‘Mostishchenskoe settlement and the labyrinth“ sanctuary ”is located in the Lukodonie valley of the Ostrogozhsky district of the Voronezh region, on the right bank of the Potudan River. The area of \u200b\u200bMostishchensky settlement 2.3 ha. During excavations, the remains of defensive fortifications of Scythian time on two capes were found here. Here, on two capes, the remains of defensive fortifications (hillforts) of the Scythian time were found - Mostishchenskoe settlement and Averinskoe settlement, which appeared on the Middle Don in the VI century. BC e.

Mostishchenskoe settlement of small size, archaeologists have identified only the remains of six residential buildings. Buildings of the Yurt type are located on the edges of the settlement, at the outskirts of the cape, and one of the buildings is generally located on its very edge. All yurts are similar and have an area of \u200b\u200bup to 20 square meters, with rectangular bases and pillar holes in the center. Traces of the outbreak were found in one of them, and some wool fibers were found on the floor of the yurt. Archaeologists managed to determine the entrance to the room, it is directed towards the slope of the cape. Due to the fact that residential buildings were almost on a slope, residents had to deepen the place for leveling the floor. The same buildings were discovered by archaeologists at the excavations of the settlement of Rossoshka 1 “Krutsy”. But on Mostishchensky settlement, residents did not use the central, almost flat part of the settlement for construction. It seems that the inhabitants were “embarrassed” by the remains of the stone calculations of an older maze, or maybe the maze was guarded by them ?! Obviously, the very choice of places for the construction of dwellings was subordinate and similar to the security functions of the settlement. Around the central part of the settlement (including the ancient labyrinth), economic pits were found, more than 60 of them, half of them are cereal. By all indications, the pits were not used at the same time (given the two periods in the life of the settlement), as were the dwellings themselves. Judging by the size of the dwellings, from 4 to 8 people could live in each of them, and in three, therefore, no more than 25 people. Such a figure cannot correspond to the size of either the clan or the neighboring community.

A burial ground was discovered on the area of \u200b\u200bMostishchenskoe settlement, which included five burials: three adults, a teenager, and a baby. Of the requisites, an iron akinak and a bony amulet were discovered. Burials were made on the ancient horizon and littered with stones.

It is most likely to assume that the inhabitants of the Mostishchenskoye settlement carried here mainly guard service. In this case, the settlement could belong to representatives of power - the leaders of the tribes or the priests. Perhaps the inhabitants of the settlement were also dependent people: tribesmen of the lower class, maybe slaves. Here, public meetings were held and judging by the size of the remains of garishes (fires - hearths) that were external from the dwellings outside the fortress (to the south), some festivities, sacrificial rites, or other ceremonies; Here residents from nearby settlements could take refuge in case of danger. As for the defensive fortifications, they were erected perhaps by the efforts of several neighboring communities or by the hands of ... slaves or captured from other tribes. Perhaps the defenders of the Mostischen settlement and the labyrinth failed to repulse the unexpected attack of the nomadic Scythians, who sprinkled arrows with arrows from the settlement, and during the attack they changed the way of life in the settlement and suffered from both old and small. Residents should have expected new raids, and another wealth urgently needed to be saved - grain placed in pits. The survivors needed to bury the dead, and quietly take out the grain. Naturally, they did not have time to dig graves and observe funeral ceremonies. So, a very probable reason for people leaving the settlement is the complications caused by the military situation.

Along with the finds common for Scythian time, fragments of vessels of the Ivanobugor type and catacomb culture were revealed. On the upper platform of the cape, against the background of the mainland, ruins of ring masonry stand out in relief. The masonry was preserved only fragmentary; they were repeatedly destroyed both in the Bronze Age and in the early Iron Age. The layout of the settlement includes a round central platform of stone pavement and six concentric ellipse rings surrounding it, between which, in some cases, jumpers are fixed. Both the rings and the lintels consist of stones laid out without a special fit and without any binding solution. Their maximum height in ancient times did not exceed half a meter; the larger diameter of the outer ring along the west-east line reaches 40 meters. That is, only the ruins of the structure, which in its original form was architecturally complex and systemic, have survived, which leaves no doubt: these are the remains of a "megalithic" religious building. It can be called a sanctuary - a maze. http://vk.cc/4ecyuO

Six stone rings buried in the ground, some are called the magic labyrinth and therefore come to the Voronezh region to recharge from it with energy.

Many people remember the myth of the Minotaur or heard about the famous English Stonehenge. Meanwhile, it’s quite possible maze we have, very close to Voronezh - in Ostrogozhsky district, near farm Mostishche. Who and why created this miracle? And will it be possible to find an answer to at least one of its many puzzles?

Over three rivers

Farm Mostishche is spread between three chalk hills. From the peaks, amazingly beautiful views of the valley of three rivers - the Don, Potudani and Maidens. Since ancient times, such places have attracted people. Around - rich in prey forests, an abundance of fish and free pastures. And if you fill the shaft, establish a picket fence, the settlement on the hill will turn into a reliable fortress, impregnable for unfriendly neighbors.

From the labyrinth in Mostisch now little can be seen. It was badly damaged, and what was left, archaeologists tried to bury under the ground. On the surface you can find only a few white stones, barely visible in the grass. But judging by the plan created by archaeologists, the construction was large and complex.

Not surprisingly, archaeologists have long noticed this place. Back in 1957, an expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences discovered on a central hill an ancient settlement of the Scythian era, settled in the southern Russian steppes in the VI-IV centuries. BC.

And in 1983, the archaeological expedition of the Voronezh State Pedagogical University led by Arsen Sinyuk found traces of more ancient tribes that inhabited these places as far back as the 3rd millennium BC. Little is left of that era - a cluster of stones. But soon the scientists realized that these stones are not scattered at all in disorder, but form six concentric ellipse rings. Then a bold hypothesis was born: the ancient building is nothing but a maze, the only one in central Russia.

The labyrinth ellipse is elongated along the north-east-south-west line, the outer boundaries of the structure are 26x38 m. Most of the stones are chalky, but granite boulders are also found - a rock that is not typical for these places.

Conservatives from Ivanova Bugra

Why was this unusual building built? Researchers agree that the labyrinth could be an ancient sanctuary. At the same time, there is a version about its astronomical purpose. The fact is that granite boulders clearly indicate the direction to the north, the points of sunrise and sunset on the days of the summer and winter solstices, spring and autumn equinoxes.

Arsen Sinyuk believed that the sanctuary was built by representatives of the so-called Ivanobugor archaeological culture. For the first time, its traces were found on the Ivanovo Bugr - hence the name. Ivanobugorskites were forest hunters and fishers, and at the same time communicated with the population of the steppe.

The people were very conservative, did not use the achievements of their neighbors, and even in the Bronze Age preserved the lifestyle characteristic of the Neolithic - the new Stone Age. Except in Mostishche and Ivanovo Bugr, this culture is not found anywhere else.

Place of power

Nevertheless, the fact that Mostishchensky find is a labyrinth is only a hypothesis. The trouble is that the monument came to us badly destroyed: even the Scythians began to pull stones away on building materials.

Although 2.5 thousand years have passed since then, archaeologists have no confidence that our contemporaries will treat the construction more carefully: in the end, it was decided to bury the ancient stones again. A tourist will not see anything in this place except a hill overgrown with steppe grasses.

A place of power attracts many esoteric lovers

Nevertheless, a hill with a labyrinth buried in it is very popular today and, above all, among enthusiasts who are passionate about finding paranormal phenomena. According to eniologists - supporters of the theory of energy-informational interaction at a subtle level - Mostishchi maze is a "place of power" with a special energy.

“The radiation of the labyrinth is felt at a distance of 2 km and covers nearby villages,” says Alexander Sukhorukov, chairman of the committee for the study of anomalous phenomena in nature. - Being at the epicenter, people feel drowsiness, slight dizziness, pleasant tingling all over the body, especially along the spine, and enter into a state of euphoria, increased activity, and healing processes of the body are activated.

There is a slight wiggle. All this may even be accompanied by visions. It is important to get out of resonance in time, because the energy is very strong. Some time after relaxation, a state of increased activity occurs. ”

The labyrinth has even gained international fame. So, tourists from Germany came here for group meditation. According to German fans of esotericism, Voronezh and 100 km around the city are the "heart chakra of Europe."

“I don’t really believe in it, but megaliths really have amazing energy properties,” says Alexander Sukhorukov.

Unsolved mystery

Will we learn something new about the maze and its builders? Or the cover of millennia forever hid the truth from us? Archaeologist Valery Berezutsky, one of the discoverers of the labyrinth, is not optimistic.

“The entire area occupied by stones has already been investigated,” Valery said. - In addition, not all researchers consider this building a maze. I have doubts. For example, we dug up, as it seemed to us, one of the turns of the maze, and then it turned out that this was a natural chalk outlet. In archeology, this often happens.

Maybe this is a discovery. Or, perhaps, a misunderstood object. The difficulty is that after the Ivanobugortsev there lived at least two or three people. Only Scythians left 126 economic pits cut down in chalk. And it’s very, very difficult to catch the labyrinth among the piling up of stones. ”

The fact that the pilgrimage to Mostishche is gaining momentum every year, the archaeologist is also skeptical.

“Yes, I talked with people who say that energy is surging in them at this place,” says Valery Berezutsky. “Maybe that's true.” But there is no guarantee that it comes from the maze. "

In a word, everyone decides to believe in the maze and its magical powers or not. It is unlikely that evidence will be found that can convince a stubborn skeptic. A fragile hypothesis, which opens up scope for imagination, is enough for enthusiasts. Be that as it may, it is important that another secret awakens interest in the turbulent past of the forest-steppe expanses of the Voronezh region.

277 km from the city of Murmansk, not far from the small town of Kandalaksha, there is a maze, whose age is close to the mark of four thousand years. Most scientists suggest that such amazing riddle in its form, it more closely resembles a trap, which was often used by ancient people in the process of fishing or as performing various rituals, with the help of which luck should go to their side.

The most common name for the Kandalaksha labyrinth is the stone labyrinth “Babylon”, which is a large system of intricate passages laid out exclusively of stone - in these places ancient people performed their magic rites. There is an opinion that the rituals are in no way connected with the labyrinths, but only served as help during the hunt. There have been cases when the dead were buried in the passages of the maze. It is known that many primitive peoples had this kind of labyrinths. All the existing labyrinths contain intricate and intricate passages that are specially laid out of stone in the form of a spiral, which is especially noticeable in several places located on the Kola Peninsula, next to the Umba and Pona rivers.

Such a noticeable popularity of the presence of labyrinths gives rise to an actually fantastic hypothesis about the purpose of these buildings. There are research scientists who believe that there was a close connection between the faith of the ancient peoples in the afterlife, other worlds and this kind of stone structures. There is an opinion that the villages near which the labyrinths were located, apparently, maintained communication with each other, even despite great distances; At the same time, powerful structures were used not only as an antenna, but also as a kind of receiver.

It is worth noting that none of the presented theories to date has found exact evidence, because in the soil under the spirals no traces of burials were found, and as for confirming the version about the presence of doors to other worlds and the way that various signals can be transmitted over long distances - then even little is possible.

All tribes living near the labyrinth, whose name sounds like Pomors, called spirals made of medium-sized stones “Babylon”. In this case, it is worth considering: why did this ancient people choose this name? This question can be answered in different ways: according to the first version, it is assumed that the word “Babylon” in translation into Russian sounds like “wavy, curvy,” and this option is considered the most obvious, but still it is not the only and confirmed one. There is another version, according to which it is believed that the word "Babylon" is a slightly distorted word "Avalon", which in Celtic language means "a place where fairies live." If you translate the word "Avalon" into Russian, it means "apple", which is somewhat comparable with the inherent form of "Babylon", resembling an apple cut along it.

There is a legend that says that only the elite can get to the labyrinth, and indeed it is not very easy to get to the labyrinth, because it is located not so close to the city of Murmansk, especially since people who are not familiar with this area can find the right place it will be very difficult, because many simply do not notice it.

To date, it has been precisely ascertained that in the territory of modern Kandalaksha region there were two religious cults, one of which was called the cult of the higher gods, and the other was the cult of the Sades - sacred stones in which sacred and respected spirits live. It is known that Seyd always demanded respect for himself, and for his respectful attitude he always awarded a rich catch on the hunt.

“Babylon” in the Kandalaksha hills is a unique, although not uncommon phenomenon, because the largest cluster of labyrinths is located on the famous Volosyanaya hills, three km from the main road Kandalaksha. All the secrets of the mysterious "Babylon" have not yet been clarified, which means that new excavations will follow.

About the fact that in the Voronezh region there is a stone labyrinth built at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC (!!!), I read at the local forum in the winter and, of course, marked this fact in Plans.txt. Little by little, I collected the necessary minimum of information to try to find him and waited only for the right set of circumstances to immediately rush to find him.

And so, on May 9, 2010, when the whole public, including the legion of LJ photographers, who later littered my tape with dull pictures from military parades, bumped and pushed on the main city streets, with my eternal partner, Lyokha, on all sorts of adventures, decided, on the contrary, to leave that day somewhere far away, and preferably in the wilderness. After purchasing food, we got out on the old Lyokhina "five" out of town and headed for.

01 . The Ostrogozhskaya track is indecently picturesque, empty and almost not controlled by the valiant traffic police. Every 5-10 km I had to struggle with the desire to stop and take a picture of something. But ahead, according to my forecasts, we were expecting something completely beyond the limits and therefore we flew to the intended target without stopping. Until they saw the horse.
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02 . So you’re too lazy to go to the link above and see where exactly we met such a Zashibinsky conic, but meanwhile it can even be seen on Google maps (!). Therefore, here is another evoyal shoulder portrait. The model has a runny nose, do not pay attention.

03 . This, if you still did not follow the link, the village of Damsel. More precisely, its very outskirts.
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04 . Another native, but so far unknown to Google.

05 . There behind the trees there is a small river Potudan.
Its section from the village of Soldatskoye to the confluence of the Don is called the tract "Mordva" and is considered one of beautiful places in the Don region.
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06 . Flood meadows, we go around the damp areas now and then, but, in the end, we still meet. I curse the hordes of mosquitoes-cannibals and rear-wheel drive in the AvtoVAZ version, but somehow push the “five” out of the puddle. Ufff ....

07 . Farm Mostishche, in the vicinity of which a stone labyrinth was discovered by archaeologists, is literally a mile and a half away. We decide to make our way further. Fending off mosquitoes, I patted in front of the car, choosing places by land. Suddenly, a whole field of bells formed around.

08 . It just so happened that before that I saw bells only in pictures, so their presence, of course, brightened up my navigational share a little.
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09 . And then a new ambush. The bridge across Potudan, marked as active in the navigator, was in fact in disrepair.
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10 . Local peasants who came to go fishing reported that no one had been driving along it for a long time and that there was another way to the farm. I was categorically against and offered to return through the bells and swamps, but Lech still decides to force the bridge. Below you can watch a short video of how it was. Lyokha goes, I lead the operation, the men are stupidly shocked. Miles sorry for shaking (the camera just hung around his neck), a trembling voice and obscenities - it was really annoying that we accidentally drown the car.

11 . To take a breath and let the jerker cool, we wandered around the bridge. According to legend, Potudan was a border, to the north of which the Tatars did not collect tribute. Hence the name means that on the other side of the river it is necessary to tower blood.

12 . Incidentally, this river gave its name to the story of Andrei Platonov "Potudan River", which later made the film "The Lonely Voice of a Man." And still some researchers believe that it was on the banks of Potudan that the Rusich and the Polovtsians fought, described in the "Word on Igor's Regiment" and that Potudan is the ancient Kayala River. Why not believe it, I think, all the more so around such nonsense.
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13 . Traces of the life of beavers.
Somehow in the fall I visited, those who wish can get acquainted.

14 . And finally, we drive into the farm. It is almost completely abandoned and, basically, consists of such ancient abandoned huts.
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15 . Surprisingly, not only tablets with house numbers were preserved ...

16 . ... but also with street names.

17 . They meet at home in a newer way, if at all it is possible to apply such a synonym to Mostish shacks, but, for the most part, are also non-residential.

18 . We begin to circle the farm in search of a subject. I incorrectly interpret the information I have about the maze and confuse it with an abandoned garden. The fact is that after excavations by archaeologists, the locals thought of taking away the ancient stones for their household needs. People of science scratched turnips and did not come up with anything better than to fill up their find again with a thick layer of soil.
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19 . There is a version that the labyrinth "works" so far and is an active place of power and a harmonizer of the environment. A giant dill is growing in the garden and mobile phones are not being caught, so for some time I’m sure that we roam right above the maze.

20 . Later it turns out that I too schematically poked a finger at the navigator and we wander around the garden, and a giant dill is very common and is called fennel.

21 . We decide to climb a mountain that is familiar to you from the previous two photos, but we take the wrong direction and again leave for the damp shores of Potudani.
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22 . We understand that we are stupid, we begin to turn around and get stuck already in full. Around it’s not like a swamp, but bald tires absolutely do not want to at least somehow cling to damp ground. I begin to boil, because it is no longer possible to push the car in one face, the branches also do not help, and now Lyokha starts to shoe the “five” in the chain.

23 . But he offers me to wait and see how effortlessly he will get out of an ambush as soon as he finishes his installation. Having calmed down a bit, I begin to while away time, photographing all kinds of hatchets. For example, a tinder fungus.

24 . Suddenly (in such a wilderness) a man smokes past on a motorcycle from photo number 9. He asks if I need help, I honestly answer that I don’t know. Like, drove said that now everything will be in the best possible way without any outside help. Fortunately for us, a man still stares at the free circus, and Alexey gives gas, then gas, and then the burning and surrounding reality is covered with white smoke. When it dissipates, the peasant and I already see the “five” taking up a circular defense in a freshly dug trench. Aleksey climbs out and reports that he forgot to lower the hand brake. I say that he himself is the word, and with the forces tenfold in this stressful situation and, of course, with the help of a peasant, I still push the “five” onto the dried up soil. In the picture below Lech is already washing his loins and miracle chains in the river. Left. Five meters.
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25 . Here, perhaps, it is time to make a digression and tell what, in fact, is such a labyrinth. Discovered it in the late 1980s. Similar stone structures well-known in England (Stonehenge rings, for example), Sweden, Denmark, the Mediterranean, as well as in the north of Russia, in Karelia and off the coast of the White Sea. All the more surprising is the presence of such a megalithic structure in central Russia. Today it is the only such archaeological find in our latitudes. Mostishchi maze has the shape of an oval measuring 26 by 38 meters, built of chalk stones. As for who and why built such stone sanctuaries, science has no exact answer. And the uniqueness of the Mostishchensky labyrinth, it seems, generally plunged pundits into a state of cognitive dissonance, and they prefer to remain silent even to a greater extent about its existence. Below is a picture of what archaeologists managed to unearth. Please note that in some sources the farm is called M andsteeper, and the maze, respectively, M andstischensky.

26 . And we continue our search.
The farm, as can be seen below, is spread between the Cretaceous capes (mountains). We climb one of them.
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27 . On the right hand from this place, as I understand it (alas, already at home) and is located Mostishchensky labyrinth. See the power pole? Somewhere over there.

28 . In wet weather, getting up by car is almost impossible. Look at the descent / ascent angle and which pits are washed away by the water rushing down. By the way, this is the other road to Mostishche farm, about which the fishermen told us. If you continue to drive along it, it will lead through the fields to the large village of Korotoyak.

29 . On a nearby hill, stone structures were also discovered, but not in the form of an ellipse, but rectangular. I repeat that I compiled what I’ve read and saw in my mind at home, and at that moment, climbing up and suddenly seeing a picturesque drive to a nearby hill, I concluded that the most interesting thing would be there and we decide to return along the blurred road down and try to climb there overgrown with a primer. By the way, this place is called Mount Gorodishche, because it was also discovered ancient, sorry for the tautology, the fort. Naturally not as ancient as the maze, but nonetheless.
( World Map )

30 . We move down (poor “five”!), Loop around the farm a bit and crawl to the Settlement. According to the internal schedule, we have long lunch time. Lech begins to prepare for a meal, and suddenly I find a bunch of stones. Naturally, I begin to suspect the locals that they still got to the labyrinth and dismantled it for their worthless aboriginal needs, or even rumbled pebbles to offices engaged in landscape design.

31 . Suddenly, the sky darkens and it becomes obvious that rain, or even a thunderstorm, is confidently approaching. Remembering the warning of the fishermen about the subsequent impassability of the descents and ascents, we quickly collect the decomposed manats, in horror we retreat and rush without stopping to the nearest asphalt in the region of the mentioned Korotoyak. We are having a nervous lunch in the car - the rain still begins. We decide to move in the direction of our native penates, but along the way we have a panorama of wondrous beauty. We stop. Somewhere to the left was the farm Mostishche. The photo shows that there is heavy rain.

32 . Behind the tree, something turns white and I crawl along the wet grass closer to the cliff. This is a chalk cliff, slightly gnawed by the natives.

33 . View along the Don channel in the direction of Mostisch.
Lepota - the storm leaves, but the sunset begins.
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34 . Gliding, crawling up to the car. The rain is still drizzling and power lines are buzzing hard on this occasion. The brain too. Time to go home.

Stone Mazes of the North

A.A.Spitsin. issue No. 6 SPB 1904 of the Archaeological Commission.

Many scientists and archaeologists were interested in the labyrinths and their purpose. Academician Ber studied Finnish stone labyrinths from 1842 on small island Vir, located near the island of Hohland in the Gulf of Finland.

More detailed information about the stone labyrinths of Finland was collected in 1877 by Aspelin, who in his article totals up to 50 labyrinths located along the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland and on the islands, from the Torneo River to Vyborg.

In Lapland, the first labyrinths are also indicated by Berom. One of them is located on the southern coast of the Laplan Peninsula, in a small uninhabited Vilovata bay. Ber saw two other labyrinths on Ponoe.

In 1877, they were examined, described and sketched by ethnographer A. A. Kelsiev for an Anthropological exhibition (According to Mr. Aspelin, Kelsiev found 3 labyrinths on the Solovetsky Islands and 2 or 3 on the Murmansk coast.), But where are he currently collecting information we do not know.

In 1883, A.I.I., a member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, published brief information about the same labyrinths. Eliseev.

Curious historical information about two large babylons built near the city of Kola near the Varengsky churchyard has been preserved. This information was collected on the spot by the Russian ambassadors pr. "Zvenigorodsky and Vasilchikov in 1592, pending the start of negotiations with the Swedes about the border."

And in Vareng, on the German battle (Varenga summer graveyard), I put down a stone to my glory, having brought it from the shore with my own hands, there are now more oblique fathoms above the ground, and beside it there are stones laid out like a city salary of 12 walls , and he was called that salary Babylon. And the same stone that is on Varenga, and to this day the word Valitov stone ”, a special feature of the valitov maze is the large stone in the center of the structure.

The Ponoi labyrinths are known to Beru, were examined in 1900 by K.P. Reva.

Two more places are known along the White Sea, where there are labyrinths: the Zayatsky islands, near the Solovetsky islands, and the Kemsky islands. A.V. Eliseev, who gave the first information about them.

The first researcher of the northern labyrinths, Ber, recognized that it was possible that they served as monuments historical events. The Varegen labyrinth Ber is recognized as really built Valit, in which he is ready to see the Novgorod Varangian, who became the head of the Korelians, who successfully fought with the Norwegians, but later obeyed them and known in the Norwegian chronicles under the name Martin.

In 1882, Meyer collected quite significant information about the labyrinths depicted in medieval manuscripts, starting from the ninth century.

Labyrinths - Babylon

A labyrinth is a structure with a complex and intricate plan. So what is it - labyrinths?

The first mention of labyrinths in domestic sources dates back to the 16th century and is contained in notes by Russian diplomats G. B. Vasilchikova and S.G. Zvenigorodsky, traveling in 1592 on the coast of the Varyazhsky Sea - Varangersky Gulf. They report that "... .in Warenga on the battle of the German ... to its glory, having brought a stone from the shore above the ground, there are now large fathoms, and beside it a stone salary of twelve walls has been laid out near the stone, and that salary was called "Babylon ...».

I met these data, and others in a fascinating article by a curious author, known for his popular science books, which were also published in the Murmansk Book Publishing House, - B.I. Koshechkina, he called it “The Stone Mystery of the North”, published in the popular science collection “Man and the Elements” in 1986.

Boris Ivanovich in his work cites data on Russians engaged in labyrinths. Among them, previously others who drew attention to spiral stone buildings, were the ethnographer A.A. Kelsiev (1878) and E. Behr (1884). The latter in an article published in the bulletin of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, along with a labyrinth on about. Vir in Finland described spiral-laid in Vilovata Bay and near the mouth of the Ponoi River on the Kola Peninsula. For the first time in Russian scientific literature, Academician Ber also used the name “stone labyrinth”, which later went into wide scientific circulation.

The first summary of the stone labyrinths of the Russian North of Finland, says B.I. Koshechkin. “I met in the composition of A.A. Spitsin, published as early as 1904 on the pages of the Izvestia Archaeological Committee. Even then, the inquiring mind of the archaeologist and a great connoisseur of northern antiquities noted some of the most important features of the labyrinths: their location exclusively in Scandinavia and the Russian North, a similar method and type of construction for all structures, their undoubted connection with the culture of prehistoric times. ”

Alexander Andreevich Spitsin is an academician, he should be treated with care with all his care. He left us capital works on the archeology of the Bronze and Early Iron Age, according to Slavic antiquities. And it is no coincidence that B.I. Koshechkin refers in his work to his authority.

And we will note along the way that people living near the labyrinths gave them a mystical character, trying not to widely advertise these constructions incomprehensible to them. Say - "misunderstood." And for us, living now in the 21st century. Indeed, science still does not provide a concrete answer: how, what, and why.

Over the years, the geography of the labyrinths has expanded. The territory within which we meet the labyrinths today is very vast. Only in the modern registers of ancient monuments of Sweden, about two hundred structures of this kind are entered. Yes with us. Until recently, for example, two stone labyrinths were known in the Umba region, and recently they learned about the third.

So what are they like?

The stone labyrinths compiled by our ancestors in the North of Europe stubbornly do not want to give, they do not want to reveal their secret. There are opinions that the maze of religious buildings has long been a maze. Incidentally, images in the form of such labyrinths, in the form of spirals, were found on the floor of some of the early medieval churches in Sweden, and these spirals supposedly served to express individual Christian ideas.

Other researchers approached more pragmatically: they say that they are most likely connected with the sea and fishing. And one more version: labyrinths are altars, giant altars left by some ancient people, they are connected with ideas about the transition of people to the world of the dead, made so that their souls lose their orientation and can never return to the world of the living. Labyrinths in legends and legends are, according to such researchers, as a rule, entrances to the underground or otherworldly kingdom. They are not opened to everyone, but only to someone who knows the spell or happens to be nearby by accident at the time of the entrance.

Of great interest are the studies of archaeologist N.N. Vinogradov, expressed by him in the 20s of the XX century when he studied the labyrinths of the Solovetsky Islands. Like nowhere else in our country, on the Big Zayatsky Island, dozens of mysterious labyrinths, stone piles and other Neolithic mounds are represented in a small area. True, there are different opinions about their dating. Some of them, they say, created in the "new" times, for example, at the behest of Peter I when he visited Solovki, can be distinguished from the ancients.

The sooner the earth becomes an object of human activity, the more mysteries it holds for researchers. And, of course, Neolithic structures on the shores of the Solovetsky archipelago, and indeed, wherever the labyrinths are located, is one of the mysteries of archeology. Maybe in time a person will solve their essence? And in our time there are such unusual hypotheses that you wonder. When a physicist, satellite communications specialist was shown a drawing of a stone labyrinth and asked: “What is it?” - he answered without hesitation: “This is a classic form of broadband transceiver antennas” And yet. According to the researchers, some of the labyrinths, especially the oldest of them, are located on clear geomagnetic anomalies.

What is it? An accident? Or were the ancient inhabitants of those places able to use geophysical fields to maintain communication with each other at great distances? The more “young” labyrinths were built after the departure of the people themselves, replacing them with new residents who purely formally reproduced the shape of spirals (?).

But one thing is certain. These labyrinths, or as the northerners call them Babylon, named after the biblical city of Babylon for some reason (in the 19th-6th centuries BC, the capital of Babylonia), served as a kind of reference point for a new flow of people who still inhabit our northern places. Examples? As many as you want! The former village of Ponoi is a labyrinth, next to Umba there are several, next to Kandalaksha there is a labyrinth east of the mountain, which was called the Cross ... (Beautiful).

By the way, for a very long time, local residents, Pomors, knowing of its existence, kept secret information about this sacrament, kept it from all newcomers.

The first of the scientists to "discover" for science a wonderful monument of antiquity Sergey Nikolaevich Durylin, a man who knew a lot and experienced a lot. He died in 1951, having survived both prisons and exile. But he became a doctor of philological sciences, received high state awards. But he lived a little less than seventy years.

In the summer of 1911 S.N. Durylin with his friend, geologist and photographer Vsevolod Vladimirovich Razevig, on a business trip from the Archaeological Institute, went to the North to "look for all sorts of antiquities." He made his book, “Behind the Midnight Sun. In Lapland on foot and by boat, ”published in Moscow in 1913. Here are the lines from this book about our Kandalaksha:

« In antiquity there was a city called Norwegians ... Kandelahte, there was a monastery with a rich saltworks, there was a lively bargain where Norwegians, Swedes, Russians, Lapps, Finns met, there were battles - now there is a quiet village, and there are eternal workers - fishermen . There are two beautiful wooden churches, harsh stone cliffs breaking off into the sea, bearing traces of mysterious writing on it - in the earth, if you dig it, you find pieces of mica - the remains of a monastery that has long ago disappeared - and there is nothing more to say about ancient life . But after all, from here, through rivers and lakes, forests and swamps, the famous Novgorod route to the ocean, which was known in the XII century, went, and only in the depths of Lapland we realized how close was that time - the twelfth century, how far away was the noisy a life.

High mountains are crowded to the sea, blue with coniferous forest. The two-story dwelling houses huddle on the bank of the Niva River and run up the mountain to the church ...».

I.F.Ushakov, who did a lot to "read" the history of our region, says so about those times:

« Upon arrival in the village, Durylin asked the guide: “And where is Babylon here?” The question was asked at random. The peasants preferred none of the visitors to talk about the existence of Babylon. But since the arrivals already knows that they had to show the attraction» .

And even now we don’t know much about the labyrinths, or “babylon”, as they are sometimes called, and even more so in the old days. Indeed, among scientists there is still no consensus that has been established. S.N. Durylin in his book gives several options that existed then.

In the decades since the journey “Beyond the Midnight Sun. In Lapland on foot and by boat ”Durylin, a lot, as they say, water has flowed. Knowledge of the labyrinths has expanded significantly. A lot of research has come up. Theories were developed and "died". And the farther, the more clearly determined, first of all, the cult, astral idea of \u200b\u200bthese structures. Oh, what scientific jungle scientists in this connection lead to! And very exciting. And interesting connections can be traced.

Interesting observations are made by the Arkhangelsk archaeologist A.A. Kurasov. He finds spiral images similar to the plan of the northern labyrinths on Kanos silver coins (III-I centuries BC), on an Etruscan vase from Trigliatella (VI-V centuries BC), on a stele in Pylos. As we see, stone labyrinths are similar to them. Is it possible that penetration of the most diverse ones both in time and in the location of cultures can be traced in this too?

And the point of view of N.N. Gurina in an interesting book written by her, “Time Carved into Stone”, the hypothesis attracts interest: the labyrinths are confined to the seashores, similar to fishing traps. This allowed her to speculate about the possibility of using the labyrinths "for magical purposes, that is, during the performance of some rites that, according to the ancient fishermen, contributed to luck in fishing" ...

You can give a variety of arguments for researchers of the most unusual directions and interpretations, comparing labyrinths with religious buildings in other regions of Europe. And among such structures is the famous Stonehenge in Southern England, and numerous cromlechs and dolmens. But I’m not going to analyze all these positions and trends - I’m just trying to stimulate interest in our unique monument of antiquity, such as a stone labyrinth, located in a single complex of our predecessors in the distant past - near the mountain called Krestova ... We living in the Arctic, we always more than respect the Sun. And remember that the image of the star, its veneration is holy for all peoples, especially the northern ones. All of them - and labyrinths, and cromlechs, and stonehenge, and others of this kind of addition, the famous scientist N.M. Vinogradov emphasized, based on their knowledge, in particular the Solovetsky numerous labyrinths, have a rounded shape, which indicates a connection with the sun and in general with an astral cult. The circles of spiral and round, and the arcs of the horseshoe-shaped labyrinths indicate the annual movements of the sun, then rising or falling below the horizon.

We read the lines of S.N. Durylina

Scientists argue a lot, express their points of view. And we will give the floor to Sergey Nikolaevich Durylin, the first to talk about the maze. This is how he described in 1913 in his book, which few people know and read. So, his word ...

"We arrived at" Babylon. It is three miles east of Kandalaksha, on a long narrow and low cape, on a local crest on the "pillowcase" overlooking the sea. A dry rocky shallow is separated from the coast of the cape, which is covered with water during high tide. A toe with almost no vegetation.

On stony ground with barely making their way weed is located the labyrinth itself - "Babylon". This is an irregularly shaped ellipse, an oval having a diameter, a length of -14 and a width of -10 steps. Entrance to the labyrinth from the east; the opposite western side faces the sea. From small boulders, from fragments of crumbling granite, low (not higher than ¼ arshin) circles of elliptical shape are laid.

Between these circles, a path curls, so narrow that only one foot can be placed on it. There is only one entrance to this winding passage between the stones. In the center of the maze is a small pile of stones.

From all the edges of the maze to this pile of 10 passes. Entering the narrow entrance, making three turns to the right and left, you quickly reach a stone pile in the center, but then a narrow path suddenly leads you to the left, then to the right - and you describe a huge circle along the longest path, the longest. Having described this circle, you describe then - first moving to the left, then to the right - the inner loop of the maze. But here the path, hitherto the only one, is forked before you: where to go? If you choose the road to the right, it will make you describe the loop around the center of the maze, and you will return to the same place you went from, but only to the left. If you choose the left road, it will also make you describe a narrow loop around the center, it will lead again to the old place, but on the right. You get lost. But you did not have to pay attention to the bifurcated track. Walking along the left or right, returning at a crossroads, you must continue the path, follow the very path that led you to the crossroads, but in the opposite direction than you went for the first time; you will have to re-describe the inner loop, the circle along the most extreme path, then approach the center and, having described the innermost small loop at the center, go to the exit. All this becomes clear after studying the maze, but on the way, wandering along the mysterious paths of the labyrinth, nothing is clear - and we get confused, I and the geologist get confused Mityushka (this is a Kandalakshan explorer, E.R.), walking behind us, and P Chuckles aside.

We ask: what does Babylon mean and why? He does not know the words labyrinth ...

(Note by the author Durylyov: on the Big Zayatsky Island, which belongs to the Solovetsky Islands group, I also observed the Babylon, laid out, according to the explanation of the monk, Peter the Great.) Who and for what laid out these bizarre tricky moves, this labyrinth? There is no answer to this question yet.

... Despite the northerly winds, storms and rains that make it seemingly easy to scatter or demolish small stones of labyrinths, always located in open places, the labyrinths are well preserved and their bizarre paths are still clear.

What can be said about their origin and the purposes for which they are established?

Of all the existing explanations given by archaeological science, there is not one completely reliable; all are contradictory and mutually exclusive.

The Russian scientist, academician Berg, who first discovered the northern labyrinths in the first half of the last century, thought that they were monuments of historical events. The Finnish archaeologist Aspelin, who has studied the labyrinths more than anyone else, on the contrary, relates them to, undoubtedly, the more ancient time - the Bronze Age. Our archaeologists Kondakov and Y. Smirnov put them in touch with those labyrinths that were arranged in the Middle Ages in the form of patterns on the floors of churches. Some attribute the labyrinths of the north to Christian times, others - pagan. But no one can tell what kind of custom they belong to, what they served for; it is difficult to decide what pagan rite the labyrinths could serve for. The lopari we had to deal with say that there are no labyrinths in their country.

In Finland, the labyrinths have different names, more and more names of glorious cities: Jericho, Nineveh, Jerusalem, Lisbon; in Lapland, all the labyrinths have only one name: Babylon. But this name must be written with a small letter, because it has become a household name for the labyrinths.

To explain the Russian name for the labyrinths - “Babylon”, it is interesting to recall that in popular speech the expression “write Babylon” everywhere exists - that is, especially cunning, confused circles, "embroidered with Babylon" - i.e. embroidered with particularly cunning patterns; Babylon, according to various concepts, is something cunning, confusing, intricate.

Babylon is closely connected with the sea.

This gives rise to the natural assumption that the northern labyrinths are not monuments of pagan beliefs relating specifically to the sea and dangerous marine industries? Labyrinths are found exclusively in countries that in ancient times have and now have a lively connection with the sea - in Scandinavia, Finland, coastal Lapland, White Sea, Murman.

Until now, the population of these countries has a number of superstitions and rituals related to the sea. Of the Christian customs relating to the sea, the custom of setting up the cross to ask God for a favorable swimming is ubiquitous in the Russian north. How many such crosses on Zayatsky island, how many of them are on the shores of the ocean and the White Sea! This Christian custom, did not replace any pagan rite, also related to the sea and associated with the labyrinth, and the labyrinth was always in ancient times considered a place of purification and redemption, a voluntary sacrifice? Perhaps the crosses on the Zayatsky island only replaced the labyrinths, which, moreover, are not so many left on this island?

After all, until recently there was a completely pagan rite of prayer to the wind on Murman, on which everything depends on the sea, life and death. Perhaps, having gone through all the moves of the labyrinth and left there, without getting lost, making a sacrifice, he was considered clean and could not be afraid of sea misfortunes and obstacles, storms and rocks, as he was not afraid to lose the right path in the cunning maze?

But all these are only one assumptions, and cunning patterns of the northern Babylon, built of gray ancient stones, under gloomy clouds or an unsettled sun, look at us until now with an unsolved mystery. ”

... Sorry for such a long quote, it seems to me to create a certain mood about the unusual structure in the lip, which is called Small Pitkul at the aisle on about. Small Birch, which becomes an island only at high tides, and at low tide it’s the isthmus connecting the mainland coast with this same Small Birch Island.

And now even the very place where the labyrinth is located is a peculiar "secret". Finding almost near the city, he, fortunately, is located away from the paths - roads, we do not really visit it. And fortunately for us - has been preserved for now.

(Kandalaksha: “The ABC of History” Our memory. Efim Fedorovich Razin)

To be continued....