Svetloyar, Historical: Lake Svetly Yar — a lake 147 km from Nizhny Novgorod, 70 km from the city of Semenov. It is located on the outskirts of the village Vladimirske Voskresensky District.
The Seventh "Wonder of the Volga Region", according to the website of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation.
It is a deep basin with two underwater terraces encircling it: one at a depth of 6–8 m, the other at a depth of 18–20 m. Remains of a spruce forest have been discovered on the upper terrace. The water temperature in the lower layers is 3–4 degrees Celsius. Lake Ozerskoye, near the village of Ozerskoye, is considered Svetloyar’s twin—it is similar in shape, also very deep, and has the same water level as Svetloyar. The fact is that both lakes lie within the same fault in the Earth’s crust and may be connected by underground waterways. The water is very clear, and according to reviews, swimming there is very pleasant.
The Essence of the Phenomenon
Lake Svetloyar is unusual for its hydrochemical characteristics. Its water is remarkable: it can be stored in a vessel for many years without losing its exceptional purity, clarity, and taste. This has earned it a reputation as “holy” and widespread fame even beyond the region. Svetloyar is fed by springs that bubble up from the bottom; some of them can be seen on the shore in the southwestern part of the lake. As shown by 2001 expedition, the lake's area has decreased by 4 hectares since the mid-20th century.
As a result of a reckless violation of the outflow regime, the hydrological and hydrochemical conditions of this unique lake have changed, leading to the most unexpected consequences. Hydrobiologists have already noted a shift in the shoreline vegetation from meadow to marsh, indicating that the outflow has slowed and that the northeastern part of the lake has begun to flood and become waterlogged. By the 1990s, the tree vegetation on the sphagnum bog began to wither, which is associated with its flooding.
Svetloyar is of great scientific value as a habitat for interesting plant and animal species. Rare and protected plants grow in the water and along its shores—long-stemmed pondweed, oat-leaved sedge, pure-white water lily, and yellow water lily— and in the sphagnum bog adjacent to its northern shores, the rare orchid Loezel’s bog orchid, the tundra shrub Lapland willow, and the northern insectivorous plant English sundew have been found. The lake’s waters are home to a unique community of rotifers—tiny worms measuring 0.01–2.5 mm—that is also typical of the north. These planktonic organisms play an active role in the lake’s self-purification. In the past, the lake was home to the desman, a relict species listed in the Red Data Book of the USSR.
Svetloyar in Public Life
The first historical document appeared for the first time in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries among the Old Believers and was called the “Kitezh Chronicle”; it was apparently written by members of one of the Old Believer factions, the “Bespopovtsy.”
It is interesting to note that Lake Svetloyar and its surrounding area have their own distinct sacred place names.
Each hill has its own name and serves a specific purpose.
For example, the hill where the church dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God stands today is called Blagoveshchensky, because the Blagoveshchensky Church is invisibly located there, and the next hill is called Uspensky, since the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God stands there.
On Uspensky Hill, since 2004, Old Believer cathedral services have resumed on Uspensky Hill, with the blessing of Father Alexander, Patriarch of the Ancient Orthodox Church, who visited the lake that year and conducted the first service.
Another distinctive feature of Svetloyar was that people of all kinds flocked there—diverse in their religious views and beliefs as well as in their nationalities. The shores of the lake were a haven for free thought. People of various faiths made their way here along every road and trail: Old Believers, non-priest believers, black magicians, Baptists, Orthodox Christians, Tolstoyans, and homegrown philosophers—and they were all united by a “yearning for Kitezh,” though their encounters were not without debates, and sometimes even heated arguments, aimed at determining “whose faith was closer to the truth.”
The theory of meteorite origin
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Lake Svetloyar in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast—where, according to legend, the city of Kitezh hid from Batu Khan’s troops—is a meteorite crater that formed about three thousand years ago, according to Svyatoslav Engalychev, a senior researcher at the Karpinsky All-Russian Research Geological Institute in St. Petersburg.
"My research has proven that the Svetloyar Lake basin is of impact origin—it is a meteorite crater formed during the Holocene," Engalychev said in an interview with RIA Novosti. This famous lake is located near the village of Vladimirskoye in the Voskresensky District of the Nizhegorodskaya Oblast and has been designated a natural monument of federal significance. Svetloyar stands out among neighboring lakes for its regular oval shape and great depth—with a diameter of about 350–400 meters, it reaches a depth of 33 meters. Since the 1960s and 1970s, there has been an ongoing debate about the lake’s origin. Scientists have proposed several hypotheses, including karst, volcanic, tectonic, and glacial origins; however, none of them could explain all the details of the lake’s structure and the surrounding area. The most widely accepted hypothesis is that the lake is of karst (sinkhole) origin, according to which the lake formed in a sinkhole created by the leaching of rock at depth, Engalychev noted. However, he said, drilling in the area in 1959 did not reveal any karst-forming rocks to a depth of 210 meters. The volcanic hypothesis for the lake’s formation was proposed by writer Vladimir Korolenko; however, there are no signs of volcanic activity in this region. The meteorite hypothesis regarding the origin of Svetloyar was first proposed as early as 1886 by Russian geologist and soil scientist Vasily Dokuchaev; however, at that time, science did not have sufficient data to confirm or refute it. Engalychev compared the lake’s geomorphological characteristics—its size, shape, and depth—with other geological structures of proven meteorite origin, as well as with the parameters of lunar craters. As it turned out, the ratio of the lake’s diameter to its depth and the width of the rim surrounding the basin corresponds exactly to the parameters of known meteorite craters. Field studies on the shores of Svetloyar revealed numerous samples of impact-generated rocks—fragments of melted and foamed glassy material that form at the moment of a meteorite’s collision with the surface. In addition, transparent glass spheres and rounded, teardrop-shaped particles of black foamed glass were found on the lake’s beaches. "Rocks containing glass were formed when sedimentary material from the original substrate melted due to the rise in temperature at the moment of impact between the meteorite and the target rocks, and consist of impact glasses and slags," said the scientist. According to him, the available data suggest that the meteorite that created the Svetloyar crater was traveling from north to south along a low trajectory—at an angle of about 30–40 degrees to the surface. This event occurred relatively recently, about 3,000–3,200 years ago, Engalychev notes. The results of his research on Lake Svetloyar were published in the latest issue of the Russian scientific journal *Exploration and Protection of Subsurface Resources*. |
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Current Status
Lake Svetloyar has been a natural monument since 1965, and in 1997 it was designated a natural monument of federal significance. It is the only natural monument with this status in Nizhny Novgorod Region.
According to UNESCO’s classification of protected areas, this type of territory is categorized as an “associative landscape.” These are landscapes that preserve the memory of outstanding historical events or historical figures, or are associated with works of art. They possess elements of sacredness. It should be noted, however, that a cultural landscape, as a heritage site, is defined very broadly. It includes not only tangible natural and cultural sites, but also the living traditional culture, myths, and legends preserved in the area, which are upheld by the local population.
In 2002, Lake Svetloyar and 8 other protected areas Voskresensky District became part of the cooperation zone of the “Nizhny Novgorod Zavolzhye” Biosphere Reserve, which has been certified by UNESCO. And since 2003, at the request of Valery Shantsev The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources has granted the “Kerzhensky” State Natural Biosphere Reserve the authority to oversee this territory.
The Lake's Official Ideology and Concept
As a pilot project, the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast adopted a concept in 2003 for the socioeconomic development of the territory of the Vladimirskoye Rural Administration, which is home to Lake Svetloyar, a natural monument of federal significance.
The concept is based on the following idea: Lake Svetloyar and Vladimirske – one of the holy sites of the Russian Land, a place where human souls are transformed.
Regardless of nationality, religious affiliation, or attitude toward religious teachings, every seeker and every person in distress finds an echo deep within their heart that resonates with the ringing of bells Kitezh”. A distinctive feature of this place is “the immersion of humankind, through mythological and Christian thought, into a noospheric interaction with the surrounding natural environment (where humankind is viewed as part of Nature, rather than its master).” The fundamental goal of this concept is the revival of the Russian village as a social and spiritual center for self-preservation and self-development.
In the long term, the historic village of Vladimirskoye is envisioned as a unique, versatile, and accessible hub for cultural exchange, the testing and implementation of world-class educational technologies, and the provision of information and cultural services.
Today, there are six information centers operating in the village of Vladimirskoye: the “Kerzhensky” State Nature Reserve Information Center, the “Nizhegorodskaya Zavolzhye” Development Center, the rural information center (located at the S.V. Afonishin Rural Library), the “Santana” Exhibition Hall, the “Kitezh” History and Khudozhestvennyy Museum, the exhibition hall of the “Kitezh” Children’s Cultural Center “Kitezh”—all of which help create a cohesive image of the region, aimed at providing cultural education to residents and tourists and broadening their horizons with the goal of preserving Lake Svetloyar and reviving the historical traditions associated with the lake and its image. Kitezh, as well as those that drive sustainable development Nizhny Novgorod Region.
Help for the Lake
In response to public demand in 1998, with the direct assistance of A.N. Kosarikova and current director Voskresenskoye Povetluzhye Nature Park A.B. Groza: A bridge was built to allow natural runoff across the embankment asphalt road in the village of Shadrino, where a closed dam with a small pipe had previously blocked the flow of water from Svetloyar to Lyunda River.
Stories About the Miracles of Svetloyar
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1. Marina, a woman in her early thirties, spent almost the entire summer in the village of Vladimirske. She lived with a friend and her two young children. She updated the billboards in the parking lot and helped out at the chapel. Gradually, she opened up about herself. She had been married, worked at a bank, and had two children. She and her husband loved socializing, having fun, and drinking. Gradually, she simply drank herself into a state of ruin and lost her parental rights. Most likely, she became very seriously ill due to an overdose. While in the intensive care unit, hallucinating, she saw, as if from the outside, all the depravity of her former life. Now she is a very religious person; she perceives God as everything that constitutes a person’s spiritual life. She believes that Lake Svetloyar will help her break away from her vices once and for all and get her children back.
2. In July, a family from Krasnodar visited the chapel: a young woman, her husband, their son (about eight years old), and her mother. At that time, the visitors in the chapel began discussing the lake, the quality of the water in it, and the spring. In response to someone’s negative comment about the lake and its effect on people, the young woman burst into tears and told everyone her story. She is seriously ill (cancer) and had been on the verge of death. At one of the most critical moments, someone brought her water from Lake Svetloyar. After washing her face with this water, she lost consciousness and began to have visions of Jesus Christ. A few days later, the crisis passed, and she felt much better. Now, the whole family has been coming to the lake for three years in a row. She believes she is alive only thanks to the lake’s help. 3. In late October, after the first snowfall, a lightly dressed young man came into the chapel. He bought some candles and asked for instructions on how to light a candle for an unbaptized child. It turned out that his newborn son was in critical condition. He had been coming to the lake every day for a week, walking around it, fetching water from the spring, and praying. He had a deep faith that it was precisely here that God would hear his prayers. 4. An elderly, educated couple from Nizhnego Novgoroda shared stories from the lives of two of their close friends. In a family of seven Nizhny Novgorod residents, a preschool-aged girl fell ill with a severe form of pneumonia. The doctors’ treatment was ineffective. At a critical moment, when her fever was particularly high, the girl’s grandmother decided to take her to Lake Svetloyar and let her swim, despite the autumn weather. After swimming, the girl recovered. In another family. An adult son came to Lake Svetloyar with friends. They had been drinking and went for a swim. The young man took a few steps in the water and fell on completely level ground. He injured his spine. He is now disabled. According to those who tell the story, the lake “punished” him. 5. An elderly, sullen man stood in the center of the chapel for a long time, and as he was leaving, he said aloud, “At last, I’ve had my fill of the Russian spirit.” Another man, about seventy years old, prayed for a long time, and as he was leaving, he said, “It’s very clean here. Thank you.” 6. Two adult sons brought an elderly, heavyset woman into the chapel. She was out of breath for quite a while. I helped her sit down on a bench. After resting, she said a prayer, lit some candles, and as she was leaving, she said she felt better. About forty minutes later, she came back to the chapel on her own, without any help. She thanked me and gave me a pastry. It moved me to tears. 7. From what I’ve observed, the atmosphere itself, the natural setting of the lake, and the chapel have a very unexpected effect on many people. They begin to recall difficult moments in their own lives and in the lives of their loved ones. They feel a desire to share their experiences with someone, and sometimes even to repent. As a rule, these memories arise when the storytellers are in a spiritual frame of mind, experiencing a strong emotional surge. They all noted that the very nature of the lake—which blends perfectly with the chapel and its natural simplicity—fosters this mood. Such moments were quite challenging for me as well, as they required appropriate engagement, support, and empathy toward the person. |
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Lakes in Russian Culture
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Following Korolenko’s writings, the myth of the unsinkable Gorod of the righteous became all the rage. The entire bohemian crowd of the time, obsessed with mystical romanticism, esotericism, and the search for “new spirituality,” set out on a pilgrimage to the sacred waters of Svetloyar. The most famous among them were Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Zinaida Gippius, and Nicholas Roerich. |
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Interesting Facts
- By the summer solstice of 2011, Svetloyar’s string of accolades had been joined by its recognition as the so-called Seventh Wonder Volga Region. These are Results of the interactive survey “Wonders of the Volga Region—Through My Own Eyes”, which took place on the website of Grigory Rapota, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District. Participants were asked to select the attractions in the Volga Region that they would like to see in person. Svetloyar received 768 votes. The top choice in the poll was the island town of Sviyazhsk, which received 3,269 votes. In total, more than 20,000 people took part in the vote.
See also
- "Natural Park"Voskresenskoye Povetluzhye Nature Park"