Test on the history and culture of Smolensk and the Smolensk region. Brief history of the Smolensk region

The city of Smolensk is the regional center of the Smolensk region. The population is 356,000 people. The city is located in the western part of Russia. The distance from Moscow to Smolensk is 400 kilometers.

Smolensk is ancient, located on the Dnieper River. Since ancient times, representatives of Slavic tribes - Smolyans - lived here. This Slavic tribe was lucky; the city, which was located on the rivers, was doomed to wealth. Trade here was brisk. Trade ships coming from one river were transported overland to another, thereby connecting a variety of cultures.

So in Byzantium, for example, Smolensk was very famous. The Byzantines considered it a rich and large city. Remember Askold and Dir? Varyagov, who came to Rus', together with Rurik. So, when they sailed along the Dnieper with a squad, they did not risk taking Smolensk, and captured the less protected Kyiv.

In 882, Prince Oleg left Novgorod and sailed along the Dnieper towards Kyiv. Along the way, he subjugated the cities he encountered along the way. Smolensk was no exception and in 990 baptized the city's inhabitants.

When Vladimir the Red Sun died, strife began in Rus'. So Svyatopolk killed his brother Boris. Prince Gleb, who ruled after learning of his brother’s death, rushed to Kyiv. On the way, he was overtaken by the killers of Svyatopolk. Gleb could have resisted his brother’s troops, but did not want to. The prince did not want to shed brotherly blood. Gleb’s squad succumbed to his mood and, as a result, became completely timid. Prince Gleb was hacked to death by his own cook, by order of Svyatopolk’s people.

Four years passed, and Gleb’s brother was able to find his body. The body turned out to be incorruptible, many miracles and healings took place over it. At the site of Gleb's murder, the Boris and Gleb Monastery was erected.

In 1238, the Tatar-Mongol hordes of Batu organized another campaign against Rus'. Batu's troops were approaching Smolensk. The townspeople were unaware of the danger threatening them. They say that one of the residents of Smolensk, named Mercury, fervently prayed in the Assumption Cathedral in front of the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria. Suddenly, Mercury heard a voice that reported that there were hordes of enemies not far from Smolensk. Mother of God, promising her help, ordered Mercury to go out at night and attack Batu’s troops. Mercury did not disobey and, going out at night, killed many Tatar-Mongols. Early in the morning, Batu’s army retreated. Mercury, who accepted death, was canonized. Smolensk escaped ruin and submitted to the khan only in 1274.

In 1404, the city of Smolensk was attacked by the Lithuanians. The city was under siege for three months. Prince Yuri of Smolensk decided to go to Moscow for help. Smolensk was surrendered by traitors. For 110 years, the ancient Russian city was under Lithuanian rule. The Smolensk clergy, however, continued to be under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Metropolitan. The population felt a spiritual connection with the rest of the Russian people. Soon, the Catholics of Lithuania began to oppress the Orthodox inhabitants in every possible way. The oppression of the Orthodox became a reason for Moscow to go to war for Smolensk. So the city again became part of the Russian state. This happened in 1514.

In 1593, construction began on the Smolensk fortress. Until this point, the city was surrounded only by an oak wall. The city was located on the western borders of Rus', and its proximity to Poland and Lithuania simply obliged to turn the city into an impregnable fortress. This was done; construction was completed in 1602. During the years of troubles, Smolensk had to maintain an almost two-year siege by Polish troops. Unfortunately, the traitors who participated in the construction of the fortress surrendered weak points in the wall to the Poles. Polish invaders broke into the city. The streets of Smolensk turned into a battlefield. There were fights on every street. The townspeople, who could not hold weapons in their hands, locked themselves in the Assumption Cathedral, built back in 1103. When the Poles began to storm the cathedral, residents discovered gunpowder in the basements. The cathedral was blown up. The Poles were horrified by what they saw. For 43 years the city was in the power of the Poles. In 1654, Smolensk was returned to the Russian state.

In 1812, the residents had a hard time. Napoleon's troops, entering Russian soil, immediately found themselves near Smolensk. As a result of long battles, the Russian army managed to gain time. This is a considerable merit of the general, Dokhturov, Neversky. The heroic defense of the inhabitants did not allow Napoleon to burst into the borders with lightning speed. Russian Empire. The route of retreat of Napoleon's troops again lay through Smolensk. The city has had a hard time over the years. After Napoleon's invasion, the city's population was only 6,000 people. The city fell into disrepair. Russian emperors did a lot to restore Smolensk after the war.

The city remembers its heroes. On Dzerzhinskaya Street there is a park in memory of heroes. In this square there are busts of the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, and a monument with the inscription “Grateful Russia to the heroes of 1812.”

Smolensk today is a developed industrial center. The following factories operate in the city: Izmeritel, Iceberg, Iskra, Kristall, Sharm, and others. The city actively trades its products with the neighboring, friendly state of Belarus.

What can you see in Smolensk? The city itself is a historical and cultural monument of Russian history. How much have these walls seen? Unfortunately, due to frequent attacks by enemies, many sights have not been preserved. While on a tourist trip to Smolensk, be sure to visit the churches of the city: the Church of Peter and Paul, the Church of the Archangel Michael, the Church of St. John the Theologian.

As in any old Russian city, there are many monasteries here; be sure to visit the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Avraamiev Monastery. Do not ignore Uspensky Cathedral, the same one that the townspeople blew up during Polish intervention. Today it has been restored. It is also worth visiting the Talashkino Museum; it houses various paintings and antiques. There is also an Art Gallery in Smolensk, where a collection of paintings by Russian and foreign artists is presented. You can just walk around the city and enjoy it. Walk along the central streets, where ancient buildings have been preserved, there are shops and food outlets. In the Smolensk region there is the Smolensk Poozerye park. Here are the cleanest lakes and beautiful nature. There is also an estate in the park.

monument to the heroes of the war of 1812 photo

The city of Smolensk is very hospitable. The people here are kind and intelligent. It feels like the border is close, there are many citizens of Belarus in Smolensk.

Hotels in Smolensk: “Patriot” (on Kirova Street), “Usadba” (Bakunina Street), “Smolensk” (Glinka Street), “New Hotel” (Gubenko Street), “Central” (Lenin Street), “ Medlen" (Rumyantseva St.), "Russia" (Dzerzhinsky St.).

The ancient history of the Smolensk land is known to us mainly from data not from written sources, but from archaeological excavations. About two and a half thousand years ago, the territory of the upper reaches of the Dnieper - the vicinity of Smolensk, which had not yet arisen - was inhabited mainly by tribes of the eastern Balts and bore little resemblance to the current landscape. All around stretched endless forests, with only islands of cultivated land interspersed here and there.
In the fields local residents They grew wheat, barley, millet, and grazed cattle on floodplain meadows. The streams on which the Balts built their settlements all year round supplied them with fish. In the spring, during spawning, the fish were hit with harpoons in shallow reservoirs, in the summer they used nets and cunning wooden traps, and closer to autumn they practiced “radiation” - they stabbed the fish at night, attracting them to the surface with the light of torches. In winter, ice holes were cut and fish were pulled out with hooks. In the forests they collected honey, nuts, mushrooms, berries, and hunted. Sorrel and nettles were used as food, and acorns were used in times of famine.
The Upper Dnieper region has long been a crossroads of river routes connecting the East Slavic south with the northern and northeastern lands. Later, the chronicler will write: “The Dnieper flows from the Okovsky forest and flows to the south, and the Dvina flows from the same forest, and heads north, and flows into the Varangian Sea. From the same forest the Volga flows to the east and flows into the sea with seventy mouths Khvalisskoe". The Balts traded with the peoples of the Carpathian region, the Caucasus (through the Scythians), and the Urals. They bought copper, bronze and bronze products. They smelted and processed iron themselves, extracting it from local swamp deposits.
Fearing attacks from warlike neighbors, the Balts avoided settling on open places, preferring the high banks of small rivers and streams, sheltered from prying eyes by forests. At the same time, not content with natural barriers, they surrounded their villages with a whole system of fortifications: ramparts, ditches, fences, and often more powerful ones wooden walls. In the first centuries of our era, such fortified villages appeared on the territory of present-day Smolensk.
The development of the Baltic tribes proceeded very slowly: century after century they lived on the fortifications founded by their ancestors, conducting farming according to the behests of their ancestors. However, at the beginning of our era, such a leisurely existence was disrupted by newcomers from the south - who stood at a slightly higher level of development Slavic tribes. In archeology they are known as the Zarubin tribes, after the name of the Ukrainian village where their settlement was first found.
The Zarubins preferred to settle along the banks of large rivers, in places convenient for life. They brought with them a completely different type of dwelling: the long above-ground dwellings of the Balts, in which large families consisting of several generations lived, are replaced by square half-dugouts, clearly designed for one small family. Near the houses, the Zarubins built pits for storing food - grain, root crops, dried fish. These pits had a somewhat unusual shape, expanding at the bottom, thanks to which archaeologists called them bell-shaped. The settlements of the Zarubins were much more populous than those of the Balts, and resembled later villages, next to which there were invariably large burial mound cemeteries.
With the arrival of the Zarubins, some of the Balts went north, but many remained to live in their former places. The period of relatively peaceful coexistence of the two cultures in the Smolensk region lasted for about five centuries. The Balts adopted the technique of sculpting ceramics and methods of processing metals from the southerners, and among the Zarubins the Baptist fashion for bronze jewelry inlaid with enamel spread.

And in the second half of the 7th century, another wave of Slavic colonizers came to the territory of the Upper Dnieper region - the Krivichi tribes. Unlike the Zarubinians, the Krivichi, apparently, were militant. It is with their appearance that scientists associate traces of numerous fires in the Baltic refuge cities and the final assimilation of the Balts by the Slavs. Several centuries later, the author of The Tale of Bygone Years, monk Nestor, who had a good understanding of the ethnographic situation in Kievan Rus, mentioned the first inhabitants of many Slavic lands, but did not say a word about the eastern Balts - these tribes were so completely forgotten by that time.
Like the Balts, the Krivichi were attracted by the place on the left, elevated bank of the Dnieper, occupied by present-day Smolensk. Near the settlement, the Krivichi built a mound cemetery, usual for pagan Slavic tribes. Now this is the famous Gnezdovo burial ground, which scientists date back to the 10th century. But by the end of this century, under the influence of spreading Christianity, more and more Smolensk residents began to refuse cremation - an important part of the pagan funeral ritual. With the baptism of Smolensk in 1013, the Gnezdovsky burial ground ceased to be replenished.
The history of the city's name is still not entirely clear. According to one of the existing legends, the founder of Smolensk was a certain leader Smolich, who populated the city and named it after himself. Others take the name from the Smolka River, later known as the Yegoryevsky Stream, and even from the Smoligov well, located within the city. There is also a more prosaic version: rich pine forests in the surrounding area ancient city were a rich source of resin, which was traded by local residents.
It is known that Smolensk for a long time did not have its own prince and was governed by elders and the veche. For the same reason, there was no detinets in it - a princely fortress, and the city fortifications covered the entire city, including its trade and craft part - the posad. This was not entirely usual for an ancient Russian city, and therefore, according to legend, the governor Prince of Novgorod Rurik Askold and Dir, who in 863 asked him to leave for a campaign against Constantinople, passing by Smolensk, did not dare to attack him “beyond the city is great and many people.”
The next mention of Smolensk is associated with the name of Prince Oleg, who, heading from Novgorod to Kyiv after the death of Rurik, subjugated Smolensk. One of the chronicle versions of this event says that he did not besiege Smolensk, but set up a camp with colorful tents near the city. And when the Smolensk people, amazed at such splendor, left the city, asking what kind of great king had come to them, Oleg brought to them the young prince Igor, whom the Smolensk people recognized as their sovereign. But, apparently, Oleg failed to gain a foothold in Smolensk for a long time: there is no mention of the city in Oleg’s agreement with the Greeks, concluded after the brilliant campaign of the Russian prince against Constantinople in 907, although it lists all the cities that recognize Oleg’s power. After 882, Smolensk disappeared from the chronicles for almost a century and a half.
The final subordination of Smolensk to Kyiv occurred at the end of the 10th century. In 990, Prince Vladimir the Holy divided the entire territory of the state between 12 sons, one of whom, Stanislav, received Smolensk. He sent priests with his sons, “commanding his sons to teach and baptize people and build churches in his own area.” In 1054, after the death of Yaroslav the Wise, the city entered into complex system distribution of princely "tables" among the numerous descendants of this famous sovereign.
And in the 12th century, a single ancient Russian state, like many others European countries, broke up into separate principalities, entering a period of fragmentation. Each of the “lands”, having separated from Kyiv, acquired its own dynasty. Smolensk was no exception. A large and rich city, it became the center of a significant principality.

Situated quite far to the west from the steppe regions, Smolensk late felt the heavy hand of the Golden Horde khans. During the devastating campaign of the Mongol-Tatars against Rus' in 1238, it turned out to be the only city that the nomads failed to take, and only in 1274 were the Smolensk people forced to agree to pay tribute to the invaders. By this time, both the territory and the political importance of Smolensk had declined significantly. And its western neighbor, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, played a significant role in this.
Lithuanian tribes inhabited the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea from the turn of the 1st millennium AD. Once upon a time, during the time of Yaroslav the Wise, they were tributaries of Rus', and in the 12th century they came to the Baltic states knightly orders. The Lithuanian state, which took shape by the middle of the 13th century, was forged in the fight against the knights. The Western Russian lands became a natural target for the expansion of the young state. They also attacked Smolensk more than once. Lithuanian troops first appeared here back in 1171: they burned several villages, captured what they could and disappeared. About half a century passed before they appeared in the Smolensk region again. The army of seven thousand that came to Rus' in 1225 bore little resemblance to the army of half a century ago. This time, in order to force them to leave, it took the intervention of one of the most authoritative princes of Rus' - Yaroslav Vsevolodovich Pereyaslavsky, father of Alexander Nevsky.
Over time Principality of Lithuania expanded more and more at the expense of Russian, including Smolensk, lands. Already in the first half of the 14th century, this situation was recorded in the title of “Grand Duke of Lithuania, Zhmud and Russia.” With the accession of the Orthodox Prince Olgierd to the Lithuanian throne, expansion to the east becomes the most important component of Lithuanian state policy. By the end of the century, the supremacy of the Lithuanian Grand Duke had already been recognized by the Kiev, Chernigov, Seversk, and Podolsk principalities. Smolensk remained a controversial city, maintaining its independence and balancing on the clash of interests of two rapidly growing young states - Lithuania and Moscow. Ultimately, Moscow, which focused on keeping Novgorod and Pskov in its sphere of influence, did not have enough strength to resist Lithuania in the west, especially since the Lithuanian princes were becoming increasingly popular in Western Russian lands.
The fact is that joining a strong Western state, not subordinate to the Golden Horde, not only got rid of Mongol yoke, but also from endless strife and wars between Russian princes. There was no national-cultural discord between the Lithuanian and Russian lands. By the beginning of the 15th century, when Lithuania was at the peak of its power, Lithuanians themselves made up only 1/12 of its population! The overwhelming majority of the subjects of the Lithuanian prince professed Orthodoxy and spoke Russian. Russian Truth became the state law of Lithuania. In the future, the final merger of Lithuania and Rus' seemed inevitable to many. And it was not for nothing that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, until its unification with Poland in 1569, was called the Lithuanian-Russian state.
The growth of the pro-Lithuanian party in Smolensk was also facilitated by the more balanced policy of the Lithuanian princes. Meanwhile, Smolensk had much more tense relations with its eastern neighbor. The struggle for supremacy in the Russian lands, coupled with dependence on the Golden Horde, forced the Moscow sovereigns to pursue a tough power policy towards their competing neighbors, which could not but cause opposition. As a result, through the efforts of Grand Duke Vytautas at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries, a century and a half after the emergence of Lithuanian statehood and after many years of struggle between the “Lithuanian” and “Moscow” parties within Smolensk itself, the city became part of Lithuania. The then Moscow Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich, married to Vitovt's daughter, did not consider Moscow strong enough to resist the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A fundamentally new page was opening in the life of the Smolensk region.

Natalia Chernikova
Magazine "Beloved Russia", No. 2(3), 2006

Already many hundreds of years ago, the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” passed here - the main artery of the Slavic peoples, which, connecting the north with the south, crossed here with roads leading from west to east. In the 9th century, Smolensk was the center of the region, stretching from Novgorod in the north to Kyiv in the south, from Polotsk in the west and to Suzdal in the east.

The Smolensk region is a unique region in geographical, historical, cultural and economic terms.

The 12th century marks the heyday of the Smolensk Principality. At this time, monumental construction began, temples were erected, which became the pride of Russian architecture. The Smolensk Principality has 46 cities, 39 of them have fortifications...

For a whole century, the Smolensk land flourished. But in 1230 a terrible pestilence devastated it. This was followed by Batu's invasion of Rus', the aggression of Lithuania... The Mongols, having reached the walls of Smolensk, could not destroy it, but still the city paid them tribute from 1274 to 1339.

In the 16th century, the Smolensk land became part of a strong Russian state, however, its existence could not be called calm. The Lithuanians, united with the Poles, do not stop trying to regain the territories they lost, the protection of which is now becoming an all-Russian task.

It was at this time that Smolensk began to be called the “key” of Moscow.

In the 18th century, Smolensk received the status of a provincial city. Active construction begins and trade turnover increases. But the year 1812 comes, and again Smolensk stands in the way of the enemy - this time Napoleonic hordes.

After Patriotic War 1812 Smolensk lay in ruins for a long time. Many public and private buildings that previously adorned the city were never restored...

In the second half of the 19th century, Smolensk became large railway junction. This contributed to the development of trade and industry.

The city continued to develop vigorously even after October Revolution. At this time, large industrial enterprises were created in Smolensk and the region - flax mill, machine-building plant, many others.

Once again, peaceful development was interrupted by war. In the summer of 1941, a battle broke out on Smolensk soil, as a result of which the Nazis’ advance towards Moscow was delayed for two months...

For more than two years, the Smolensk region was under occupation. The war caused enormous damage to the region. After the Nazi occupation in Smolensk, only 7% of undamaged living space remained; more than 100 were destroyed. industrial enterprises. Vyazma, Gzhatsk, Yelnya, Dorogobuzh, Velizh, Demidov, Dukhovshchina, Roslavl lay in ruins...

Realizing the enormous importance of the Smolensk region for the country, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR in 1945 included Smolensk and Vyazma among the 15 Russian cities subject to priority restoration, for which all conditions were created...

IN as soon as possible the area was restored. Soon volume industrial production exceeded the pre-war level and continued to grow every day.

In commemoration of the merits of the city's residents, Smolensk was awarded the title of hero city. This high rank he wears it with honor.

Russian Civilization

Smolensk has always been a crossroads between north and south, west and east. Back in the 9th century, Smolensk, as the center of the tribal union of the Krivichi Slavs, and then as large city Kievan Rus, developed on the site of a portage between the river basins of the Dnieper and Western Dvina on the water trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” It is no coincidence that in the 11th century it became the center of the Smolensk principality, which already in the 12th century began to be called “Great”. The principality was one of the strongest in the ancient Russian state and occupied a territory much larger than the modern region. In 1238(9), a large detachment of Tatars was defeated near Smolensk, who never managed to subjugate it.

Rich lands always cause the envy of neighbors. At the end of the 14th century, a long-term struggle for the Smolensk lands unfolded between the stronger Moscow and Lithuanian states, which ended with the loss of independence and the entry into Smolensk and most of the principality became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia (as it was then called). A century later, in 1514, the Moscow prince Vasily III annexed Smolensk and from that time on, a large trade and craft center turned into a strong fortress on the western border of the state, on the shortest road between Moscow and Europe. First, Ivan IV Vasilyevich (the Terrible) built a wooden fortress-city here, and then his son Fyodor Ioannovich ordered the construction of a powerful stone fortress in Smolensk, which remains to this day. Since the 17th century, the Smolensk region became the scene of all major wars waged by the Russian state with its western neighbors: Russian-Polish wars XVII century, Northern War, Patriotic War of 1812 and the Great Patriotic War. Military theme- this is an excursion destination in which no other region of Russia can compete with the Smolensk region.

Being a fortress, Smolensk was taken by the army of the Polish king in 1611 Sigismund III and for a long time, for 43 years, became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Together with him, the western half of the Smolensk region was under the Polish flag. In 1654, the Russian army, led by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, forever returned the Smolensk lands to the Russian state, but the gentry did not leave here anywhere. The Polish nobles who owned lands here swore allegiance to the Russian Tsar, converted to Orthodoxy, and in return received the lands that the Polish kings had once given them as eternal property. Until the revolution of 1917, the western Smolensk region was sometimes called “gentry”. It should be noted that this ethnographic division into west and east is still clearly expressed in the architecture of cities (just compare Smolensk and Vyazma).

During numerous wars, the Smolensk land suffered more than others (especially in 1812 and 1941-1945), but always rose from the ashes. It is no coincidence that the words on the coat of arms of the Smolensk region “An unbending spirit can overcome everything.”

The Smolensk region is a unique region in geographical, historical, cultural and economic terms.

It was at this time that Smolensk began to be called the “key” of Moscow.

After the Patriotic War of 1812, Smolensk lay in ruins for a long time. Many public and private buildings that previously adorned the city were never restored...

In the second half of the 19th century, Smolensk became a major railway junction. This contributed to the development of trade and industry.

The city continued to develop vigorously after the October Revolution. At this time, large industrial enterprises were created in Smolensk and the region - a flax mill, a machine-building plant, and many others.

For more than two years, the Smolensk region was under occupation. The war caused enormous damage to the region. After the Nazi occupation in Smolensk, only 7% of undamaged residential space remained, and more than 100 industrial enterprises were destroyed. Vyazma, Gzhatsk, Yelnya, Dorogobuzh, Velizh, Demidov, Dukhovshchina, Roslavl lay in ruins...

The area was restored as soon as possible. Industrial production soon exceeded pre-war levels and continued to grow every day.

In commemoration of the merits of the city's residents, Smolensk was awarded the title of hero city. He bears this high title with honor.