water itself. The bottom is marshy, muddy, interspersed with sharp gravel and shells, and gently slopes into the depths. On the shore opposite the village and to the left are several improvised parking lots for the vehicles in which the fishermen arrived. Sometimes there are 30 - 40 cars and motorcycles with Penza, Samara, Ulyanovsk and Saratov license plates.

It is difficult to remain without fish in Panshino. The place is so “cool” that at almost any time of the year and in any weather you can count on a rich catch. The main thing is to drive here and get back, which is not easy in rainy or snowy weather. And the weather here sometimes changes instantly. You arrive in the morning - the sun is shining brightly, the water is calm, there is almost no wind, nothing predicts bad weather. And suddenly at noon a black cloud emerges from behind the hill and hangs menacingly over the water. The Volga darkens before our eyes, boils, and now a squall of rain and waves hits the boat!

And twenty minutes later the thunderstorm passed, and the sun shone again, reflected in thousands of droplets on the grass and trees. Everything is wonderful, but the ground is so wet that none of those who arrived by car can get up the mountain on wheels. The most impatient ones have already gone to the village to get a tractor...

In summer, the main catch of fishermen in Panshino is bream.

In Panshino, in the spring, roaches work well on a fishing rod from a boat, and you often come across chub and ide. Local fishermen set nets for catfish and pike. They also catch catfish using the “kwok”. It must be said that for some reason the fish caught here are one and a half times larger in size than in other places!

And further. Motorboat owners know this area as a place where the river has a rip current. This phenomenon is explained by reasons of a hydrodynamic nature: the complex system of islands and the bottom topography force the water flow to turn back in places, towards the main current. When there is no bite anywhere, you will always catch it on the “return”, many believe.

A few kilometers upstream from Panshino there is another catching place.

now it looks like this...

He is called " monastery"due to the ruins of an old chapel on the shore, clearly visible from the water. Another landmark can be the huge barge of the berth for bulk carriers, once transporting waste from the shale production located nearby Kashpirsky mine. (the barge has already been cut into scrap metal)

This “bream” place, quite far from the fairway, has a depth of up to 20 meters at a distance of only one hundred meters from the shore. Current at " monastery" noticeably stronger than Panshino, since the reservoir narrows in this place. It often happens that the bream does not take well Panshino, here he is caught successfully.

An extensive section of the Saratov reservoir in the region Panshino, indented by numerous islands and with a large number of shallow water zones, is a famous place for winter fishing enthusiasts. Their main prey are perch, pike, roach, and silver bream.

To catch large perch, anglers go to the middle of the reservoir. Knowledge of the bottom topography allows them to search for “humpback whales” not at random, but along the boundaries of underwater ridges, which extend parallel to each other for several hundred meters. Connoisseurs catch perch with a spinner and a jig without bloodworms from a depth of 2.5-3 meters. This type of fishing is truly sporty and exciting! Agree, not everyone is able to walk five or six kilometers through the snow from the shore to the site, drill several dozen holes in a day and then return back with a heavier backpack.

Fishermen In winter, older fish usually settle closer to the shore to catch roach and silver bream. They are immediately easy to distinguish from others by their polyethylene tents that protect from wind and cold. "Perch fishermen" don't use tents, they need to move, drill - otherwise you won't catch them.

Come here any weekend from December to March - you will see how many winter fishing enthusiasts gather in Panshino!

A.N. Druzhin, A.N. Maslennikov "On the reservoirs of the Samara region"