Turov - where crosses grow. Interesting facts from the history of the ancient city of Turov

Tours- an urban settlement in the Zhitkovichi district of the Gomel region, the center of the Turov village council, 30 km southwest of the district center Zhitkovichi, 263 km from Gomel, on the Pripyat River (a tributary of the Dnieper). It is connected by roads with David-Gorodok, Zhitkovichi, Lelchitsy, 3.2 thousand inhabitants (2004). Recreation area - the banks of the Pripyat River.

Ancient Turov

Turov is first mentioned in "Tales of Bygone Years" under the year 980, where it says: “... after all, Rogvolod moved from overseas to his volost Polotsk, and Tur Turov, from him Turovtsi was nicknamed”. The settlement of ancient Turov included detinets and a roundabout town. Detinets from the southeast side was isolated from the roundabout city by a defensive moat, which was constantly filled with water. From the 2nd half of the 13th century on the territory of the citadel existed Castle, the main defensive structure of which was a stone tower built in the 2nd half of the 13th century. It belonged to the type of Volyn towers (like the Kamenets tower). It was dismantled by order of the Russian authorities in the 1830s.

Archaeologist Lysenko discovered in 1992-1993. during the excavation of the Turov settlement in the layers of the end of the 10th century, the remains of a pagan temple, in later layers - the ruins of the temple, which was destroyed during the alleged earthquake of 1230, the remains of residential buildings, burials in sarcophagi, the lead seal of the Kiev Metropolitan Cyril I (1225-32), so-called Turkish crosses.

Diocese of Turov

At the end of the 1st millennium AD. the city became a political, economic and cultural center Turov Principality. At this time, one of the first dioceses in Russia on the Greek pattern arose in Turov.

Diocese of Turov was founded in the late X - early XI century. Initially covered the territories of the Pripyat River basin, it also included cities Pinsk, Mozyr, David-Haradok and others. After the destruction of Turov by the Tatars (mid-13th century), the episcopal see was moved to Pinsk, and the diocese became known as Turovo-Pinskaya.

Turov princes

Turov - the only city X century on the territory of the settlement of the tribe Dregovichi. It is assumed that he was the tribal center of an independent "principality". Since 988, representatives of the Rurik dynasty reigned in Turov. The first of them was Svyatopolk the Accursed (988-1015), the son of the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich. After his death, the Turov land was included in the Kiev principality. Yaroslav the Wise in 1052 gave Turov and the principality of Turov to his third son Izyaslav. From 1073 to 1158 the city passed from one prince to another. In 1158, the Izyaslavich dynasty was restored by the grandson of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, Yuri Yaroslavich, who achieved independence from Kyiv of the Turov principality.

During the reign of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (1087-1113), his wife, the Greek princess Varvara, founded in Turov Varvara convent. In 1158, Turov withstood a tough ten-week siege by the troops of the coalition of South Russian princes, and in 1160 a three-week siege by the Volyn princes. An outstanding figure of Eastern Slavic culture lived and worked in Turov Kirill Turovsky.

In the 2nd half of the XII century, the Turov principality entered the stage of feudal fragmentation, and the city lost its former political significance. From the 1320s, Turov became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since 1430, it passed to the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Svidrigailo, from the end of the 15th century - the possession of N.L. Glinsky, in 1508-1620. - Princes Ostrozhsky, then Sapieha, Potocki.

Photo by K. Shastoўsky | Photo taken date: 2006/04/02

From the 15th century it was part of the Troksky, from 1566 Brest voivodeships of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1502 and 1521 the city of Turov was attacked by the Crimean Tatars. During the war of 1648-54 was in the territory controlled by the Cossacks. In 1649 the city was liberated by the troops of Janusz Radziwill. Devastated during the war between the Muscovy and the Commonwealth of 1654-67.

In 1743, Jan Mikhail Sologub, marshal of the main Lithuanian tribunal, became the owner of most of Turov as a "county". In 1790 there were 497 houses here. In 1793, after the 2nd partition of the Commonwealth, Turov included Russian Empire, a township, the center of the Turov volost, Mozyr district, Minsk province, belonged to Sologubs.

In 1865, one of the earliest monuments of East Slavic writing of the 11th century was discovered in Turov - Turov gospel. The gospel is the earliest (of those that have survived) book created in the Belarusian lands. Removed in 1865 to the Vilna Public Library. Stored in the Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.

In 1897 in Turov - 4290 inhabitants, 667 households, 4 churches, a church, a chapel, a synagogue, a pier, 50 shops, a post and telegraph office, 4 taverns, photography. In the farm of the same name, which belonged to Nareiko, there was a steam mill. From February 1918 to January 1919, Turov was occupied by the troops of Kaiser Germany, on July 10, 1919 - by Polish troops, in July 1920 - by the Red Army. 10/14/1920 occupied by troops under the command of General Bulak-Balakhovich. On November 7, 1920, a ceremony was held in Turov to transfer civil power "over the liberated land of the Belarusian People's Republic" from the hands of General Bulak-Balakhovich to the Belarusian Political Committee.

After the signing of the Soviet-Polish peace treaty in Riga in March 1921, it was occupied by the Red Army. In 1923 there were 6217 inhabitants in Turov. Since 1924 the center of the district, since 1938 the urban settlement of the Polesye region. In 1939 there were 5455 inhabitants. In the 2nd World War from 14/7/1941 to 5/7/1944 it was occupied by German troops, who killed 1792 people in Turov and the region. Since 1954 in the Gomel region, since 1962 in the Zhitkovichi region. Turov has 2 secondary and music schools, Kindergarten, House of children's creativity, 2 houses of culture, 3 libraries, museum of local lore, hospital.

Tourist potential of Turov

Unfortunately, almost nothing has survived from the former grandeur in Turov. However, even without any architectural sights, the city has good tourism potential. First of all, thanks to the hyped myth about the so-called. "growing out of the ground" cross at the ancient Borisoglebsk cemetery, pilgrims come to Turov not only from Belarus, but also from Russia to specially bow to the stone cross.

Secondly - to the brand name itself "ancient Turov" and, of course, the river Pripyat, which offers wonderful views directly from the main street of the city. A boat runs along Pripyat to Mozyr and back, which can also have a positive impact on tourists visiting this ancient city.

In Turov you can also see ancient castle with the remains of wooden residential buildings and the foundation of the church of the XI-XII centuries, the former Uniate Church of All Saints(1810), which contains 2 large stone crosses, according to legend, sailed from Kyiv. And also established in the 2000s. monuments to Cyril of Turov and Konstantin Ostrozhsky

Literature:
Pyotr Lysenka, Tatsyana Skrypchanka, Mykola Nikalaev
Encyclopedia of History of Belarus. T.5.
Minsk, "Belarusian Encyclopedia", 1999
A.P. Grytskevich, A.M. Kulagin
A collection of memories of the history and culture of Belarus. Gomel region
Minsk, Belarusian Encyclopedia, 1986

Turov is a small town in the Gomel region with richest history. Many centuries ago, the Dregovichi lived on the territory of the city, and in the 10th century they founded the Principality of Turov here. Throughout its existence, the city has developed rapidly. It was in Turov in 1005 that one of the first dioceses in Ancient Russia appeared, as well as the oldest Belarusian handwritten book called “The Turov Gospel”.

At different times, the city was raided by Tatars, Cossacks, troops of Janusz Radziwill, who completely burned Turov. Then he lived the ordinary life of one of the Soviet villages. Turov received city status in August 2004. Today Turov is a developing city where tourism infrastructure to familiarize tourists with its history.

This commemorative sign is a stone on which one of the huge number of legends about the origin of the name of the city is presented, and the year when the mention of Turov appeared in the annals - 980 . This sign is located directly opposite the Turov Hotel.

From the location of the sign, a beautiful view of the tributary of the Pripyat River - Strumen and the beautiful embankment of the city opens up. In addition, for memorial sign there is an information poster telling about the wintering places of the local storks.

Complex "Ancient Turov"

The museum was built on the site ancient temple, destroyed in 1230. After the earthquake, only the foundation remained of the church, erected in the 1170s. On this foundation, discovered in 1961, the glass tent of the current museum was built.
This is the largest building on the territory of the lands of ancient Russia, located in its western part. In the museum you can see how Turov looked before, as well as get acquainted with an extensive collection of handicraft tools.

Location: street on Castle Hill - 1.

Bishop Kirill of Turov was born and lived in Turov, so of course there is a monument to him in the city. The monument was erected in 1993 on the territory of the Castle Hill and is made of concrete covered with copper.

The sculpture is a figure of Cyril of Turov himself with his head raised, and behind the figure is a Byzantine-shaped cross. The height of the monument is 7 m. In his left hand, the bishop holds a book, on the cover of which a cross is engraved, and with his right hand he points to this book.

The cross is located at the Borisoglebsk cemetery, which is located on the banks of the Yazda River. The surface of the cross is chipped, and the ends are rounded.

The stone cross began to grow out of the ground in the cemetery in the middle of the 20th century. However, at first no one knew that it was a cross, since it looked like an ordinary stone. Every year the pebble became bigger and bigger and took the shape of a cross. In 2001, an inexplicable event happened to him: in winter, when the temperature was at -15, the snow around the cross melted and puddles formed, and the stone itself was warm to the touch.

In addition, there is a belief in the city that two sons of Prince Vladimir the Baptist are buried on the territory of the Borisoglebsk cemetery. In the death of the brothers, their half-brother, who was also the first prince of Turov, is considered guilty.

This is the most old museum Gomel region, which was opened in 1927. The circle of history and natural history of one of the schools served as the basis for the museum. At the time of opening, the gallery's collection consisted of more than a hundred exhibits.
The founder, and concurrently the first director of the museum was M.E. Brui. In addition, P.A. played a huge role in the creation of the museum. Shchekotovich is an employee of the library of the People's House. The exposition of the gallery consisted of archeological objects, old handwritten and printed publications, household items.

However, during the Second World War, all the exhibits of the museum were completely destroyed. In 1949, a new building was allocated to the gallery, and until that time it was located in the personal home of Shchekotovich himself. Today, the museum includes several expositions and an exhibition hall, and the number of exhibits exhibited in the gallery reaches eleven thousand.

Location: Kirov street - 21.

The city of Turov is rich not only in its history, but also in natural features. In this territory, during their flight to warm countries, many migratory birds stop, some of which build their nests here. That is why in 2008, on the banks of the Pripyat River, the only non-state reserve “Turovsky Meadow” was opened in the entire territory of Belarus.

Every year, floods cause the reserve to become a network of islands used by many birds for their colonies. On the territory of the meadow there is the only bird ringing station in the country. Every year, Turov is visited by many tourists who want to visit the Turovsky Meadow Reserve to enjoy watching rare birds listed in the Red Book.

This is the only monument in the world to waders - maradoons. In Belarus, this bird is listed in the Red Book. She builds her nests exclusively in the floodplain of the Pripyat River, on the territory of the only reserve "Turovsky meadow".

The monument was opened in May 2009 and is represented by two sculptures of these beautiful birds. This cute monument once again indicates the uniqueness of these places.

This temple is located in a wooden house, located on one of the central streets of the city. The church was built in 1810, but until about 1930, only funeral services were held in it.

The fame of the cathedral was brought by two stone crosses, the height of each of which is 2 m. According to the legend, these crosses arrived in the city along the river from Kyiv and then the water in the river was stained with blood. This event served to develop the Christian faith in Turov. It is believed that initially there were three of these crosses, but one was lost. Many people now believe that the third cross is located at the Borisoglebsk cemetery.

Location: street.

This monument was unveiled in September 2005 on Castle Hill. It is a stone cross, similar to those crosses that are located near the Church of All Saints. This monument is a tribute to the great Cyril of Turov.

Location: Castle Hill.

The construction of the first cathedral church in the city began in the 12th century. However, this church was destroyed in the 13th century during the Tatar raids. At the beginning of the last century, they raised funds for the construction of a new cathedral, but the First World War, the coup d'etat and other important events that took place during this period in the country did not allow construction to begin.

The issue of building a temple was returned only in 2008, when the President of Belarus allocated a territory for its construction. In May 2010, the foundation stone of the future church was laid. The following year, the foundation of the future bell tower was laid, and domes and crosses were raised to the temple. The cathedral was consecrated in 2013. The temple is made in the ancient Byzantine style and has 9 domes. Together with the cross, the height of the cathedral is 32 m.

Location: street.

Turov is a settlement (3 thousand inhabitants) in the Zhitkovichi district of the Gomel region, and the second (after Polotsk) city of Belarus in time of foundation - 980. ancient capital Dregovichi tribe, then the Turov-Pinsk principality, even under the Poles, this city lost the status of the capital of Polissya and turned into a mestcheko. He vividly reminded me of Totma, Belozersk, Cherdyn, Ust-Vym: incredible (especially for Belarus!) wilderness, and amazing ethnographic integrity. Frankly speaking, if you are interested in "sights", there is almost nothing to do in Turov. But if you want to see the real Polissya, you won't find anything better than Turov.

Turov is a very inaccessible city. The way there is a separate issue. The diesel line from Bryansk to Brest, which crosses the whole of Polissya, has not been repaired in Belarus for a long time - the rails are rusted, and the "jumping diesel tyahnik" goes from Pinsk to Zhitkovichi (in Turov itself railway no) about 3.5 hours.

Getting into a half-empty car in Pinsk, get ready for a slow and long journey: the train goes very slowly, stops at deaf half-stations every 20 minutes, and gradually an impenetrable forest thickens around, and brick houses are replaced by wooden Polesye huts. Due to the "range" of the diesel engine, you will probably be the only one who will get from Pinsk to Zhitkovichi - near each city (Luninets, Mikashevichi) the contingent of passengers is almost completely renewed. In Mikashevichy, the train passes by the monstrous structures of the operating mine.

Finally, the train reaches the final station - Zhitkovichi, the current regional center with a population of about 10 thousand people. The bus Zhitkovichi - David-Gorodok departing from the railway station was connected to the train - and sit on it, the journey to Turov will take about an hour.

Separately, it is worth mentioning about Zhitkovichi. I saw this town only from the bus window, and yet it struck me with two things. First, the modern tradition of wood carving, quite worthy of the old ones:

Secondly, slogans hung everywhere a la the USSR:

The first is possible, probably, only in Polissya - there are many such buildings in the city. The second in Belarus is quite expected. The bus winds around Zhitkovichi for quite a long time, and at the exit from the city you can see a wooden chapel, set right in the courtyard of three five-story buildings.

Departing from the road, the bus goes deep into Polesie proper - into the forest. And I can't call the forest here anything other than "spooky". A mixture of birches, oaks and unusually gnarled pines, abundant undergrowth, darkness under the crowns - the forest is amazingly deaf and impenetrable. In Russia, I have not seen such forests - this is a real virgin forest, a kind of deciduous taiga. They say that during the war, Polesie was such a serious natural barrier that it did not allow the armies of the Wehrmacht, and later the USSR, who fought in Ukraine and Belarus, to unite. And, of course, the famous region of the "partisan republics", where the partisans held territories equal in total to a small European state. One look at Polissya is enough not to be surprised.

Turov is visible on the horizon from the bridge across the Pripyat (which in itself is not particularly interesting - narrow, in low banks, you can’t even say that this river forms Polesie). The bus passes through the village, and in fact Turov is one street. I will tell about its sights in the order of movement from Zhitkovichi towards David-Gorodok.

The first attraction that meets the traveler is the Church of All Saints (1810s). Located in a cemetery, this is a very typical example of Polissya architecture: a very simple form, a slight baroque influence, characteristic plank paneling and, of course, the sky-blue color that all Polesye churches are painted in.

A shrine is kept inside it - two huge (2 meters each) stone crosses, which, according to legend, sailed upstream from Kyiv about 1000 years ago. For a long time, these crosses were the main shrine of Turov, until another cross began to grow from the ground in the second cemetery. But the probability that you will see them is very small - the church is open only during the service, and there is no transport entering Turov during the services. Yes, and there are services here not every day, but according to a complex schedule.

It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the church to the city center, along a long street lined with traditional Polissya huts. I will talk about the latter separately, I will only say that the huts in Turov are almost the entire building.

There are several stone buildings on the central square, including a rather large replica, to which I stood with my back when I shot this shot:

There is also a huge stork's nest here - for some reason, in Polesie, in every small town, storks live on the central square. I do not rule out that their nests are transferred there on purpose - at least I observed the same picture in Pinsk, and in Turov, and in Kamenets.

On this square there is also a tiny bus station (a little further), and 2 monuments - the millennium of Turov:

And the millennium of the diocese of Turov - at one time the city was the third most important in southwestern Russia after Kyiv and Chernigov.

In the past, Detinets was located here. The stone cross is a monument to Cyril of Turov, an ancient Russian philosopher and scientist. There is even a version (albeit a very controversial one!) that Kirill Turovsky is the author of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". According to legend, the third cross, which sailed from Kyiv, was immured in his monument - and in total, they say, there were 11 stone crosses in Turov.

The place where Detinets stood. Castle Hill bisects a small ravine, on its other side there is a huge glass "script":

The foundation of the temple of the 12th century is hidden in it. The dimensions amaze the imagination - it was not inferior in size to the Kiev and Novgorod Sofias. Apparently, this killed him - in 1230, even before the Mongol invasion, the temple was destroyed by an earthquake. The latter surprises - where did the earthquake on the East European Plain come from?

The foundation of the temple is so huge that it is impossible to capture it with a photograph:

But it's worth coming here - the impression is very strong, and the entrance is free.

This is how this temple looked "during life" (a model in the Rumyantsev-Paskevich Palace in Gomel):

However, as you can see, the form is more than typical for the western lands - there are almost such churches in Chernigov, Kyiv, Vitebsk. It seems that it was such a Cathedral of Christ the Savior of the 12th century.

So, we went through Turov, and the road leads further, to David-Gorodok - another small town with a population of 7 thousand people - and further to Pinsk. And on the outskirts of the city there is an old cemetery with a chapel in the style of "developed socialism", hiding the main shrine of Turov.

Under a small canopy is the Turov Cross:

This cross, less than half a meter high, is surprising in that about 10 years ago it began to grow from the ground. At first, people saw just a stone, and then the crossbar appeared, and it became clear that a miracle was happening in Turov. That is, this miracle, of course, can be explained by physical laws - stones crawl out of the ground all the time. But firstly, the cross grows from the earth for the first time, and secondly, locals, who regularly measure it, say that it grows not only in height, but also in width! It increases by 1 cm 9 mm per year, steadily.

Here it is, this cross. It is evident that he is very revered:

It is easy to see pagan attributes at the cross - ribbons, pieces of bread, etc. To see this cross in 20-30 years! A real Christian miracle in the heart of Polissya...

There are a lot of old wooden crosses in the cemetery, and the names on the graves are all kind of wonderful, with the endings -ets, -ary, -yak.

But let's get back to earth. Even at the beginning of the post, I said that Turov is a wilderness like Solvychegodsk, and is interesting from an ethnographic point of view. Indeed, Polesye huts, which form entire streets, are well preserved here - they cannot be confused with anything:

On some huts, the following solar signs have been preserved:

In general, in terms of the preservation of rural architecture, Polissya could compete with the Komi Republic. In villages, from the window of a bus, you can often see huts and outbuildings that look at least 100 years old - thick logs, and such a manner of construction that you can’t see in Soviet times. There are many wooden churches in Polesie that you can see from the bus window, one of them is in David-Haradok, built in 1724 and considered the oldest in Polesie.

And I also advise you to talk to local grandmothers in order to hear the so-called Polissya microlanguage. Poleshchuks, or, as they call themselves, "tuteishi" ("local") 100 years ago stood out as a separate people, on a par with Ukrainians and Belarusians. They speak a strange dialect that combines elements of Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Polish, and I, as a person who does not understand linguistics, can only say one thing about this language - "nothing is clear." In general, linguists and folklorists always talk about Polesie with indescribable admiration: the most archaic folklore has been preserved here, a unique dialect is here, and modern folklore is worthy of the ancient one.

And here are just a few sketches of the woodland wilderness. After all, probably in the same town, a Petersburger Ivan Timofeevich met the witch Olesya ...

Yes, perhaps it was "Olesya" that I most often remembered in Turov. By the way, initially Kuprin wanted to call the story "The Wilderness" - this is exactly the feeling that this town leaves. And apparently, since the time of Kuprin, Polesie has not changed much.

Turov is one of the most ancient cities of Belarus, located in the center of Polissya on the Pripyat River in the Zhitkovichi district of the Gomel region. The distance to Gomel is 258 km, to Minsk - 252 km, to the border with Ukraine - 87 km. Tours connected highways with David-Gorodok, Zhitkovichi and Lelchitsy.

History of development - Turov

Turov was first mentioned in 980 in the Tale of Bygone Years. The name of the city comes from the name of the ruler of the city - Prince Tur. The city was founded by the East Slavic tribe of the Dregovichi at the confluence of the Yazda and Strumen rivers, which are tributaries of the Pripyat. Turov was profitable geographic location- part of the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" passed along Pripyat

In 1005, in Turov, Prince Svyatopolk Vladimirovich founded a temple according to the Latin model. In the 11th century, Turov became the center of Christianity in the Belarusian lands. Also, the famous Turov gospel was created in the city - the most ancient book created on the territory of Belarus.

The Turov-Pinsk principality was ruled by a local branch of the Kiev princely Rurik dynasty and was the center of the Old Russian state. In 1320-1330. Turov lands became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1502, the city was attacked by the Tatars, after which, in 1508, the city was transferred to the hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Konstantin Ostrozhsky, who took up the restoration of the city. The Ostrozhsky dynasty owned Turov for a whole century. In the 17th century Turov was repeatedly attacked as a result of numerous wars with Moscow. Also in 1648, the city was captured and destroyed by the Cossack detachments of Bogdan Khmelnitsky.

As a result of the Second Partition of the Commonwealth in 1793, Turov became part of the Russian Empire. Throughout the 19th century, Turov remained a small provincial town. At the end of the century, according to the census, most of the city's inhabitants were Jews. There were numerous synagogues, two prayer houses and a prayer school in the city. At the beginning of the twentieth century. began mass emigration of the Jewish population from Turov to the United States. During the Great Patriotic War from 1941 to 1944, as a result of the policy pursued by the Nazi troops to exterminate Jews, a Jewish ghetto was created in Turov.

In the post-war period, the Turovsky district was abolished, and Turov lost its city status and became an urban settlement. In 2004, by decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus, Turov was returned the status of a city.

Tourism potential - Turov

Turov is quite an interesting city from a tourist point of view with a lot of attractions. The heart of the city is. The settlement of Turov consisted of a citadel and a roundabout town. Detinets on the southeast side was separated from the roundabout city by a defensive moat, which was constantly filled with water until 1925, when the r. Yazda was diverted to a drainage canal. From the 2nd half of the 13th century, there was a castle on the territory of the citadel, the main defensive structure of which was a stone tower. Also, during numerous excavations, fragments of ceramic dishes, tools, weapons, and various items were found. economic purpose, jewelry, jewelry, which indicates the development of various crafts in Turov - blacksmithing, jewelry, bone carving, woodworking, pottery, foundry, production of building ceramics, agriculture, animal husbandry, trade, hunting and fishing.

On the banks of the small river Yazda, in the center of which is located - an architectural monument of wooden architecture of 1810. In addition to the church at the Borisoglebsky cemetery, there is one unique attraction - stone crosses growing straight out of the ground. According to legend, the crosses sailed to Turov from Kyiv up the Pripyat, and then were erected in the fields near the city.
Not far from the Borisoglebsky cemetery, on the castle hill, it is installed - to the Belarusian and East Slavic religious figure, theologian and writer.

Being in Turov, both adults and children can attend a production tour on: get acquainted with the production and learn better the secrets of delicious Belarusian cheeses.

Today Turov is modern city with the rich cultural heritage and tourism potential that you can visit on your weekends.