The city of Yaroslavl is one of the oldest settlements in Russia. Its foundation was in the XI century. Today, the city claims to be the "capital" of the Golden Ring of Russia. About 608 thousand people live here, the territorial unit is referred to the third largest in the Central Federal District.
The city's attractions
Like all ancient cities, Yaroslavl has an interesting history, many attractions. This is the Transfiguration Monastery, the Church of St. John the Baptist, the monument to the bear, the monument to Athos and the plasterer, and, of course, the Red Square of Yaroslavl.
The story of the appearance of the square
Initially, there was a church on the site of “House with an Arch”. The first mention of it was in 1630. In 1723, instead of a wooden church, a stone temple was erected in honor of Simeon the Stolpnik. This saint is the most revered in the region. Later, the area around the church was designed, and in 1788 it was formed. In those days, the square was called Semenovskaya.
The temple could not resist, in 1933 it was demolished due to "inconsistency with the new image of the modern city." And practically at this place a new building was built, construction took place in 1934-1936. In 1939, a square was set up in front of the new house, and a monument to V.I. Lenin was erected on the site of the demolished church. So Red Square appeared in Yaroslavl. It got this name in 1924 because of the adjacent Streletskaya Street, which was renamed to Krasnaya.
Since 1850, a circus has been located on the square, many cultural events have been held here. In 1893, a permanent exhibition with full-length human figures opens.
"House with the ghosts"
All old cities have their own “ghosts”. Yaroslavl is no exception. The “house with an arch” or “ghosts”, as the locals call it, is located precisely on the Red Square of Yaroslavl. The building stands on the corner of Sovetskaya Street and October Avenue. This is an ordinary five-story residential building, which was built in 1934, and settled until 1936.
The house has an interesting architectural idea: two five-story buildings are connected by an arch. The color of the building was red-pink, probably due to its location on Red Square. All windows are arched, and a small fountain was planned in the courtyard. The rooms in the apartments were with through ventilation, the living area is large. On the ground floor, shops and catering outlets are planned and are still operating. According to the architects M. Parusnikov and I. Sobolev, the arch is a symbol of the final victory of communism. The house in the central part of the city, of course, meant living in it the party "elite".
But the building was erected on the site where the church had previously stood and a small cemetery was located, that is, in fact, the house stands “on the bones”. A logical question arises: what mysticism in this attraction on Red Square in Yaroslavl? The interest is that in this house, misfortunes haunted its inhabitants from the time of settlement. The first owners of the apartments were representatives of local authorities and party nomenclature. Just a month after settling, mass arrests began. Some of those arrested were subsequently shot, and some went to lengthy prison sentences. According to local old-timers, representatives of the NKVD knocked on each apartment. Such psychological pressure for some residents became fatal, they were thrown out of the windows of their own homes.
With the end of the Stalinist repressions, the series of accidents in the “haunted house” did not stop. In the 90s of the last century, a fatal criminal showdown took place in a house with an amazing frequency. In addition, current residents of the house claim that moans and screams are occasionally heard here, and in the dark, fuzzy silhouettes of people sometimes appear.
Believe in ghosts or not is a personal choice of each person. But it should be noted that not a single nation in the world has decided to build housing in holy places and cemeteries.
Fire Tower
In 1820, on the Red Square of Yaroslavl, in the west, a fire tower was installed. Later, a depot was attached to it. In those years, the tower was the tallest building in the whole city. Near the depot and Kalanchi set up a training ground. At the beginning of the last century, the tower was almost destroyed, the new one was built only in 1911, and to this day it impresses visitors to the square.
