As we remember, it is located about ten kilometers south of Domnin - on the other side of a huge swamp that separates both villages and is usually called Isupovsky or Clean. At the beginning of the 17th century, one half of the village (in sources it is sometimes also called “ Isupovo on the Black Enemy”) belonged to the nobles Ovtsyn as an estate, and the other half was the patrimony of the Pushkins. A In Isupovo there was a traditional ensemble of two wooden churches: the cold Trinity and the warm Resurrection. 26

It seems very likely that the name in I.L.’s petition. Sabinina village Isupova place of death- this is a piece of true history that has come down to us in a semi-legendary legend. By the time the petition was submitted to Anna Ivanovna, Susanin’s descendants had already lived for exactly a century far from Domnin (the circumstances of their resettlement will be discussed below), and therefore it is unlikely that by that time they knew the topography of the Domnin area and its villages (with the exception, of course, of Domnin and Villages that they knew about, firstly, from the royal letters of grant they kept, and secondly, from their oral traditions). And in essence of the petition, the indication of Isupov as the place of Susanin’s death was not of a fundamental nature - after all, in St. Petersburg they did not even know the topography of Susanin’s places. Considering the goals of the petition, it was important to recall that Susanin saved the founder of the dynasty by sending him to the famous Ipatiev Monastery, that Susanin was brutally killed, that his descendants were rewarded in such and such a way, etc. Isupovo could simply not have been mentioned, but it was mentioned.

Apparently, Isupovo is a genuine place of death of Susanin. Referring to the legends known to him, A.D. Domninsky wrote that Susanin led the Poles “to the Clean Swamp to the village of Isupov. There the enemies cut him into small pieces.” 27

The fact that Susanin was killed in or near Isupov was recognized by almost all Kostroma historians who wrote about the famous peasant b But if this is so, then it turns out that the legends about Susanin leading the Poles through the swamp are most likely not fiction, since from Domnin to Isupovo

Susanin apparently led the Poles straight through the swamp. For what purpose? With the traditional interpretation, when it was believed that the Poles met Susanin somewhere outside of Domnin, and Mikhail was in Domnin, everything turned out more or less logical - Susanin, saving the tsar, took the Poles from Domnin through the swamp to Isupov. But since Mikhail was not in Domnina, what purpose could the driving of “Polish and Lithuanian people” through the swamp have in this situation? If Susanin really led the Poles through the Isupov swamp, then the purpose of this, apparently, was to stall for time longer, and, if possible, to destroy the enemies in the quagmire. Apparently, in Isupovo, realizing that Susanin was deceiving them, the Poles killed him - most likely, in front of the local residents. It is indisputable that Susanin died a painful death. Description of the torture to which he was subjected in the petition of I.L. Sabinin is clearly exaggerated, but the fact itself cannot be doubted - let us remember that in the letter of 1619 it is said that the Poles tortured Susanin with “great immeasurable tortures” and that Mikhail Fedorovich granted Susanin’s son-in-law “for his service to us, and for blood, and for the patience of his father-in-law.”

Let us finally try to summarize, bringing together all the facts known to us.

General conclusions

Photo of the trail in the "Chistoe" swamp

So, having apparently visited Domnino in November 1612, Marfa Ivanovna and Mikhail leave for to pray at the tomb of the Monk Macarius for the release of the head of the family, Filaret Nikitich, from Polish captivity. From the monastery, the Romanov mother and son went to Kostroma, where they lived until March 1613. Some time after their departure from Domnin - at the end of November or beginning of December - a detachment of “Polish and Lithuanian people” searching for Mikhail entered the village. Not finding Mikhail, the Poles seize Susanin - as the manager of the estate, whom they apparently pointed out as knowing the whereabouts of Marfa Ivanovna’s son. Susanin leads the Poles through the swamp to Isupov, where they brutally torture and kill him... their forefather is celebrated to this day with considerable triumph.”35 Later P.P. wrote about the same thing. Svinin: “To this day, numerous descendants of Susanin perform a solemn commemoration of him on the day of his death.”36 All three authors do not indicate on what day such a commemoration takes place, which casts doubt on the accuracy of their reports (after all, Susanin’s descendants could commemorate him on the days general commemoration of the departed - at Easter, etc.).">in

To understand, we must remember the general situation. For several years now, the Kostroma region has been a theater of military operations. The population, suffering from all the warring parties, especially hates, of course, foreign invaders. Susanin, without a doubt, knows, and cannot but arouse sympathy, the fate of Marfa Ivanovna, her husband and son in recent years. Surely he knows why Marfa Ivanovna and Mikhail went to Unzha. And then the hated foreigners come and ask where Michael is; and, one must think, Susanin well understood that they needed Marfa Ivanovna’s son, as M.P. wrote. Pogodin, not at all in order to kiss him. The Poles may still be able, if they find out the truth, to capture Mikhail and his mother in the small and unprotected Unzhensky monastery or intercept them somewhere along the way. And not the Tsar - there were still a few months left before Mikhail was elected Tsar of All Rus' - but Susanin was trying to save his young master, despite his young age and having already suffered so much.

Some authors - both before the revolution and after it - wanting to belittle the image of Susanin, wrote about his servility, about his slave soul, about his dog-like devotion to his masters, etc. However, firstly, the image of another servant involuntarily comes to mind - the unforgettable Savelich from “The Captain’s Daughter” by A.S. Pushkin, who, for all his devotion to his masters, can hardly be reproached for servility and a slavish soul, and, secondly, it is very likely that Susanin really saved Mikhail Fedorovich from the danger that threatened him and, thereby, saved the whole of Russia from new, innumerable troubles .

Of course, we can only guess under what pretext Susanin led the Poles to Isupov through a huge swamp, in which they died in the 20th century, but the very purpose of this, as already written, cannot cause us doubt - apparently, it was either an attempt to delay time, or an attempt to destroy those who were looking for Mikhail Romanov.

Thus, the real feat of Ivan Susanin was not the direct salvation of Mikhail (as it would have been if the latter had actually lived in Domnina at that time), but, most likely, in an attempt to save Mikhail - who was far from his patrimony - from the danger that threatened him from “Polish and Lithuanian people,” which in no way diminishes the significance of this feat.

For Mikhail and Marfa Ivanovna, Susanin’s death then remained unknown; mother and son learned about it only in September 1619, although, in principle, they might not have found out at all.

The proposal to take a ride “along Susanin’s route” is alarming: after all, it is known from history that for the Polish detachment this route became a one-way road. But in Kostroma region there is no escape from the heroic legends of the Time of Troubles, and anyone interested in history will probably want to go on an excursion “to the places of Susana.” Moreover, these places are very picturesque!

Historical reference

Despite the abundance of legends about Susanin’s feat, very little historical evidence about the events related to him has been preserved. It is reliably known that Ivan Susanin was the headman in Domnino - the family estate of the boyar Marfa, the mother of Mikhail Romanov, and in 1619 the peasant's son-in-law Bogdan Sobinin received a royal charter, according to which half of the village of Derevenki passed to him, and he himself and all his descendants were exempt from taxes and duties “for service to us and for the blood and patience of his father-in-law Ivan Susanin.” The letter said that Lithuanian people tortured the peasant about the whereabouts of Mikhail Romanov, but he, although he knew the necessary information, did not give it out and was tortured to death. The details of the incident are known from the descendants of the Susanin family, and these stories over time became overgrown with a mass of dubious details. The classic version of the legend says that in the winter of 1613, Martha and her son - already elected Tsar Mikhail Romanov - were in Domnino. Since Sigismund III and his son Vladislav also laid claim to the Russian throne, a Polish detachment was sent to Domnino to “remove a competitor.” In the village of Derevenki, Ivan Susanin was with his daughter, who agreed to accompany the Poles to Domnino. But instead, the peasant led his enemies into the forests and impassable swamp, where he was killed.

Researchers rightly point out the shortcomings of this story. Firstly, it would be very difficult for the Poles to end up in Derevenki without first getting to Domnino. Secondly, in winter the impassable swamp usually freezes. Thirdly, it is unclear who and how found out about Susanin’s heroic death if he and the Polish detachment disappeared in the surrounding forests.

Historians have other versions: probably the Poles arrived here not in the winter of 1613, but in the late autumn of 1612, before Michael was elected king. In Domnino they found the headman and tried to find out from him about the whereabouts of Martha and Mikhail, who at that moment were on a pilgrimage in the Makaryev-Unzhensky Monastery. Susanin did not tell the truth and, in order to stall for time, led the detachment through the swamp to the village of Isupovo located on the other side. Already there, realizing the deception, the Poles killed him in front of his fellow villagers. By the way, it was in this village, in the churchyard, that the alleged remains of Ivan Susanin were found in 2003 (which, however, historians also doubt).

Susanino village

To get to the Susaninsky district, you need to leave Kostroma along the central street - Mira Avenue, which gradually turns into Kostroma Street, and then into the Kostroma - Bui highway. You will have to drive approximately 60 kilometers along this road to the village Susanino, and expect a long trip - this road has a bad reputation due to its poor condition, the abundance of patches and potholes, and you won’t be able to drive along it at high speed.

Susanino is worth making your first stop. This settlement is not directly related to Ivan Susanin and in the past was called Molvitino. But here it is Museum of Susanin's Feat, which tells not only about the hero himself, but also about other historical figures who performed similar feats at different times. In the museum you can also see a 17th-century saber found near the Isupovsky swamp - it is believed that it belonged to someone from that same Polish detachment.

The museum is housed in the building of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, depicted in Alexei Savrasov’s painting “The Rooks Have Arrived,” so, of course, you cannot miss such an interesting object. Just keep in mind that this museum has slightly unusual opening hours: it is open on Monday, but closed on Friday. And getting here is easy - after the bus station you need to turn left from the highway, onto Karl Marx Street, and drive along it to the center of the village.

In the footsteps of Susanin - without a car

You can travel through the “Susaninsky places” on your own if you are willing to drive on bad roads and are not afraid of walking through a swamp. However, you can come here without a car: for example, by intercity bus “Kostroma - Bui” until the turn to Domnino, and then walk a few kilometers along the Susaninsky places. If you doubt your ability to navigate the area, you can join an excursion to Susanino - such routes are regularly offered by local travel agencies. Excursions usually include a theatrical performance “The Path of I. Susanin”, so you can clearly imagine what was happening in these parts 400 years ago.

To the village of Derevenki

As we remember, according to the official version of events, the Poles intercepted Ivan Susanin in a village with the tautological name Villages near Domnino. Perhaps the Susanin family home was located there, where Ivan’s daughter Antonida lived with her family. In any case, in this village in 1913 there appeared memorial chapel, consecrated in honor of John the Baptist.

The village no longer exists - it is deserted, abandoned and overgrown with forests. But the chapel has been preserved and can be reached. To do this, leave Susanin and move further along the highway for about 5 kilometers, past the turn to Shipilovo and Domnino. You need the next turn (towards Sumarokovo). The chapel is about 2 kilometers away; there will be a sign along the road.

A red brick chapel with one dome rises in the middle of the forest. It is usually locked, but you can see a painting on its outer wall and a memorial plaque: “The chapel was built in 1913 at the expense of local peasants in memory of the 300th anniversary of the feat of Ivan Susanin. According to legend, in this place in the village of Derevenki stood the house of I.O. Susanina."

By the way, don’t think that the chapel is a completely insignificant object! In 2006, a series of stamps “Russia. Regions”, where the stamp of the Kostroma region was decorated with a monument to Susanin, a view of the Volga and this very chapel.

How to choose the right time to travel

You can visit Susana’s places at different times of the year, but the ideal time is dry autumn, when there are no mosquitoes in the swamps, and the forests with yellow-red foliage look especially picturesque. But if you want to see all the sights, including the legendary path through the swamps, take rubber boots with you: you will have to walk on rotten boards submerged in swamp mud, so any shoes will get wet and dirty.

Domnino and Isupovskoe swamp

After standing at the chapel, you need to return to the road and follow it to the previous turn - now the village awaits you Domnino, the ancestral patrimony of the Shestov boyars (it was to this family that the boyar Marfa, in the world Ksenia, belonged, until Fedora Romanov married). Turn left and drive another 4 kilometers to Domnino. This village, unlike Derevenka, is quite inhabited and boasts very picturesque wooden houses with carved platbands, as well as monastery in the name of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers- Nicholas II and his family. This monastery was founded recently - in 2004. But the monastery Church of the Assumption was built much earlier - in 1809-1817 on the site where the house of the Shestov boyars once stood (a sign on the wall of the temple reports this). It is believed that there was also a wooden Church of the Resurrection nearby, which was destroyed over time - there is even a version that it was in the basement of this old church that Ivan Susanin was buried.

Finding the monastery is easy: you need to drive along the main street of the village, you will see the church behind the fence on the right side. Getting into the territory can be more difficult: sometimes it is closed, and you should ask the nuns for permission to take photographs.

Near the temple you can see a white stone two-story parochial school building, built at the end of the 19th century at the expense of the Alexander Orthodox Brotherhood - again in memory of the salvation of Mikhail Fedorovich.

From Domnino the road goes further, past the village of Perevoz - to the famous Isupovsky swamp. Its second name is Clean Swamp (which is unlikely to console you much if you fall into it). The swamp is not only a historical place, but also a natural monument of federal significance. On the edge of the swamp, to the left of the highway (follow the sign “Place of I. Susanin’s feat”) lies a large boulder with the name of the peasant hero. This impressive monument weighing under 60 tons was installed here back in 1988. The stone offers a picturesque view of the swamp and forests below. From here you can see a lonely pine tree in the middle of a swamp- for some reason it is considered the place of death of Ivan Susanin.

To get to the pine tree, you need to go down from the boulder to the swamp and move along the boardwalk. The road stretches for 2.5 kilometers, the boards are quite slippery, rotten in places and half-submerged in slurry, but you can walk along them, only carefully. First, the path leads through a forest, then out into an open area with sparse birch trees. A few meters from the beginning of the trail there will be a fork with a branch towards the well.

Near the pine tree there is an object that is often called a chapel, although in fact it is just a small candlestick box with icons. Here you can light a candle in memory of Ivan Susanin, no matter where he actually died.

"Trouble" monasteries

Susanino, Domnino and the path through the swamp are a classic Susanino route, after which most tourists want to return home or to the hotel. But if you are not too tired and are full of desire to continue traveling to places associated with the history of the Time of Troubles, you have plenty of options! For example, you can drive another 24 kilometers along the road to the side Buya- to the village Bohrok. Here, in the center of the village, on Kolkhoznaya Street, there is Predtechensky Jacob-Zheleznoborovsky Monastery, where Grigory Otrepiev, the same future False Dmitry I, with whom the whole Troubles began, was tonsured a monk.

You can, however, return to Kostroma and visit Ipatiev Monastery, where after the events that killed Ivan Susanin, Marfa and Mikhail Romanov were hiding. In Kostroma it is worth visiting Romanov Museum, where you will be told about the history of ancient boyar families associated with this area.

But there is a third monastery in the Kostroma region, without mentioning which the story about the origins of the Romanov dynasty would be incomplete. It's about the same thing Makaryev-Unzhensky Monastery, where, at a very dangerous time, the future Russian Tsar and his mother went on pilgrimage. The place for the pilgrimage was not chosen by chance: the monastery housed the relics of its founder, Saint Macarius of Unzhensky, who was captured by the Kazan Tatars. Mikhail and Martha prayed to him for the release of their father and husband Filaret (in the world - boyar Fyodor Romanov), who at that moment was captured by the Poles. Probably, the future tsar also prayed for the liberation of Rus' from foreigners - and, as is known from history, both requests for prayers to Macarius were fulfilled. Later, having already become a king, Mikhail Fedorovich again made a pilgrimage to this monastery as a vow. It was during the second trip that he learned about the feat of Ivan Susanin and granted his descendants land and exemption from taxes.

Road to Makariev not close - you need to go through Sudislavl, or rather, through Kostroma and Sudislavl, since the road between the Kostroma - Bui highway and Sudislavl is almost insurmountable. From Kostroma to Makaryev there are more than 180 kilometers, so you should not combine this trip with a trip to Susanino. But if you still have free days in Kostroma, you can expand the “geography of the Time of Troubles” by visiting this ancient monastery.

The name of Ivan Susanin, who gave his life for the Tsar, is known to many history buffs, but this folk hero is especially appreciated by Kostroma residents. In the glorious city on the Volga there is a monument to a martyr who died a terrible death to save the life of the monarch. We invite you to find out what Ivan Susanin is famous for, as well as get acquainted with some interesting facts from his life journey.

Information about life

Since the hero of our material was a serf before he accomplished his feat, very little data about his childhood and life in general was preserved - no one was interested in the fate of an ordinary forced person. Therefore, in the biography of Ivan Susanin there are more blank spots than verified facts. However, researchers believe that this brave man was originally from the village of Derevnischi (another version is Derevenki), and lived in the village of Domnino, Kostroma region (which now belongs to the Susaninsky district).

It is believed that Susanin was not an ordinary serf, but the headman of the estate, however, this version is based on local legend and has no evidence. There is also an opinion that the future national hero lived at the boyar court and served as a clerk.

The next fact is that Ivan Susanin had a daughter, Antonida, who got married and gave birth to children. However, we have not received any information about the peasant’s wife, so researchers assumed that he was married, but widowed early.

Historical background

Speaking about what Ivan Susanin is famous for, it is necessary to characterize the historical situation that developed in Russia during the period of his life. It was a difficult time, the Time of Troubles, a time of fierce struggle for the throne on the one hand and Polish-Lithuanian attacks on the other. At the beginning of the 17th century, the country was struck by a horrific famine, the autocratic throne was temporarily occupied by an impostor, then the throne went to Prince Vasily Shuisky, who was king for about 4 years. The former monarch was overthrown, captured by the Poles and ended his life far from his native land.

The boyars came to power and tried to place a prince from Poland on the Russian throne. In these circumstances, Susanin’s feat takes on new meaning - the peasant not only saved a particular young monarch, but also prevented the fact that a Pole would be at the head of Russia.

Legend of the feat

What did Ivan Susanin do to immortalize his name forever? At the cost of his life, he saved Tsar Mikhail Romanov from an attack by a Polish-Lithuanian detachment. In 1613, the young monarch and his mother lived on their Kostroma estate in the village of Domnino, of which Susanin was the headman. The Polish invaders decided to get to the young king and kill him, but they needed a guide to show the way. The headman had to carry out this mission. Susanin managed to ask his son-in-law, Bogdan Sobinin, to warn Mikhail and advise him to take refuge behind the walls of the Ipatiev Monastery, which saved the Tsar’s life.

Death of a Hero

Threats and bribery had no effect. According to a popular legend, the brave peasant agreed, but led the enemy detachment into an impassable swamp, from which the strangers could not get out. Having exposed the deception, the Poles tortured the hero, but he did not give up and did not give up the tsar’s refuge. After this, the angry invaders brutally killed Ivan Susanin. Who was he, according to this concept? A true patriot who accepted martyrdom for the sake of Tsar Michael.

Another version of the feat

There is another legend explaining why Ivan Susanin is famous, more prosaic and therefore less popular. The point is this: Tsar Mikhail, while on his estate in Domnino, accidentally learned that a Polish detachment was approaching him to capture him. The monarch hastily fled and by chance ended up in the house of Ivan Susanin. He fed the tsar and hid him so well that the arriving Poles could not find Mikhail even with their dogs. They tortured the peasant, forcing him to reveal the location of the king, but the hero remained faithful to the ruler and accepted his death courageously.

After the detachment left, Mikhail left his refuge and hid behind the walls of the Ipatiev Monastery.

Historical facts

We got acquainted with the legend about the feat of Ivan Susanin. However, there is so little reliable information about this folk hero that some skeptics believe that he did not really exist. We invite you to find out some real historical information that has documentary evidence.

• Susanin entered the annals of history as a man who gave his life for the king. At the same time, some scientists question the formulation itself, because if this man led the Poles into impenetrable forests at the end of 1612 (and not in 1613, as is commonly believed), then young Mikhail was not yet a king.
• It is known for certain that the national hero was not a simple peasant, but a patrimonial headman of the Romanovs.
• Susanin's patronymic has not been preserved, despite the fact that, according to tradition, the full name Ivan Osipovich is attributed to him. We have not received information about the real name of the hero’s father.
• The sources do not contain information about the name of Susanin’s wife, but he had a daughter, Antonida, most likely his only descendant. The name of Antonida’s husband, Bogdan, is also known.

The key evidence that Ivan Susanin really existed is a personalized letter from the monarch, in which the hero’s son-in-law, Bogdan, and his descendants are exempt from taxes. Also, by the will of the king, half of the village was granted to Antonida’s husband. If we assume that the feat is nothing more than a legend, then it becomes incomprehensible why the king would grant such unprecedented favors to an ordinary peasant.

Controversial issues

We found out what Ivan Susanin is famous for, but there are a lot of blank spots in his biography. The very facts of the heroic feat of this patriot are also controversial:

• The place of the hero's death is unknown. Thus, some researchers believe that the Poles, angry at the deception, brutally tortured the unfortunate peasant and then killed him in the forest. This version, being more interesting, was used by writers and poets in literary works and is therefore more widespread. However, other historians believe that the national hero was killed near the village of Isupovo.
• The death of the Poles in the swamp. It is generally accepted that Ivan Susanin led the enemy detachment into an impassable swamp, where his plan was exposed, he himself was brutally tortured and killed. But the invaders could not get out of the swamp and died themselves. However, this fact is questioned by archaeological finds.
• Age. It is customary to portray Susanin as a very old man with long gray hair. In fact, his age was hardly more than 40 years. Most likely, Antonida was 16 years old at the time of her feat.
• Saved the king from what? Not all historians are sure that if captured by the Polish invaders, Mikhail would have been killed. It was suggested that a captive monarch would force Russia to be more accommodating and capitulate.

Despite these disagreements, the Romanov dynasty subsequently highly valued the feat of Ivan Susanin:

• Nicholas the First ordered to call the main square of the city of Kostroma Susaninskaya (this name has been preserved to this day). Also in the city on the Volga, a majestic monument to the national hero was erected.
• After the charter of 1619, for two hundred years, Susanin’s descendants received charters from subsequent monarchs confirming their privileges.

The legend of Ivan Susanin and his feat is widely popular; musical and literary works are dedicated to this man; many streets in Russian cities bear his name. There is a museum of the feat of this patriot; motor ships and an ice drift were named in his honor.

The meaning of the feat

Speaking about what Ivan Susanin is famous for, it is necessary to indicate the following points:

• After the national hero saved the tsar, the Romanov dynasty reigned in Russia, ending the difficult Time of Troubles for the country and its people. A certain stability appeared, still weak and illusory, but the monarch, God’s chosen one, was on the throne, instilling in people hope that life would get better.
• The very accession of Michael is associated with patriotism, a simple peasant gave his life for this monarch, his sacrifice was selfless, so the young king immediately earned special treatment.

Ivan Susanin is a significant figure; this peasant managed not only to save the Tsar, but also to demonstrate to the enemy the power of Russian patriotism.

I visited these places twice: in September, and now, on my birthday, with friends.
Looking at the landscapes of the Kostroma region, you can immediately notice large hilly expanses, cleanliness, and very beautiful forests. I will say that the further you get from Moscow, the more untouched nature appears. Already in the Rostov region you are amazed at how beautiful the meadows are, how flat and untrodden the land is there, you walk and don’t stumble over bumps or holes left by passing ATVs, this is not the case here. Just as there are fewer and fewer people: for every one residential village in the area, you can count five abandoned, and more often completely disappeared, villages. The map is replete with the names of tracts - all that remains of those villages.
An Internet search was used to study and then explore the route to the main attractions of Susanin’s land: this is the place where Ivan Susanin’s house stood, the church where he was baptized, and the swamp itself, with a carefully laid path right up to the pine tree, where you can light a candle or throw a coin , and just enjoy the atmosphere and surrounding swamp vegetation. Of course, these are not all the places that are worth visiting. There is also a museum in neighboring Susanino, as well as the former village of Isupovo, on the outskirts of the swamp, where, according to the second version, the Poles dealt with the defender of the first of the Romanov dynasty. But one weekend is not enough for everything, so I’ll tell you about what we managed to see and touch.

Near the village of Shipilovo, on a hill across the river, there still stands a bell tower and the remains of a church in the village of Spas-Khripeli, abandoned in the early 90s. This church was the only one in the entire district, and therefore it was a logical conclusion that the people living in the village of Derevnischi (another name for Derevenki), including Ivan Susanin, went to services and were baptized in this church.

Behind the church there are several houses with carved windows. Some elements of doors and some things in the house allow us to say that the houses were built at the end of the 19th century.

Here are the remains of a spinning wheel, an old, old chest, and pre-revolutionary photographs. There are pigskins and sheepskins hanging in the attic. Spacious barn, cellar. Everything is like in the museum of wooden architecture in Kostroma itself.

The Derevenki tract is located nearby. The village was abolished back in the 60s and now there is nothing left there. In addition to the chapel, which was built in 1913 on the supposed site of Ivan Susanin’s house. Nearby there was a table with benches and a path from the highway. Only occasionally people come to the chapel, who stop at the “Chapel” sign to be curious.

Further, closer and closer to the swamp, the village of Domnino was located - the birthplace of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, whom Susanin saved, having confused all the cards for the Poles. There is a beautiful church in the village, you can’t see people, but the lights are on in the windows.

At the very edge of the Chistoe swamp, which is mistakenly called Isupovsky, there has been a memorable 60-ton stone since 1988. And from the highway there is a sign to the place of Ivan Susanin’s feat. And there is a stunning view of a very large and picturesque swamp.

From the stone there is a path to the lowland, where a paved road begins. The swamp immediately greets us with a deep, sucking quagmire. There is a parking lot nearby where you can sit and enjoy the water from the well. We spent a beautiful starry quiet night here.

Most local guides lead excursions to the memorial stone, sometimes visiting this site. But the guides do not take you to the very place of death (which, it seems to me, was chosen quite randomly, simply with the goal of following Susanin’s path and feeling the atmosphere of the place for yourself). Only rare people go there. But in vain. Contrary to the opinion of some bloggers who describe this swamp, the road (which disappears after a couple of hundred meters) has not rotted anywhere, the boards are quite solid and will last for a very long time. They are only covered with moss and are located at a depth of 10-15 cm under water. And, yes, there is a chance of stepping past the road, and even falling above the knee :) But how could you be without impressions! The swamp lives up to its name. It's very clean and beautiful here. Birch trees do not rot here, as in ordinary swamps, pine trees also grow, and there are plenty of cranberries. Sometimes the landscape resembles the Vasyugan swamp, in western Siberia, which I visited in February.
This “tourist” road covers no more than 5 percent of the entire swamp, although it takes about half an hour to walk along it to the memorable pine tree. The road itself continues further, past the pine tree, and emerges from the swamp somewhere a kilometer northeast of the memorial stone. As the same bloggers write, no one walks here and everything is littered with “impassable windbreaks.” In fact, the rubble is small and there are only three of them (compared to what we usually encounter on our hikes)). I cleared one of them with my own hands and a saw :)
If you know the rules for walking through swamps, you can get off the road. Accuracy and attentiveness allow you to walk through the wild part of the swamp, where no one goes at all. Of course, it’s better not to do this alone.

His feat is truly heroic, however, unfortunately, little is known about the national hero. Because when a feat was being conceived, the least thing they cared about was CREDIBILITY: when the country orders you to be a hero, ANYONE becomes a hero in our country.
Modern singers of heroic deeds are not far removed from the ancient science fiction writers:
“After the death of Ivan the Terrible, a time of great unrest began in Russia. Famine, the invasion of the Poles, impostors on the Russian throne.
The militia of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky managed to drive the Poles out of Moscow, liberate the Russian Land from invaders.And at the same time: “Polish troops They wandered around Russian soil for a long time.
It became clear to someone at the general Zemsky Council that the boyar Mikhail Romanov would become the new tsar. The Poles found out about this and decided to find the future king.
“The tsar was at that time in Domnina - his mother’s patrimony. The Poles headed towards the village. The area was swampy, and there were militias all around. What to do? The Poles took local residents (militia?) and, threatening violence, forced them to show them the way.”
One of the “guides” was Ivan Susanin. He led the Poles for a long time through forests and remote paths, and eventually the detachment reached the Isupovsky swamp. The guide killed himself and the Poles.
This is the main thing: HOW CAN YOU GET LOST? IN WINTER?. Were they really YOUNG people - blind people or Kaliki - wanderers - who went to beg for alms from the FUTURE king? Or were they still adults - well-armed, able to navigate both the forests and the steppes? And smart enough to return - FOLLOW YOUR FOOTSTEPS BACK !!!

I don’t ask the question: how did the folk hero know that “the Tsar was in Domnina at that time - his mother’s estate” - because in those distant times any “simple peasant” easily ran in to have tea with the Tsar - and deftly found out from him his plans - where he was going be..

“He laid down his life, for the Motherland, for the Tsar and for the Faith. Ivan understood that if Mikhail Romanov was killed, then ...” they would immediately choose a new one instead - a holy place is never empty.

Susanin's feat really took place in the Russian history textbook. The following facts confirm this. Having grasped that it was a fantastic story, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov in 1619 presented Susanin’s son-in-law, Bogdan Sobinin, with a Letter of Commendation, freed his offspring from duties, and also awarded him a plot of land.
Rewarding real heroes - thousands and thousands of peasants who really fought the Poles - is very expensive. So there won’t be enough land. And here we managed to reward only one - an invented one. And the wolves are fed, and the sheep are safe.
But I agree that Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Ivan Susanin are examples of courage, perseverance and heroism, simple men who gave their lives for the good of their compatriots.