Дементьева Екатерина

Peter I and Khvalynsk

      Khvalynsk is the northernmost and the oldest of the cities of the Saratov region. The official date of its foundation is 1556. However, the city was not located at its current location, but in the middle of the Volga River on Pine Island (Sosnovy Ostrov), which went under the water after the creation of the Volgograd water reservoir. And the village, which had not yet become a city, had exactly the same name — Pine Island. It all started with the construction of a Russian guard post on the island, located opposite the place where the city subsequently appeared. The task of the post was to fight against small warlike hordes that were robbing the surrounding steppes. In 1606, a real village was built on a site located on the bank of the Volga River in the northern district of present-day Khvalynsk, called Pine Island. The settlement owed its name to a nearby island covered with pine forests. The first to settle here were the peasants who belonged to the Chudov Мonastery. In 1699, the lands of the Chudov Monastery were multiplied by the decree of Peter I, and for their development, the monastery's leadership resettled several hundred more peasants from the villages belonging to him. In 1700, settlers from the island moved to the right bank of the Volga and built a whole town and fortress there, where the government sent military and a cannon.

    There is historical evidence that Peter the Great visited these places twice. But if on July 1, 1695, during a Grassroots campaign, his ship sailed past, then in 1722, during a Persian campaign, pilots and rowers were taken from the village.
On June 11, 1722 an entry appeared in the travel journal of Peter I: “In the afternoon at 4 o’clock we arrived at Sosnovka and, changing the rowers, went; and rode all night ...” During the campaign he was accompanied by his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna, the future empress. From the record, it can be understood that they stayed in the village of Pine Island for several hours and continued on their way into the night.
   The legend about the appearance of the name Khvalynsk belongs to the same time. The quartermasters, who sailed ahead of the river caravan of Peter the Great's ships and arrived on Pine Island, fairly intimidated the inhabitants of a provincial town: "They say the tsar-father himself is coming to you and you need to meet him kindly and hospitably!". There is nothing to do — the local people scratched the turnip and did not lose face. When Tsar Peter stepped onto the ground from his boat, a goat with golden horns was brought to him as a gift. The tsar laughed at the amazing gift for a long time, then asked about the name of the village. He was cheerfully informed: " Sosnovy Ostrov, Your Majesty!" "Well, no," said the cheerful tsar. "The boasters live here and now it should be Khvalynsk!" The truth about the fate of the precious goat the legend is silent.
    From those ancient times, nothing has been preserved in the city, Pine Island also went under water. But the people's memory and legends have been preserved about the arrival of Peter I.
   This is the story of the transformation of the village of Sosnovy Ostrov into the city of Khvalynsk, which took place decades after the visit of Peter I, was reflected in folklore. The historical facts that survived the transformation have remained stable to our time, becoming an intangible cultural heritage associated with the visit of Peter I to our region.