The beginning of the history of the Saratov province dates back to 1739, when, during the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the ancient city of Saratov with the surrounding lands, previously part of the vast Kazan province (since 1708), was annexed to the Astrakhan province. Under Catherine II, in 1769, an independent administrative unit was established within the Astrakhan province - the Saratov province, which existed until the abolition of the institution of provinces in 1775. In 1780, the Saratov governorate was established from the northern districts of the former Astrakhan province. In 1782, the Novokhopyorsky district and part of the Borisoglebsky district were transferred to the Saratov governorship from the Tambov governorship, and the Chernoyarsk district was transferred from the Astrakhan province. Under Paul the First in 1796, during the reverse reorganization of the Russian governorships in the province, the Saratov governorship was abolished, and its districts were transferred to the Penza province (in particular, the districts of Atkarsky, Balashovsky, Volsky, Kamyshinsky, Kuznetsky, Petrovsky, Saratovsky, Serdobsky, Khvalynsky and Tsarevsky).

In the Saratov province in whole or in part
There are the following maps and sources:
(except for those indicated on the main page of the general
all-Russian atlases, where this province may also be)

1-layout of land surveying of the 18th century. (1780-90s)
A single-layout map of the survey is not topographical (latitudes and longitudes are not indicated on it), a hand-drawn map of the late 18th century. (after changing the boundaries of the provinces in 1775-79) on a scale of 1 inch 1 verst or in 1 cm 420 m. As a rule, a single county was drawn on several sheets, which are shown on a single composite sheet. Currently, all land survey maps at our disposal for the Saratov province date back to the reign of Catherine the Second 1775-96. The maps are colored and very detailed.
The purpose of the survey map is to indicate the boundaries of land plots (so-called dachas) within the county.

4 layout of districts of the Saratov province
four-verstka - a less detailed map than conventional land survey plans, but nevertheless contains all settlements with a fairly accurate location and often with marks of later settlements

Lists of populated places in the Saratov province in 1862 (according to information from 1859)
This is a one-stop reference guide that contains the following information:
- status of a settlement (village, hamlet, hamlet - proprietary or state-owned, i.e. state);
- location of the settlement (in relation to the nearest highway, camp, well, pond, stream, river or river);
- the number of households in a settlement and its population (the number of men and women separately);
- distance from the district town and camp apartment (camp center) in versts;
- presence of a church, chapel, mill, etc.
The book contains 130 pages (plus general information).

Economic notes to the general survey of the Saratov province
handwritten and, in part of the provinces, difficult to read due to the scribe’s handwriting

In March 1797, the Penza province was reorganized into Saratov by a simple rename; Saratov became the administrative center of the new province, consisting of ten districts, and for the first time in its history acquired the status of a provincial city. In turn, Penza becomes the center of the district of the same name in the north-west of the Saratov province. As in the time of Catherine the Second, at this time the borders of the vast Trans-Volga lands of a number of districts of the Saratov province (Volsky, Kamyshinsky, Khvalynsky and Tsaritsynsky) had straightened contours. In October 1797, a number of districts departed from the new Saratov province into the provinces of Tambov, Nizhny Novgorod and Simbirsk, and from some of the districts remaining in it - already during the reign of Alexander the First - in the second half of 1801 (in September) the Penza province was again formed. In 1802, Novokhopyorsky district was transferred to the Voronezh province, and Chernoyarsk district returned to the Astrakhan province (at the same time divided into two provinces - Astrakhan and Caucasus). The administrative border of the Saratov province with the Astrakhan province at this time and in the future generally retains the same straight line, as in Catherine’s times. Under Nicholas the First, in 1835, three new Trans-Volga districts were established as part of the Saratov province from part of the lands of neighboring counties - Nikolaevsky (parts of the lands of Volsky and Khvalynsky districts located beyond the Volga were included in it), Novouzensky (at the expense of the Trans-Volga part of the lands of Saratov district) and Tsarevsky (which received the Trans-Volga lands of Kamyshinsky and Tsaritsynsky districts). In 1850-1851 Tsarevsky district from the Saratov province was transferred to the Astrakhan province. At the same time, Nikolaevsky and Novouzensky districts became part of the newly established Samara province. Throughout the subsequent pre-revolutionary period of the history of the Saratov province, its composition and administrative boundaries no longer changed.

Treasure hunters of the Volga region are confident that the dashing ataman of the Volga freemen Stepan Razin hid most of the looted treasures in their region. And, according to historical chronicles, the troublemaker stole a lot. Treasures that seekers manage to discover in the Volga region from time to time only confirm their version.
Historians, topographers and military personnel are aware of the existence of maps published before 1917, which indicate approximately where to look for treasure. But the whole problem lies precisely in this “approximateness”. How should we interpret the following phrase: “The treasure is buried near the Captain’s Mountain”? How to accurately determine exactly that square meter with buried treasures, when the mark with a cross on the map indicates a geographical object that is very large in area - after all, excavating such a mountain can take decades!

Therefore, the whole problem of searching for treasures, which is carried out both by members of official historical and local history societies and by private individuals, often rests precisely on the scale of the work, and this applies to both searches in archives and excavations directly on the ground.
Finding a treasure without a cartographic basis is unrealistic. There are indications of the location of treasures, for example, in pre-revolutionary sources. Among them is “Historical and Geographical Dictionary of the Saratov Province: the southern districts of Tsaritsyn and Kamyshinsky” by A.N. Minkha, works of other members of the Saratov Scientific Archival Commission (SUAC), etc.

STEPAN RAZIN'S CLIF
The Stepan Razin Cliff is a section of the steep bank of the Volga on the border of the Saratov and Volgograd regions.
The cliff is located 5 kilometers south of the village of Belogorskoye, at 50°36" north latitude and 45°39" east longitude. The shore of the Volgograd Reservoir in this area rises 35-40 meters. The top layer of the cliff, 20 meters thick, is composed of Turonian-Senonian chalk rocks, whose age reaches 90 million years. The lower layer is formed by quartz-glauconitic sands of the Cenomanian stage, 100 million years old. The cliff is split in half by the deep “Slave” (“Tyurminsky”, “Duramanny”) ravine, and borders on the south with Durman Mountain, the height of which reaches 186.2 meters. In the area of ​​the cliff, four Old Believer caves are also known: “Old I”, “Old II”, “Lisya” and “Mayskaya”, lasting from 600 to 800 meters (probably before the collapses there was a single system of tunnels connected to each other). The cliff is the northernmost point of the Shcherbakovsky natural park, on the territory of which there are also mounds “Urakov” and “Nastin” associated with the name of Stepan Razin.

The Stepan Razin Cliff has scientific historical and cultural significance and is officially recognized as an archaeological natural monument of the Saratov region.
It is known for certain that the cliff area was developed already in the Bronze Age. Traces of later settlements date back to the times of the Great Horde and the popular uprising led by Stepan Razin. Presumably, in a military camp located on the top of a cliff, the legendary chieftain himself lived and commanded, personally tracked down and robbed merchant ships sailing past on the Volga, and threw captured prisoners into captivity in the “Tyurminsky” ravine. There is also a legend that it was in this place that Razin drowned the Persian princess.
Due to the fact that the rebel army marched along the Volga to Saratov, among the residents of various coastal villages, different sections of the coast were called Stepan Razin’s cliffs (hillocks), from Shcherbakovka in the south to Nizhnyaya Bannovka in the north. This caused discrepancies in guidebooks and traveler accounts. A place very similar to a cliff was first described by the artists Grigory and Nikanor Chernetsov in 1838. A year later, researcher A. Leopoldov, under the name Stenka Razin’s Kurgan, described another place, located a little to the south and popularly called “Cancer” Mountain. Taras Shevchenko, who saw it from the ship, also left a small note about Stenka Razin’s mound. In 1861, the founders of the Saratov Art Museum, Nikolai and Alexei Bogolyubov, in their work “The Volga from Tver to Astrakhan”, Stepan Razin’s Bugr, named a place located to the north of all previous descriptions. The first photograph of the cliff was taken by Nizhny Novgorod photographer M. Dmitriev in 1894. At the beginning of the 20th century, a map was published in the guidebook “Companion to the Volga River and its tributaries Kama and Oka” with the exact location of the cliff and Durman Mountain.

Archaeological expeditions
One of the first official scientific expeditions to Stepan Razin's Cliff was organized in 1907. Local historians explored the settlement, the emergence of which was attributed to the times of peasant uprisings led by Stepan Razin. The discovered objects, primarily a coin minted during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, confirmed the age of the settlement. In the 1960s, archaeological excavations were carried out on the cliff under the leadership of I. V. Sinitsyn, a professor at the Faculty of History at Saratov University. Cultural layers of the Bronze Age, the period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, and new evidence of the presence of Stepan Razin’s troops in these places were discovered.

Datura Mountain

In the absence of direct evidence of Stepan Razin’s presence in the vicinity of the cliff, or the events associated with it, over the centuries that have passed since those times, people have developed a variety of legends about treasures allegedly buried in these places, about the appearance of ghosts and other mystical events.

Tomb of Marina Mniszech
In 1859, the Saratov Provincial Gazette published the story of a barge hauler who, having climbed a cliff with his friend, saw a hole in the ground with a door. Having descended into the dungeon, they found themselves in a richly furnished room, in the middle of which a coffin bound with three iron hoops was installed. In the corner of the room hung an icon in a frame strewn with precious stones, and along the walls stood many barrels of gold and silver. The barge haulers prayed to the icon, after which the narrator’s comrade grabbed a hammer lying near the coffin and broke the locks on the coffin, from which the revived Marina Mnishek rose. The barge hauler, distraught, began to whip her with iron rods, and the narrator who tried to stop him was instantly thrown out the door by an invisible force. The entrance to the dungeon disappeared without a trace. After the incident, the barge hauler returned to the ship alone, his comrade was missing.

It is noteworthy that a similar legend is associated with the Urakov Hill located just to the south. According to it, the barge haulers descended into the cave of the Mongol sorcerer Gazuk, where they saw a girl rising from a golden coffin.

Treasure of the slain robber
At the end of the 19th century, a peasant from the village of Danilovka told a story told to him by his late father, a participant in the incident. In stormy weather, three Danilov peasants went to the opposite bank of the Volga, where they met a young guy and a woman with a child. The stranger asked to be transported to Danilovka, and after some bargaining, the peasants agreed. Halfway through the journey, the guy ordered his companion to throw the child overboard. Hearing the refusal, he rushed at her with a dagger and was killed by the oar of the quickly reacting helmsman. The rescued woman said that her murdered kidnapper was a robber. Having undressed him, the peasants discovered a treasure trove written by one of Stepan Razin’s esauls, which described in detail the burial place of the ataman’s wealth on Durmannaya Mountain. The peasants went to look for the treasure on Easter. After a short search, after praying, we began to dig. However, then the inexplicable began to happen: first, a herd of mad cows rushed at the peasants, then a storm arose, from which three robbers with clubs appeared, after which the heroes of the story, frightened, decided to stop the search. The next day there was no more treasure in the hole, only prints from the chest buried there and traces of a German wagon remained.

The Ghost of Stepan Razin
According to the stories of residents of surrounding villages, the spirit of the executed chieftain repeatedly appeared to people in different guises. One of these stories, according to which a German woodcutter heard Razin’s voice in the forest near Durman Mountain, was recorded from the words of a Danilovsky peasant by the leader of the 1907 expedition, B.V. Zaikovsky. A resident of the village of Shcherbakovka retold another mysterious incident that happened to his father, who saw the ghost of Stepan Razin. On the way to Danilovka in a strong blizzard, he met an old man in rags, who refused an invitation to a warm overnight stay with the words: “Stenka Razin, I am a great sinner. I have to suffer for another 70 years. Tell all people, Russians and Germans, to live in peace!”

The mystery of Datura Mountain
Of all the legends associated with Stepan Razin’s Cliff, scientists managed to unravel only one. Many archaeologists and treasure hunters, who since the end of the 19th century have been actively searching for riches buried by the ataman, complained of dizziness and poor health. Stranger events also occurred, which is why the treasures were considered enchanted and cursed. The last remarkable story happened in Soviet times with a tractor driver working near Durman Mountain who stopped to rest. Through his sleep, he heard someone forcefully open the tractor door, but there was no one around. As soon as he fell asleep again, everything happened again. There is also a widespread rumor among the people about the prison ravine, where supposedly all the prisoners of Stepan Razin fell ill after the first night. However, an explanation for these myths was provided by research by geologists who discovered electromagnetic radiation in these places - presumably the legacy of the volcano located there.

Stenka Razin - RUSSIAN FLIBUSTER

Source: Columbus magazine No. 12 (2005)
Stepan Razin is, without a doubt, an epic figure in Russian history. The leader of the peasant uprising of 1670-1671, a Cossack ataman, a colorful people's leader, he became famous for his riotous lifestyle, numerous military victories and no less rich trophies. Rumors and legends about treasures looted by Razin's Cossacks captured the imagination of many generations. There is still an opinion that part of the precious metals, gold coins and stones, was hidden by the legendary chieftain in a safe place. But where should one look for Stenka Razin’s treasure?

Cossack robbers

Stepan Razin was born around 1630 on the free Don, into a wealthy Cossack family. According to some sources, he was a “tuma”, i.e. the son of a Cossack and a captured Turkish woman, he knew Turkish and Tatar languages ​​very well.

The Cossacks at that time were a very unique military class. They were not subject to Russian legislation, had self-government and led a special way of life. Their main occupation was campaigns against neighboring Tatars, Turks and Nogais. The Cossacks returned from their campaigns with rich booty. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Don Cossacks mastered the maritime form of robbery. On small boats - plows, they went out into the Azov Sea, then the Black Sea and robbed passing ships. However, in 1660, the exit to the Sea of ​​Azov was tightly blocked by the Turks. Not far from Azov, they built a powerful fortress called Sedd-ul-Islam, and blocked the flow of the Don with chains attached to two towers located on different banks. This caused a real crisis in the “Cossack economy.”

Some Cossack detachments began to raid even Russian regions. So, in 1666, Ataman Vasily Us with 500 horsemen reached almost Tula, making various requisitions along the way. The clerk of Prince Golitsyn’s estate, in particular, reported that the thieves’ Cossacks took “10 horses, a dress, canvases, and killed 10 pigs and 20 rams” from his estate.

But Stenka Razin did not want to deal with such small things. He conceived a more ambitious “project.” Razin decided to assemble a large detachment, board plows and, through the Don, land transport, and Lower Volga, go to the Caspian Sea and there begin plundering the rich coastal possessions of the Iranian Shah. This was not easy to do. In the lower reaches of the Volga, in Astrakhan, there was a powerful Russian garrison. His main task was precisely to prevent robber Cossack bands from entering the Caspian Sea.

Nevertheless, the Cossacks liked Razin’s bold plan. In May 1667, a two-thousand-strong Razin detachment on 40 plows went on a campaign.

In the Tsaritsyn area, Stenka stopped and robbed a caravan of ships that was delivering selected caviar to the patriarch and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich himself. The Cossacks took all their property, part of the ships, weapons and ammunition, and food. Then, having deceived the Astrakhan governors with a deft maneuver, Razin broke through one of the channels into the Caspian Sea.

The main base of the Cossack filibusters became the island of Chechen. It was from here that Razin set off on the so-called Persian campaign.

Persian campaign

Almost all major cities located on the western coast of the Caspian Sea - Derbent, Terki, and the outskirts of Baku - were attacked by the Cossacks. The Razin tactics were simple but effective. They quietly sailed to a large port city and hid in the nearby floodplains. Then they sent spies into the city. They found out whether there was a military garrison in the city, how the residents were disposed, and where the goods were stored. Then, as a rule, early in the morning, they unexpectedly attacked the city, defeated the garrison and robbed the rich inhabitants. In the captured city, the Razins lingered until a large contingent of Persian ground forces appeared on the horizon. Sometimes city authorities voluntarily paid large monetary indemnities to uninvited newcomers, provided that the Cossacks voluntarily left the city. In the coastal strip, the Razins, when the opportunity presented themselves, intercepted merchant ships.

Their plows - long, wide, with a shallow draft, were slow-moving in the open sea, but maneuvered perfectly in the Caspian shallow waters, among rocks and underwater rocks. They easily rode the steep waves. Each plow had two cannons, at the bow and at the stern, a small sail, supplies of water, food, and a “crew” of up to 50 people.

Soon the Persian cities located on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea - Rasht, Ferakhabat, Astrabat and others - were attacked by the Cossacks.

The Shah of Persia sent a large flotilla under the command of Mened Khan against Razin's filibusters. There were 3,700 Shah soldiers on 50 ships. The Razins had three times less forces.

But Stenka was not at a loss. He decided to lure the Shah's fleet into a trap. The Cossacks pretended to stampede. The Persians rushed after them. In order not to miss a single robber plane, Mened Khan ordered the Persian ships to connect in chains and capture the Cossacks in a kind of network. At Pig Island the Persians overtook the filibusters. Suddenly, six Razin plows turned sharply and rowed towards the Persian flagship. The Cossacks used axes to cut openings in the sides and threw several burning barrels of gunpowder into them. The flagship exploded and sank, pulling other Persian ships into the abyss. Those who remained afloat were shot by the Razins from cannons and boarded. The entire Persian fleet, with the exception of three ships, was burned or sunk. On the captured ships, Stenka, among other trophies, discovered 15-year-old Fatima Meneda, the daughter of a deceased Persian naval commander. Razin made her his concubine.

After a brilliant naval victory, Stenka decided to return to the Don.

Astrakhan treasure

This time Razin did not fight his way through Astrakhan. He simply bribed the Astrakhan governor I.S. Prozorovsky. Among the bribes, in particular, was a priceless sable fur coat, covered with satin and previously owned by the ill-fated Mened Khan. Prozorovsky accepted the gifts and, without much delay, let the Razins into the city. Dressed to the nines, Stenka walked around Astrakhan, accompanied by enthusiastic townsfolk, throwing gold ducats into the crowd. The beggars knelt before him and called him “father.” Razin's ships were richly decorated with carpets and silk. The ataman's boat was completely upholstered in red velvet, decorated with pearl necklaces, and two brocade sails proudly fluttered on the masts.

However, some experts believe that Stenka “stashed away” the main treasury and hid it somewhere near Astrakhan. He was afraid that the royal governor Prozorovsky would requisition the valuables looted by the Cossacks during the Persian campaign. The deposit of the treasure took place at the end of August 1669. Gold and silver were carefully placed in forged chests and buried not far from the shore. The location of the secret cache is even named - a floodplain in the area of ​​the so-called Spit (now this is an area of ​​​​the city of Astrakhan). By the way, it was in this place that Razin threw the unfortunate Persian princess into the water.

It is believed that Stenka committed such an obscene act while in a state of drunken psychosis. But there is another, more logical explanation - the princess knew something about the burial place of the treasure, and they decided to get rid of her as an unwanted witness.

Razin even then had a clear plan - to return to the Don, gather a large army and shake up the “Moscow state”. If successful, Razin hoped to try on the crown of the Russian Tsar. If he failed, he was going to flee to Turkey, and there the hidden treasure would be very useful to him. But events turned out differently than the legendary chieftain planned. In the battle of Simbirsk, Stenka was wounded, and on April 14, 1671, his comrades handed Razin over to the tsarist authorities. He was soon executed.

Researchers have been searching for the Razin treasure for a long time. The Astrakhan version is considered the most promising. However, organizing underwater search operations requires a lot of effort and, most importantly, financial investments.

map of Samara province

TREASURE IN KRASNOARMEYSK
A pensioner from Krasnoarmeysk (Saratov region) found a treasure trove of gold items weighing a total of 2.8 kg in his garden plot. The administration of the Krasnoarmeysky district of the region reported this on Tuesday.

The iron box, in which the pensioner found 517 ancient gold coins, gold chains, rings and a bracelet, was in the soil brought at his request to the garden from the site of the future construction of the Peter and Paul Church in Krasnoarmeysk, Interfax reports.

Currently, historians and tax inspectors are determining the value of the treasure, 50% of which is legally due to the owner of the find.

The pensioner intends to donate part of the funds for the construction of the Church of Peter and Paul.

SOSNOV-MAZINSKY TREASURE
a complex of copper products dating back to the Late Bronze Age (12-11 centuries BC). Opened in 1901 near the village. Sosnovaya Maza (Khvalynsky district, Saratov region). The treasure (total weight 21 kg) includes 58 wide single-edged tools (sickles or mowers for clearing arable land), 5 daggers with leaf-shaped blades and openwork handles, 4 celts and 1 bronze ingot.
Similar types of daggers were common in the Northern Black Sea region and the Caucasus in the Late Bronze Age and go back to forms produced in the metallurgical centers of Transcaucasia and Iran (especially in Luristan). The items probably belonged to the leader of a tribal union or one of the tribes living in the steppes.
Lit.: Merpert N. Ya., About Luristan elements in the treasure from Sosnovaya Maza, in the collection: Brief reports on reports and field research of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, v. 108, M., 1966.

RUSSIAN COINS IN THE VOLGA REGION TREASURES
Russian coins in the treasures of the middle Volga region of the 14th - first half of the 15th centuries.

A study of the connection between Russian monetary circulation and the monetary circulation of neighboring regions in the 14th - 15th centuries. is quite important when studying the entire complex of economic relations of a given period. For obvious reasons, a special place is occupied by the question of the relationship between the Russian and Tatar monetary systems.

For more than one hundred and fifty years, this problem has remained relevant for researchers of the history and culture of the principalities of Northern Rus' and the Moscow state. Analyzing the composition of the monetary circulation of the Golden Horde, P.S. Savelyev drew attention to the presence of Russian coins in the Volga region (Savelyev P.S., 1858). This issue was raised quite acutely in the works of A.V. Oreshnikov “Okulovsky treasure of Russian money” and I.I. Tolstoy “Money of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy” (Oreshnikov A.V., 1908; Tolstoy I.I., 1910). In the 40-50s. XX century this topic was addressed by G.B. Fedorov, I.G. Spassky, V.L. Yanin (Fedorov G.B., 1947; Spassky I.G., 1956; Yanin V.L., 1956). And at present, this issue remains one of the most pressing, as evidenced by the works of G.A. Fedorova-Davydova, A.M. Kolyzin and other researchers. However, the main topic that attracts the attention of archaeologists and numismatists is the assessment of the role of the influence of the Golden Horde monetary system in the process of resumption of their own coinage by the Moscow, Ryazan and Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod great principalities in the 14th century (Fedorov-Davydov G.A., 1981, 1989; Kolyzin A.M., 1994, 1998; Kisterev S.N., 1998). The problem of circulation of coins of the Golden Horde on Russian territory is also being studied (Fedorov-Davydov G.A., 1960, 1963; 1981, etc.). The circulation of Russian coins in the Volga region in the first half of the 16th century was considered (Spassky I.G., 1954). At the same time, the participation of Russian coins in the monetary circulation of the Tatar lands of the XIV - XV centuries has not yet been the subject of a separate study, although in almost every work devoted to the history of monetary circulation or numismatics of this period, this topic is touched upon to one degree or another . In the process of creating a consolidated topography of Russian treasures from the 14th - first half of the 16th centuries. an opportunity has arisen to consider this issue in more detail, which is what this article is devoted to.

The upper chronological boundary of the period to which the treasures under study belong is the last quarter of the 14th century, that is, the beginning of their own coinage in the Russian principalities. The lower border is the middle of the 15th century. that is, the end of the reign of Vasily II and the moment the flow of Russian coins to the Volga region ceased. The appendix provides a summary of information about treasures originating from the area in question.

To date, at least 15 dated treasures of this period are known, discovered in the Volga region and containing Russian coins (in this case, Horde coins with Ryazan countermarks should also be considered Russian).

More precise information about the treasures is provided in the appendix, and table 1 presents the basic data necessary for analyzing their composition. The finds from the Volga region are characterized by the following features.

Firstly, an extremely small percentage of Russian coins. It ranges from 0.01% (Karatun, 1986, No. 3) to 4.20% (Rybushka, 1915, No. 2) and only in the huge Svetinsky treasure of 1936 (No. 8) it makes up 13.36% of the total.

Secondly, the very large size of the treasures. Only one of them, the southernmost one, contains less than 500 coins (Rybushka, No. 2) and the number of coins in the remaining ten ranges from 556 (Nimich-Kasy, No. 11) to almost 9000 copies (Svetino, No. 8)*. For comparison, throughout the rest of the territory, where coins of Russian principalities were present in treasures at that time, only eight treasures containing more than 500 coins were found.

The third thing that needs to be noted is that the region under consideration is the place of the greatest concentration of Golden Horde treasures of the late 14th - early 15th centuries.

Table 1. First period. Treasures of the Volga region of the late XIV - first half of the XV centuries. with Russian coins.

	Place and year of discovery	Dating	Number of Russian coins	Number of Ju Chid coins	Total (100%)
	Kamyshinsky district.	Ser. 90s of the XIV century.
	Fish, 1915.	Ser. 90s of the XIV century.
	Karatun, 1986.			>25000 (99,99 %)
				> 500 (99, 8 %)
	Maly Tolkish, 1881.	The turn of the XIV-XV centuries.
		1 dec. XV century	"some"	"majority"
	Tetyushi, 1907.
	Svetino, 1936.
	Khristoforovka, 1873	Beginning 2 dec. XV century
	Sosnovka, 1911.	Con. 2 dec. XV century
	Nimich-Kasy, 1957.	1 third of the 15th century
	Semenovka, 1962.	2 quarters XV century
	Karaulnaya Gora, 1957.	Beginning 2 quarters XV century
	Measure, 1962.	Con. 1430 - beginning 1440s
	Location of find unknown, 1990s.		“a few kilograms”	"some"

According to G.A. Fedorov-Davydov, more than 40 treasures were discovered here, containing exclusively Jochid coins, hidden in the period from 1380 to 1440. Of the 24 treasures that do not contain Russian coins and the sizes of which are precisely known, only 7 contain more than 500 coins (Fedorov-Davydov G.A., 1960; Fedorov-Davydov G.A., 1963; Fedorov-Davydov G.A. , 1974). The following pattern is evident: in small treasures, which at that time most accurately reflect the composition of the real monetary circulation of a certain territory and which predominate in quantitative terms, there are no Russian coins, but if we consider large treasures, then Russian coins are present in two-thirds of such finds.

Based on the above data, it should be concluded that, despite the apparent abundance of treasures containing Russian coins in the Volga region, the penetration of coins of Russian principalities into the monetary circulation of the Golden Horde throughout the entire period under review was very insignificant and they practically did not play a role in the local monetary circulation, appearing in treasures only as part of large savings. The great importance of the Volga route for the Russian principalities was repeatedly noted (Metz N.D., 1974, p. 55, etc.). The question arises about the ownership of these treasures. One of the most likely categories of their owners can be called merchants, conducting trading operations not only on the local, but also on the Western - Russian - market (this assumption is especially convincing for the Svetinsky treasure). An indirect confirmation of this is the fact that almost all large treasures of the Volga region with Russian coins were discovered on the banks of the rivers of the Volga basin, which were natural transport and trade routes.

In addition, the treasure material clearly illustrates the political crisis and decline of the Golden Horde; as a consequence, a significant decline in the intensity of trade relations between the Russian principalities and the Volga region. In the middle Volga region, only three treasures are known, consisting of Russian and Tatar silver coins, which can be dated to the thirties - early forties of the 15th century (Hoards No. 12, 13, 14).

This can be explained by the facts of the political history of the Volga region: after Timur’s campaign on the Volga and his defeat of the largest cities of the Golden Horde, after the loss of real political power by Tokhtamysh, a constant struggle continued between relatively weak contenders for supreme power in the Horde. At the same time, none of the fighting parties was able to achieve even such an ephemeral unity of their lands as was the case under Tokhtamysh. (See, for example: Grekov B.D., Yakubovsky A.Yu., 1998, pp. 249-312, etc.). In economic life, this state of affairs meant continued and constantly worsening instability. The decline of cities led to the cessation of minting and circulation of their own coins already in the second quarter of the 15th century (Fedorov-Davydov G.A., 1960, p. 129; 1994, p. 209, 210). and, most importantly for this work, led to a severance or sharp reduction in trade relations with the Russian principalities. Treasures containing Russian coins dating from the second half of the forties to the mid-seventies of the 15th century are unknown in this region.

In the second half of the 15th century. Major changes are taking place in the political and economic life of Eastern Europe. The unification of Russian lands under Ivan III entailed - this is clearly shown by the treasure trove - the development of trade relations of the Moscow state, both internal and external. At this time, Russian coins reappeared in the middle Volga region. However, the composition of the treasures, the area of ​​their distribution, and, probably, the social affiliation of their owners are strikingly different from the previous period. Therefore, consider together all the treasures of the Volga region of the 14th - first third of the 16th centuries. is possible only against the background of the general picture of treasure formation in Russian lands. This work does not have such a goal, although its relevance cannot be questioned.

TREASURES OF THE VILLAGE OF LOKH

Residents of the ancient Saratov village with the funny name Loch are in for big changes. The authorities decided to turn the village into a new tourist center. In their opinion, this will bring money and give impetus to the development of the settlement. However, not all Lokhov residents are delighted with this prospect.

The village of Lokh is almost older than the regional center. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are more than enough attractions here. However, the name of the settlement itself is of much greater interest. Local residents, hearing “suckers” addressed to them, are not at all embarrassed, but are even proud. And when they are called suckers, they correct them correctly: we are suckers.

A person who knows the history of his village and loves his small homeland will not be embarrassed by its name. And the history of our village goes back centuries, to the time of Ivan the Terrible. Then the village was called Kudeyarovka, and the villagers were nicknamed Kudeyarovka.

The robber and his family lived in a cave among the treasures obtained during raids. And opposite Kudeyarovaya Mountain there is another mountain - Karaulnaya. An underground passage supposedly led to this mountain from Kudeyar to three underground storerooms - for gold, silver and precious horse harness. The people, who heard about Kudeyar, nicknamed this place Kudeyar Log - the lair of a robber. His name soon became legendary, and the sonorous “g” softened over time, and the village began to be called Lokh.

The village is conveniently located on a small river, surrounded on all sides by forested hills, including the famous Kudeyarova Mountain. According to one version, the mountain is named after the robber Kudeyar, a contemporary of Ivan the Terrible.

Mountains and caves overgrown with legends, a spring with the purest water, an old mill, a dilapidated temple in the name of the Archangel Michael, which preserves a two-century-old painting - all this and much more attracts tourists.

As the locals say, treasures were actually found near the village. At one of the sites, one of the residents dug up several buckets of coins. True, the money turned out to be copper, not gold. Such a find could hardly raise the standard of living in a village with a population of a thousand people.

Therefore, the leadership of Loch undertook to actively develop tourism. This, in turn, will contribute to the development of the village itself. And such work is already underway. Lokh is already included in the top 10 tourist routes in the Saratov region.

In the meantime, Saratov residents, without waiting for the development of tourism infrastructure, often visit legendary places by car. Everyone has a different opinion on what they see. Some agree with the authorities and believe that the village needs to be developed and attracted tourists. Others hold a different point of view: the pilgrimage of visitors, on the contrary, will lead to environmental degradation and disrupt the pristine nature of the village.

At the same time, both villagers and tourists are united by the belief that the village must live. And the unusual name will become a kind of highlight that will interest many. And then, the villagers are sure, everyone will know that Lokh is not only a genus of trees, shrubs, a curse word and a type of salmon, but also a village rich in history in the Novoburassky district of the Saratov region.

SWEARED TREASURES
The treasure should not go to anyone else, but only to me and my house, my son, my daughter or my grandchildren. In ancient times, when banks had not yet been invented, people could not reliably store money, much less receive interest for safety. The times have always been turbulent, starting from the attacks of the Turks and Tatar conquerors, and the people's rebels took away the money they earned with blood and sweat.
So, resourceful people hid their capital in various hiding places, in the basements and walls of their own houses, or buried treasures in forests and caves. In order not to forget over time about finding their valuables, people had to draw maps indicating the location. Everything that would later help the owner find his belongings was drawn on the maps. But, for various reasons, the owners of the treasure never had time to get their valuables out of the cache. Time passed, all the buildings were destroyed over time, streets were redeveloped, trees disappeared, fields were plowed up. Everything went on as usual, because life and progress do not stand still. But, in ancient times, people cast very terrible spells on those who dared to cut down trees or destroy homes.
Such spells have great killing power on those who do not acquire, do not build, but destroy and rob, taking advantage of the labor of others. When burying a treasure, they always tried to cast a spell on it, regardless of whether the treasure was in the ground or in the wall of a building. The spells were approximately as follows: - “The treasure should not go to anyone else, but only to me and my house, my son, my daughter or my grandchildren.” When pronouncing the spells, they prayed very sincerely, and sometimes even made a sacrifice. The victim was usually a lamb killed at the burial site of valuables; according to pagan beliefs, the spirit of the killed animal would reliably protect the treasure from strangers.
The sworn treasures are reliably hidden from people. That is why it is quite difficult to find treasure. After all, how many treasures were found using maps left behind, but all these treasures were protected by spells that had a detrimental effect on the finder. As a rule, treasure hunters do not know the necessary prayer that would protect them from a spell, and by using the treasure, they doom not only themselves, but also their family, to huge troubles. It is especially very dangerous to take away religious things that belong to churches; these can be icons, crosses and various church accessories, including money. As the legends say, then the person will not live even a year, will lose his mind, and if he does not repent and give everything he found to the temple, then death awaits him. In this case, it is believed that the Lord himself punishes the offender and his family up to the seventh generation. Therefore, it is considered dangerous to deliberately search for treasure for the purpose of enrichment. Church treasures can be dangerous
But if you find a treasure completely by accident, in order to ward off trouble, you should give it to a temple, where they will pray for its owner and the finder, or distribute the wealth to all those in need, give it to a public building.
Or the treasure can be transferred to a museum, then it will become public knowledge, and your safety will not be threatened. For this you will receive honor and glory, and the spell will bypass you. How to look for treasures correctly? A treasure was found near Kamenets in 1960, which turned out to be unsworn. But, in this area, legends persistently circulate about the sworn treasures of the Podolsk rebels. No matter how much one searches for them, one cannot find them because they are sworn.
According to popular belief, treasures can hold a spell for a certain period of time. And when the time comes, the treasures themselves reveal themselves to people. In addition, the caster can even stipulate who exactly will find the treasure. After all, according to legends, the Ukrainian Cossacks cast spells on their treasures, so that the treasure would be found by the person who would spend the money on the welfare of the people, to build their happiness and well-being. And since no one has yet found the Cossack belongings, it means they are still waiting for the right person.

Legends about the treasures of Stenka Razin - Peskovatka.
Legends passed down from mouth to mouth indicate that the largest treasure of Stenka Razin rests in a mound near the village of Peskovatka, Gorodishchensky district. Legends say that shortly before his own execution, Razin sailed to Peskovatka on a plow loaded to the brim with treasures, gold and silver. When the tide was low, he and his friends covered the plow with earth and planted a willow on the created mound as a mark. But then the dashing chieftain and his accomplices did not know that they had very little time left to live and there would be no one to go after the treasure. Before his death, the ataman was tortured, but he did not reveal the place where he hid the treasure.
Many years have passed since then, and everyone willingly comes to Peskovatka in the hope of finding the treasured willow tree, indicating treasures. Where are the treasures of Stepan Razin hidden? Even during his lifetime, many considered Razin a sorcerer; our contemporaries claim that after his death, his ghost walks in places of former “glory” and guards hidden treasures, greatly frightening hunters for the Ataman’s treasure. The “Shatrashansky” treasure is classified as one of the Razin treasures left in the Volga region.
Legends say that the treasure was buried by the king of the Don robbers in the village of Shatrashany. It was rumored that after Stenka’s death, his ghost almost scared to death one of the Volga barge haulers in the place where the Shatrashan treasures were supposedly hidden. Judging by the legends, Razin tended to hide looted valuables in mounds, hills and others. So, everyone knows that the dashing chieftain had one habit of hiding pots filled with gold and other valuables in the hills of the right bank of the Volga. According to rumors, the entire Volga coast is teeming with such treasures, from the Astrakhan to the Samara and Saratov regions. Ancient map of the Saratov region The most famous treasure is buried in a hillock located near the village of Bannovki, Saratov region. It is interesting that the place where the treasure was hidden is located between the village of Zolotoye and the mouth of the Bolshoi Eruslan River.
It was rumored that the name of this village was not given by chance. In all these cases, Razin’s logic is quite understandable. After all, the robbers often ran into trouble, and the valuables hidden by the ataman in the coastal hillocks helped Razin’s bandits survive in the bad moments of their lives. No one can give an exact answer as to how many golden “stashes” lie in the Volga hills. In Volgograd itself, not far from the Tsaritsyn Church of the Holy Trinity, a sinkhole occurred in 1914; coffins and several skeletons were discovered in it. It turned out that the collapse occurred at the beginning of the underground passage of Razin, who was leading the bandits to the city pier. It was there that the valuables looted from local merchants were unloaded. But no one managed to pass through the underground passage, since the earth continued to collapse, and no one wanted to risk their lives. The treasures of Stepan Razin are a mystery for the treasure hunter.
Treasure hunters are still haunted by the gorge located ten kilometers from the former Danolovka, called “Stenka’s prison”. Located just above Kamyshin are Urakov Hill and Stenkin Cliff. According to legend, these places hide most of the treasures looted from the royal nobles and captured by robbers.
It is under Kamyshin that a diamond of incredible size and beauty is hidden, which Razin captured during the Persian campaign.

TREASURES ON THE GREAT RUSSIAN RIVER - VOLGA
The Volga River, as one of the most important transport routes in Rus', could not help but attract the attention of treasure hunters. And there is something. Large material assets also moved along the artery, which was so attractive for cargo carriers. And the valuables of traders, merchants and government officials were hunted by numerous robbers, some of whom had been plying their trade there for many years. So what kind of treasures can you find while moving along the endless banks of the Volga?
Here is what Leonid Serebryakov, a great expert on these places, a lover of antiquities and a professional treasure hunter, writes on this topic: “After decades of painstaking work, which was based on random finds and local history literature, a unique concept of treasures of the Middle Volga region was developed. All buried treasures were conditionally divided into household, robber, military, cultural and historical.” Let's first understand how and why treasures arise.
A treasure is usually considered to be a collection of various objects united by a single characteristic - the burial place. Can be expressed in jewelry, household items, weapons, money and works of art. The Volga region is very “fruitful” for treasures, as it has experienced enough “troubled times” that contributed to the formation of treasures. In the border and “free” regions of the past, such as the Middle Volga region, people generally lived “out of suitcases” from time immemorial. Here the treasures had a somewhat unusual appearance. They were called funny - “banks”. The latter were built multi-tiered - up to ten levels. As a rule, the lowest of them contained the largest values, which were considered reserves for a rainy day or the fortune of children, grandchildren, and relatives. The remaining tiers, the closer to the surface, contained less valuables. The very top ones played the role of distracters, disguisers, and “times.” ". The owner often reached into the upper tier for small items. He’ll take a little, and when he earns it, he’ll call it “loan.” Such “banks” allowed their creators to survive troubled times with minimal losses. Imagine, dashing little people will come, they will fight you, and... the “banker” opens one or two tiers of the “bank”. Depending on how they were mutilated, the basic values, like the life of the bank creator, remained preserved.
When creating such “banks,” the organizers left various marks that would help find what was hidden, but would not tell strangers anything. Remember the famous pirates, a few moments before their execution, they threw into the crowd of onlookers a map covered with mysterious signs and the words: “If you managed to catch me, be able to find my treasures1.” What is this. beautiful legends? As you know, any fairy tale has a basis in reality...
Now let's see what treasures are found in the Middle Volga region? Treasures have been found more than once in the Middle Volga. Let's talk about the big ones first. In Ulyanovsk in the mid-seventies of the 20th century, boys, going through old things in the attic, came across a box filled with old eagles, gold coins, diamonds and expensive jewelry. Who owned and who kept such large valuables among old things in the attic remains forever a mystery. What was found disappeared into the bottomless “bins of the homeland”, the house was demolished, and the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs hospital was built on the vacant site.
Around the same time, a treasure was found during the construction of the Flight Training School. In this case, the worker tried to trim the edge of the trench with a shovel, tapped... and gold coins flowed out in a stream at his feet. Another treasure within the city was found in the area of ​​Karamzin’s kindergarten. These are major finds. Small ones, as a rule, are found during field work, fishing or a picnic, mainly in areas freed from water. In the Staromainsky Bay in the early 70s, right on the shore, fishermen found a large clay jar with royal chervonets and silver coins.
The Golovinsky Banks are recognized as the most treasure-bearing place near the city; treasures have been found there more than once. Let me note that in the mentioned cases, copper “Catherine’s nickels” predominated in the burials. In the Samara region, Samara Luka is recognized as a “treasury”, where treasures have been found more than once. The latter was found during excavations of an ancient settlement in the vicinity of the village of Brusyany in August 1996 by an archaeological expedition of the regional fund for social and cultural programs. During 40 days of work, archaeologists excavated 5 early Bulgarian mounds of the 7th-8th centuries AD and examined 13 burials. Unfortunately, as it turned out, they were all robbed hundreds of years ago, but... In addition to jugs, pots, stirrups, iron arrowheads and pikes, jewelry, bronze bracelets, rings, and silver buckles were also found. And also items made of gold: buttons, three “rosettes” and foil, most likely dropped or abandoned by robbers as having no special value. Judging by the forgotten gold items, the robbers were much luckier than the archaeologists. Something like this has never been found in the Samara region before.
Last summer, in the Saratov region, local FSB officers detained two US citizens and one Russian who were looking for treasure using a special device. As vigilant guards found out, internationalist treasure hunters found and excavated several burials belonging to the ancient Bulgarian culture. What was found was confiscated, and, according to experts, the finds were of only historical value. Was it really worth flying across the ocean and getting to the Volga, carrying an expensive device for the sake of a few copper and silver coins?

I assume that foreigners were seized by treasure-hunting passion, following the example of some Russians. But they more often fall ill with treasure hunting in those regions where people have not received wages for several years. When searching for treasures, preference is usually given to the banks of rivers, streams and ponds that are associated with historical and folklore events of antiquity or historical events. What treasures can still be found in the Middle Volga region? The question is logical, and here are directions for further research. On May 31, 1223, not far from the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, having defeated Russian troops on the Kalka River, the Mongol Tumen turned to the northeast and invaded the Volga Bulgaria. Weakened by the losses suffered in the pro. In previous battles, the Mongol army managed to destroy only the ancient city of Suvari and was defeated in the Battle of Bilyars. retreated. However, in the fall of 1236, Batu’s huge army literally fell on the ancient state of the middle Volga. The Mongols ravaged and burned many cities and villages of ancient Bul. gariyas, exterminating a lot of civilians. Based on the burials and remains of settlements of ancient Bulgaria that have been found so far, one can judge the high level of culture of the once lost state and its wealth. After all, it was located at the intersection of ancient trade routes. Remains of Bulgar settlements are found in almost any Middle Volga region: Tatarstan, Samara. Saratov or Ulyanovsk regions.
In the Ulyanovsk region, according to historical chronicles, in the Sengileevsky district, you can see the remains of a Bulgar urban-type settlement, presumably the “early” capital of the ancient khanate. Who knows what the lands of the ancient capital of the once mighty and rich state hold?
Let's talk about “household” treasures. The creation of the latter, oddly enough, was more often carried out by representatives of the fair half of the population - women. Probably, while men were plowing the earth and fighting, weak women were busy creating cultural delights. On long winter evenings, women wove models of future brooches, rings, tiaras, monistas, kolts, and frontal rings from cut cords and threads. Then the models were covered with clay. When the mold dried, the wax was burned out and molten metal was poured in its place. Jewelry work was not limited to casting. Using a similar technology, beautiful jewelry was made, as if woven from the finest wires, and their cost at that time was significant. Having reached an exceptional peak, only in the 11th century casting from bronze and silver passed to men, who came up with the idea of ​​casting jewelry in special stone forms and complicating it with chased and engraved patterns.
In the Middle Volga region, as it turned out, there are many jewelry workshops. The decorations made in them were by no means homogeneous and primarily reflected tribal differences. How and where did craftswomen hide their crafts and what were their treasures like? The burials were unusual: little girls tend to create “secrets” in the ground - small holes with multi-colored paper candy wrappers and other shiny objects, covered with pieces of glass. This “secret” looks incredibly beautiful. The ancient craftswomen did the same, but... the burials were particularly secretive - during the day of protection of the main treasure, “false” ones were created around them, distracting attention and leading away from the main burial. The resourcefulness of the ladies cannot be denied, both in the production of jewelry and in hiding it.
...Byzantine silver of the 6th century was discovered on the tributaries of the Volga in Prsdurals. in particular, temple utensils were unlikely to serve as an item of trade. Presumably, they got there as military spoils of the Slavic squads.
So the Hermitage houses one of the best collections of monuments of Byzantine culture, recognized throughout the world. Dishes, ladles, bowls, richly decorated crosses. Including a true masterpiece - a 4th century dish with a perfectly inscribed figure of a shepherd sitting thoughtfully on a rock ledge. The ancient master managed to harmoniously combine the ideal of ancient beauty with new motives. But this dish was found near the city of Solikamsk in the Perm region in one of the treasures. Sometimes the owner of an ancient find is unaware of its value...
In one of the villages of the Middle Volga, near an ancient old woman, I was lucky enough to discover a silver Byzantine ladle that served as... a feeder for chickens. The woman never remembered where she got it from. Now it’s time for the print to talk about the robbers’ treasures. In ancient times, several trade routes ran through the middle Volga - the east was connected with the west. The first mention of trading nougat along the Volga dates back to the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th century. The Eastern trade route passed along the Lower Volga, the axis of which was the Volga and Don rivers, past the capital of the Khazars, the city of Itil, located at the mouth of the Volga on the Caspian Sea, and to the countries of the East. To the north of the Volzhsk-Don route, roads ran from the Bulgar state, located on the Middle Volga, through the Voronezh forests to Kyiv and up the Volga. And also through Northern Rus' to the Baltic regions.
From here, the Muravskaya Road, named so later, led south to the Don and the Sea of ​​Azov. Traders from the north, from the Vyatichi forests, and those moving north from the countries of the East walked along it. It can be assumed that in former times there were enough gangs and gangs on the Volga. Probably, in the pursuit of loot, there were also “showdowns” among the robbers, which served as a reason to hide the loot from their colleagues and competitors.
Folklore that has survived to this day preserves legends about “heroes” who even attempted to assassinate Horde tributaries. Probably, in ancient times, settlements were built along the route of the caravans, intended for the rest of the caravaners, they were centers for the collection of tribute, and ensured the safety of the caravans. I admit the existence in such settlements of an underground network of robber spotters who track merchant caravans and determine the time and place of attacks. In addition to the gunners, there were probably those who hid the loot and sent it further to the places of sale. We won’t talk about the treasures of “walking people*, citizens and leaders of the Volga Volnitsa and the heroes of Russian history: Ermak, Usa, Stepan Razin and Emelyapa Putachev, since this is a separate, rather large topic. How to look for treasures?
The earth is like a living being. If you get a splinter in your finger, rest assured that it will come out on its own over time. A similar thing happens with treasures. It happens that burials are dug up by pigs or villagers find them during field work. The treasure hunter should remember the main rule: the field season begins after the snow melts and ends with the first frost. It is best to look for treasures on the banks of streams, rivers, steep slopes and ravines; Before the expedition, you should study archival documents, get acquainted with local folklore and... find the treasure in your own head - in other words, “calculate”.
I will give an example of this provision. Based on the legends and myths of Ancient Greece, the largest German businessman and archaeologist of the second half of the 19th century, Heinrich Schliemann, found Troy! Engage your intuition and subconscious: Many of the greatest scientific discoveries occurred first in the subconscious—Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev came up with the “Periodic Table of Chemical Elements” in a dream.
When you find a treasure, along with victorious exaltation, a feeling of imminent changes in life appears: as if something should be deprived of you, something should be taken away. Perhaps luck in life will be lost; for others, health or life itself may be lost because of the treasure. True, it is not customary to talk or write about such things. Remember the immutable rule: treasure cannot be the goal of your life! Over the years of treasure hunting, I have come up with another immutable rule: for good luck to come, you need... bad luck. I made this discovery when I found my first treasures in the ruins of the ancient capital of the Bulgarian kingdom, but I won’t get ahead of myself, the story about the expedition is ahead.
In the recent past, people, having found a treasure... reburied it for fear of reprisals from the “native” state. (Check out the criminal code and statistics on detained treasure hunters of the past.) I’ll tell you an incident that happened several years ago. The man found a box of old Soviet coins and jokingly said that he had found a large treasure. After some time, he was called to the “authorities” and demanded to return what he had stolen. When the “treasure hunter” repented that he had found Soviet money, they did not believe him. The man barely got out.
True, times have changed now; now whoever finds a treasure and manages to prove “nobody’s identity” receives it as property. Perhaps there has been some revival among treasure hunters. The places where treasures were once found are being re-examined, and the more insignificant the previous finds were, the higher the likelihood of finding “real treasures”.
Another friend of mine, Vasily N, having read in one of the magazines about foreign treasure hunting companies, decided to take a “professional” approach and put treasure hunting on stream. For a quick and successful search, I purchased a treasure hunting device for an astronomical sum of greenbacks. It was called “Fisher” and was a hybrid of a mine detector and a computer. The device showed on a tiny screen not only what was found in the ground, but also “evaluated” the find and determined the value in exchange rates for various banknotes.
After testing the device in the garden and finding several twisted nails and a rusty bearing, N. invited me to go with him for real treasures. The location of the research was determined to be a Volga island, where copper “Catherine’s” nickels were repeatedly found.
By the end of the first hour of searching, the device loudly announced the discovery and showed on the display screen a stack of gold coins at a depth of about a meter. In the blink of an eye, having scattered the sand, the “diggers” found in a shallow hole a stack of caps from locally produced beer bottles. Fischer mistook the corks for silver. As if mockingly, he called a rusty piece of iron from a boat motor... an ingot of platinum! In the end, Vasily had to part with his expensive foreign “assistant”.
For several years in a row I have been visiting the ruins of the capital of the once mighty Bulgarian kingdom, using not expensive instruments to search for ancient treasures, but special methods that have never let me down and helped me find quite rare things. I am convinced that it is best to look for treasures at dawn, preferably after a stormy day.
Mysticism has nothing to do with it: rain washes away the earth, and it gives up the “foreign” faster. ;..The 13th century brought innumerable disasters to the peoples of the Middle Volga. Civilizations perished under the hooves of Mongolian horses, one of them was the ancient state of Volga Bulgaria.
Having bought out of curiosity the reference book “Essays on the History and Culture of the Bulgar Khanate”, published in Kazan in a scant circulation, in the early 1990s I became interested in the place where the capital of the ancient state was located in the 13th century. Before going, I thoroughly studied reference books and became familiar with the modern reconstruction of the city. I arrived at the site and learned that every year, with the arrival of warm weather, the archaeological field season begins. It doesn’t last long—a month, a month and a half; Finances are to blame, or rather the lack thereof.
After wandering around the excavations and talking with archaeologists, I found out: the ravine located behind the excavation site existed in the 13th century. The city market was adjacent to it. He admitted that during the storming of the city by Batu’s troops in the fall of 1236, the market was working - traders were selling their goods to the last - not leaving it to the invaders! Over seven centuries, the ravine grew and swallowed up part of the market rows. He assumed that the traders hid the money and other valuables they had bargained for in the ravine. Subsequent visits confirmed the hypothesis, but I found not only coins there...
One day, armed with a shovel, I decided to check the cultural layer. He turned out a clod of earth, then a second, a third, and... he was amazed: he came across burnt human bones. And along with the bones of adults and small ones - children's! It seems that the city's inhabitants, young and old, were herded into a ravine, surrounded by wood and set on fire. It’s terrible that the population of an entire city was destroyed in such a barbaric way!
At the bottom of the ravine I also found a strange vessel, which could have been an incendiary projectile from the Middle Ages, which caused the death of unfortunate people. I will describe it: a copper bottle, which looked like a one and a half liter bottle, into which oil was poured, then the fuse was lit, and the projectile became ready for use. In the ravine he found not only coins of ancient Bulgaria, but also coins of other countries. Iranian drachmas, coins of the Parvan kingdom, Central Asian tangas... As my finds show, Russians also lived here. Because among the bones I found many copper and silver crosses and icons... Here I also found the first coin.
From my first trip I brought back a bunch of dirty coins - 12 in number. After looking through numismatic catalogs, I found out that each one was worth $200 US!
Two of them are even more expensive! In just a few hours of work. It was worth the drive and digging in the dirt! In order to find coins faster without resorting to excavations, I developed special exercises for training vision. The result of the preparation was immediate: after arguing with one friend, I found 18 coins in fifteen minutes! At the excavations in Bolgari, the archaeologists treated me as a colleague. Why are they persecuting me? I don’t break any laws, I don’t dig up the ground, I don’t visit excavations. Scientists noted that with my unique abilities, I found more ancient coins in one trip! they are all together for the entire field season.
In order to find coins, you need not only trained eyesight, but also luck. In order for fortune to pay attention to you, you must “make sacrifices” - first you must be unlucky for a long time. I proceed from the concept: there is only one success, but many failures. I made my next major find in one of the small, unremarkable towns of the Volga region in the fall of 1993. I won’t risk naming the real names of the heroes of what happened for fear of attracting the close attention of tax authorities or members of criminal structures.
And this is what happened. A good friend of mine, a village teacher, I’ll call him Ivanov, knowing about my passion for antiquities, told< что одна бабушка, вскапывая весной свой огород, нашла глиняную крынку с медными монетами конца XVIII века. Клад весил около 17 кг. Мешали дела, и поехать на место я смог лишь по прошествии нескольких месяцев. Да и додумаешь, великое дело — крынка медных монет! Но Иванов настаивал и в конце концов убедил меня поехать. Приехав в городок, прошли в частный сектор. Во дворе одного из домов нас встретила разбитая старческим артритом сгорбленная старушка лет семидесяти пяти. Создавалось впечатление, ударь гром или обрушься ливень с градом, согбенная бабка отдаст Богу душу прямо на глазах.
Ivanov introduced me to the old lady and asked to show me the find. She took us into the house and showed us shards and 411 coins minted from 1757 to 1802. Convinced that the coins were only of antique value, I agreed on a price with her and paid. Then he began to ask how and where she found her treasure. The old woman took us to the edge of the garden and showed us a hole in the ground. It’s strange, but I immediately had certain suspicions. After looking around, I asked when her house was built and who lived in it before. The old woman said that there used to be a church servant’s house here, but it burned down and the collective farm built a house for her on its foundation. I was interested in the message about the ancient foundation. After all, something could be stored in it! I began to think.
Inexorable circumstances forced people to entrust money to the land. Those who buried treasure always expected to return later and retrieve what was hidden. For greater security, valuables were divided into several parts and hidden in different places - as if they were building a labyrinth. Less valuable, closer to the surface, more valuable - deeper. The first is that distracting treasures can be found by chance when digging up the ground. It turned out that grandma could only find the security treasure! This means that the “chief” could be hiding nearby. Having tried it on this way and that, I wondered: where could it be hidden?
The most common school subject is geometry. The main elements of this science are figures: triangle, circle, square. People most often think the same way, “straightforward”, because they studied simple geometry at school, Euclidean, not Lobachevsky. I started with a triangle. The old foundation is one point, the place where the crinkle was is the second, and where is the third? The third rested on the edge of the garden. Pointing my finger at the “calculated” place, I asked what was there before.
“There was an elderberry bush,” answered the mistress of the house, “but it was cut down a long time ago.” To test my hypothesis, I asked for a pitchfork and stuck it into the ground with all my might. And from there came a ringing sound like a bell! The incredible happened.
Soon a large ceramic cauldron covered with a cast-iron frying pan appeared from the ground. It also contained copper coins, but with a much larger number and weight (up to 75 kg). At home, I washed the coins and found out their value. It turned out that even copper coins cost from 100 to 470 dollars. And the total amount of the ancient treasure turned out to be quite large. But it is possible that we never found the most expensive treasure. The old woman soon died, and the new residents, most likely, do not even suspect that a real treasure may lie under their feet.
Treasure hunting stories are sometimes full not so much of mystery and drama as of humor. Once, one of my friends went to a “sabbath”. The matter is clear. If you don’t get paid at your main place of work, you have to look for income on your own. So my Nikolai worked as part of a brigade in the village of Ledyashkino, Staromaine district: the management of the farm needed to move the house to a new location. A friend of mine had to dig a hole for the foundation. At some point, his shovel hit something massive. When they dug up the find and began to clear the earth, something yellow sparkled dimly from under the layer of clay.
- Gold! - The diggers became worried. - Now we’ll live! H6, when greenish oxide spots appeared, it became clear that they had found an ingot of ordinary brass. They took it to the store and weighed it on scales. The ingot pulled 12.5 kg. The people, attracted by the unusual incident, flocked to the counter. Everyone was interested to know whether the visiting workers had found gold? And when one of the old women remembered that a local rich man lived in the place where they were digging a hole, a slight stir began. The news of the discovery also reached the local authorities. The authorities were alarmed and even ordered the ingot to be sent for examination. Experts confirmed that it was indeed brass, but the passions did not subside. I had to urgently finish the job and leave with my unfortunate find.
- Why don’t I throw away the ingot? - Nikolai asked. - Ok I will tell. You see, brass comes into production in standard rods and ingots. The found ingot is clearly non-standard; someone specially cast it. The question is, why? Why did someone need to cast round blocks from bars? The longer I thought, the more my confidence grew - the ingot was hiding something inside.
I suffered for a long time until I read somewhere that in ancient times great valuables were hidden in metal ingots. They were placed in an iron or clay pencil case and filled with metal. The melting point of steel was higher than that of brass, and nothing was done to the values. In appearance, such a pie was not of particular value, but in fact it was a safe! You can “open” it only by sawing the top shell or melting it.
Of course, there was some truth in the words of the owner of the bullion. In ancient times, there was an unusual way of storing valuables in treasures. Moreover, visual inspection did not lead to positive results. This is what the robbers of antiquity did... Valuables intended to be hidden were kneaded into clay. They made a “doll”. After drying, it was filled with copper, bronze or lead. The result was an ingot that could only be opened by sawing it with a hacksaw. But that's not all. The outside of the ingot was again coated with a thick layer of clay and fired over a fire. This work of “robber art” could be safely thrown on the road or buried in the ground - a homemade “safe” was practically no different from a simple cobblestone.
What can you add in conclusion? About three years ago, two Ulyanovsk residents on the shore of one of the Volga reaches found a clay jar with copper coins, presumably from Catherine’s time. They put the found goods into a fishing bucket and brought it to the garage of one of them. Then the coins were distributed to anyone who wanted them. When the rumors reached me and I arrived and asked to show the find, the owner of the garage said: “Eh, everything was taken apart, now there is not a single coin left.”
This is how we sometimes treat treasures. If these fisherwomen knew that each such coin is valued according to the catalog from 100 to 570 dollars, the blow would have been enough for both of them. The described case once again confirms: there are treasures in the land of the Middle Volga - you just need to look for them. These are the tips and wishes for the next generations of the famous top executive Leonid Serebryakov.

Dictionary of treasure hunting terms
Digger terminology:

Find - everything that is raised using MD.
Habor - useful, interesting, identifiable finds.
Shmurdyak - useless, uninteresting, unidentifiable finds.
Konyashka - A newly found coin on the reverse of which there is an image of the horseman G.p.
Lisa, Katya, Pavel, Alexander 1-2, Anna, Nikolai 1-2- - coins corresponding to these rulers (Nikolashka - only Nikolai-2)
Zakapushki, Pokapushki - the presence of holes when inspecting new places, i.e. You got ahead of yourself.
Aborigines are the original population of a given territory.
Interrogate the native. - Find out something interesting from local residents.
Interrogate with passion - The same thing only with a bubble.
Sukhodrischevka - a village or place poor in finds
Tambourine, donut - search coil
Lunar landscape - unburied holes
Furry finds are good finds.
Douglas, Challenger, dritchpopel, trough - the transport we use
Gang of drunken copari trolls
Drevnyak - archeology
Gathering - rally (there are different ones and even a bathhouse)
Fiskar - shovel "fiskars"
Stick-device-MD (any)
Kakaliki - irrevocably damaged coins
"Pig radishes" - radishes that dig like pigs
Language - a local resident (aboriginal), usually a shepherd (sheep herder) or a local elder, who can lead (tell) to the right place with his tongue
A tired coin is a coin with fairly erased (that is, erased) traces of minting
Mow, wave - description of the process of scanning the surface of the earth MD
Wallet - from 5 to 15 coins from one hole
Arch-legalized black diggers!!!
Ahrenologists are crazy arches
Horse meat - detail of horse harness
Seeds, scales - silver coins of pre-Petrine times
Zhorik - a coin with the image of St. George the Victorious.
Sun lounger - cemetery
“Fetch a coin” - find a coin in a crossed place
Hole - hole in the ground

Bilon is a coin made of low-grade silver.
A knocked-out spot is a search spot frequently visited by diggers, usually
has a lunar landscape due to unburied holes.
The report is a regularly replenished treasure. Analogous to a modern bank account. For example, the owner of a tavern located on the outskirts of a village or far from it could quite rightly fear robbers or fire and kept the cash register in the ground, reporting new revenue after each working day. And at the end of the month he went to the city to buy goods or saved valuables for the annual fair. In such treasures we can find coins from different periods, from different emperors.
Domongol (pre-Mongol) - items that were in circulation during the pre-Mongol period of our history.
Pawn is a type of treasure. According to custom, for good luck, coins were placed in one of the corners of the house under the lower crown or in the foundation during construction. If there were no coins, they could just put in bread. The richer the owner of the house, the more valuable the coins were; they could put them in all four corners of the building.
The Earthly Grandfather is a mythical assistant to a treasure hunter, who definitely needs a drink when arriving at the place. Some also read a special conspiracy at the same time...
Cabbage - 2 kopeck coin from 1810-1830.
Katin pyatak is a 5-kopeck coin from the reign of Catherine II.
Treasure - a certain amount of valuable things (ancient coins, dishes, jewelry, household items, etc.), which was once deliberately buried in the ground or hidden in another place (oven, wall, window sill, etc.) with the aim of preserving it for a long time term.
Kopar, Digger - a person engaged in instrumental search.
A leaf (petal) is a pectoral cross shaped like a leaf, the most common of the crosses.
Masonic eagle, freemason coin with the image of an eagle with its wings down.
Vegetable garden (vegetable gardens) - fields located outside the territory of a populated area directly adjacent to the “vegetable gardens” of villagers and summer residents. “Walk through the gardens” - search in close proximity to private plots.
Thugs are diggers who continue to go digging out of habit even in winter, hollowing out finds from the frozen ground with an ax or fishing pick. They are snowdrops.
Poskotina is a place near the village where cows eat up the grass to a height of 5 cm, which makes digging easier.
Lost is an ancient coin that was once lost.
FC is a field of miracles. The place is extremely rich in finds, which have been mined for many years and continue to give finds.
Bee - 2 kopeck coin from 1810, with an eagle that looks like a bee.
Rarik is a very rare item of great value.
Plowing is a plowed treasure. Often, the sites of former settlements became ordinary fields for sowing agricultural crops. Treasures buried shallowly became victims of the plow, which over the years carried coins all over the field.
Loose items - valuable items, coins that simply fell out of your pocket and were lost.
The Locust are a group of professionals who have already visited the tract before you and thoroughly “knocked it out.”
The Fly-Tsokotukha syndrome is the desire to “go across the field and find money.” A characteristic feature of all search engines. Another fairy-tale character close to diggers is Koschey: “Koshey is wasting away over gold” - the digger cleans the coins he has found (usually heard from the lips of the digger’s spouse watching him).
The storyteller is a local type with the slight aroma of a week-long binge. He loves to tell stories, “load”, “squat on his ears” for a long time.
Scan - check the ground of the MD for the presence of anything metallic.
Scoop is a special scoop for a beach cop.
Sniper - a small 4 to 8 inch reel for debris and scales.
Soviets - coins minted during the USSR 1921-1991.
Preservation is the degree of safety of a coin, on which the value of the coins directly depends.
The stance is the posture of a digger who has heard a good signal. “Make a stand” - freeze in place, moving the device from side to side, intently listening to the singing of the headphones.
Killed - a poorly preserved coin or other item.
Ears are headphones. “Prick up your ears” - put on headphones.
Khodyachka - coins in circulation.
The Queen of the Fields - Anna Ioanovna's money, one of the most common finds, can be found in almost any field. Or 2 kopecks Alexander-1
Scales - coins of the pre-Petrine reform. Small silver coins, the size of a fingernail, similar in shape to fish scales.
MD metal detector,
Kop - an event for raising artifacts carried out on the ground,
Soputka (everyone knows) - dated metal material,
accompanying interesting artifacts,
Preserved - the condition of the swag found,
Reconnaissance - searching for an area for a cop,
Colored metal is a non-ferrous metal, the most respected signal by search engines about the presence of objects made of copper, bronze, aluminum, gold, silver, etc. underground.
Discriminability - the ability of metal detectors to distinguish between non-ferrous and ferrous metals
Coil - metal detector search ring
Stuck - a coin During the minting of the previous coin, it did not escape from the press, but stuck to one of the stamps. Thus, one of the sides of the stuck coin itself became a stamp, which hit the next circle. Naturally, the image on the coin became mirrored.
Chernin - everything that is not made of non-ferrous metal
“Pick up” - dig up something;
Tract - a place where there once was a village
Grater - MD "X-TERRA" Asya - Garret Ace metal detector. Garik - metal detector GARRETT
“Kakanoid” or “Kakanoids” are remnants of rusted roofing and other incomprehensible segments with a good halo.
“Termites” - in relation to the local aborigines sawing the forest in the area of ​​the mine.
"Provider" is a cow shepherd.

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SOURCE OF MATERIALS AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads.
http://forum.kladoiskatel.ru/
http://www.klady-rossii.ru/klady_Volgi1.php
http://poryvaev.ru/kladu_i_sokrovisha/
http://kartoved.ru/forum/
http://saratovklad.ru/

Search for a map of a city, village, region or country

Old Saratov. Yandex map.

Allows you to: change the scale; measure distances; switch display modes - diagram, satellite view, hybrid. The Yandex maps mechanism is used, it contains: districts, street names, house numbers and other objects of cities and large villages, allows you to perform search by address(square, avenue, street + house number, etc.), for example: “Lenin St. 3”, “Old Saratovsky Hotel”, etc.

If you don't find something, try the section Google satellite map: Old Saratov or a vector map from OpenStreetMap: Old Saratovsky.

Link to the object you selected on the map can be sent by e-mail, icq, sms or posted on the website. For example, to show a meeting place, delivery address, location of a store, cinema, train station, etc.: combine the object with the marker in the center of the map, copy the link on the left above the map and send it to the recipient - according to the marker in the center, he will determine the location you specified .

Old Saratov - online map with satellite view: streets, houses, districts and other objects.

To change the scale, use the mouse scroll wheel, the “+ -” slider on the left, or the “Zoom in” button in the upper left corner of the map; to view a satellite view or a people's map, select the appropriate menu item in the upper right corner; to measure the distance, click the ruler at the bottom right and plot the points on the map.

Orenburg region - Old Saratov: interactive map from Yandex. Vector diagram and satellite photo - with streets and houses, roads, address search and routing, measuring distances, the ability to get a link to a selected object on the map - to send to the recipient or post on the website.