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Is in Ryazan region village with a little unusual name- Gus-Zhelezny. The first half of the name was given by the river Gus, which flows through the village, and the second part was given to the name by deposits iron ore who actually gave life to the village.
Two hundred years ago, miners hunted in these places, digging holes and ditches - “pipes” along the banks of lakes and rivers, and even in the forest. "Pipers" mined swamp ore, from which iron was already brewed.

It was this swamp ore that made the Batashev brothers Andrey and Ivan fabulously rich.
In 1758, the brothers bought vast lands here, made a pond with a dam near the Gus River, and set up an iron foundry.
And the ancestor of the Batashev dynasty is the Tula blacksmith Ivan Timofeevich Batashev, who in the era of Peter the Great served as the manager of Nikita Demidov. It was he who began to build the first factories on the Tulitsa River, after which he turned around in the Medynsky district large enterprises. All his factories went to his sons, who continued the work of their father. In 1783, the Batashev family became noble and Andrei Batashev built a huge estate for himself in Gus Zhelezny, and a little later, in 1802, the construction of the Trinity Church began, which lasted more than half a century and ended after the death of Andrei Batashev. . They still cannot name the architect of the temple, but there is an opinion that Bazhenov himself had a hand in designing the church of such an unusual Gothic style for Russia.

To date, the temple is the architectural dominant of the entire village and is visible from almost anywhere in it.
It is also unusual in that it has two floors - the main church is located below, and on the second floor there is a summer one, very bright and spacious.

In the 19th century, the interior of the church was very rich, for example, the Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God, especially revered by parishioners, was kept here, as well as a silver altar cross, in which particles of the relics of St. John the Merciful were placed. However, in 1921, at the initiative of the Council of People's Commissars, all valuables were confiscated, and then, in 1932, the temple was completely closed and used for household needs. Services are now in progress in the church.

On the square near the church stands commemorative sign the founders of the village, the Batashev brothers, but the full owner of everything that was here was the elder brother Andrey.

In Gus Zhelezny, Andrei built himself a huge, almost medieval estate, surrounded by a six-meter stone fence with turrets and loopholes designed for defense, although it is not clear from whom he was going to defend himself. In addition to the main house, it had a fortress theatre, a menagerie and a poultry house. The large home garden was divided into three parts, in which greenhouses with exotic plants were arranged, and one of the parts of the park was called the "Garden of Horrors" because it was there that Andrei Batashev, who was sometimes called the Russian Dracula, severely punished and even executed the guilty.
Now once beautiful manor house looks so sad. Three years ago there was a children's sanatorium here, and now the estate is dilapidated and destroyed.

There are many legends about what was done in the cellars of the Batashevsky house. It was believed that runaway convicts minted counterfeit coins in the dungeons, and when an investigator sent by Paul I arrived at the estate, Andrei Batashev ordered to fill up the entrance (according to some sources) or flood it with water (according to others), burying 300 workers alive.
According to other legends, Andrei, as a member of the Masonic order, was engaged in obtaining philosopher's stone, which turned metals into gold, and gave a person immortality.
The cellars of Batashev's house had several floors. On one of the floors were located, let's say modern language, prison cells where people could be tortured and tortured. So it was or not is unknown, but it is known for sure that there was a huge glacier in the basement, in which all year round there was ice. Throughout the summer, two wagons of ice were sent to the factory to cool the water for the workers.
Once the heir of the Batashev family, Emmanuil Batashev, decided to melt the glacier, which had been melting for two years. According to legend, the melted glacier freed the cast-iron door with locks, they were able to open it, went through the underground passage, reached the second door, but got scared and did not go further. Emmanuel ordered both doors to be walled up, locked them, and threw the key into the lake. Since then, no one knows what really happened behind those doors.

In general, Andrei Batashev, feeling his complete impunity, was not used to denying himself something, and if he wanted something, he got it at any cost. It is known that once Batashev stole an entire village from an intractable owner who did not want to sell it. In one night, all the huts were dismantled and transported to the land of the Batashevs, armed servants also drove the peasants here, and in the place of the manor house and the village, a plowed field was eventually obtained.
Batashev's estate was built exactly on the border of two lands - Vladimir and Ryazan. And since officials had power only on their own land, when an official from Vladimir came to him, he came out with the words "The master deigned to leave for the Ryazan province" and the official had no choice but to leave without salty slurping. With the Ryazan officials, history repeated itself exactly the opposite.
Andrei Batashev was married three times, and all three wives lived with him at the same time. And he was not just married three times, but married three times, violating all secular and Orthodox laws, but the priests preferred to turn a blind eye to his outrages, otherwise they had many chances to say goodbye to life.

From the central gate you can go to the central alley of the park. The alley led to opposite side park and to the "Terrible pavilion". Why "terrible" - because according to legend, those who entered it did not return back. and what happened to people no one knew.
According to rumors, Andrey Batashev could feed and drink an objectionable person as a hospitable host, invite him to take a walk in the park, reach the "Terrible Pavilion" and, as the owner should, let the guest go ahead. At this moment, the floorboards opened and the guest fell into the dungeon, and the floorboards returned to their place.

Opposite the "Terrible Pavilion" was the "Pavilion of Delights", guests from St. Petersburg and Moscow were invited to it for revelry, and young girls from Batashev's serfs were "delivered" there. Often the girls ended their lives in the pond, which was nearby.

The "terrible pavilion" was about here. Although, oddly enough, no one has ever tried to look for at least some remnants of this pavilion or the remains of people who disappeared in it.

Right behind the fence of the estate begins the area that used to be called Vyshvyrki. Here lived those who somehow did not please Batashev, but did not deserve cruel punishment and were thrown out of the estate. This is where the toponym came from. I wonder if the people living here now know the history of the village and the estate?

As I said, the temple is visible from almost everywhere. This is what it looks like from the estate.

We leave the estate and walk along the Batashevsky offices to the dam. And again, there are many legends and conjectures. The most big mystery these are these vaulted semicircular windows, located almost near the ground.

What happened behind these windows is unknown, but human fantasy loves all kinds of horror stories, and therefore they say that there were torture chambers there, although there is no evidence for this.

Perhaps this is one of the exits from the dungeons, or maybe just a water pipe, and again more questions than answers.

And in front of us is the pond on which the iron foundry was built. Three rivers flowed here and the forest was just the border of the pond. Now the pond is almost overgrown, and in those days it had not only a dam, but also locks that allowed ships to sail through the pond during the flood and continue to sail to the Oka. It was unique phenomenon in world practice.

Now on the dam the road goes. They decided to make the road passable, and therefore the width of the dam turned out to be insufficient and it was decided to act drastically - the dam was demolished and a bridge was made of it. And since there is no dam, then there is no pond, and instead of the former splendor, we now see a gradually overgrown swamp.

The remains of the industrial premises of the Gusevsky plant, which are also gradually being destroyed. We walked a little along them and it's strange - practically no trees grow here and there are no traces of a person, i.e. there is no "rookery of homeless people" familiar to us, or a trace of informal youth parties, as is usually the case in such places. Is there an aura here? Maybe there are ghosts walking at night?

And here is the Gus River itself, beloved by kayakers and fishermen.

And again Trinity Church. We got to Gus-Zhelezny just in time for the Trinity, because everything interior spaces churches are decorated with birch twigs.

The festive service had just ended here, we waited until the believers left and decided to look around the temple.

By the way, in contrast to the cool Moscow churches, where they come on Mercedes and Bugatti, here, in Gus-Khrustalny, they ride bicycles to the temple. I have never seen such a quantity of two-wheeled transport at any church.

And we have the opportunity to climb to the upper temple. As far as I understand, finishing work is still going on.

The ascent goes up a rather steep staircase.

And here it is, the summer church, very bright even on a cloudy day.

We say goodbye to Goose, finally a general photo. We learned a lot of interesting things, many mysteries remain to be solved.
Andrei Batashev is perhaps one of the most mysterious personalities Russian history. Whether he was really so cruel or the rumor of people attributed to him other people's atrocities, no one can say for sure until the cellars of the manor house are opened and studied, until the secrets " scary house"sprinkled with the earth of the manor park ....

And we simply could not miss this magnificent view from the bridge over the Gus River, it is he who meets and sees off everyone who comes to Gus-Zhelezny.

You can get to Gus-Zhelezny by car along the R-105 highway
There is no railway connection with the village, so if there is no car, then you can get here by bus from Kasimov, Vladimir Ryazan or Moscow.
On average, the journey by bus from Moscow will take 5 hours.

The travel_russia community thanks Alexander Barykov, Managing Director of VSW JSC, Viktor Mikhailovich Brovka, General Director of the Batashev Hotel (OMK-Tour LLC), as well as the Vyksa TIC, for organizing the blog tour

Geographic Encyclopedia

Urban-type settlement Gus Iron Country Russia Russia Federal Subject ... Wikipedia

Gus-Iron- town, Ryazan region. Originated in the second half of the 18th century. as a settlement at the ironworks on the river. Goose; later Gus Batashevsky was also called by the name of the founder of the plant, Batashov. In the owls time from. Goose Iron, design by analogy with ... ... Toponymic Dictionary

An urban-type settlement in the Kasimovsky district of the Ryazan region. RSFSR. Located on the river Goose (a tributary of the Oka), 18 km to the northwest of the town of Kasimov. Mechanical plant, lumber mill. The village of G. Zh. arose in the 18th century. at the ironworks... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Gus-Iron- 391320, Ryazan, Kasimovsky ... Settlements and indices of Russia

Goose Characteristic Length 147 km Basin area 3910 km² Basin Caspian Sea Basin of the Oka → Volga Rivers Watercourse ... Wikipedia

Goose: Wiktionary has an entry for "goose" Geese (lat. Anser) genus ... Wikipedia

R. see Iron Goose, Crystal Goose place names World: Toponymic Dictionary. M: AST. Pospelov E.M. 2001 ... Geographic Encyclopedia

Goose- R. see Iron Goose, Crystal Goose ... Toponymic Dictionary

Gus The Gus River in Gus Zhelezny It flows through the territory of the Ryazan, Vladimir regions of Russia The source near the village of Arsamaki (Gus Khrustalny district Vladimir region) ... Wikipedia

Books

• Fairy Tales of Germany, The Brothers Grimm. In our series Fairy tales from all over the world” published a book of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, known to all of us since childhood. Here and "Bremen Street Musicians", and "Iron Hans", and "Golden ...
• Moore. History and sights, Glushkova Vera Georgievna. The book tells about a very ancient noble Russian city of Murom and its environs. Describes major events long history Murom, great attention given to his Orthodox ...

The city of Gus-Zhelezny is located on the river called "Gus", which gave it the first part of the name. The second part is due to the rich deposits of iron ore in the urban area. Already in the 18th century, an iron foundry arose here, which developed in subsequent years.

most famous family The miners were the Batashevs, whose ancestor is the Tula blacksmith Ivan Timofeevich Batashev. It was he who began to build the first factories on the Tulitsa River, after which he developed large enterprises in the Medynsky district. All his factories went to his sons, who continued the work of their father. For several generations, the Batashevs continue the work of Ivan Timofeevich. In 1783, the Batashev family became noble. Andrey Batashev builds a luxurious estate for himself and lays the foundation for the Trinity Church, which, despite its impressive size, looks quite harmonious.

The name of Andrei Rodionovich is mysterious and shrouded in a veil of many secrets. In view of the fact that his entire estate was surrounded by a thick brick wall with towers, it seemed to the common people that the nobleman had something to hide. It was assumed that behind the seven-meter wall all sorts of atrocities were going on, akin to which, probably, occurred in the palace of Count Dracula. The most common rumor is that A.R. Batashev was a freemason. For his meetings with other members of the order in the house were created secret premises. In addition, he is credited with coining counterfeit money. There is a legend that on the eve of the upcoming check, Batashev hastily filled up the hall with his “ mint” along with three hundred employees.

The residential settlement of Gus-Zhelezny arose along with the foundation of the first factories. In the 18th century, only workers from iron foundries lived here. In 1940, it became the center of the Belkovsky district, which was formed in 1935. The village of Belkovo initially received the status of a regional center because it was here that the road from Moscow to Kasimov passed. By 1960, the district was abolished, and its lands were divided among themselves by the Kasimovsky and Tumsky districts. In 1964, Gus-Zhelezny received the status of an urban-type settlement, which it remains to this day.

The construction of the temple began in 1802. Work continued for more than half a century and finishing touches were applied to the cathedral only in 1868. According to some unconfirmed information, the architect V.I. Bazhenov.

This temple was not the first in Gus. Before the construction of the stone cathedral, there was a wooden church here, consecrated in the name of John the Baptist. The shrine burned to the ground in a fire in 1802, immediately after which a two-story stone church was laid. Andrey Batashev was the main financier, but by last year his life, 1825mu, the church building was ready only to the dome. The premises of the bell tower and the refectory reached the eaves. Despite the incompleteness, divine services were already taking place in the new cathedral, since the three altars of the first floor were consecrated. The first altar is dedicated to Nicholas the Wonderworker (consecrated in 1816), the second - to the Chief Apostles Peter and Paul (consecrated in 1818), and the last throne - to the great feast of the Nativity of Christ (consecrated in 1823). After the death of Andrei Rodionovich, work was suspended for several years. In 1847, the heirs of the Batashev family took over the construction of the temple, and in 1868 a celebration of the consecration of the main altar was held - in the name of the Holy Trinity.

The interior decoration of the temple was extremely rich; icons and other temple shrines were no less chic. Among the parishioners, the icon of the Virgin Mary, called Bogolyubskaya, was especially revered. This image was donated by the Bogolyubsky Monastery. The miraculous icon was silver-plated and sometimes covered with gold. The second church attraction was a silver altar cross with the relics of St. John the Merciful.

When designing the Trinity Church, the author of the project undoubtedly drew his ideas from the architecture of the Middle Ages. The colossal church is built of brick and lined with white stone. The majestic image of the temple combines the features of baroque, classicism and pseudo-gothic. However, there are not so many baroque elements, or rather, they do not exist at all, as such. This architectural style refers to a complex shape with semicircular ledges, beveled edges and niches. Classicism is manifested in the calm completion of the cathedral and the dome, which is clear in shape. Pseudo-Gothic motifs are lancet openings, pediments-zakomara faces of the octagon, phials and double columns. The resulting masterpiece has no analogues!

After the revolution of 1917 the temple was closed. Until that time, it was considered a homestead. In the summer of 1948 the church was opened as a common church. Today, regular services are held in the cathedral. The church accommodates up to 1200 parishioners.

The address: Ryazan region, Kasimovsky district, town. Gus-Iron

The place for the location of the churchyard was chosen very well, since all the features of the local landscape were taken into account. The architects of the past had an unspoken rule: the temple should be a kind of beacon on land.

Gusevsky, or, as it is also called, “Guzsky” churchyard in the 17th century was decorated with two churches and had a large marketplace, which, by the way, was founded against the will of the Kasimov ruler. However, his discontent was in vain - trade in the churchyard flourished. The identity of the financiers of both temples is currently unknown. And a lot of money was spent. One of the temples, Preobrazhensky, was under construction for 80 years. In addition to it, a church was built here in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and a small chapel.

The Transfiguration Church is the first to attract the eye, thanks to the huge vertical of the bell tower, but the earlier building in this strange, stylistically dissonant ensemble is St. Nicholas Church. It was built in 1771, when classicism was the most popular in Russia. Despite the period of construction, the forms of the temple and its three-dimensional composition, directed upwards, demonstrate the baroque of the 17th century, however, in an updated interpretation. But the semicircle of the colonnades of the northern and southern facades is made in best traditions classicism. They are excellently decorated, although the capitals look heavier than in antique examples.

The second church, Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya, is quite different from the previous one. The grouping of the masses here is distributed in horizontal plane and weighed down by a lowered refectory and limits. The light rotunda, rising above the lower tier, is distinguished by its beauty and originality of decoration.

Adjacent to the refectory from the west is a three-tiered bell tower built in 1829, again baroque, but in a new stylistic interpretation, almost Rastrelli, probably from here the opinion was born that the great Rastrelli could be its author. Her exterior is also brightly individual. First of all, the tiers are plastically richly decorated, columns in the corners, crepe pieces, flowerpots, and so on. The belfry causes not only a desire to admire, but also a delight of surprise: on the four cardinal points there are bas-relief figures of saints, probably the fathers of the church, two on each side of the base. In their outlines one can see something European, Romanesque. The fact that such a unique work appeared on the Ryazan lands remains a mystery.

Today the Church of the Transfiguration works, liturgies are periodically served in it. Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is inactive. The dilapidated building is not being repaired by anyone, and the "ancient" colonnades, like the rest of the walls, become more and more fragile every year.

The address: Ryazan region, Kasimovsky district, with. Pogost (8 km from Gus-Zhelezny)

The famous Andrei Batashev immortalized his name in the memory of his descendants, among other things, with his chic estate, from which, however, little remains today. main mansion"Nests" in architecturally close to urban typical public buildings of its era. The house is strongly elongated along the longitudinal axis, the decorative elements of the facades are strict and almost devoid of decorative elements. Nowadays, it is practically unremarkable, except, perhaps, for its size. But the contemporaries of Andrei Rodionovich were, of course, of a completely different opinion. According to the documentary evidence of eyewitnesses, the estate resembled "not a fortress, not some medieval castle". And this is understandable: the house and the adjacent garden were surrounded by a high stone wall, at the entrance to the dam stood watch tower with a large iron goose on a spire. A gloomy sight, isn't it?

The estate also housed a fortress theatre, a menagerie and a poultry house. In the garden, divided into three parts, pavilions and greenhouses were arranged in which exotic fruits were grown: oranges, peaches and others, uncharacteristic for our latitudes. One of the parts of the park bore the eloquent name "Garden of Horrors", since it was intended for corporal punishment and possibly torture. In addition, there are legends about the existence at that time of a vast underground complex that connected the house with the factory and other buildings. To protect their land and plant A.R. Batashov was allowed to keep a regiment of armed soldiers, so the analogy with a medieval castle is quite logical.

There are still legends among the people about the passions that took place behind impregnable fortress walls. According to one of them, runaway convicts minted counterfeit coins in the dungeons. Rumors about this illegal occupation reached the government and an investigator was sent to Gus-Zhelezny, upon whose arrival Andrei filled up the entrance to the catacombs, burying alive all the workers who at that moment were in the “chased shop”. Another legend tells us about mysterious disappearance police officer who arrived at the plant to investigate some case. Much later, a corpse was found in one of the walls. Copper buttons were found on the remains, thanks to which it was assumed that it was a government official. There are other legends, for example, that Batashev led local robbers, or that he was killed in the Eagle's Nest Tatar prince- the owner of the lands adjacent to the estate ... Now it is not known whether any of these stories are true, and if so, how much. Andrei Rodionovich was never convicted and ended his life in his native estate.

Now the estate remotely resembles idylls in the paintings of old masters. Cows graze peacefully in the park, the silhouette of a church with a stopped clock tower rises in the distance ... As if all those horrors about which the legends of Goose-Zhelezny tell about did not exist. But if everything here was calm, then why so many legends? As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire.

The address: Ryazan region, Kasimovsky district, town. Gus-Iron

There are two monuments in Gus-Zhelezny that may be of interest to guests of this small quiet village. One of them is a monument erected in honor of the founders of the settlement - the Batashev brothers. The commemorative stele was erected in 2008 on main square, near the Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity. Its opening was timed to coincide with the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of ironworks and the settlement on the Gus River. Next to it is a small monument, already directly to Batashev. A commemorative inscription is applied to a slab of black marble, and it is decorated with a cast-iron rose, which is made with such grace that such material would seem to be incapable of.

The second monument, dedicated to the valiant defenders of the Motherland who died in the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, is located not far from the first, all on the same cathedral square. There is a long list on the monument, which contains the names of all the natives of Gus-Zhelezny, who gave their lives for the freedom of their families. At the end of the list, there are several recent entries that indicate that the search for the missing continues.

By bus

Insofar as railway station not in the village, you can get here only by bus. Railway ends in the city of Kasimov, from which the bus goes for half an hour. Metropolitan flights also arrive in Gus-Zhelezny 5 hours after departure from the Shchelkovsky bus station. By direct flight you can get to the village from Vladimir, the bus goes for 3 hours and 20 minutes. Ryazan buses arrive in Gus 3 hours after departure.

Gus-Zhelezny (the photos in this article show the sights of this settlement) - this is located in the Ryazan region (Kasimovsky district), is the administrative center of the Gusevsky urban settlement. Located on a nearby dam built in the eighteenth century, about twenty kilometers from administrative center- Kasimova. The village is surrounded by mixed and coniferous forests.

"We lived with my grandmother..."

“The grandmother lived with two cheerful geese: Gus-Zhelezny and Gus-Khrustalny,” the inhabitants joked in the old days. Both of these villages with similar names were located in the Melenkovsky district, on the same river Gus. If the first of the Gus brothers, located in the upper reaches of the river, was the center of the glass industry of the famous Maltsovs, then the brother in the lower reaches of the Gus (near the river's confluence with the Oka) became the capital of the no less famous and famous "iron kings" - the Batashev brothers. For more than one hundred and fifty years, "two merry geese" have been in Vladimir region, however, in the twentieth century, the villainous fate separated them with one stroke of the pen. So, after a series of administrative-territorial reforms, at the behest of officials, Gus-Zhelezny ended up in the Ryazan region. However, its history is inseparable from the past of the Vladimir region, and even today it is only ten kilometers from Gus to the border with it.

Let's hit the road…

Usually Gus-Zhelezny (Ryazan region) tourists visit in passing, on the way to the ancient merchant city of Kasimov. There are two paths leading to this region. The first - from Moscow to Ryazan along Novoryazanskoe highway(M 5), and from there - along the road R 123 - R 105. The second - from Moscow immediately to Kasimov (or Gus) along the Yegoryevskoye highway (R 105). Most often, tourists choose the second option to visit Gus-Zhelezny (the map will help you figure out the route), because this is a direct path. However, not all that glitters is gold. It has a lot of minuses, the Egoryevskoye highway is mostly narrow and winding, it is not easy to overtake on it. Along it there are many suburban areas, so the workload is high, as a result average speed is 60-70 kilometers per hour. But after the ninetieth kilometer (dacha villages become noticeably smaller), it is a pleasure to drive.

And the story ends...

And now Moscow is behind, severe Russian roads. As soon as the car crosses the sign "Ryazan region", the road becomes either bad or very bad. Here there are sections with continuous potholes (and of considerable size), which alternate with relatively good, but, unfortunately, very short segments. In some areas, sometimes up to ten kilometers, you have to move (if you can call it movement) at a snail's speed (15 km / h). Driving here at night is not recommended.

First Impressions

The first thing you notice when you get into this locality is the majestic silhouette of the temple. It literally reigns over a small river and squat houses. Here the temple subjugates everything, you can see it from everywhere. It seems that the life of the inhabitants of Gus-Zhelezny is concentrated exclusively around him. There is a small provincial market in front of the temple. And even among the merchants, one can feel the unhurried, measured rhythm of local life. There's a "leftover" in the town Soviet era- a traditional statue of V. I. Lenin. As in any other locality former Union, it occupies a central place. In Gus-Zhelezny, but here the leader of the world proletariat timidly peeks out from behind the bushes, he does not even pretend to be some kind of more or less significant role in the life of the village. The hulk of the temple simply reduces Ilyich to the rank of an ordinary object. Earlier, during the heyday of metallurgical production, this Trinity Church was a real city cathedral. But we'll talk about it a little later.

Andrey Batashov

The active development of the surrounding villages on the Gus River began in the middle of the eighteenth century, when Ivan and Andrei Batashov, representatives of the well-known in Russia dynasty of Tula blacksmiths and gunsmiths (a monument was erected to them on the main square of the city of Gus-Zhelezny), founded their own iron foundry. It was part of an impressive empire, which included 18 metallurgical plants in different provinces (second only to the Yakovlev and Demidov plants in iron smelting). This village first received the name of Gus-Batashovsky, and then, over time, was renamed Gus-Zhelezny, in contrast to its fellow Gus Maltsovsky-Khrustalny, and one of the brothers, Andrei Batashov, became its sole owner.

Batashov's estate

Andrey Rodionovich arranged the estate "Eagle's Nest" in the village. In addition, a dam was erected on the river at his expense (it was partially preserved). The main house of the estate (end of the 18th century) is close to architectural style to typical urban public buildings of that period: it is very strongly elongated along the longitudinal axis, it has strict facades, practically devoid of decorative elements. He is of little note. But for provincial contemporaries, the mansion evoked completely different feelings, with all its appearance resembling "either a medieval castle, or a fortress." And this is easily explained, because the house with the adjacent garden was surrounded by a stone wall up to seven meters high (today it is partially preserved), and at the entrance to the dam a watchtower with a huge iron goose on its spire was erected. In addition, the estate housed a poultry house, a menagerie and a fortress theater. In the garden divided into three parts, greenhouses and gazebos were arranged, in which various exotic fruits were grown: peaches, oranges, lemons.

Gus-Zhelezny: health resort

Today, a children's sanatorium is located on the territory of the mansion. This specialized medical and preventive institution provides rehabilitation for children after acute illnesses, and also works to prevent chronic diseases and improve the health of children aged 5-15 years.

Legends of the old manor

One of the parts park area bore a very eloquent name - "The Garden of Horrors." Her appointment was corresponding to the name - for torture and punishment. In addition, according to legends, there is a rather extensive underground complex under the estate, thanks to which main house connected with the factory and various buildings. Many creepy legends are associated with the estate. For example, according to one of them, runaway convicts minted in the Batashov dungeons. And when she arrived commission of inquiry to investigate these rumors, Andrey Batashov ordered to fill up the exit, thereby burying the workers alive. According to another legend, the police officer who arrived at the plant to investigate a criminal case disappeared without a trace, and after some time a human skeleton was found in the wall of the plant, and only by the copper buttons on the suit could they identify the missing official in him.

In general, legends about secret burials and countless treasures hidden in the dungeon of the estate throughout the nineteenth century excited the minds of many people, but to this day they have not found reliable evidence. Andrey Rodionovich Batashov peacefully ended his life in the estate, never getting on trial, despite the fact that his "track record" is very impressive: it includes murders, bribery officials, seizure of property.

Gus-Zhelezny: temple

The monumental Trinity Church was laid after the death of A. R. Batashov, in the presence of his son, already in 1802. Completion construction works fell on 1840-1860. The church interestingly intertwined features of various trends and styles (classicism, neo-gothic, baroque); there is something Moorish in the arrow-shaped niches directed upwards. All elements (profiles, pilasters, windows) are not just decor, but "flesh from the flesh" of the architecture of the building itself. All of them make up a single whole, it is this harmony of the image that strikes the most: the church even now, despite the cracks that have appeared in the walls and the collapsing masonry, resembles a monolithic block sticking out of the ground.

Today, the Batashov estate is somewhat reminiscent of the idylls depicted in the paintings of old masters. So, in the park, against the background of pavilions and walls, cows graze, somewhere in the distance a church rises with a tower clock that has long stopped. Observing such a picture, you involuntarily catch yourself thinking that all this exists, as it were, in timelessness, and the life boiling nearby has no power over this space.

The small provincial town of Gus-Zhelezny in the Ryazan region has a rich and full of legends history. The cathedral, unusual in its architecture, is the main highlight of these places. What to see in the town and its environs, this article will tell.

The modern look of the city

Gus-Zhelezny is located in the Kasimovsky district of the Ryazan region on the banks of the Gus river in picturesque place surrounded by pine and spruce forests. The name of the river and the iron ore processing and iron smelting factories founded in the 18th century gave the settlement its name.

Officially, the settlement has the status of an urban-type settlement; less than two thousand people live in it. A mechanical plant, a timber processing plant, a food processing plant, and a forestry enterprise operate on its territory.

The town has a hospital, school and Kindergarten, and folk ensembles rehearse on the basis of the local House of Culture.

The building of Gus-Zhelezny is predominantly one-story. The main attractions are the Trinity Cathedral towering over the village, the estate of the Batashevs' large industrialists of the 18th century "Eagle's Nest" and a monument to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

A bit of history

The history of Gus-Zhelezny begins with the purchase of land in these parts by the big industrialists, the Batashev brothers.

Andrey Rodionovich Batashev organized the extraction of iron ore and the iron foundry. A settlement began to form around the plant. Later, the industrialist built the Eagle's Nest estate here. The name of Andrei Batashev is also associated with the main attraction of the village - the Trinity Cathedral, which began to be built during the life of the industrialist at his expense, according to the project of an unknown architect. And the flourishing of Gus-Zhelezny in the Ryazan region is directly connected with the enterprises of the Batashevs. It falls on the middle of the 19th century, when the population of the town was about five thousand people.

AT Soviet period the settlement became part of the Ryazan region formed in 1937 and since 1964 has had the status of an urban-type settlement.

Legends and traditions

From most of the small provincial towns Gus-Zhelezny allocate mystery stories and legends associated with the name of the industrialist Batashev. He went down in history not only as a major entrepreneur, but also as a cruel landowner, a tyrant, fascinated by the occult.

Batashev's estate is covered with legends - these are also stories about meetings Masonic Lodge, of which Batashev was allegedly a member, stories about the unheard-of cruelty of the landowner and tortured workers, and legends about the production of counterfeit money in the basement of the master's house. Tourists are attracted to the town and stories about the many underground passages and tunnels leading from the "Eagle's Nest" in different directions.

It is difficult now to say what is true and what is fiction. One thing is true - Batashev was an odious personality, a tenacious and tough entrepreneur, he was a close associate of Potemkin, a favorite of Empress Catherine II. The patronage of the favorite of the empress saved the industrialist from punishment.

One of the popular legends of Zhelezny Goose is the story of the production of counterfeit gold coins in the cellars of the Eagle's Nest. Trying to hide the illegal manufactory, Batashev either flooded or walled up the cellars along with several hundred workers. Indirect confirmation of these stories is the discovery of counterfeit coins of Catherine's times during archaeological research in the vicinity of the estate.

The master's house and a huge park with many outbuildings were surrounded by a high stone wall with loopholes, reliably hiding everything that was happening from prying eyes. According to urban legends, Batashev was famous for his cruelty and brutality. In his garden there was a pillory, to which the guilty workers were tied and flogged, many were beaten to death.

The personality and industrial empire of Batashev were also reflected in literature: the novel "On the Mountains" by Pechersky, "Moloch" by Kuprin.

Manor of the industrialist Batashev

The estate "Eagle's Nest" is one of the sights of the village. Only the manor house and various ruins, including the walls that surrounded the estate, remained from its former grandeur. Two-storey house rectangular shape, at the entrance is a four-column portico. Underground passages, about which there are legends in the village, have not been discovered.

There is a children's sanatorium in the building of the estate.

Trinity Cathedral

Huge, in a pseudo-Gothic style with elements of baroque and classicism, the temple in Gus-Zhelezny attracts the attention of tourists. It rises above the village and is perfectly visible from the highway. Trinity Cathedral is more like an English abbey or a church in Germany.

Unusual for Orthodox churches appearance gave rise to many rumors and legends. One of the popular ones says that the cathedral was built according to the project of V. Bazhenov himself, who was associated with the Masons. It is possible that the well-known architect developed the project, but he could not participate in the construction due to his death. The temple was built for several decades from 1802 to 1868. It is known that it was built at the expense of the Batashev family and was completed after the death of Andrei Rodionovich.

AT Soviet years the cathedral was used as a warehouse.

Now it is open to the public and services are held there. The decoration of the temple is quite modest, part of the building is closed and is not used for church needs.

Memorial stele and monument to the memory of fallen soldiers during the Second World War

The sights of Gus-Zhelezny include a memorial stele dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the founding of the village and the ironworks of the Batashev brothers. It has commemorative inscriptions and images of the Batashev family coat of arms, full-length portraits of the brothers.

On the square in front of the Trinity Cathedral there is a monument to the memory of the soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War.

The monument is made in the form of an obelisk with portraits of unknown soldiers.

Natural sights of Gus-Zhelezny - small karst lakes Big prickly pit and Small prickly pit. They are part of the natural monument "White Forest", located to the north of the village.

Visiting Gus-Zhelezny and examining it memorable places, you can go to the nearby city of Kasimov. AT district center there is a museum "Russian Samovar", a museum "Bells", a mosque and a minaret, a monument of Tatar architecture.

You can get to the village from Moscow in about three hours along the P105 highway. If you decide to travel by bus, the trip will take about five hours, flights depart from the "Central" bus station of the capital.

There are no hotels in the village, the nearest ones are in Kasimov, this should be taken into account when planning a trip.

If you are thinking about how to spend the coming weekend, do not rack your brains and go on a trip. After all, the weather in Gus-Zhelezny, according to weather forecasts, will be warm and sunny.

Traveling in small towns and villages of Russia - great way discover Interesting Facts from the history of the country, admire the unusual architecture and natural beauties.