"Drunk" forest in the Ryazan region: Who bent the trees? What is hidden in the Shilovsky forest - an abandoned camp site "forest school" Drunken forest in Kovrovsky.
So, we were basically walking through the Shilovsky Forest and came across something that we actually didn’t expect to find.
Suddenly
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For a long time they puzzled over what it was, they even assumed that it was some kind of noble estate. As it turned out, this is the Forest School recreation center.
FOREST SCHOOL initially arose as an institution for the improvement and education of physically weak children who were lagging behind their peers in schoolwork due to their poor health. At the heart of L. sh. lies the widespread use of open air mode. Nowadays, this regime is beginning to be used more and more widely in the system of school and preschool education, not only as an educational, therapeutic and auxiliary measure, but also for purely preventive purposes - in order to place children in conditions of a healthy upbringing. Not enough what is known about her. Presumably, it was built in the 60-70s, judging by the architecture. Some sources mention a recreation center with this name. It is known that the “Sail of Hope” festival was once held there; this was quite recently, in the 2000s. http://www.vrnturbaza.ru/voronezhnews/23-parusnadegdi (Proof).
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These are such beautiful houses, reminiscent of noble estates.
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Well, let's go inside. There is a beautiful grand staircase inside.
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For the most part, nothing interesting was found inside - empty corridors, rotten floors.
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Corridors with peeling paint
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I won’t bother you with the same type of photos from the inside.
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The staircase is perhaps the most beautiful thing in this sinful house.
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And here is a find - someone's albums. - back to the 90s - the memory of those years. Who is that boy? He’s probably already grown up, but why are his photographs and albums lying here, maybe something happened. We spent a long time looking at the photographs inspired by these thoughts. This is a part of someone’s life, the memory of those years, gone along with this camp site.
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The architecture is simply amazing. Still, it really seems like this is a noble estate. But judging by the structure of the basements and the shape of the bricks, it turned out that this building dates back to 60-70 years.
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And here is the dining room
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There is some storage inside the dining room, as well as some signs of renovation. Looks like they tried to repair it not too long ago.
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And here is perhaps the answer to the question of when it was abandoned, this happened in 2009.
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Actually, I won’t post dull and empty corridors, which actually do not inspire any aesthetics, it’s better to go and look at our Voronezh sea.
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Well, in the end - Mr. Y - little bug))))
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In the Battle of Voronezh, as in other battles of the Great Patriotic War, bridgeheads played a big role in achieving success, i.e. areas of terrain captured and held during combat (military) operations by troops (forces) in the interests of carrying out subsequent combat missions. One of these bridgeheads was Shilovsky. Carrying out the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad strategic defensive operation, Soviet troops systematically retreated to the Don and heroically fought on all intermediate lines, often surrounded, isolated from each other. The rearguards of the 40th Army, using advantageous positions, offered stubborn resistance to the advancing enemy. Showing courage and heroism, soldiers and officers did everything to delay the enemy and thereby provide the necessary conditions for the withdrawal of the main forces of the 40th Army. Through stubborn holding battles on advantageous defensive lines, army units exhausted and bled the advancing enemy to death. Every inch of Soviet land in the Voronezh direction went to the enemy at the cost of colossal efforts and losses. However, the enemy with the 57th and 168th infantry divisions, 3rd and 29th motorized divisions, having broken through the defenses of Red Army units in the Kastornoye area by July 3, 1942 and pushing back units of the 40th Army, advanced units approached to the western bank of the river. Don. Intending to enter Voronezh from the south, the enemy partially infiltrated onto the eastern bank of the river on July 4, 1942. Don on the Petino-Malyshevo section and started fighting for the Shilovsky bridgehead. The fighting immediately took on a fierce character, since none of the warring parties wanted to lose a bridgehead that was advantageous in all respects. The shortest road from the Don crossing at Malyshev to the southern outskirts of the right bank part of Voronezh passed through the bridgehead. The Shilovsky forest provided good opportunities for the discreet concentration of reserves, camouflage of warehouses, and deployment of rear services and units. And Shilovo, located on a high mountain, ensured a dominant position over the left bank. From the village, especially from the church bell tower, even without binoculars, Soviet defensive positions at Maslovka, Tavrovo, and Berezovka were clearly visible. Dirt roads and railroad tracks were easily visible.
Southern suburbs of Voronezh on a military topographic map of 1942.
By this time, in this direction the enemy could only be resisted by units of the 232nd Rifle Division (SD) of Lieutenant Colonel I.I. Ulitin and the 3rd Air Defense Division Colonel N.S. Sitnikov, since the rest of the Red Army was on the way to Voronezh. Units of the 232nd Infantry Division stubbornly defended their lines, often launching counterattacks. In particular, on July 5, the division commander brought the division's reserve into battle - the 3rd battalion of the 498th rifle regiment (regiment) and the 2nd company of the training battalion with the task of restoring the situation. The battalion, supported by divisional artillery fire, was commanded by Senior Lieutenant P.I. Zaitsev, on the move, knocked the enemy out of the grove, captured Shilovo and successfully advanced to Malyshevo. But this success was not developed. The enemy brought in fresh infantry forces with tanks. An unequal fight ensued. For six hours, the soldiers and battalion commanders fought off attacks by enemy tanks one after another. While repelling another attack, battalion commander P.I. was killed. Zaitsev. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Battalion commander D.K. fought until the last bullet. Chernomyrdin. He was carried out from the battlefield, seriously wounded.
Battalions of the 498th joint venture of Major A.A. Ermolaev, supported by fire from the division of Senior Lieutenant I. Kogan from the 425th Artillery Regiment and a company of quadruple installations of Captain G.P. Orlov from the 4th anti-aircraft machine gun regiment, fought with exceptional dedication at the crossing, at the edge of the forest and in its depths, on the road and the adjacent hills. The Nazis had a huge numerical superiority, but the Soviet soldiers fought heroically and did not give up an inch of land without a fight.
In general, the soldiers of the 232nd Infantry Division fought steadfastly and bravely, covering the approaches to Voronezh. During two days of continuous battle, they killed about 13 thousand German soldiers and officers, blew up 63 tanks, 160 vehicles with troops and cargo.
The tank crews of the 110th Tank Brigade (tbr) provided great assistance to the formations of the 232nd rifle division. One of the brigade’s counterattacks was personally led by the commander of the 18th Tank Corps (tk), Major General I.D. Chernyakhovsky. Guard Captain A.P. Ivanov later recalled: “The tank crews of the 110th brigade, together with other troops, suffering heavy losses, continued to hold back the enemy, and in some battles counterattacked him.” In particular, on July 5, the 110th Tank Brigade destroyed and burned 36 enemy tanks and destroyed 22 anti-tank guns along with their crews. The A.P. company inflicted the greatest damage on the enemy. Ivanov, and he himself burned and knocked out five enemy tanks. Alexander Petrovich was awarded the Order of Lenin. In subsequent battles he received a second Order of Lenin and the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The chief of the general staff of the ground forces of Nazi Germany, F. Halder, was forced to admit “that after a relatively easily successful breakthrough into the enemy’s location, he began to put up very stubborn resistance in places, which had to be suppressed.”
For four days the battle raged without abating on the Ostrogozhskaya road and the adjacent plain, in the Shilovsky forest, in Trushkino and in Shilovo. Only great numerical and technical superiority on the ground and in the air allowed the enemy to break through to the southern outskirts of the right bank part of Voronezh. But this promotion came at a high price.
On July 7, the firefight in Shilovo stopped. Of the village’s defenders, who fought the enemy to the last possible opportunity, there were no survivors. Once in Shilovo, the enemy immediately rushed to the Voronezh River, where they crossed it at the site of the old ferry crossing. A battalion of German machine gunners moved towards Maslovka. But during the counterattack of the Soviet units, the Nazis were almost completely exterminated.
On July 9, the Supreme Command Headquarters ordered the commander of the 60th Army, Lieutenant General M.A. Antonyuk “no later than the morning of July 11 to deliver a decisive blow between the river. Don and R. Voronezh from the Sevryukovka - Ramon area to the south in the direction of Podgornoye, Malyshevo with the task of completely clearing the eastern bank of the river during July 11 and 12. Don in the area Podkletnoe - Semiluki - Malyshevo - Voronezh and the entire space between the river. Don and R. Voronezh from the enemy and firmly gain a foothold on the river. Don, securing crossings across it.” Commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant General M.M. Popov, in turn, received an order “to simultaneously support a strike from the north with a strike from units of the 40th Army defending the city of Voronezh, with the involvement of the 18th Tank Corps for this purpose.”
The troops involved in the operation were greatly weakened by heavy July defensive battles with superior enemy forces. The lack of full-blooded formations in the army, its poor supply of material and technical means, the stubborn resistance of the fascists, who had already managed to prepare well-equipped defensive positions - all this made organizing an offensive extremely difficult.
According to reconnaissance data and observations on July 10, the command of the 40th Army established: the enemy was creating resistance centers of motorized infantry with anti-tank guns in the eastern part of the city, pulling heavy guns on transporters to the central bridge, as well as concentrating enemy tanks and infantry in the forests south of the city, Shilovo and Trushkino. The enemy in the Shilovo area carried out sapper work and measurements of the river, which were disrupted by army artillery fire.
July 10 acting Commander of the Voronezh Front, Lieutenant General F.I. Golikov in order to create a stubborn defense along the eastern bank of the river. Don ordered in the depths: “1. The commanders of the armies in the zone of action of their troops to carry out field equipment of the area along the front edge of the defense, completing the work of the first stage: rifle, machine gun, mortar, grenade launcher and anti-tank rifle trenches, gun platforms and observation posts by the end of July 13, 1942. 2. Along the entire front edge defense to create a continuous strip of anti-tank and anti-personnel barriers 0.5-1.5 km deep. 3. Further improve the defense system by creating wood-earth structures with reinforced ceilings, developing anti-tank barriers to the entire depth of the defense.” Units of the 40th Army began to carry out the order.
At that time, in the Maslovka - Semilukskie settlements (now Berezovka) section, the Soviet defense had very limited capabilities. However, the situation required active action until reinforcements arrived. It was necessary to take advantage of the fact that the main enemy forces were bogged down in battles for the right bank part of Voronezh and drive them out of Shilovo.
The first to cross to the right bank of the river were the scouts of the 111th separate rifle brigade (OSBR) of Lieutenant Colonel I.F. Dremova. They captured the “patch” opposite Shilov and entrenched themselves on it. The scouts were followed by riflemen and expanded the bridgehead to the base of the heights. Units of the 23rd separate pontoon-bridge battalion of Captain A.P. appeared on the river bank. Tikhonov. On the night of July 11, 1942, pontooners set up a crossing. Operating under enemy fire, platoon commander F. Korneev, driver A. Shkuratov, senior sergeant M. Gubarev and others completed a difficult task in a short time and ensured the transfer of reinforcements and ammunition to the bridgehead.
The 111th Special Brigade at that time was small in number, as it suffered heavy losses during defensive battles west of the Don. On July 13, 1942, there were 1254 people in the 111th Special Brigade, of which: 173 people. – command staff, 220 people. – junior command staff and 861 people. - rank and file. The brigade was armed with 374 rifles and carbines, 8 heavy machine guns, 3 light machine guns and 29 PPD and PPSh. Having now captured an important bridgehead, she had difficulty repelling enemy attacks. Therefore, the main role in capturing Shilovo was assigned to the 206th Infantry Division.
Ruins of the church bell tower in Shilovo. Marks from bullets and shells are visible.
Photo by Savchenko A.A..
July 10, 1942 206th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel F.M. Kishkina-Ivanenko, having come under the control of the 40th Army from the Bryansk Front, without the 722nd joint venture with the 16th fighter brigade (IBR) of anti-tank guns (PTO) concentrated in the Pridacha - Tavrovo - Semilukskie Vyselki - Maslovka area. Researcher A.I. Grinko noted that after the enemy’s bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Don in the Petropavlovka area was eliminated and Korotoyak was liberated, the situation in this area stabilized. The front commander had the opportunity to transfer two infantry divisions: the 100th and 206th - from the 6th Army zone to Voronezh. Together with the 111th Infantry and 16th Fighter Brigades, both divisions fought as part of their forces to expand the Shilovsky bridgehead.
However, already on July 9, units of the 737th rifle regiment of the 206th infantry division began a battle with German machine gunners who approached the Semiluksky settlements. Komsomol organizer of the 3rd battalion of the 737th joint venture N.A. Chaikin wrote in his diary: “Our fascists were knocked out of the thickets and crossed the river on the move. Voronezh. We settled on the right bank. Our companies are heavily hit by enemy mortars. Mines explode all over the area with an ominous dry crack.”
July 11, 206th Infantry Division, carrying out the task of capturing Shilovo, Trushkino on the western bank of the river. Voronezh, began crossing the river with the 748th rifle regiment (without the 2nd rifle battalion (sb)) and the 737th rifle regiment. The enemy put up stubborn resistance and stopped the offensive with heavy fire from machine guns, machine guns and mortars.
The enemy, stubbornly defending the northern and northeastern outskirts of Voronezh with the forces of the 3rd motorized division, improved its defense along the western bank of the river. Voronezh in engineering terms and at the same time continued to pull motorized infantry and tanks into the forest north of Shilovo, where, according to a Soviet pilot from a downed TB-3 bomber in the Malyshevo area, up to 1 tank and 1 infantry divisions were pulled together.
During the night of July 13, the crossing of reconnaissance units to the western bank of the river continued. Voronezh. In the battles of July 13, the division destroyed enemy machine-gun and mortar batteries. The division's losses were: killed, wounded and missing - 487 people, rifles - 400 pieces, heavy machine guns - 7 pieces, anti-tank guns - 16 pieces, 82mm mortars - 1 piece, PPSh machine guns - 16 pieces.
Such large losses of the advancing units were explained by the fact that the enemy occupied a very advantageous position: both day and night he controlled almost all directions of possible attacks by Soviet units. This is how N.A. describes the German defense. Chaikin: “The positions we occupy are not profitable for us. The Germans are firing at us with intense mortar and machine-gun fire from the heights. Our positions are 30-40 meters from the river bank... The river is half under fire, and the second part of the river is protected from German shelling by a steep bank. All night the Germans illuminate the front line with flares. In our battles in Ukraine, as I recall last year, we used only signal missiles. And the enemy hangs up flares all night, endlessly, one after another.”
Despite the unsuccessful actions, the division still achieved its goal. The enemy was forced to build up his forces in this area, somewhat weakening the onslaught in Voronezh. Reconnaissance established the presence of up to a regiment of motorized infantry in the Shilovo area; Tanks arrived in Malyshevo, the number of which was not determined. From Malyshevo itself to the forest 3 km northeast of the village, up to 12 vehicles with infantry were observed moving during the night.
In a combat report dated July 15 to the commander of the Voronezh Front, Lieutenant General N.F. Vatutin, commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant General M.M. Popov wrote: “... 3. I decided at 23.00 on July 15, the 206th Infantry Division without one regiment with two divisions of the 45th GMP (Guards Mortar Regiment - E.Sh.) to cross the river. Voronezh on the Peschanka - Tavrovo section, and advance in the direction of the railway. booths, 2 km west of the city of Voronezh, and together with the troops of the 60th Army, destroy the Voronezh enemy group. On the rest of the front, use active reconnaissance units and fire to pin down the enemy.”
On the same day, the division, with two RS divisions attached to it from the 45th GMP, completed the regrouping of troops and occupied the starting line on the front with the 737th and 748th rifle regiments. Gerbil - claim. Tavrovo. The advancing units were supported from the air by units of the 2nd Air Aviation through night bombing of the Shilovo and Malyshevo areas.
On July 17, the first flight on pontoons and other transport means departed to the western bank of the river. Voronezh. However, as before, the crossing was disrupted by organized enemy fire. In addition, the enemy disabled 6 A-3 boats. The repeated forcing was also unsuccessful. During the night, the division demonstrated false crossings in the Tavrovo areas and to the north. The division's losses on July 17 were killed and wounded: average command personnel - 24 people, junior command personnel - 42 people. and rank and file – 422 people.
By the end of the month, parts of the division were still able to transport the main forces, but their progress was insignificant.
A more favorable situation developed in the defense zone of the 100th Infantry Division. Guard Lieutenant N. Proshutinsky later recalled the following about the combat operations of the 472nd Infantry Regiment of the 100th Infantry Division: “On July 26, at dawn, the Nazis began processing our front line, located 800 meters from the village of Shilovo in a lowland overgrown with sparse bushes with young oak trees. . Everything was roaring around us. The Germans spared neither mines nor shells. With the help of mortars, this attack was repulsed relatively easily, but the enemy attacked again and again.
During the third attack, our riflemen faced a difficult situation. The platoon commander and others were killed. two from the department. Soldier Anton Popov replaced the light machine gunner and took command of the squad. With precise bursts, he pinned the German machine gunners to the ground. Many remained there forever.
After the Katyusha salvo, the companies were raised to counterattack. In front of the squad, Popov ran in wide leaps, pouring lead on the enemy from a light machine gun. It was a victory! Small, but a victory."
During the capture and retention of the bridgehead, our units suffered significant losses. For example, in the regiments of the 100th division, 791 people were killed and wounded. Taking into account the current situation, the commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant General M.M. On the night of August 2, Popov withdrew the 100th Infantry Division from the bridgehead. Its section was transferred to units of the 206th Infantry Division.
In August, the position of the Soviet units changed slightly. The center of the main struggle moved to the Stalingrad area and the Germans near Voronezh switched to a tough defense. By this time, our aviation began to gradually gain air supremacy.
ON THE. Chaikin recalled one of the attacks of the 737th rifle regiment of the 206th infantry division in August 1942: “August 10, 1942. Early this morning the entire battalion was raised to attack. Before the signal was given by rockets for the battalion companies to attack, powerful volleys of Katyusha rockets were fired at the enemy. The mines fired by our Katyushas whizzed like a fiery tornado over our heads, and then rumbled and burst with explosions over the fascist trenches. Our attack aircraft approached from Maslovka at low altitude, bombed and stormed enemy positions. Our artillery struck the fascist positions from the Maslovsky forest. Ahead of our advancing lines, a hurricane of explosive fire raged. A series of red rockets towards the enemy raised our units to attack. And again, as had happened many times before, the enemies came to their senses, used their deeply layered defense, and our attacking chains from behind the settlements of Shilovo and Trushkino were hit by large-caliber mortars, artillery, and then frantic machine-gun fire. All this mowed down our advanced advancing chains of fighters. Our attack has once again failed, we retreated with huge losses to our previous positions, taking the wounded with us.”
By the end of August, Soviet troops, just like in July, were unable to break through the German defenses and completely occupy the Shilovsky bridgehead.
Memorial complex "Shilovsky Bridgehead"
Photo by Savchenko A.A.
At the beginning of September, the command of the Voronezh Front was preparing a new offensive operation. The 206th Infantry Division was given the same task. The issues of interaction between different types of troops were carefully developed and previous mistakes were taken into account. ON THE. Chaikin recalled: “Early in the morning our artillery fired through our positions at the fascists, our Katyushas fired several salvos from different positions, and then we saw how across the river, where the Germans were, our attack aircraft were pecking at the front line. They say that the Nazis call our planes the “Black Death.” And indeed, our planes leave at low altitude from Maslovka and pounce on the fascist positions like vultures. First they bomb, and then they dive and hit with heavy machine guns. Now the Nazis have no advantage in the air." But, as before, the advancing units were not successful.
The 206th Infantry Division fought here until mid-September, and then transferred its positions to the 141st Infantry Division. The division's losses from July to September were enormous. In particular, the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the 737th Infantry Division of the 206th Infantry Division, numbering about 700 people at the beginning of July. and received 300 people during the battles. replenishment, at the time of transfer of positions to other units, there were only 47 people.
Thus, the active actions of Soviet units in the Shilov area pinned down large enemy forces and diverted their attention from the Chizhov bridgehead, where favorable conditions were created for the offensive of the 40th Army. In addition, he lost an important tactical line and could no longer use the Don crossing at Malyshev and the highway leading to Voronezh with impunity. The Shilovsky bridgehead is one of the most important memorial sites of the battles for Voronezh. Stubborn battles for the villages of Shilovo and Trushkino and for the forest were associated with heavy losses of our units.
Shendrikov E.A.
Fighting on the Shilovsky bridgehead in July - September 1942
scientific journal "Bereginya - 777 - Owl", 2010, No. 2(4)
For the trunks twisted into loops, visiting tourists gave the forest an offensive name. Even on the Curonian Spit in the Kaliningrad region, a similar anomaly was called the dancing forest, while the Ryazan pines were nicknamed nothing more than drunken ones. Apparently, not least because a wealthy city dweller is unlikely to discover the Drunken Forest without a guide. Ryazan local historian Andrey Gavrilov knows the right way to the place: we leave Shilovo in the direction of Kasimov, drive through Borok, Inyakino, Seltso-Sergievka and turn left at the sign to Dubrovka, on the outskirts of which we turn south. The road cuts through a forest area, on the right hand of which an amazing picture appears. The pines, as if cut down by their trunks, spread along the ground, bend into an arc and, as if on command, one and a half meters from the surface, rush upward.
Gavrilov said that this planting appeared here not so long ago - pine and birch trees were planted 50 years ago. The forest became drunk in three areas, and, according to the local historian, the locals came up with the simplest and most popular explanation for this - the incredible force of the whirlwind of 1971. But why the hurricane bent and did not break the unfortunate trees, the villagers remain silent. The capital's paranormal seekers also found out about the wonderful forest. Gavrilov remembers how the Moscow guests unsheathed the equipment and busily took out an electronic compass. The exhaustion, as expected from TV people, was another sensation - as if soberly assessing the mysteries of the Drunken Forest, visiting psychics ordered to clean the energy of this dead place, because supposedly here both the equipment and the head refuse to work. Having collected the cream of history into a hype story, the capital's journalists were not one step closer to solving the mystery.
Meanwhile, the forest continues its curved growth, as if not noticing the arrival of the messengers for sensations. But such a forest would not have gone unnoticed two thousand years ago. In those days, the Ryazan land was inhabited by pagan tribes of Finno-Ugric peoples. It was they who left us a legacy of enduring names of rivers and lakes, and today we pronounce Oka, Pra, Ermish, Moksha, Unzha like a spell, without understanding a single word. These peoples carried on their conversation with the forest, hanging ribbon-knots on the branches of centuries-old birch trees. Today local historian Gavrilov speaks for the ancient Finno-Ugric peoples.
“The tree trunks in the Drunken Forest bend under the influence of well-known reasons - you and I know that Bura Yaga galloped in it,” the forest spirit specialist, the leader, smiles slyly.
In the Ryazan epic, Bura Yaga (not to be confused with Baba Yaga) was preserved as an evil and extremely dangerous old woman who spread death by mercilessly devouring the unfortunate alive. She appeared on a fire-breathing horse, whose jumps generated a fiery whirlwind. They say that there is a direct connection between the words “Bura” and “storm”.
The ancient inhabitant of Praryazan region, according to the historian Darkevich, was afraid of the forest and cut down whenever possible, clearing bright clearings in place of dull thickets. They said that in a birch forest it is good to have fun, in a pine forest it is good to pray, and in a spruce forest it is good to hang yourself. The forest provided people with firewood and building materials, but at the same time it was fraught with many dangers. The Slavs attributed witchcraft powers to the forest: they say, the Nightingale the Robber hid in it, wolves prowled, and a clubfoot ruled. The Slavs believed that hostile forces were hiding in the dense forests. They imagined something completely unkind in the thickets, among the uprooted sparkling roots. The historian Vasily Klyuchevsky argued that the Russian man “never loved his forest”: “Unaccountable timidity took possession of him when he entered its gloomy canopy. The sleepy, dense silence of the forest frightened him; in the dull, silent noise of its centuries-old peaks one could sense something ominous; the minute-by-minute expectation of an unexpected, unforeseen danger strained my nerves and excited my imagination. And the ancient Russian man populated the forest with all kinds of fears. The forest is the dark kingdom of the one-eyed Leshy, an evil mischievous spirit who loves to fool around with a traveler who wanders into his domain.”
And only skilled hunters, lumberjacks and charcoal burners knew the approach to the forest. They lived in the forest, walked in the forest: the hostile wilderness turned into a living, complex organism for knowledgeable people. The centuries-long war ended with the victory of people with a clear advantage. It has been proven that during the times of Kievan Rus, the flood meadows of the Oka were covered with impenetrable oak groves, in the place of which today there is an endless field. You can see it all the way from Ryazan to Polyany. The forest was cut down mercilessly: pine for huts, birch for firewood, linden for bast and spoons, oak for furniture, wood was burned into ash - potash, and tar was distilled from butts, which in the era before the discovery of oil served as the ancestor of machine oil. Tar was used to lubricate cart wheel hubs, rub leather boots, and anoint wounds. In the modern age of fine chemistry and synthetic medicines, traditional medicine still penetrates into official medicine - foul-smelling tar gives a special aroma to Vishnevsky’s ointment. One way or another, tar and potash completed the process of total deforestation. In the 20th century, a grandiose project to straighten the Pra River appeared: it was proposed to dig a single canal for the purpose of hassle-free rafting of wood. And if this plan had been implemented, the amazing river with water the color of strong brewed tea would have been destroyed forever. After many centuries of attacks and persecution, the Ryazan forest has noticeably thinned out and become younger. In 1388, Metropolitan Pimen described the area in the west of the Ryazan region as a deserted forest, where “there are many animals - moose, wolves, bears, swans, beavers.” In their place today there are completely plowed fields.
Modern science has not ignored the drunken forest. Geographers from the Ryazan State University named after Yesenin began to think and came closer to solving the mystery of the Shilov crooked forest. To understand the essence of the phenomenon, you need to get to know the pine tree better. Pine does not hide its age, and there is no need to saw it for this. It is enough to count the number of whorls, that is, places on the trunk from which branches grow together in all directions. Every year, a pine tree grows a straight section of trunk with a whorl of branches at the top. If you have an artificial “Christmas tree” at home, you can also theoretically calculate its age - it is equal to the total number of levels of branches. As a rule, there are from four to seven of them. True, an artificial Christmas tree has all the spans on the trunk of the same length, which, of course, does not happen in nature. In the natural environment, the length of each section of the trunk between the branches is different and strictly depends on the quality of the conditions of a particular year.
So, taking a closer look at the pines of the crooked forest, specialists from the Department of Physical Geography of the Russian State University noticed that from a height of two and a half meters, the bent trunks of the pine trees straighten together, producing a series of thirty-five whorls. From this, scientists conclude that from about 1980, a period of sobriety began in the life of the Drunken Forest. The lower curved part of the trunk contains a record of five or six unusual years in the life of the forest, when an incredible force forced the young trees to grow with their tops to the west. Another fact also seemed suspicious: the oldest trees in the crooked forest have healthy, regular, straight trunks. Does this mean that the disaster affected only young trees under five years old? This is precisely the suspicion that scientists voice. Geographers brought up climate data from the late 1970s and the results of geological drilling in the Dubrovka area. And then the doubts disappeared. Several years before the Moscow Olympics, the weather created several abnormally wet years, alternating snowy winters with rainy summers. The drunken forest at that time was a young planting of pines with short roots that were not able to withstand the elements. Under the feet of the pines there is a thick layer of sand, and under it there are clays impenetrable to water. A series of wet years saturated the sand with water, and at one point the sliding began. A patch of forest the size of a football field began to move and began to slowly slide, taking breaks during the dry season. The trunks of young pines leaned to the west. The process was repeated several times. During short periods of rest, the tops of the pine trees managed to point the trunk upward. This is how, according to scientists, the Drunken Forest arose.
The drunken forest is today considered as a contender for inclusion in the list of natural heritage sites of the Ryazan region with the status of a natural monument. Lumberjacks are not particularly keen on twisting trunks, from which they cannot lay down a hut or cut a slab. True, this forest can simply be cut down, and a new one, as straight as possible, can be planted in the clearing. That is why scientists are concerned with the issue of protecting the bent pine forest, whose crooked trunks captured information about climate change in the 20th century. If the mysterious forest is given the status of a natural monument, then there will certainly be no need to worry that the Drunken Forest on Shilovskaya Land will ever end up as firewood.
The scientists’ version, of course, is convincing, but it does not fully explain why some people in a drunken forest charge their hopelessly dead phones, their headaches go away, they lose their sense of time and the best shots from the camera disappear. Maybe because for the first time you find yourself among pines bent into a glass, you become a little absent-minded, or maybe there really is something there. The goblin knows him.
The asphalt road was left behind, and now our Niva was making its way along the ruts of the snow-covered dirt road. The damp and gloomy last Saturday in January had long since passed midday, and although there were a good two and a half hours left before sunset, the closeness of night was felt in every breath of air inhaled. This feeling is a feeling of uncertainty and the unknown, adventurous... A well-trodden forest “highway” connecting two Shilov villages - Dubrovka and Tarnovo - soon led us to that very “cursed place”.
Mecca for anomaly seekers
It was as if some mighty hero, walking among the pines, bent their trunks into an arc for the sake of a joke, bent them and hid somewhere nearby in order to fully enjoy his joke. But the first travelers who found themselves here quite possibly actually opened their mouths in amazement. And how could one not be surprised by such a dance of trees.
I first came here in 1988,” says Director of the Shilovsky Museum of Local Lore Alexander Gavrilov. “We found twisted trees in three areas located not far from each other. The unusual appearance was attributed to the tornadoes that raged in the area in the seventies, but what was it really like...
Fresh tracks of a snowmobile silently testified that recently the Drunken Forest, and this is the popular name given to this area of pine planting, received regular pilgrims. Even Muscovites come to the Shilovsky district in search of anomalies and space-time holes. Some of the locals skillfully play along with them, telling tall tales. However, our acquaintance with the pine trees, drunk on vodka or moonshine, followed quite standard canons - nothing supernatural. And even the compass needle, as luck would have it, pointed exactly to “north” every time. Maybe at least the phones had mysteriously turned off - we wished for it and reached into our pockets. But the telephones and all other equipment turned out to be in good working order.
Apparently, one still needs to look for an answer to the question of the origin of “drunk” trees exclusively in the scientific field.
So quicksand or snow?
At one time, almost all geographers at the Yesenin Russian State University thought about this “anomaly,” he shared with us Head of Department Alexey Vodorezov. - Having studied the weather reports from the late seventies, when the designated area was a very young pine planting, we came to the conclusion that quicksand were to blame for everything. The alternation of snowy winters and rainy summer months led to the sliding (displacement) of the upper sand layer lying on a waterproof clay “cushion”. Young trees, unable to withstand the elements, bowed their humble heads before their fate. This went on for several years, and when climatic conditions returned to normal, the trees straightened.
The version about an unknown weight that crushed young trees in the first years of their life is also supported by the Ryazan branch of the Russian Botanical Society. Such curved anomalies, according to botanists, are found in other parts of the region, and thus flora lovers call wet snow a natural sculptor.
But why in this case did the trees fall down, as if on command, in whole “platoons”, choosing absolutely identical azimuths for their fall? On one “anomalous” island the trees lay towards the north, on the other - towards the southeast. The version with quicksand looks more plausible, however, it does not allow us to figure out what the “white spots” are hiding. Several groups of pines are bent in the direction opposite to the lowland, that is, against the potential direction of soil creep. Of course, in fifty years the terrain could have changed. Well, if not, if the terrain hasn’t changed...
We will be able to answer this question exhaustively when we dig pits and look at the directions of soil displacement,” Alexey Vodorezov temporarily closes the anomalous topic. - And, perhaps, in the next field season such work will actually be carried out, since the Drunken Forest today claims to be included in the list of protected natural heritage sites of the Ryazan region.
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How to get there
The drunken forest is located in the Shilovsky district between the villages of Tyrnovo and Dubrovka. You can get to it by turning left from the Shilovo-Kasimov road following the Dubrovka sign. Then proceed to the populated area and, without entering the village, head straight for a large forest area. Coordinates: north latitude 54.49321°, east longitude 41.05466°.
To the point
There is also a Walking Forest in the Ryazan region
Not far from the village of Alekanovo, Ryazan region, there is the Walking Forest - a sand dune studded with pine trees not far from Lake Velye, beloved by many townspeople. This fragment of Meshchera restlessly strives towards the Oka. Every year, traveling up to three meters, the trees are getting closer and closer to the main waterway of the region. New trees in the Walking Forest appear exclusively on the offensive side; those that end up in the rearguard invariably die.
Today is a memorable date for the residents of Voronezh: the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of the city from the Nazi invaders. In terms of the scale of damage inflicted on the enemy, the Battle of Voronezh can deservedly be placed in second place after the Battle of Stalingrad, but these heroic events were hushed up by the Soviet government for a long time. Only in 2008, after many decades, Voronezh finally received the well-deserved title of “City of Military Glory.” You ask why this happened? I will tell you. And at the same time, about one military memorial unjustly forgotten by the townspeople, located on the site of brutal bloody battles and called the “Shilovsky Bridgehead”. Well, and also about how we got there to honor the memory of the Red Army soldiers who fell there on the eve of the memorable date.
02
. I learned about the Shilovsky bridgehead in 2009. There was scant information on the geocacher website that supposedly there is such a heroic place not far from the unfinished VAST (Voronezh Nuclear Heat Supply Station). In 1991, a referendum was held and 96% of Voronezh residents, remembering the Chernobyl tragedy, voted for the mothballing of this construction. I wonder why not now hold a referendum on the beginning of nickel development in the Voronezh region? However, that's not what I'm talking about. In general, I knew about the Shilovsky bridgehead for some time, I planned to visit on occasion, but somehow it didn’t work out. Finally, during the last May holidays, I took my wife and daughter and decided to go for a ride to, so to speak, close the gap. When I arrived at the place, I realized why few people had heard of the Shilovsky bridgehead, unlike the Chizhovsky bridgehead known to every Voronezh resident, much less seen. The road along which the navigator leads ends in a strictly guarded VAST, and if you try to get to the memorial from the side of the reservoir, you find yourself in a littered coastal fiefdom of fishermen, where it is no wonder you get stuck in the sand, unable to pass an oncoming car on a narrow path. And in order to drive a car to the memorial itself, you will definitely need all-wheel drive and good ground clearance.
03
. Since we have enough jeepers and all the hills on the right bank are literally shaded with ruts of various ages, we made several “false” runs that did not lead us to the memorial, but we came across mass grave No. 590. In 1942-43, 8 residents of the village of Shilovo (their names are known and engraved on a marble slab), a boy and 5 unknown soldiers who were shot by the Germans were buried here. It’s nice that for the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory this military burial place was put in order.
04
. In order not to get up twice, I will also show you mass grave No. 420, located on the outskirts of the Shilovsky forest. The commander of the 5th rifle company of the 498th regiment of the 232nd rifle division, Lieutenant Sergei Petrovich Kalabukhov, who died on July 6, 1942 in hand-to-hand combat, is buried here. In 1998, next to the lieutenant’s grave at the obelisk, the remains of three soldiers of the 6th company of the 498th regiment of the 232nd Infantry Division were reburied: two privates and one junior lieutenant, Joseph Solomonovich Moroz, who died heroically on July 6, 1942. Traces of global reconstruction are also visible.
05
. In general, in May I never got to the right place, because it was getting dark and my wife gave me an ultimatum that I should not travel on such roads with her and a small child, but with friends. Summer, autumn, half of winter passed, and the day before yesterday I went here again, but with in_windows
and on his L200. Fishermen come here all year round, so the road along the coast was crowded for almost any belly fisher. With traveling, however, the situation is even more complicated.
06
. But we are indifferent to fishing and our goal is the tops of those hills.
07
. And there is beauty all around! The fisherman's garbage is not visible under the snow, the sun is beginning to set, and even some partridges are unceremoniously grazing on the hillock. Or hazel grouse?
08
. In general, there are plenty of traces of all kinds of living creatures. I even took a wide-angle photograph of an owl sitting in the snow (that’s why I don’t show it). Traces of several attempts by some vehicles to climb to the top are also visible. Let's try them. Alas, the rut is ending and nothing has worked out for us yet.
09
. Vasily stubbornly makes attempt after attempt, but after overcoming one tough “threshold” he firmly faces the next one.
10
. It turns out that hidden under the snow is excellent ice left over from the previous thaw. Let's bleed the tire pressure a little.
11
. We managed to move up the hill, but the second “sill” is steeper than the first and we can’t jump onto it. Vasya is fastening some tricky anti-skid bracelets. Hmm, it seems I forgot to write that Vasily still drives summer tires?
12
. The tires, of course, are not stock and the L200, in general, is good to go, but there is still not enough grip on the road. Moreover, with his attempts, he further polished the “threshold” and the front of the car began to drift to the left. At some point, I was already prepared for the fact that my portfolio would include a photo of a pickup truck turning over on its side. But everything worked out.
13
. At this time, a snowmobile rushed past us, looking like you know what.
14
. Vasya was offended, relieved the tire pressure to 0.5, went down to the very bottom of the slope, turned around, then accelerated properly and also jumped to the top of the hill! I think he will talk about his feelings on his blog, but I’m returning to the main topic of my story.
15
. And here it is the heart of the “Shilovsky Bridgehead”. At least in its current interpretation. A memorial complex that includes a monument, mass grave No. 113 and the bell tower of the Mitrofan's Church, reminiscent of the village of Shilovo that once existed here. And also the earth, swollen by shells and mines and dug up by soldiers’ shovels and bayonets, the old scars of which are permanently “refreshed” by black archaeologists.
16
. Let's look around. Do you see the figurine of a fisherman? What about the houses on the opposite bank of the reservoir?
17
. The latter did not exist in 1942; the reservoir was built later, in 1972, but there was the Voronezh River, which became the front line. There were fascists on the right bank, and the Red Army on the left. The viewing width, as you can see, is colossal. Especially from the church bell tower, from which even without binoculars our defensive positions at Maslovka and Tavrovo (the very same houses) were visible.
18
. So, intending to enter Voronezh from the south, on July 4, 1942, the Nazis crossed the Don in the Malyshevo area. The enemy believed that he would now quickly reach the city. But it was not there. Both on the banks of the Don and on other defensive lines, the Nazis met stubborn resistance from units of the 232nd Infantry Division, the 3rd Air Defense Division, and then the 110th Tank Brigade. The battle continued for four days on the Ostrogozhskaya road and the adjacent plain, in the Shilovsky forest near the village of Shilovo. Alas, great numerical and technical superiority on the ground and in the air allowed the enemy to break through to the southern outskirts of the right bank part of Voronezh. This promotion came at a high price, but our units were also significantly thinned out. The 498th Infantry Regiment was almost completely destroyed. Literally a few people remained in the batteries of the 214th anti-tank artillery division. When the ammunition ran out and the guns failed, the division commander, Captain P. S. Nakonechny, led the remaining artillerymen into hand-to-hand combat and died with them in an unequal battle. The firefight stopped. Having captured Shilovo, the Germans immediately received a number of advantages. Now they had at their disposal the shortest road from the Don crossing at Malyshev to the southern outskirts of Voronezh, the Shilovsky forest provided good opportunities for unnoticeably concentrating reserves, camouflaging warehouses, placing rear services, etc., and Shilovo itself, located on a high hill, like me already wrote, it ensured a dominant position over the left bank.
19
. Starting on July 11, the 206th Infantry Division began making attempt after attempt to recapture Shilovo. As a result, having gained a foothold on a small section of the right bank, by the end of the month parts of the division were still able to transport the main forces, but their advance was insignificant and their losses were huge. In particular, the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the 737th Infantry Regiment of the 206th Infantry Division, which numbered about 700 people at the beginning of July and received 300 reinforcements during the battles, had only 47 people at the time of transfer of positions to other units. The dead were buried in mass or single graves on the bridgehead, some were transported to the left bank. The 206th Division did not stop fighting for the Shilovsky bridgehead from July to September 1942, then transferred its positions to the 141st Infantry Division.
20
. In mass grave No. 113, into which the remains of fallen soldiers from the entire bridgehead zone were taken, soldiers, commanders and political workers of the 232nd, 100th and 206th rifle divisions, 111th rifle and 110th tank brigades, about a thousand soldiers in total, were buried. In addition, the remains of 116 civilians from Shilov who died from bombing and during hostilities are buried there.
21
. Burials of the remains of soldiers, who are still found by search engines at the sites of former battles, occur here to this day.
22
. The monument was hand-chased from aircraft-grade duralumin by workers of the Voronezh Aviation Plant. The same one that released the Silts that “ironed” these hills. Below, if anything, the traces are not ours, but of the bulldozer that cleared the snow here for the holiday. It turns out that VAST security officers seem to be looking after the monument, but you can, in fact, only get here from the “rear”?
23 . Ok, at least let it be like that. We move on to the liberation of Voronezh. It happened on January 25, 1943 and was the result of the Voronezh-Kastornensky operation. The 60th Army under the command of I. Chernyakhovsky captured the city and cleared it of enemy units. At the same time, enemy losses reached 320 thousand soldiers and officers. Near Voronezh, 26 enemy divisions were defeated, and the number of prisoners exceeded the number taken during the Stalingrad operation. But let's return to the question: how could it happen that the second city after Stalingrad, through which the front line passed, for a long time was, as it were, a “forgotten” hero city? Some historians believe that the reason for this was the large number of Hungarian and Romanian soldiers who died in the Voronezh region. After all, the 2nd Hungarian Army, which is 150 thousand soldiers and officers, was completely destroyed here. This has never happened in the entire centuries-old history of Hungary. And since both Hungary and Romania became allies of the USSR under the Warsaw Pact, they did not reopen the recent wound. That's it. Well, I congratulate all Voronezh residents on this wonderful holiday and suggest you read more