Mysticism of Karelia. Places of power in Karelia. The mysteries of ancient civilizations are one of the hundred natural wonders of Russia. Labyrinth to another world

The materials in this section were written by Alexey Popov, a scientist who studies anomalous phenomena in one of the most mysterious and mysterious corners of our country - Karelia. You can learn more about the author from this article, and about his work from other publications in this section.

The world-famous island of Valaam, in Lake Ladoga, is notable not only for its amazing pre-Christian and Christian spiritual history, is known not only as the center of Orthodoxy in North-West Russia, attracts not only for its picturesqueness, but is also unique as a place where quite often For many years, so-called anomalous phenomena have been observed.

It is known that religious rites, as a rule, are performed in special places. In modern religions, this usually takes place in various places of worship. Peoples whose religions we usually call pagan also had sanctuaries where religious ceremonies were performed. Sometimes they were also located in various buildings, but more often they were located directly in the open air, for example, on the top of a mountain, on an island, in a cave, in sacred grove etc. The types of sacred places among different peoples could be very diverse, just as the deities that people worshiped were different.

Strange stories can sometimes be heard in the remote, taiga corners of Karelia. They are told by individuals and entire villages. Many eyewitnesses of these events are still alive and tell their children and grandchildren about it. These are stories about sorcerers and werewolves, who, it turns out, live with us and are our contemporaries.

To this day, an inquisitive researcher can find monuments in the remote taiga corners of Karelia that often do not fit into the system of logical ideas modern man. The complex on Mount Vottovaara (Muezersky district of the Republic of Karelia), which attracts an increasing number of tourists every year, is one of such monuments.

Petroglyphs, like the famous Kizhi and Valaam, are considered one of the main tourist brands of Karelia, especially since the discovery of new rock carvings continues to this day. The last discovery of previously unknown petroglyphs was made in 2005 by a joint expedition of Karelian and British archaeologists on the Vyg River.

A lot is said and written about Lake Ladoga. We will only note that it contains a huge number of secrets. This is both the mystery of his education and amazing flora and fauna, and strange sound and light phenomena observed from time to time over the lake. But today our story is about an equally amazing secret of Lake Ladoga - a huge “monster” unknown to science, supposedly living in the depths of the lake.

Karelia is well known to many not only as “a country of forests, lakes and rivers,” but also as a territory with numerous religious buildings of antiquity that have been perfectly preserved to this day: labyrinths, dolmens, seids, which attract everyone from year to year large quantity researchers and tourists. However, sometimes these ancient sanctuaries present surprises that go far beyond our usual knowledge. Moreover, it is in the locations of these objects that very strange and mysterious encounters often occur.

In the mass consciousness of the average Russian, our republic is gradually becoming what Lapland once was for the inhabitants of Europe - a distant, semi-fairy-tale country, on whose territory any miracles are possible.

In the early 90s, on the northwestern coast of Lake Onega, a Neolithic sanctuary was opened, called Pegrema, which included zoomorphic idols, sandstone disks, etc., which testified to the development of the religious-magical cult and deep skills in stone processing from our distant ancestors.

Karelia is a beautiful picturesque corner of Russia. A land that everyone who touches its enchanting beauty for even a moment falls in love with. Karelia is perceived by many as a temple. Its beauty evokes a feeling of the sublime, its landscapes promote prayerful communication with world harmony. The edge is a keeper! He preserved both the epic epic and the tradition of tent architecture. He is one of the few last fragments of the great spiritual continent, whose name is Holy Rus'.

In the fall of 1928, a strange cylindrical object flew over the Karelian village of Shchuknavolok, one hundred and twenty kilometers from Petrozavodsk, and crashed into Vedlozero, on the banks of which the village is located. This unusual phenomenon was observed by about fifty residents of Shchuknavolok and the nearby village of Vedlozero.

The question of the possible existence of giants is not as simple as it seems at first glance. According to the concept of world history of the famous Babylonian Berossus, the Earth in prehistoric, antediluvian times was inhabited by giants who coexisted with humanity. Actually, the Old Testament “Book of Genesis” tells about the same thing.

Today we celebrate the 95th anniversary of Karelia. In honor of this event, "Respublika" drew a map with the most interesting and mysterious places our region, with the people who were born here, and with the legends that walk through Karelian villages and cities.

We do not claim to have a complete coverage of all information about our region, but we have selected facts that may not be known to everyone. Sometimes they allowed themselves free retellings of legends and rumors. We hope that this will be another opportunity for readers to feel proud of their native land.

Karelia. People

The names of many great people are associated with Karelia. Some of them lived here, others were just passing by. Emperors visited Petrozavodsk, the prototype of Eugene Onegin and the Russian painter Dmitry Polenov lived here. The first governor of our region was the poet Gavrila Derzhavin. Many famous people they were sent into exile with us, and our cities and villages retained the memory of them.

Born on March 7, 1966 in Petrozavodsk. Participant of seven world championships. Four-time world champion. He maintains a regular blog about biathlon on the website Sports.ru.

2. - author of TRIZ (the theory of solving inventive problems), author of the theory of creative personality development, inventor, science fiction writer. From 1990 to 1998, Altshuller lived with his wife Valentina Zhuravleva in Petrozavodsk.

3. - famous Russian plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, one of the first plastic surgeons in Russia.

Born on January 15, 1960 in Petrozavodsk. Founder of the leading plastic surgery center Frau Klinik. He was the first to perform breast augmentation in the USSR.

4. Mikhail Trukhin- Russian theater and film actor, Honored Artist of Russia

Born on October 28, 1971 in Petrozavodsk. He gained fame by playing senior lieutenant Volkov in the TV series “Streets of Broken Lanterns.”

5. Nikolay Khodotov- famous actor of the Alexandrinsky Theater

Born on February 2 (14), 1878 in Petrozavodsk. Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters, Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Khodotov was on friendly terms with the actress of the Alexandrinsky Theater Vera Komissarzhevskaya, who had a great creative and personal influence on him.

6. - Soviet and Russian theater and film actor, director, teacher

Born on July 11, 1965 in Petrozavodsk. He founded the “Scientific Monkey” theater, where he still works. Collaborates with the State Academic Theater named after. E. Vakhtangov and the comic theater “Quartet I”. Teaches acting at GITIS.

7. - Russian film producer, director, screenwriter

Born on August 21, 1955 in Olonets. Head of the STV film company. Producer of more than 40 feature films and documentaries. Expert magazine in February 2003 called Sergei Selyanov “the only Russian producer whose name has become a brand in the field of film production.”

He was born in the suburb of Kandalaksha in the hydraulic construction village of Niva-3, but in official documents the place of birth was recorded as the Chupa station in the Loukhsky district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, where the family lived at that time.

10. - film director

Born on August 25, 1944 in Kemi. Member of the jury of the Venice Film Festival in 1981 and 1987. The film "Assa" became one of the main events in cultural life USSR during perestroika and the beginning of the trilogy, continued by the films “Black Rose - the Emblem of Sadness, Red Rose - the Emblem of Love” and “House Under the Starry Sky”.

1. During one of his visits to Karelia, Peter I encountered Saint Thaddeus of Petrozavodsk. He was amazed by the blessed one’s foresight and ordered the authorities of the local factory to take Thaddeus “on allowance.” According to some reports, they met several more times. And in 1724, the saint predicted Peter I's imminent death.

2. Valaam Island is located in the northern part of Lake Ladoga. Its territory covers most of the Valaam archipelago, where the Valaam Monastery, especially revered by the Orthodox, has been located for many centuries. Scientists cannot yet name the exact date when Christians appeared in this place. According to legend, the first to see the island was the Apostle Andrew the First-Called and installed a Christian cross on the shore of Valaam.

3. About 30 kilometers from Rabocheostrovsk in the White Sea lies the Kuzov archipelago. It includes 16 uninhabited islands. The legend, based on real historical events, dates back to the 17th century. It says that a detachment of Swedes decided to commit a robbery attack on the Solovetsky Monastery. However, storms forced them to take refuge on the island of German Body. They were not destined to leave it. Unknown forces protected the Solovetsky monastery, turning the Swedish robbers into stone idols that stand there to this day.

4. In 1985, the historical and cultural center “Pegrema” was opened in the north of Lake Onega. It was founded thanks to a randomly found stone with zoomorphic features. However, they began to explore the complex in 1991 - 1994, since here is one of the largest pagan sanctuaries in Karelia. Oddly enough, a forest fire helped find him. He destroyed the vegetation that hid the stone idols. Moreover, the fire did not go beyond the place where they were and died out. Some objects of the complex date back to the 2nd - 3rd millennium BC. e.

5. Varashev Stone - a large boulder of pink granite - was chosen as a border marker between Russia and Sweden following the Stolbovo Peace Treaty in 1617. On the Russian side, crosses are carved on the stone, and on the Swedish side, crowns.

6. Lake Yanisjärvi is one of the most mysterious bodies of water in Karelia. Previously, this place was a huge volcanic cone up to 2200 meters high. In 1908, a huge fireball fell into the lake, which coincided with the fall of the Tunguska meteorite. And in 1920, a Finnish geologist saw the waters of the lake glowing from within.

7. At the end of the 80s of the last century, another Karelian reservoir gained mystical fame - Lake Muromskoye. In 1987, a forest fire started near it. Firefighters noticed a strange creature, almost three meters tall, that emerged from the wilds to escape the fire. According to the descriptions, the creature was very similar to the Yeti. They say that the ancient tribes of Karelians and Finns knew about the mysterious creature from Lake Murom.

Karelia. Places

There are many objects of interest to tourists in Karelia. Even the residents of the republic themselves know little about some of them, but about the most famous ones you can always tell something that is not in any guidebook.

An impregnable floating fortress in the middle of Lake Ladoga, surrounded by steep cliffs. In the center of the island there is an ancient pagan temple with a cromlech. The monks of the Valaam Monastery put a cross on it. According to Karelian, Finnish and Sami legends, a people of “wonderful people” live underground on the island, looking like dwarfs, because of whom travelers are afraid to stay there overnight.

According to ancient maps, it was along Lake Ladoga that the southern border of the country of Hyperborea passed. According to legends, long before the Nativity of Christ there lived a people who had deep knowledge about the Universe and man. The famous Russian artist Nicholas Roerich believed that Lake Ladoga was mentioned in legends about the mysterious country of Mu, where the ancestors of the northern or even Slavic peoples came from. In ancient chronicles he also found mention of a large lake in the north, where he reached ancient people arias in search of Shambhala - the underground abode of the gods.

Well-known architectural ensemble, a unique example of Russian wooden architecture, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. On the island at the foot of Narnaya Mountain there is a worship cross with two inscriptions “1812” and “Victory”, left by Transonezh peasants as a memory of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812.

7. Lahdenpokhya

The bunker, designed by the Americans for the Finns in 1930, in Soviet time became an ammunition depot. The grotto, with an area of ​​750 square meters, is carved into granite rock and filled with concrete. IN better times the bunker had electricity, a working elevator, ventilation, and even had its own underground railroad.

It's definitely time for Agents Mulder and Scully to pack up and go to work in Karelia. For some reason, aliens, flying saucers and meteorites do not bypass our lands and periodically excite Russian ufologists. The so-called “Onega or Petrozavodsk miracle” gave impetus to talk about UFOs in the Soviet Union.
On Ufologist Day, our portal collected the five most striking anomalous incidents that happened in Karelia. What were they looking for and what did they find in the mysterious area in the northern land?

1. UFO over the embankment
A bright flash of light approaching Petrozavodsk sparked a debate about unidentified flying objects in the Soviet Union. According to eyewitnesses, at 4:00 am on September 20, 1977, a huge star appeared in the sky and began sending “sheaves of light” to the earth, similar to pouring rain. If in those days people had the necessary gadgets in their pockets, then the newspapers would have been full of photographs of traces of a mysterious phenomenon: within 10-12 minutes something was approaching Onega and suddenly disappeared, leaving in the gray clouds “a ravine of bright red color in the middle and white along the edges."
Even in the absence of any photographs (the image above is either a copy of a photograph, the original of which is lost, or a drawing - opinions differ) or video evidence, this story ended up in the Leninskaya Pravda and Izvestia newspapers.
Today we can only find numerous verbal testimonies from Petrozavodsk residents who convince us that during a strange phenomenon they were overcome by a feeling of “discomfort and dissatisfaction,” and after that the windows of the houses were dotted with through holes 50-70 centimeters in diameter. This story was called "The Petrozavodsk Miracle." What was it? There are those who explain everything by the laws of nature. But someone is sure that the “jellyfish” over the Karelian sky is nothing more than an alien greeting to humanity.
2. Mysterious Vygozero
This lake has more than once attracted and attracted ufologists and those who sympathize with them. Several years ago, one of the Internet portals included it in the list of anomalous lakes in Russia. Local residents claim that back in 1928, a UFO fell into the waters of Vygozero, after which a creature “with a large head and thin legs” periodically peeks out from the reservoir. True, according to ufologist Vyacheslav Kiselev, the 1989 expedition did not confirm the version of the plate that fell to the bottom. But according to a resident of the village of Shchuknavolok, when he was 9 years old, he clearly saw a huge cylinder appear from behind the forest, which fell into the lake and broke through the ice, scattering fragments in a circle.
It is interesting that in 2014, similar consequences agitated Karelia. On December 1, an unknown object fell into Vygozero. It was reported that the object cut off part of the island's shore at an angle. A group of rescuers worked at the scene of the incident, and both the explosion of an aerial bomb and the consequences of fishing were put forward as versions.
Within a week, a group of ufologists from the Kosmopoisk association arrived at Vygozero, and together with divers they were able to descend to the bottom and take measurements. They managed to detect a certain dense body at a depth of 7 meters and a distortion of the magnetic field in the area of ​​the crater that was formed from the fall. The main version was then declared to be a meteorite fall. Ufologists even suggested that the ice body in Vygozero could become one of the heaviest in the world.
True, both representatives of the Karelian Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and their colleagues in the laboratory of meteoritics at the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry did not find any extraterrestrial particles in the sand samples brought from the bottom of Vygozero.
However, no one has been able to explain what exactly happened at the beginning of winter on the Karelian lake.
3. UFO, Karelia and Yuri Gagarin
Immediately before the first human flight into space, Karelia was distinguished by another anomalous phenomenon on the water. In the Korbozer area, local residents talked about an incomprehensible celestial body. A huge mass of frozen earth, about a thousand cubic meters in volume, was buried. A giant crater appeared, 27 meters long, 15 meters wide and 3 meters deep. A black, scorched hole appeared on the ice. Witnesses said that the picture left the impression as if something had hit the shore and bounced into the lake.
There were local residents who claimed that they saw an unidentified object hit the ground, after which it quickly took off and disappeared over the horizon. Someone tried to detect traces of another life, but all they found was a “strange greenish powder.”
Scuba divers were at the scene. After the dive, they assumed that the object that fell into the lake broke through the ice, dragged tons of frozen soil along the ground, and then flew into the sky again. Nothing more specific is known about this incident.
4. Ice circles on the water
It seems that aliens love to fly to Karelia in winter. In 2011, a local resident saw a flying saucer through the window. While he was running home to get the camera, it flew away, of course.

Flying saucer! The most real one!! And from it some two capsules descend... Thank God, not on the head, but a little to the side, above the river, - said an eyewitness.
The next morning, at a local reservoir, a man discovered this interesting natural phenomenon.
5. Races with foreign forces
For the sake of variety, let us cite an incident that did not occur on the water. In 1985, the drivers of train No. 1702 were traveling along the usual route from Petrozavodsk to Kostomuksha. At half past eight in the evening, the railway workers noticed that their train was being overtaken by a translucent body that looked like a soccer ball. The sphere headed the train, consisting of a two-section diesel locomotive and 70 cars, and took control of the train.
A force unknown to the drivers began to either accelerate or slow down the train. Moreover, the mysterious forces, apparently, were good-natured towards humanity that day: when the drivers had to let another train pass, the ball gave control of the mechanisms back into the hands of people. As the media reported, this incident is one of the most likely encounters with outside earthly life. The fog was also caused by instrument readings, according to which during the “game of catch-up” the diesel locomotive did not waste fuel and overcame inclines that it had previously been unable to travel through, even by inertia after acceleration. By the final station, the drivers saved about 300 kilograms of fuel. What it was, science again could not explain.

Therefore, I will talk about what I know for sure and what has not yet been trampled by the many herd hordes of foreign tourists and pensioners from whom there is no end, which unfortunately cannot be said about our old people. In light of the latest pension reforms, there will likely be even fewer of them. But this is a topic that has been agitating Russia for the last month, veiled by the World Cup, for a completely different article.

And you and I will just wander around virtual Karelia and reveal some of the age-old secrets of ancient temples and “magic stones”, mysterious labyrinths and one of the most beautiful islands on Ladoga! Let's touch on the mysteries and beauties of Karelia.

And so - off we go!

"...Each time this region surprised and amazed me with its beauty, mystery and inexpressible tranquility. The ancient and majestic land wins the heart forever.

Looking at the untouched forests, crystal clear lakes, mountain ranges and turbulent rivers, you involuntarily remember that Karelia is considered one of the possible places of existence of the mythical .

Idle tourists have no idea what is hidden behind this virgin beauty, what secrets these stones keep. But I will take you to a parallel world mysterious places shrouded in many legends and tales.

Legends, national epics, fairy tales and myths create an aura of mystery and fabulousness around the country of “a thousand lakes”.

And I, too, succumbed to this mysterious call. In my opinion, I visited the most outstanding places from the point of view of esotericism, mysticism and Orthodox culture.

The beauty and wonders of Lake Onega

Lake Onega - in the north-west of the European part Russian Federation, the second largest freshwater body of water in Europe after Lake Ladoga.

Located on the territory of the Republic of Karelia, Leningrad and Vologda regions. Belongs to the Baltic Sea basin of the Atlantic Ocean.

About 80% of the lake’s area is located in the Republic of Karelia, 20% in the Leningrad and Vologda regions.

Total number of islands in Lake Onega reaches 1650, and their area is 224 km². One of the most famous islands on the lake is Kizhi Island, on which the museum-reserve of the same name is located with wooden churches built in the 18th century: Spaso-Preobrazhensky and Pokrovsky.

The largest island is Bolshoi Klimenetsky (147 km²). There are several settlements on it, there is a school. Other islands: Bolshoi Lelikovsky, Suisari.

"Demon Nose"

Ledge on the bank of Onega. A place with a scary name "Demon Nose", dotted with drawings of ancient people. Petroglyphs are rock carvings inherited from our ancestors.

They are located under the feet of visitors, and not on a vertical rock surface. The deep meaning of these messages from ancient people both on the eastern coast of Lake Onega and in the Belomorsky region cannot be fully interpreted by scientists to this day.

There are more than 500 petroglyphs on Besovy Nos, among them the central figure is the Onega Bes, vaguely similar to a person, only with a square head, a barrel-like body, and with five fingers on his hands. The figure of the demon is divided exactly in the middle by a gap, indicating, according to scientists, a connection with other world. Both locals and visitors disappear here regularly. Where people disappear, only their belongings remain. Who is behind these mysterious and traceless disappearances? According to one version, which has been considered by scientists for more than half a century, the Demon depicted on the cape is a real creature representing Bigfoot. Due to the fact that the object is difficult to reach, it is visited only by fishermen and hunters, who cajole the owner by throwing coins into the slot so that he will favor them in their fishing.

What is in the direction where all the drawings depicted on the cape are facing? It turns out that there is a kind of little Mars there - the Crimson Quartzite Quarry. The stone of power was widely used in the construction of the Mausoleum and St. Isaac's Cathedral; the most famous tombs around the world are made from it, including Napoleon's Sarcophagus. It is mined only in Karelia, 60 kilometers from its capital, on the western bank of Onega, in the ancient village of Shoksha. Strange but true: rain always avoids the quarry.

Quartzite is not the only alien from another reality. Thanks to shungite, the Russians defeated the Swedes near Poltava: due to the intense heat, the water in the rivers bloomed. And our soldiers drank it, first dipping shungite into it. The Swedes suffered from dysentery.

There is one more property of this mysterious stone that surprises scientists: shungite is the only mineral on earth that conducts electric current. In production, shungite is processed manually; this process is quite dangerous. Surprisingly, wounds from cuts when treated do not fester and heal very quickly.

Compared to Demon Nose, the Zalavrugas complex with 29 groups of rock carvings, comprising 1.5 thousand petroglyphs, has become more accessible for tourists to visit. Among this variety of birds and animals, there is the most outstanding image that attracts the attention of tourists and scientists - “The Dancing Shaman”.

According to legend, you just have to rub it, the spirit will come out and will certainly fulfill your cherished desire.

Mount Sampo

Translated from Finnish, "Sampo" means a magical object, a source of happiness and prosperity. Having crossed the path to the top of the mountain along the stairs, trees full of different colors will appear before your eyes. Ribbons tied on them are a sign of wishes made.

An ancient legend says that this mountain has extraordinary energy that can work miracles.

All you have to do is approach the wish tree (a century-old pine tree), tie a ribbon or piece of fabric on its branches, say out loud your cherished wish and it will certainly come true.

In addition, the rocks of this hill attract extreme sports enthusiasts. Both beginners and experienced climbers can practice rock climbing here. At the same time, do not forget about the opportunity to admire the virgin nature of Karelia.

Finding yourself on a magical hill, you feel a special atmosphere among the mighty pine trees and rocky cliffs. Once you climb to the top during sunset, there will be no limit to your surprise when you see the treetops in the golden rays of the sun.

Here you can find real peace of mind from harmony with nature, recharge your batteries with healing air with the smell of wild pine trees. Catch fish and prepare aromatic fish soup, brew tea from medicinal herbs at the stake, because to break camping with friends near Mount Sampo - no problem.

What is Sampo? In accordance with Karelian-Finnish mythology, this is the name for an object that has magic, which gives its owner happiness, strength and prosperity. In the folk epic “Kalevala” it is presented in the form of a mill that provides its owner with flour, salt and gold.

Russian Body Island, Bald Mountain.

At its top there was a large sanctuary with a deity in the center, the “Stone Woman,” to whom sacrifices were made, and next to which the elders of the Sami tribe were buried.

But the central temple of the ancient Sami with a large concentration of idols and seids is located at the highest point of the German Body, here the shamans performed their main religious rituals. According to legend, in the 17th century, a detachment of Swedes took refuge here from a storm in order to later attack the Solovetsky Monastery, which angered the Gods, whose forces protected the holy monastery from the enemy, turning it into stones.

The gate to a parallel world is worth looking for on Mount Vottovaara - the most terrible and legendary place in Karelia. Dead trees and a kingdom of ritual stones that make the sound of emptiness.

The range of mountain hills stretches 7 kilometers in length. The road here is already filled with many obstacles, and sometimes it even seems that they are simply insurmountable. Having reached the goal, you will notice surfaces so smooth that it seems as if someone has polished them.

Many are convinced that the mountain has powerful energy, because rituals and worship of the gods were performed here. This is evidenced by the silent fifteen hundred seids arranged in a mysterious order.

The question immediately arises: how did huge boulders, among which there are multi-ton boulders standing on smaller ones, end up on the top of a mountain 417 meters high? Who put them here?

It is believed that the souls of deceased shamans are imprisoned in the stones, and people with psychic abilities come here to communicate with them, and also to ask the stones for part of their power and move to parallel worlds.

It also remains a mystery who carved the thirteen steps of the Heavenly Staircase and the “Bathtub” in the form of a depression filled with water into the rock?

Vottovaara is shrouded in many mysterious phenomena: animals do not live here, the lakes are dead, instruments fail, equipment fails, and the trees, like in the fairy tale about Baba Yaga, are especially striking, twisted and even tied in a knot, which only enhances the already eerie feeling from staying in this place. Here you can also fall into a deep sleep if you lie down on a boulder.

One of the unsolved mysteries of Karelia is labyrinths - encoded knowledge in the form of spiral-shaped stone symbols, reaching up to 30 meters in diameter and testifying to man’s connection with cosmic forces.

The spiral is a kind of code that has been passed down from generation to generation. In many legends, labyrinths indicate the entrances and exits of a parallel world, the doors of which open to those who know the key to them.

Until now, not a single scientist “blinded” by dogmas and authorities has deciphered its meaning.

Mysteries of Klimetsky

40 km north of Petrozavodsk is located one of the most large islands Lake Onega - Klimetsky, 30 km long.

During the next journey of a Novgorod merchant in this place in the 15th century, he was caught in such a strong storm that his ship was thrown ashore. The merchant liked the picturesque surroundings. Here he decided to found a monastery.

In the 19th century, local storytellers glorified these places with epics about heroes. To this day, the island’s fame has not ceased due to such phenomena as: ghosts wandering between the trees, garlands of running lights in forest clearings, UFOs. There are cases of disappearances of people.

Some first wander through the forest for a long time, although in fact they end up near their tent. Others do not remember at all how they ended up in this or that place. One way or another, no scientific explanation has been given for these phenomena.

The small and rocky island of Radkolye is located among Onega, not far from the island of Kizhi. Those who worshiped the gods living in the trees gathered here.

The island has its own owner - an idol in the form of a rock, with features similar to a human face and with such a stony gaze that it instills fear, causes apathy and humility. He bestows misfortune and illness on those who anger him.

Divny Island

(250 km from the capital) is part of the Valaam archipelago

Judging by the name, something inexplicable is really happening on the island: sudden appearances of UFOs and “wonderful” people: elders, dwarfs.

At the same time, some claim that they suddenly have an unreasonable fear, turning into horror and a desire to run away somewhere. Others, on the contrary, experience a surge of strength.

But still, guests try not to stay at Divnoye for a long time. The main attraction of the island is the cromlech, laid out thousands of years ago, consisting of rows of small stones.

In the 15th century, the Valaam monks erected a cross here. It was believed that our ancestors surrounded some very important place with these buildings.

Louhi district (600 km from Petrozavodsk), Paanajärvi National Park,
Mount Kivakka

They repeatedly tried to install an Orthodox cross on its top, but due to the wind or some other mysterious forces, these attempts were in vain. Local residents are confident in the superiority of mystical powers. And the frequent glow from the mountain only strengthens such guesses.

Here, on the territory of Paanajärvi, is the most high point, the roof of Karelia is Mount Nuorunen, 577 meters high. At the very top of the mountain, in defiance of universal gravity, a multi-ton seid balances on three small boulders.

Lightning strikes strike the tip of Sapen Mountain (165 km from Petrozavodsk) in the Medvezhyegorsk region more often than all other heights, as evidenced by trees with burnt tops. According to legend, iron rain fell on it so that people would learn to mine and process iron. Maybe that's why there are many iron ore deposits here.

In the same area in the village of Pegrema, in the north of Lake Onega, there is a complex of the same name with an area of ​​20 thousand square meters. In its northern part there is an object of worship "Duck", symbolizing the feminine principle, in the southern part - "Frog". Thanks to her, the entire object was discovered.

The dense vegetation hiding the ancient idols was destroyed by a forest fire. It’s as if someone specially opened this place for everyone to see. Our ancestors considered the frog a symbol of evil. That is why rituals were performed around her in order to appease her and noble representatives of the tribe were buried. Esotericists come here to perform various rituals.

West of Ladoga skerries. Kilpola

On the opposite shore of the northern part of the island there is an abandoned village, shrouded in stories telling about mysterious events that began here back in the 19th century:

Sharp objects suddenly became dull overnight, a thick fog suddenly descended and then dissipated, burdock trees grew twice as tall as a person, a sudden, causeless feeling of anxiety arose in local residents, absence of night, mirages in the form of cities and palaces, red flying balls.

The locals also avoided the thicket of the forest: an unknown force forced them to wander there for several days, after which no one saw the missing person again. People also hid from encounters with strange creatures, because otherwise anyone touched by someone would be struck by an unknown disease and die in agony.

Periodically, three nine-meter-diameter vats appeared and disappeared near the water, remaining warm even in winter. But it is worth noting that positive phenomena were also observed. For example, when a person was cured of an illness.

Every single one of the residents left the “wonderful” place, moving from here as far as possible.

Places of power in Karelia

The mysteries in Karelia do not end there. Not only islands and mountains store them. For example, in the Pitkäranta region, Lake Yanisjärvi has a beneficial effect on human energy. At the same time, fireballs also appear here, and a glow appears in the depths of the lake, accompanied by a hum and vibration.

Long abandoned Kochkomozero village with several rickety and blackened houses, the doors of which open and close by some unknown force. Many esotericists testify to it. Visitors to these places will not be left with the feeling that someone is watching them.

Segezha district, Segozero - damn place. According to the testimony of old-timers, at the beginning of the 20th century, all the water suddenly left the lake from Bald Lip, and after a very short time it sharply poured back, but now warm. Such terrible waves on the reservoir are very frequent. And such anomalies began when an unidentified object sank into it in the 17th century, which remains in the local waters to this day.

Urozero (Light) - filled with underground water of a transparent bluish color, through which you can see the bottom. Water taken from this source can be stored sufficiently long time, presumably because the springs feeding it pass through silver mines.

Famous for strange phenomena Vedlozero in Pryazhinsky district. This place is simply teeming with flying saucers and glowing balls, a short mermaid lives here, with a large head and thin limbs, and precipitation often falls in the form of jelly, healing any wounds.

Olonetsky district, village of Eroyla. Two crosses sailed here from Novgorod in the 12th century along the Olonka River. One stopped at the entrance to the village, the other at its exit. A sign from above? Later, chapels were founded here, but at the beginning of the 20th century they were destroyed and the shrines disappeared. Almost a century has passed since then, and one of the local residents discovered one of those missing crosses in the bushes in his yard after rain. It’s hard not to call this phenomenon a miracle, since the loss was found on the 780th anniversary of the baptism of Karelia.

Lake Ladoga also holds a mystery. Between the islands of Konevets and Valaam from under its waters come sounds like a roar jet plane and they last about one and a half minutes.

Not only local residents talk about barrantids, but also the monks of the Valaam Monastery, as well as Alexander Dumas, testified to this phenomenon in their writings.

On the shores of Impilahti Bay there is a village of the same name. Once upon a time, two lovers lived in it. The girl's parents were against her chosen one and tried in every possible way to separate them. And so it happened: they locked their daughter in the house, and the young man disappeared without a trace. The girl could not bear such torment and, running away from the house, threw herself off a cliff. Having turned into the mermaid Impi, every night she came ashore and made heartbreaking sounds that echoed throughout the entire area. This is where the name of the bay comes from.

There are a lot of unusual things in Karelia. But today I propose to take a virtual trip to the mysterious islands with which certain legends and amazing incidents are associated.

There are also many islands in Karelia, a country of rivers and lakes, and almost most of them are shrouded in an aura of mystery. It took a long time to build a route in order to go through the least traveled tourist paths and introduce you to the most interesting corners of this amazing land.

About Kizhi and Valaam, which certainly hold the palm among the most beautiful and most legendary Karelian Islands, I won’t talk about it here, I dedicated separate articles to them. The real journey will take place on small islands unknown to the general public, whose historyand attractions, in my opinion, deserved yu t attention.

I plan to start my journey withBig Klimetsk Island.

You will meet him while traveling from Petrozavodsk to the island of Kizhi if you go there on the Meteor. LengthBolshoy Klimetskogo is 30 km and width is 9 km. However, what is of interest is not its size, but the events that took place on its territory.

At the very end of the 15th century, the Klimets Monastery appeared on the southern tip of the island. The church building was founded by the Novgorod merchant Ivan Klimentov. According to legend, in 1520 he sailed on a merchant ship from Novgorod to the White Sea, but on the way the merchant was caught by a strong storm, during which the ship was thrown ashore by waves. The merchant remained alive, and in gratitude for his salvation, he decided to establish picturesque island monastery.

In the photo below: View of the monastery today.

Gradually, ordinary residents began to settle near the monastery. What is noteworthy is that they were not simple fishermen and peasants, but very creative, talented people. They always knew many ancient legends and traditions, which they themselves composed and passed on from generation to generation. In the 19th century, several folklorists arrived on the island and recorded a huge number of Russian epics. Many of them subsequently became widely known far beyond Russia.

However, tourists and researchers are interested not only in the island’s literary past, but also in its mysterious present. Mysteries attract ufologists, local historians and lovers of everything unknown to Bolshoi Klimetsk. For a long time, local residents have noticed that sometimes strange events occur on the island, which are not so easy to explain. By the way, from Karelian legends you can glean information that in the Middle Ages there was a huge pagan temple here. Old-timers and guests of the island talk about unusual phenomena that are observed on the island. On the paths there are lights, unidentified flying objects, silhouettes of strange creatures and much more.

The secrets of a small piece of land in the middle of Lake Onega excite people's minds. Many come here with dowsing frames and other devices, and spend all their free time studying the anomalies. Some find places with “huge energy potential” and are firmly convinced that space and time on the island can “collapse.”

What is happening on the island, and why is it so interesting to numerous researchers? Even eyewitnesses or direct participants in incomprehensible incidents cannot answer this question. For example, in the early 70s of the last century, several workers from the capital’s fish factory arrived at Bolshoi Klimetskoye to go fishing on the weekend. After spending the night in a log cabin, one of the fishermen went ashore to fish, and the other decided to first take a walk in the forest. The walk took a little longer, and the second fisherman managed to leave the forest only after a month, during which rescuers and volunteers searched for him. However, after returning to the civilized world, the lost fish factory worker was unable to tell about his adventures in detail, since, for him, it felt like only a few hours had passed. Local residents say that after his return the security services became interested in him, but this is understandable.

In 2008, another fisherman became acquainted with the mysterious nature of the island.

Here is his short story. The fisherman's name was Alexander Efimov, and he lived in one of the villages near the island of Kizhi.

“Last summer (2008) I sailed to Bolshoi Klimetsky Island in the evening. Leaving the boat on the shore, not far from the sand spit, I went to get firewood to make a fire. I went very far from the lake and kept moving straight in the direction opposite to where I was staying. I know these places well, I’ve been here many times, so I always felt calm and confident. Although I treated the stories about the “oddities” of the island with respect, since they were talking about it from people whom I know personally and who would never stoop to “invented nonsense.” Nothing like this has ever happened to me here, so I had no concerns. So, imagine what my surprise was when, having collected firewood, I suddenly saw my shore and the boat right in front of me. The impression was as if, having wandered through the forest, I made a circle and returned to my original place. But that’s the point: I didn’t make any “circle”. This puzzled me. I “forgot” about the fire and went back into the thickets, but again found myself on the shore. I “did this” five times, but with the same result. The most amazing thing is that the small compass embedded in the strap of my watch always showed the right direction. I made the last two attempts specifically checking with him.”

As a result, Efimov decided to stop the experiments and went home, away from the strange island.

In 2009, a group of young Petrozavodsk residents arrived on the same island, planning to relax on the shore of the island and just have a good time. They failed to realize their idea, because after a few hours the soil under their feet began to vibrate a little, the outlines of surrounding objects became unclear, and a strange and very unpleasant sound hung in the air. At first, the guys attributed what was happening to an excursion ship passing by, but after a while it disappeared from view, but the strange sensations remained. The young people decided to leave the island, and as soon as they got into the boat, the strange sounds disappeared, and the outlines of objects again became clearly visible.

In the same year, another strange incident occurred. One summer day, a family arrived to relax on Bolshoi Klimetskoye: a father, a mother and their six-year-old daughter Anya. The parents pitched a tent on the shore and started making a fire to cook fish soup. The child was constantly next to them, but at one point he suddenly disappeared from sight. Father and mother immediately rushed to search for their missing daughter. For two hours they combed the bushes in the area, but found nothing. As a result, the girl was found sleeping peacefully in a tent. How did the child manage to climb into it, and why didn’t he hear his parents’ screams? How did the parents, who looked into the tent more than once, not see it? However, this is not the most interesting thing. In order to wake up their child, parents had to spend about ten minutes. When she woke up, the girl was unable to explain what happened and how she got into the tent. According to her, it turned out that she ran into the forest, started playing and came out into some clearing with a black stone in the middle, but then she began to feel so sleepy that she leaned against the stone and fell asleep. The girl didn't remember anything else. Her adventure had no consequences for Anya. True, the mother claims that after the incident, the girl’s eyes darkened, turning from gray to almost brown, her hair stopped curling, and the location of moles on her body changed.

The above cases are only part of the incidents that took place on the island. You can believe in them or not, but the fact remains: from time to time people disappear on Bolshoy Klimetskoye. Luckily, they are always there – after a few hours or days. The missing themselves remember little about what happened, noting that they either had to walk in circles or follow an incomprehensible voice. We can only hope that scientists will one day be able to unravel the secrets of the mysterious island.

Second mysterious island on our route bears the nameRadkolye.

It is also located in Lake Onega near Kizhi. The length of the island is about 500 meters and the width is almost 160 meters. Despite its rather small size, this piece of land surrounded on all sides can boast unique story and the monuments located on its territory.

The name of the island consists of two words: “kallio” (rock) and “raato” (dead animal). Translated into Russian it means “rock of a dead animal.” Most of the island's territory is covered with forests and shrubs. In the pre-Christian era, there were many pagan sanctuaries on the island, some of which have survived to this day. The pagan temples of Radkolya are figures laid out of stone in the form of spirals and ovals, but more complex forms of such objects are also found. It is known that they were part of an ancient pagan cult widespread in the territory of modern Karelia.

(In the photo on the left is the temple, below on the right is the restored labyrinth)

One of the most famous monuments of the island is considered to be the “Radkol Idol”, with which the local residents had many traditions associated.(pictured below)

Until the beginning of the 20th century, local residents celebrated “Radkol Sunday” once a year on the last Sunday before Midsummer (a week before Kupala). On this day, residents of nearby settlements came to the island. On a relatively flat area in the central part of Radkolye there was a large stone, the height of which was approximately two meters. This boulder was the very idol that was worshiped by the ancient inhabitants of Karelia. During the holiday, people sang and danced, and the youth who took part in the celebration of “Radkol Sunday” united their efforts and tried to push the stone into the water every year. Despite all the efforts expended, the stone remained standing in the same place. Where such a tradition came from and what it meant for the ancient Karelians remains unclear.

In addition to the mysterious idol, there are other attractions on the island that attracted not only local residents. The island had a so-called “master”, which the locals believed was a rocky fissure where a face was imprinted, shaped like the head of a man with a beard. (see right)

The design created by nature was treated with respect, since according to legend, the bearded owner of the island could send illnesses and other troubles to a person who showed disrespect for him.

Old-timers from nearby villages also talk about the sacred Radkol pine, which was only miraculously not cut down during the preparation of logs for the construction of the Klymenets Monastery.

Today Radkolye Island is of interest to archaeologists and scientists. Unorganized tourists can only explore Radkolye from the water or from a specially created path, but in the future it is planned to create a museum complex on the island.

To visit the next island, let’s move mentally from Onega to Lake Ladoga.

So, now in front of you- Divny Island (part of the Valaam archipelago).

In general, it should be noted that information about the islands of the Valaam archipelago is more than scanty and contradictory. In particular, this applies to the island of Divny, which since ancient times was mentioned in the Valaam monastery chronicles “as a pagan temple.” In some sources Fr. Marvelous is called Devichye, which is hardly legitimate, since the name of the island comes from the “wonderful, wonderful phenomena” often observed here both in the past and in the present and that, according to legend, “marvelous people” lived on the island in ancient times.
In Russian folk legends, the memory of the “wild peoples” living underground is very stable. The same applies to the Sami, Finnish, Karelian ethnographic traditions.
The island itself, undoubtedly, can even be called a landscape sanctuary - almost inaccessible cliffs plunge steeply into the depths of Ladoga, the flat top of the island is overgrown with lush vegetation. It was on the top that a thousand years ago a cromlech was laid out - the main attraction of the island, in the middle of which in the 15th century the monks of the Valaam Monastery erected a cross. Apparently, thanks to the ancient sanctuary, this place has always been considered reserved and mysterious. It is believed that it also has its own mysterious “guardian”.

Some people who are on the island at different times. Marvelous, I even managed to “get acquainted” with the keeper of the cromlech. Their descriptions are in many ways similar, so we will give as an example only one, recorded from the words of a physical education teacher at one of the Petrozavodsk schools M.F. Ekimova, who has repeatedly visited the island for tourist purposes. Marvelous.

“In mid-August 1990, while with friends on the island. Marvelous (our camp was set up near the cromlech), I saw a small man, a dwarf, quietly approach me. He was dressed in a light jacket and trousers of the same color, and there was something on his head. The face is dark, the eyes are bulging, the lips are thick, the nose is wide. When I asked him where he came from, he waved his hand vaguely: like, from there. He did not answer every question I asked immediately; apparently, it was difficult for him to speak; he seemed to be looking for suitable words, and his speech was inarticulate. I turned around to call one of my people, and when I turned around again, there was no trace of him. As if he had vanished into thin air, although there was simply nowhere to hide in this place. After this meeting, I was left with a very unpleasant feeling, and the whole team hurried to leave that place. It felt like we were invading “someone” without an invitation.”

UFO sightings are also associated with Divny Island. Here is one of them, from which the veil of “secrecy” was recently lifted, since this event was at one time mistaken for “military testing of new weapons,” but then they admitted that the military had nothing to do with this incident (in the photo below right, as you understand, just a picture)

“In the summer of 1992, tourists taking a boat trip along the islands of the Valaam archipelago, in the direction of. Marvelous, they suddenly saw some kind of “rocket” about three meters long, which flew out of the water. Then, three smaller “missiles” separated from this “missile” and flew in different directions. And after a couple of minutes everything disappeared.
The rise out of the water happened very slowly, then it hovered, and suddenly three small “missiles” launched simultaneously from the sides. There was no visible flame below. After they took off, large waves began to flow through the water. The color of the rockets was gray, clearly metallic. The “rockets” suddenly picked up speed and disappeared – only dots flashed in the distance.”

(Left: Divny Island. Painting by Alexander Afonin)

However, staying on the island does not always end psychologically painlessly for a person. There are enough messages in the personal archive of the authors that indicate that Divny Island is not a place for recreational walks, but, like any other “place of power,” it imposes certain obligations on a person. Here is one such message:

“We came to Valaam and, after seeing all the sights, went to the island. Marvelous – Petrozavodsk resident Sergei Belokozenko told . – There were four of us (two young married couples) and we wanted to take a little break from the hustle and bustle, from people, to join something unusual, mysterious, so we decided to go to Fr. It was amazing to live there in tents for several days. Summer was in full swing, the weather was excellent, the mood was good. It was easy and fun. One day, literally before our departure, we all simultaneously had a strange feeling: either anxiety or fear. This feeling was very vague and it was impossible to understand why it was happening. Gradually it intensified until it turned into horror. I wanted to run somewhere. The state bordered on panic. It was completely consistent with the words of the great Jung: “The oldest, most powerful emotion felt by a living being is fear. And the strongest feeling of fear is fear of the unknown.”
In this state we went to bed. It was two o'clock in the morning, but no one could sleep. Silence reigned in the tents; no one wanted to speak.
About two o'clock I left the tent - I wanted to escape from heavy thoughts - when suddenly, right in front of me, I saw something that was shaped like an ideal “flying saucer”. This object was about fifteen meters long. It glowed with a red-yellow light and around it there was a halo of the same color. Interestingly, four structures extended from the object, representing a straight rod that ended triangular shape. It seemed that this “triangle” was being viewed as if through a prism, because it was “inverted”. The object moved vertically, up and down. I got the impression that he sometimes touched the ground with these “structures.”
I called everyone, and we all observed this strange phenomenon together. In the end, our interest in the object waned, although the feeling of fear did not go away, and we went to bed. As soon as we settled down (in the tent with my wife), suddenly... a man appeared in the tent. It was an old man with a thick, white beard. His figure was covered in something that looked like a black jumpsuit. He came up to us, stood for a while and leaned towards us. We both saw it. They saw it quite clearly and were scared. The most interesting thing is that our friends, in the second tent, saw, at the same time as us, a completely similar vision. It even seemed to us that the “old man” came to us against the backdrop of some kind of pyramid with writings or frescoes carved on it. All this lasted seconds, but it seemed like an eternity to us.
The vision of the “old man” disappeared suddenly. In the end, completely exhausted, we fell asleep and left in the morning. I think this adventure will be enough for us for the rest of our lives.”

WITH The next island we will meet is Kilpola Island in Lake Ladoga.

The island with an area of ​​6 by 8 km (literally “kilpi” - Shield, la - the place where the Kilpi clan lived) is known for the fact that settlements of ancient Karelians were discovered on it.

Before the 1939 war ode on the island a stone Novgorod cross was found, which is currently located in the National Museum of Finland (city X Yelsinki).

The island and surrounding areas have a very ancient history; in the area of ​​the village of Tiurulu, sites of Stone Age people from the 4th-5th millennium AD were discovered.Karelian settlements, one of the most ancient agricultural settlements in the Northern Ladoga region.

Until the 40s of the last century, dozens of families lived on Kilpol, roads were built between farms, and bridges were thrown across the channels. On the island there was a courtyard of the Konevsky Monastery and even several villages belonging to the monastery. All this was burned by the fire of the Soviet-Finnish wars.The last families left the island already in the 50s, during the time of forced collectivization and the policy of consolidation of collective farms and destruction of farmsteads carried out at that time. People with property were relocated from the island to nearby villages. Everything that could not be taken with us was simply burned. Now only old foundations, raspberry thickets, rare currant bushes and still fruiting apple trees remind of the former presence of people on the island.

In our time, Kilpole hosted archaeological excavations. Although they cannot be called full-scale, they also gave scientists an idea of ​​the life and lifestyle of the ancient Karelians who lived on the island.

At the southern tip, north of Cape Sahaniemi, in the area of ​​​​Cape Kärmelammenniemi, in 1941-44, there was a guard observation post (see photo on the right).

However, a huge number of legends and traditions are also associated with the island.

The book of the outstanding Finnish ethnographer and archaeologist Theodor Schwindt “Folk legends of the northwestern Ladoga region, collected in the summer of 1879” provides unique information about the “giants of the ancient land of Korelskaya”.

« On the Ladoga coast, - writes T. Schwindt, - there is a legend that once upon a time people lived in these places huge people, the so-called Metelilainen, or Munkkilainen, who were gradually displaced from here by the Laplanders and Finns". The Meteläinen were distinguished by their enormous growth and the incredible noise they made as they moved through the forest, which is where their name actually comes from (from the word “meteli” - noise).

"Legends of the Meteliläinen, – T. Schwindt further points out, –preserved almost everywhere, but there are especially many of them in the so-called “Kilpola necklace” - on the islands located around the island of Kilpola. Probably because in such places there are many real evidence the activities of giant people: these are fields cleared of forest, and from time to time huge human bones found in the ground, and plows abandoned by snowstorms, as well as huge ramparts in the mountains and islands.

In particular, in the village of Sookua there is Mount Kesäkallimäki, which almost all was once occupied by a cemetery, but now houses have been built there. I was digging in that area and found under a flat stone at a considerable depth the skeleton of a large man: his skull lay a little to the side, and the bone of his right forearm was near his nose. One old man told me that the Meteläinen were buried here.”

In addition to the evidence mentioned, ancient stone masonry shafts and other remains of stone structures, which cannot be called fortifications, but are nevertheless considered fortresses, have been preserved on Kilpola. And x is also attributed to metelilainen - how heavy and weighty the stones are at the base of the buildings, an ordinary person cannot lift them.

“The stones in some places are the size of a cubic cubit or even larger. (A cubit is an ancient Russian measure of length equal to 38-46 cm. Accordingly, a cubic cubit is approximately 0.25-0.5 cubic meters). Therefore, they believe that such a structure could only be built by the Meteläinen.” – wrote Schwindt.

In the channel between the island Montossaari and the island of Kilpola are a place where only uninformed lovers of “wild” recreation and fishing risk coming.

From the northern part of the island of Kilpola, a long-abandoned village is visible: a rickety log bell tower and black log buildings. People left it at the very beginning of the last century, and since then no one has lived there anymore. Here are just some of the legends that have survived to this day, explaining their actions.

Below is a quote from the book of Karelian local historian A. Popov:

“The grandson of one of the residents of the “cursed” village, Alexander Ermakov, said that miracles began here back in the 19th century, after one day in this place, contrary to all the laws of nature, night did not fall. For exactly three days it was as bright as day here. No, the sun was not shining, rather the whole village was shrouded in a light fog, sometimes thickening, sometimes, on the contrary, dissipating. The people, frightened to death, could not sleep all this time, feeling some kind of exhausting feeling of anxiety in their souls. Then the “miracles” suddenly stopped, and everything went as usual. However, from that moment on, events began to occur in this place, explanations for which are still impossible to find.

On certain days of the week, any sharp objects suddenly became dull: scissors, knives, needles, sickles, scythes, axes, and attempts to somehow sharpen them were never crowned with success. Women here stopped getting pregnant, and the village slowly but surely began to “age.” However, the reproductive function of the village women was restored as soon as they moved to live in another place.

The bank of the channel began to rapidly overgrow: huge burdocks, stunted trees with abnormally long branches, spreading for many meters along the ground, strange grass - one and a half to two times taller than a person. In addition, three smooth “cauldrons” approximately 6-9 meters in diameter suddenly appeared at the very edge of the water, lined from the inside with a layer of an unknown material similar to emery. They were very warm even in winter, and local boys loved to play with them. Over time, these cauldrons were sucked down by unstable soil, and then nothing reminded them of their existence.

Strange mirages that usually appear in these places on the eve of the full moon are told in completely fantastic stories. According to eyewitnesses, when the sun rises, the palaces and walls of the city are visible above the lake. This “city” (some call it a temple) is a dome surrounded by openwork turrets. His surroundings change - some see him on the shore of a body of water, others on the edge of a cliff, others on the slope of a hill. This is how one eyewitness describes the mirage: “A city rose out of the fog. It glowed in different colors, as if engulfed in a multi-colored fire. Walls and towers rose above the night lake, shadows of people living an ordinary worldly life appeared. From time to time, sounds were heard reminiscent of the roar of a crowd in a market, the crying of children, and enchanting music. And all this wonderful vision gave rise to some kind of unaccountable fear in the soul, a desire to run away from the beautiful picture, to forget it.”

A few years later, the “city” disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. But over the area, with enviable frequency, a huge red ball in a circle as red as fire began to be observed. And there was always a luminous object nearby. After some time, the ball darkened, and three-dimensional greenish images appeared against its background - either people dancing wildly, or mysterious hieroglyphs.

From time to time, some strange white creatures appeared in the village: people - not people, animals - not animals. The meeting with them did not promise anything good: those who did not have time to hide in houses and who were touched by “men in white” by a fatal accident suddenly fell ill with an unknown disease and soon died in agony.

In the thicket of the forest, which local residents tried to avoid, there were places upon which people simply disappeared. However, at first, someone “confused” them for a long time, forcing them to wander along small ponds, which, quite unexpectedly, were encountered in the thicket of the forest. According to the stories of the survivors, when they went deeper into the forest, strictly guided by the sun, there were three such ponds, and when it was time to return home, there were already seven of them! Only a few lucky ones, who wandered among the ponds for several days, managed to return. The rest disappeared without a trace. Surprisingly, however, the same number of pseudo-moons appeared over these pseudo-ponds at night! Small, mobile, glowing with all the colors of the rainbow, they blinked with multi-colored lights, as if laughing at the unlucky travelers, and extended tentacle rays glowing silver to the ground.

The exhausted villagers, unable to bear such a life, decided to leave the village and settle away from these places cursed, as they believed, by God. It was decided to keep the location of the village a secret, but still, legends about local miracles seeped into folklore and were passed on from mouth to mouth, acquiring more and more monstrous details.

Over time, the “zone” has gradually calmed down, and now there are fewer and fewer deaths: people, as if sensing something was wrong, try not to stay in these areas for long. Something completely out of the ordinary happens here, but with a different, positive sign: in certain places, if you stay in them for at least a day, chronic diseases are cured, the body seems to be “recharged” with energy. They also say that somewhere in these parts there are transitional “gates” between worlds. Perhaps it was on a journey to parallel worlds that the people who disappeared here over the last hundred years went?

Now let's move on our journey to the north of the republic - to Trinity Island.

Trinity Island (Trinity Island, Shuya Island –that's what it was called at different times) is located on Lake Muezero, which in turn is located in the Belomorsky region of Karelia. The lake measures 8.7 by 4.7 km. On shore there are two settlements Afonino and Ushkovo, where no one has lived for a long time. To get to the island, you first need toIt’s difficult to get to these abandoned villages; you can’t get there by SUV - everything is overgrown, you can walk 3 km from the highway, and then take a boat 3 km along the water. (In the photo on the right is the abandoned village of Ushakovo, on the left are the roads of Karelia, sometimes this happens)

Muezero comes from the Karelian word “mue” - vendace. And on this lake in the 15-16th century there was a Muezersky fort. This was the only defensive structure at that time in the Rugozero volost, which protected a small monastery, and somewhat later the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (1602-1605) built on the island. The monastery was founded in the mid-15th century by the Monk Cassian of Muezersky, who arrived here from Solovetsky Monastery, but in 1764, by decree of Catherine, the second monastery was already abolished, and the buildings have since gradually collapsed.

(In the photo on the left - Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker)

In the description book of the Kem volost, compiled in 1591 by the centurion Semyon Yurenev, it was said about this monastery as follows:“on Maslozero land on Muezer on an island there is a monastery, and in it is the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity, a hermitage, and in it are five brothers; and they feed from their labors with forest grain, and they catch fish on the lake. There are two onions in the onion town, 5 households in Bobyl.”(Pictured below: the interior of the church from Trinity Island)

Only the church, built in 1602-1605 and very untidyly restored during Soviet times, and two chapels have survived to this day. According to the northern tradition, neither the temple nor the chapel is locked - they are only propped up with a stick from wild animals.

(In the photo on the right is the Chapel of the Savior Not Made by Hands)

In the first chapel you can see a three-meter wooden cross made by Elder Alexei in 1672, which is confirmed by the inscription on it. (pictured below is the entrance to the chapel and the cross inside)

Next to the church and chapel is another tomb chapel. The second, unofficial name of the island is associated with it -"White death". (Pictured below right)

They say that previously on the site of this chapel there was a boulder on which the righteous lay down to receive the so-called White Death from God. Subsequently, a large chapel was erected in the chapel built on this site.a wooden coffin, the boards of which shimmer in the dark, as if made of bone.The last body, whose soul presented itself here to the divine throne, is believed to lie in this coffin and not decompose. She waits until another person who wants to part with earthly life comes here. This person who wishes must first bury the mortal coil of his predecessor before lying there himself. (in the photo below is the same white coffin. Empty)

This island is also famous for the huge spruce trees planted here in the 14th century. This is connected with the legend that it was here that the World Tree once grew (also a spruce according to Karelian ideas).

Until recently, there stood a patriarch with a trunk diameter of 4 meters, but now it has fallen. But its younger neighbors remained (the diameter is 2 and one and a half meters, but the girth along the outer perimeter is also at least 3.5 meters).

On the island there is a chain of seids that leads to a small lambina (for some reason it is called Karma - see photo on the right ). There are rumors among amateur researchers that time gaps occur on the island; you can hear someone’s beautiful singing or see ancient wise men performing their rituals.

Spruces and seids are related to each other, because according to ancient Sami and Karelian legends, it is the “Tree” that is the original beginning of the “initiatory journey” through milestone signs (“seids”) to Lake Karma.

In the photo - an idol from Lake Karma and seid

Well, the last point of our journey -Anzer Island Solovetsky archipelago.

In 2001, an expedition of specialists from the Russian Geographical Society discovered a strange “sea pyramid” off the island of Anzer, rising to a height of about ten meters above the water level, which has also not received an intelligible explanation to date.(pictured below)

In the summer of 2003, a repeat expedition conducted research inthose parts. Experts recorded legends preserved in the memory of local residents aboutthat in ancient times on the shore of one of local Lakes there was an ancient pagan temple, made of numerous stones and very revered.Researchers finally found this temple. But, unfortunately, toTo date, the monument has been completely destroyed; the stones are scattered over a large area or simply destroyed. Many of them have gone into the ground, and finding them is quite difficult. (pictured below left)

Legends also say that this temple was built from “marked” stones, i.e. made of stones with runic signs carved on them, which, along with semantic and magical functions, also carried a protective function. It is interesting that the word “rune” itself does not mean “a letter or sign”, but “a secret, a mystery”, that is, withThe word “rune” is an analogue of the Greek “mysterion” (mystery).

(Pictured below is a labyrinth from Anzer Island)

This is where our journey ends. But I hope it's not the last. And we will continue to discover hard-to-reach, but such beautiful corners of our northern ancestral home.

In the photo: Chapel on Anzer Island

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!