I visited Starocherkassk a hundred times and did not even know about the existence of this fortress. Buying vegetables from a local resident, he asked about the existence of the fortress. Grandfather said that the fortress was still standing and told how to get to it.
I did not take a camera with me and therefore I am content with what I found on the Internet.

The fortress of St. Anna was built on the site of the Peter's fortification (which existed since 1721) by decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna of March 16, 1730. For construction, land from the nearby Vasilyevsky mounds was used. As a result, the mounds were completely torn down. The earthen fortress was reinforced with brick redoubts. It contained a brick house of the commandant, a powder cellar and a soldier's settlement, a wooden church of the Intercession of the Virgin. Customs was transferred to the fortress from Cherkassk. In June 1737, the fortress became the base of the campaign against Azov, which finally annexed it to Russia. But the capture of Azov reduced the military significance of the fortress to zero. In 1761, the garrison was transferred to the fortress of Dmitry Rostov, which today has become Rostov-on-Don.

Anninskaya fortress- the only earthen fortress that has been preserved on the territory of Russia.
Three kilometers northeast of Starocherkasskaya is the earthen fortress of St. Anna, the construction of which began in May 1730 by order of Empress Anna Ioannovna.

The places where the Anninsky fortress was built were called Vasilevsky hillocks. From the south, the Don flows, from the east, the Vasilievka River, from the north, hills are located, from the west, a shallow stream, at the mouth of which there was a fortified redoubt on the banks of the Don.

According to the plan, the fortress was surrounded by an earthen rampart and consisted of six forts, forming an almost regular hexagon, the sides of which were three hundred and eighteen meters long. The smallest height of the shafts is 5.5 m; the depth of the fortress moat is 3.5 m. The length of the ramparts along the circumference is almost 2 km. The northern, southeastern and southwestern gates were additionally reinforced with redoubts. Inside the fortress there was a brick house of the commandant, a soldier's settlement, a powder magazine and the Intercession wooden church.

Construction was completed by the end of 1737 and the fortress was included in the Ukrainian defensive line. The fortress played the role of a support base in the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739.

Another important function of the fortress was to control the "behavior of the Cossacks". The commandant of the fortress was the boss for the atamans of the Don army, with whom they had to coordinate their actions. An example of such control is the history, when in 1743 the military ataman Danila Efremov, after consulting with the Cossack foreman, began the construction of stone walls around the city of Cherkassk. He did not ask the Russian authorities for permission to do this, and therefore the commandant of the fortress of St. Anna immediately reported this to Petersburg. The Military Collegium started the business. The wall was allowed to be finished, “but only from the Turkish side”, and “firmly” was forbidden to build “from the side of the Russian stone structure”.

However, the fortress was quite far removed from the mouth of the Don and the Sea of ​​Azov, which leveled its military significance. In addition, constant spring floods and illnesses of the soldiers of the garrison, caused by living in wetlands, brought additional difficulties to its activities. And therefore, after receiving the right to build a new fortification downstream of the Don under the Belgrade peace treaty with Turkey, the government in 1760 abolished the Anninsky fortress and transferred its garrison to the fortress of Dmitry Rostovsky.

After the abolition of the fortress, a part of the trading people continued to live here; here for some time there was a timber exchange; near the fortress under Ataman Platov, the first Cherkasy fair was opened. In the 30s of the 19th century, two small leprosarium houses were built here, where Cossacks with leprosy were treated.
In the second half of the 19th century, these buildings were liquidated, and vegetable gardens of the inhabitants of the village of Starocherkasskaya were located on the former territory of the fortress.

Aug 13

Written by Romanov.

Today I am publishing an article about Starocherkassk.

The city of Starocherkassk is so famous and mysterious! perhaps one of the best places where it is better to relax with children ... Today I will talk about a very interesting and object in Starocherkassk. This is St. Anne's Fortress - history, how to get there (coordinates, maps), photo

Historical information about Starocherkassk

Known as the capital of the Don Cossacks and the birthplace of General Matvey Platov and many other Don heroes. In the center of the village is the Starocherkassky Museum-Reserve, covering an area of ​​180 hectares.

The first found written references to the “Cherkasy town” on the Don date back to 1593. In 1637, the Azov campaign began from Starocherkassk, also known as the “Azov seat”: when, having taken the fortress of Azov, an ancient Cossack stronghold that had been in Turkish hands for a long time, the Cossacks defended it for four years (1637-1641). The Turks brutally took revenge on the Don people: in 1643 they captured and completely burned Cherkassk, but the next year the city was restored and fortified. In the same 1644, the Main Camp moved to Cherkassk and the city became the capital of the Don Cossack army. And in 1650, according to the vow given in the Azov seat, a wooden Resurrection Military Cathedral was built. Military Circles gather on the square near the cathedral (maidan).

It was in Cherkassk that the uprising of Stepan Razin, a Cossack of the village of Zimoveyskaya (but, according to some reports, was a native of Cherkassk), began in 1667, and in 1708 the leader of another uprising, Kondraty Bulavin, was killed in his kuren. In 1751, the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul was consecrated, in which the legendary Ataman Platov was baptized. All Cossack campaigns of that period began from another Cherkassy church - the Transfiguration of the Lord, built in the 17th century in the Military tract, at the cemetery of Cherkassk.

The fortress is located near Stanitsa Starocherkasskaya.

How to get to the Fortress of St. Anna in Starocherkassk?

First you need to drive about two kilometers on a gravel road, then turn right on a tyrsa road to a concrete road. On the concrete road to the right to Zemlyanyye shafts.

You have reached the village (from Aksai), to the Military tract and the Transfiguration Church, but do not rush to enter it - I advise you to continue on your way. Drive a little further along the asphalt, and at the crossroads with the sign "Far" and "Krasnodvorsk" turn left onto the tyrsovaya road, and after 200m, at the old farm, turn right onto the dirt road leading to the field.

And just 2km after the turn you will drive up to the ramparts…

The fortress of St. Anna was built in the period from 1730 to 1731. It is not stone, but earthen. A hexagonal shaft, about 10m high, is located on the terrain, which in those days was called Vasilevsky hillocks. Then these mounds were leveled, the earth was collected and this fortress was built. In those distant times, the border between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) ran along the Temernik River (now the river in Rostov), ​​and the fortress served as a border outpost on the border with a hostile state.

Half a kilometer to the west of the fortress, in the middle of the field, you can see a low mound. This is nothing more than a stand-alone redoubt that guarded the Soldier's Settlement - a small village where families of soldiers who served in the fortress lived.


Photo: Vladimir Samoilenko, 2008

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At the weekend we went in search of the treasures of the ancient fortress. They even found two treasures. But first, I’ll tell you a little about what this place is…

The fortress of St. Anna (also called Anninsky) was built in 1730 near the Don. The earthen ramparts are perfectly preserved and are clearly visible on satellite images. True, they resemble the mysterious giant drawings left on Earth by ancient civilizations?

Fortress of St. Anna on the Yandex satellite map

Fortress of Saint Anna. old plan

At present, the Anninsky Fortress is the best-preserved large earthen fortress of the 18th century in the South of Russia, a monument of military engineering architecture. We went there in search of treasures ...

A Brief History of St. Anne's Fortress

A large outpost was built on the Vasilyevsky Hillocks near Erik Vasilyev (a shallow rivulet that flows into the Don, where local fish now like to spend their weekends) for defense during the war with Turkey, which settled in the Don delta.

Vasiliev erik

fortress gate

For 30 years, the fortress of St. Anna was the southernmost Russian stronghold and played an important role in the liberation of Azov from the Turks. However, due to the swampy terrain and remoteness from the Sea of ​​Azov, over time, the outpost lost its significance. In addition, a larger fortress of Demetrius of Rostov was built (which laid the foundation) and in 1761 the ancient fortress became one of the field fortifications of a more powerful citadel.

Fortress gate. View from the ramparts

Let's go to the fortress

Looking around the surroundings from the ramparts, one can see the scope of a polygonal fortress with 6 bastions. Its diameter (together with ravelins) is about one and a half kilometers. The internal fortifications have not survived to our time, so it remains only to imagine how the ancient fortress could look like almost four centuries ago.

ramparts

Fortress ramparts. View from inside the fortress

No less than the ramparts, we liked the photogenic hay bales set up in the interior of the outpost. They give the building a real rural autumn flavor.

hay rolls

Rolls of hay inside the fortress

These are not towers, these are hay rolls too

And most importantly, you can sit on a roll like a bird in a nest and climb into a straw house.

Our children on a roll of hay

In a haystack

Treasure hunt: two treasures at once!

The gates of the ancient fortress were protected by ravelins. Here is one of the ravelins and the geocache cache is hidden.

We walk along the perimeter of the fortress of St. Anna

Geocaching is a game in which exact coordinates and descriptions of the area help in the search for treasures. Although the game is popularly called “treasure hunt”, treasures are usually not precious trinkets, but historical, cultural and natural attractions.

Fortress vegetation

There are two types of geocaching caches: virtual (without a real bookmark) and real (when a container with a notebook, a pencil and all sorts of things, usually of no material value, is hidden on the ground).

Our children like to look for real treasures more. When there is a container with all sorts of gizmos. We rarely take something from the caches. But children understand that the essence of the game is not to get rich, but in an exciting process of searching.

We haven't looked for a single hiding place since our winter trip, so when we learned that we were going to an ancient fortress in search of treasures, the children were delighted.

The road to is well known, we go there often and with great pleasure. We love these places.

Road to Starocherkassk

The weather in early September is wonderful, warm like summer, but not hot anymore. And most importantly, dry. The best time to search for treasures, because geocachers usually hide them away from prying eyes, in places where it is not easy to get after rain.

Before looking for the treasure, we walked along the ramparts, passed through the fortress, went out through another gate and, bypassing the outpost around, approached the desired ravelin.

The thickets are taller than human height, but the exact coordinates helped to find the hiding place quickly, with the least loss to health. Without scratches and splinters, of course, not done. Having forced their way through the bushes and dry grass, having fastened thorns on their clothes, they went out to the hiding place.

Difficult road through the thickets

And here is a treasured place under the tree. The children's eyes lit up. A real treasure!

Young Treasure Seekers

Cache

Geocacher's Notebook of St. Anne's Fortress Cache

Our young geocachers

Our entry in the geocache notebook of St. Anne's Fortress

We rummaged through the treasures, marked ourselves in a notebook, and at the same time found out that this bookmark is a duplicate (recreated instead of the lost one) and there is another, the first bookmark nearby, which someone did not find and recreated by duplicating it. As a result, the old treasure was also found.

And the second cache is taken!

Our record is in another cache

In the first (which is a double) they put a jumper ball. We always try to leave something that will bring joy to children: many geocachers in search of treasures are involved with the whole family, with children. Therefore, we leave something that does not rust, does not get wet, does not deteriorate. After all, geocaches lie all year round, in snow and rain, waiting for treasure seekers.

This bouncy ball jumped into the container

By the way, the original cache (not a duplicate) was visited by other geocachers on July 23, 2016, a month and a half ago. I don't remember the date in the other notebook. But it seems even earlier. So geocachers visit here not so often.

Previous entry in notepad

Results: in search of the treasures of an ancient fortress, we found two treasures instead of one, touched history (daughter will have something to report on at the lesson "Reporting" at school), walked along the ramparts, rolled straw rolls, climbed into a haystack, saw pheasants, grasshoppers, field mice and found a beautiful pheasant feather. Agree, all this is much more interesting than spending a weekend at home in front of the TV.

In the grass Grasshopper sat

Let's go!

If you want, you can do geocaching too. Much is not needed for this. Only desire. Also, register on the website www.geocaching.su. Registration is free. As well as participation in the game. Many people ask: what gives this game? It already depends on the players. Everyone has an individual answer to this question.

However, the fortress of St. Anna can be visited not only by geocachers. If you want to see this miraculously preserved structure in the Don steppe, come when you want.

How to get to the fortress of St. Anna

The ancient fortress is part of the Starocherkassk Historical and Architectural Museum. It is located 35 kilometers from the center of Rostov-on-Don (regional administration area), 5 kilometers from the center of Starocherkassk (Sovetskaya Street, where the Ataman Palace is located), 3 kilometers from the Starocherkasskaya - Krasnodvorsk fork. This text is stolen from the Road of Peace website (website)!

How to get to the fortress of St. Anna. By Yandex maps

From Rostov-on-Don, by public transport, go by minibus number 151, departing from Leo Tolstoy Square near the Armenian temple. You will have to stomp on foot for about 3 kilometers to the ancient fortress.

It is more convenient to get there by car. From Rostov-on-Don, go to Starocherkassk, when you drive to the edge of the village along a straight road, there will be a fork in front of the field: to the right - Starocherkassk, to the left - Krasnodvorsk. Turn to Krasnodvorsk. On the left will be abandoned farms. After them, turn right along the yellow dirt road along the power lines. After driving 2.5 kilometers along the dirt road, you will get to the earthen ramparts of the ancient fortress. They will be to the left of the yellow primer, but do not miss the turn, the earthen ramparts are visible from afar. The coordinates of the fortress of St. Anna: N47.252823, E40.088525.

Yellow primer to the fortress of St. Anna

Visiting the Anninskaya fortress is free, available at any hour, at any time of the year. Only after rains can the primer be slightly carried.

Did you like our adventures in search of treasures old fortress?

Have you ever looked for treasures, treasures and caches?

All materials of the site "Roads of the World" are copyrighted. A big request is not to take articles and photos without the permission of the author and the site administration.

© Galina Shefer, website "Roads of the World", 2016. Copying text and photos is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Starocherkassk land is replete with numerous historical monuments. Many of them are very well preserved, they can be seen, met and photographed. Also, our village, both in past centuries and now, is being actively explored by scientists and even just amateurs who publish a lot of articles and publications. Members of the museum circle "Young Guide" study these fragments of history, write reports, speak at school conferences and seminars, conduct excursions for their comrades and friends. We take materials for our research work from libraries, as well as directly from the collections of the Starocherkassk Museum.

The thematic program of the circle includes hours for studying the protected zones of the Starocherkassky Museum-Reserve. The museum has three security zones - this is the Ratnensky tract with the Transfiguration Church, this monastic tract known more as "Kaplitsa" and the fortress of St. Anna.

In the spring, members of the circle visited the Anninsky fortress. The remains of earthen ramparts and ditches left an indelible impression on the children, they wanted to learn more about the fortress of St. Anna. Today we present the research work "Anninsky Fortress Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow", which reflects not only historical materials, but also information about the further use of this monument as a tourist site.

The question of the system of development and public presentation of the Anninsky fortress as a historical monument for a long time could not be resolved positively due to the lack of access roads. Despite the fact that in 2001 the village of Starocherkasskaya was connected by a road with Aksay through the floodplain, the Anninskaya fortress remained 4 kilometers away from the main road. Currently, a country road leads to the fortress, which remains impassable for road transport for most of the year. But this is only temporary, according to the general plan for the development of Starocherkassk as a tourist complex, the development of this protected zone is also provided.

The historical significance of the Anninsky fortress in the narrow sense is an episode of military preparations for a forceful demarche on the eve of negotiations on the expiration of the Prut Treaty (1711), an auxiliary episode. At the same time, this episode is a rare example of civility, approaching the ideal standards of human and state behavior. Hence the accentuated alignment, striving for ideal external forms, an indelible element of the Great Game - a publicly demonstrated geopolitical game by the rules, with demonstrative respect for the enemy and partners. In this sense, the Anninsky Fortress is a monument of military, military engineering and political art, high political culture. The monument is rare and unique in its purity of theme, in its preservation and visibility.

Its historical significance in a broad, symbolic sense is the Moscow Russian seal on the Don land, the seal of the Russian State, imprinted on the Don land, the seal of initiation into the great statehood, evidence of fidelity and loyalty, a symbolic sign of patronage. After all, the shape of the fortress is a regular hexagon in the outline of the main shaft of the fortress, it is an ancient sign of acceptance under protection, an emblem of protection and protection, well known in the 18th century.

As a monument - a sign, a monument - a symbol, the Anninsky fortress needs the preservation and protection of its symbolic component, including the preservation of its visibility, symbolic purity and its protection from the introduction of extraneous semantic dissonances into the visible picture of the monument of the symbol.

The history of the Anninsky fortress can be divided into several periods: Prehistory - 1711-1730; The first period - 1730-1736; The second period was the city-fortress - 1741-1765; Third period - 1765-2009

The first period of existence of the fortress as a military base of the Russian army determined its main historical purpose - the protection of the borders of the Russian Empire.

The second period of the existence of the fortress as a "city", the center of vital activity - determined its second historical significance - this is a connecting mediating episode in the endless eternity of the history of Tanais - Tana - Azak - Azov - Rostov, this key outpost of civilizations, a strategic mediator, a membrane between the North and South, Europe and Asia.

The third period of existence of the fortress is its oblivion for 2 centuries, which provided the fortress with rare safety. Oblivion in the past now opens up the possibility of active development and use of the fortress as a place of interest that goes beyond the traditional museum and excursion use of a historical monument.

In 2003, a scheme for the development of the territory of the fortress of St. Anna was developed. The design work was carried out by Moscow specialists from the Institute for the Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments (Spetsproektrestavratsiya.) under the leadership of Rector V. Yu Kesler. It is supposed to restore the historical setting of the fortress in its original form.

Prehistory of the construction of the Anninskaya fortress.

In the 16th century, a Cossack town called Cherkassk appeared on the island between the Don and Aksay rivers. Since 1644 Cherkassk became the capital of the Don Cossacks. The main source of income for the Cherkassy Cossacks was the protection and escort of embassies and trade caravans along the Don River from Azov to portage and back. The Azov campaigns of Peter 1 changed the life of the Cossacks, turning this private industry into a state one.

After the conquest of Azov and adjacent lands by Peter the Great, the Azov province was established here under a peace treaty in 1700. The road to Moscow was equipped with fortified posts. Free will was replaced by statehood and the rule of law. After the Bulavinsky uprising of 1707-1709, Peter could no longer trust the Cossacks. Therefore, the garrison of Azov and the Tranzhement fortress were fortified, which was built below the city of Cherkassk, on the Monastic tract.

The unsuccessful Prut campaign of Peter 1 crossed out all previous conquests. According to this peace treaty, Russia left the Don and Azov regions. The Cossacks regained their former independence. Azov was returned to the Turks, and all the fortresses up to the city of Cherkassk were destroyed, including Tranzhement. This fortress was moved to a new location above the city of Cherkassk. During the Azov campaigns of Peter 1, the Tsar's travel palace stood on this site. The place was unfortunate, it was subjected to flooding every year.

At the end of 1720, a decision was made that it was easier to move the Transition to a new location than to spend money on annual repairs. Major General Debrigny was entrusted with finding a new place for the fortress. In his report dated August 10, 1729, he writes about the inexpediency of building a new fortress on the Vasilyevsky hillocks of Cherkasy Island and encloses the removed plans for the hillocks. Debrigny's main argument was that the Vasilyevsky hillocks were located a kilometer from the Don River, the main transport artery of that time.

Field Marshal Count von Munnich opposed General Debrigny's arguments. The trial went on for a whole year. An engineer lieutenant colonel De-Colong was sent to the Don, who, having examined the Vasilyevsky hillocks, provided his calculations for the construction of a new fortress. The Senate approved the construction of the fortress, agreeing with the arguments of Munnich and De Colong. The verdict of the Senate on March 10, 1730 also stated that the fortress was to be built in three years. On January 14, 1731, Field Marshal Count von Munnich wrote a letter to Senator General-General MM Golitsyn with a request to give the name of the new fortress near the city of Cherkassk on the Vasilyevsky Hills. On January 22, 1731, Empress Anna Ioannovna issues a decree on the name of the new fortress near the city of Cherkassk "St. Anna's Fortress". In its abbreviated form, the fortress was most often called Anninsky.

The first period of operation of the fortress 1730-1736

The construction of a new fortress was entrusted to the builder of the fortifications of Kronstadt, engineer-colonel De-Kolong. The laying of the new fortress took place in May 1730. The Vyborg and Ryazan regiments took part in the construction of the fortress. The forest was rafted down the Don River from near Voronezh. Stone and lime were transported 25 kilometers from the Aksai River. It was assumed that the fortress would be earthen with a moat around the perimeter. Earthen ramparts had to be lined with turf. The difficulty of construction lay in the fact that earthen ramparts had to be built on sandy soil, in an area periodically flooded with water, so the construction of the fortress was delayed. The ramparts of the Anninsky fortress were constantly washed away under the onslaught of spring floods.

Engineer De-Kolong suggested planting thorny thorns at the foot of the ramparts of the fortress, which perfectly endured spring floods, and also strengthened the earth and was an additional means of defense. These plants still grow on the ramparts of the fortress, giving the locals rich harvests of blackthorn berries.

Anninsky Fortress at the first stage of operation was in its purest form a military base of the Russian armed forces. She played the role of a support base for the invading army in the Crimean and Turkish directions. Therefore, the fortress was built powerful, bastion type with the main shaft, bastions, ravelins and bridgeheads along the main lines of attack of the alleged enemy. All bastions and ravelins were equipped with defensive artillery. In the fortress itself, a grocery store and a powder magazine were established. A tented Soldiers' settlement and a Cossack settlement were built near the fortress.

Erected in basic terms in three years, the Anninskaya fortress continued to be completed and strengthened. The fortress became part of the Ukrainian defensive line, which consisted of 15 fortresses located between the Don and the Dnieper. The fortress garrison consisted of six musketeer regiments and one Cossack regiment. The Prut Treaty of 1711 was limited to a period of 25 years, which expired in 1736. Therefore, by the spring of 1736, the fortress was ready to receive large Russian military forces. The Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Count von Munnich himself came to accept the readiness of the fortress.

During the Crimean-Turkish campaign of 1736-1737, the fortress of St. Anna served as the base for the expeditionary corps of the army of Field Marshal Lessy, who operated in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov and, according to various sources, numbered from 55 thousand to 60 thousand people. It was the peak of the military significance of the fortress, the culmination of its military fate, in which its purpose was fully realized and the first period of its existence ended.

The second period of operation of the fortress 1741 - 1765

After the capture of Azov on July 17, 1736, the garrison of the Anninsky fortress was transferred in full strength to the city of Azov, liberated from the Turks. The Soldiers' settlement at the Anninsky fortress was also transferred here, which later formed the Azov suburb. A grocery store, powder magazines, sheds, a church, headquarters and regimental apartments remained in the Anninsky fortress, which were mostly empty until 1741. The Cossack settlement with the civilian population was also preserved.

According to the Belgrade Peace Treaty (1739) and the Constantinople Convention of August 26, 1741, the Russians had to leave Azov. The Azov fortifications, in accordance with the third article of the Belgrade Treaty, were completely destroyed in the presence of Turkish observers, and the city, like the fortress, ceased to exist. The garrison of the fortress in full force was withdrawn back to the Anninskaya fortress. The urban merchant population of Azov moved after the garrison under the protection of the fortress of St. Anna. According to the Belgrade Treaty, the borders of the states were returned to their previous state, that is, the fortress of St. Anna still remained outside the Russian state territory. Russia in the Don region could only have a fortress, which was specifically stipulated by the third article of the treaty. In all official documents, the fortress of St. Anna continued to be written as a fortress. Although in fact it turned into a city, into the successor of the old Azov, because it took over all its functions. And this was precisely the content of the second period of the life of the fortress.

The inner part of the fortress is being built up with new quarters, merchants' shops and taverns, customs was also transferred here. A prison was built with a prison and a guardhouse. The former Soldier's settlement at the fortress was turned into Podgornaya settlement, but after strengthening it with redoubts and a palisade, it was called "Forstadt".

The inner life of the fortress flowed in the trade channel. The Russian-Constantinople trade campaign, which was managed by Field Marshal Count P. I. Shuvalov, settled here. He gathered in his powerful hand the entire monopoly of foreign trade in raw materials. Anninsky fortress now combined new functions, not only a trading city, but also a warehouse, a transshipment base for international trade. The trading business suffered heavy losses due to annual floods. On the initiative of Count P. I. Shuvalov, a decision was made to move the fortress to a new location. For her, a very commercially advantageous place was found on the high bank of the Don, convenient for the construction of a port, shipyard, customs and a vast settlement. The laying of the new fortress was carried out on September 21, 1761 with a new name in honor of St. Dmitry of Rostov. The construction was entrusted to engineer-captain A.I. Rigelman. Until 1765, all garrison services and institutions were withdrawn from the Anninsky fortress.

The third period of operation of the fortress from 1765 to 2014.

In 1766, the Anninsky Fortress was no longer listed in the register of regular Russian fortresses, although the civilian population continues to live here. At the end of the 18th century, the remaining buildings of the Anninsky fortress were used by the Cossacks for powder stores of the Don Army and warehouses for obsolete artillery.

In the 19th century, the territory of the fortress was used as a quarantine place. So from 1820 to 1830 there was a hospital for lepers, consisting of two houses, in which up to forty sick people were placed. After the closure of the hospital, the interior of the fortress was not used until the beginning of the 20th century.

During the Soviet period, the inner space of the old fortress was planted with melons. The civilian population lived on the territory of Vorstadt until the Great Patriotic War of 1941.

The fortress of St. Anne has never been involved in military battles, this contributed to the rare safety of its ramparts, ravelins and bastions. Anninsky Fortress was included in the Starocherkassky Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR dated December 4, 1974 No. 624 and was included in the lists of protected historical and cultural monuments of state, republican significance. By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 20, 1995 No. 176, the Starocherkassky Museum-Reserve as a whole, as a single object of protection, is included in the list of objects of historical and cultural heritage of federal significance.

In 2003, a general scheme for the development of the Starocherkassk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve was developed, including the development of scientific and design documentation for the reconstruction of the territory of the St. Anna Fortress. Design work was carried out by the Moscow Institute for the Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments. The scientific and design documentation and the design solution for the use of the Anninsky fortress were prepared by the author's team of the institute under the leadership of Kesler V Yu.

Given the current situation, the closest development strategy is to recreate the historical setting of the fortress. The project proposes a variant of recreating the central complex of the fortress building around its main square and partial restoration of the fortifications. First of all, according to the project, it is proposed to restore: the Moscow Gates, the Spassky Gates and two ravelins with an exposition of cannons and artillery.

All newly erected buildings will perform certain functions: museum and exposition, cultural and leisure, and economic and communication. The project provides for the reconstruction of the chief commandant's house, the garrison office and the building of the engineering team for museum exhibitions. The rest of the buildings should be erected in an arbitrary order, based on the needs of the museum and the organization of leisure for tourists.

Fortifications of the Anninsky Fortress.

The Anninsky fortress was located on the southern tip of the hill bounded by the Don River, Peschanoe Lake, Eric Vasilev and Gniloy. The main structures lie on the range of 640 x 700 meters. The fortress has an earthen rampart in the form of a regular hexagon similar to the star of David, it is also called the seal of Solomon. This is a hexagram formed by two intertwined equilateral triangles. A triangle pointing up north represents the element of fire, and pointing down south represents the element water. In the Middle Ages, this symbol was used to protect against enemy attacks. The Anninsky fortress is located with peaks from north to south and has never been attacked by enemies.

Six corners of the fortress - six bastions. In 1733, powder magazines were built in bastions No. 3 and No. 6; by 1760, powder magazines were also arranged in bastions No. 1 and No. 2. In bastion No. 4 there was an artillery cannon yard, and in bastion No. 5, since 1750, a prison was built with a prison for keeping convicts.

Anninsky fortress had five exits: Moscow gate - east; Spassky gate - western; Pavlovskaya gate - north; Tambov gate - northeast; Korotoyakskaya gate - southern. Behind the earthen ramparts of the fortress, three ravelins were built: on the north side behind the Pavlovsk gate; from the western side behind the Spassky Gates; from the east side behind the Moscow Gates. The garrison school was set up in a ravelin behind the Pavlovsk Gate. A smithy was set up in the ravelin outside the Spassky Gates. The forge of the artillery yard was located in a ravelin outside the Moscow Gates. On the territory of the fortress there was one well in the center of the square, and another one in the engineering yard, outside the fortress walls.

Outside the walls of the Anninsky fortress, there were also fortifications, so a rifle battery was built 350 fathoms from the earthen ramparts on the banks of the Don River, which appeared on the plan of the fortress in 1739. It was planned to arrange a coastal battery in place of the battery to shell the river. These plans were not implemented.

After 1741, the soldiers' and Cossack settlements were surrounded by redoubts for defense. From the northern bastion to the southwestern sector behind the outer wall of the fortress, a cover was arranged with a log palisade of palisades and slingshots.
The fortress was surrounded by a dry moat, it was not specially flooded with water, due to the spreading of the ramparts.

At present, only earthen ramparts and ditches, as well as part of the ravelins on the eastern side, have survived from the fortifications of the Anninsky fortress. According to the reconstruction plan, it was decided to restore bastion No. 6 with a powder magazine in which a restaurant for tourists will be opened.

The internal structure of the Anninsky fortress.

The internal structure of the fortress was determined by five directions, in accordance with which its development was formed:
- management (brigadier's yard, chief commandant's house, garrison office and guardhouse);
- garrison establishments:
- supplies - barns for food and fodder;
- equipment - a warehouse for the storage of ammunition;
- weapons - an arsenal, powder magazines, a cannon yard;
- apartment part (headquarters and chief officers' apartments, soldiers' barracks);
– engineering team (buildings of the office and drawing room);
- protection (guards).

The basis of the internal layout of the fortress was determined by a square parade ground, that is, the area around which public administration buildings were built and housing blocks for officers were located. Behind these buildings, the space up to the earthen gate was built up with numerous warehouse buildings and soldiers' barracks. Not far from the Moscow Eastern Gate, behind the building of the guardhouse, there was another small square, on which in 1733 a church was built with a courtyard and a sacristy. Numerous grocery stores were located around this square.

All the buildings of the fortress were one-story, wooden, except for the chief commandant's house, which was two-story. The garrison office was not built immediately, only in 1748. The plan of 1748 also shows taverns and drinking establishments opposite Bastion No. 5. On the plans of the fortress in 1756 and 1761, a salt pit, regimental offices, guardhouses at each bastion and a garrison school where children studied also appear.

The territory of the fortress could not accommodate all the inhabitants and all the services. Near the fortress, a soldier's settlement was originally arranged, which was originally a tent, and then was rebuilt with one-story wooden buildings. Since 1742, an engineering business yard, an artillery settlement with barns and shops were arranged around the soldier's settlement. Behind the artillery settlement on the shore of Sandy Lake, the General's House was rebuilt with a yard, a palisade, barns, and even a forge. Nearby on the shore was built a commandant's house with a garden and a vegetable garden.

After fortifying with redoubts and uniting all this territory, it became known as the Forstadt of the Anninsky fortress. On the last two plans of the fortress in Vorstadt, regimental blacksmiths, meat rows, taverns, regimental churches and arsenals, sea barns and food stores are indicated. In the Dolomanovskoye Cossack settlement, on the last plan of the fortress of 1761, redoubts are indicated and a church is indicated in the center of the settlement.

At present, not a single building has been preserved, both on the territory of the fortress and outside it.

The garrison of the fortress of St. Anna.

The basis of the Anninsky fortress garrison was the Azov Cossack cavalry regiment, which, according to the expert on Don affairs, the builder of the fortress Dmitry Rostovsky, engineer Rigelman, was created in 1711 after the abandonment of Azov. The regiment was formed from the free people of Azov and the Cossacks of Ataman Vasiliev. By decree of Peter 1, this regiment was settled at Tranzhement Monastery, which in 1713 was transferred to Tranzhement on Cherkasy Island.

After the final decision to build a new fortress, two regiments of Vyborg and Ryazan were sent to Trangement, who built the fortress of St. Anna together with the Azov Cossack regiment. For the soldiers of these regiments, a soldier's settlement was built, which formed the basis of the future Forstadt. The Cossacks of the Azov Regiment founded the Vasilyevsky Sloboda, which was later called the Dolomanovskaya Cossack Sloboda on later maps.

In 1730, the fortress was founded, Major General Tarakanov became its first commandant. Then Major General Strekalov became the commandant of the fortress, he was replaced by Major General Shuvalov. Under the command of Shuvalov there were six musketeer regiments and the Azov Cossack regiment. In March 1736 Field Marshal Munnich arrived at the fortress.

Anninsky fortress was appointed as a collection point for troops to storm Azov. Instead of six complete regiments numbering up to 9,250 people, he found only 4,000 infantry and 200 miners in the fortress, having attached the entire garrison to his army, Minich went to Azov, leaving the Anninsky fortress almost empty. Only the civilian population remained to live in Vasilievskaya Sloboda.

In 1740, a severe flood occurred in the spring, which flooded and destroyed the Transition. General Levashov moved his people from Tranjement to the empty fortress of St. Anna. In June 1740, a new commandant, Colonel Vyrubov, arrived at the fortress. He served as commandant until his death in 1745. He was replaced by Major General Berdekovich. Until 1749, all commandants of the fortress conducted customs affairs. Then, after the construction of the Temernitsky customs, these powers were removed from the commandants of the fortress.

In 1742, the garrison of the fortress was replenished with transferred troops from Azov, along with the merchant population. There are accurate data on the size of the garrison only for 1760, when documents were being prepared for the transfer of the garrison to the construction of the fortress of Dmitry Rostov. So in 1760, there were 5 regiments in the fortress of St. Anna: Pavlovsky, Kozlovsky, Tambov and Korotoyarsky - with a total number of 4750 people and the Azov Cossack regiment of 465 people. Until 1766, almost the entire garrison of the Anninsky fortress was transferred to the new fortress of Dmitry Rostov. On the maps and plans of the Lower Don, compiled in 1768 on the eve of the new Turkish war, the fortress of St. Anna is shown already deserted.

Conclusion.
In the spring, members of our circle visited the Anninsky fortress. The children examined the shafts and made a photo fixation. Then the school conducted a survey of schoolchildren with the following questions:
- What is the name of the fortress, which is not far from our village?
Who built this fortress?
What year was the fort built?
Why was the fortress abandoned?

It was also proposed to write a legend, a tale or a true story about the fortress. Almost everyone correctly identified the name of the fortress, but there were no unambiguous answers to the rest of the questions. Many to the question: Who built the fortress? They answered that the Cossacks, some suggested that the ataman Danila Efremov or Empress Catherine II built the fortress. The remaining questions caused some difficulties among the respondents and many could not answer them at all. As a result of the survey, the members of the circle learned some interesting legends about the Anninsky fortress.

For example, in the past, an underground passage went from the fortress to the cathedral itself, that the Cossacks built this fortress in one night, they dug a moat and erected ramparts with the help of their truhmenok hats, that a treasure was buried on the territory of the fortress, which has not yet been found.

To find out all the answers to the questions posed, we turned to specialists. As a result of the work done, it was found out that the fortress was built in 1730, that it was built by Russian soldiers under the guidance of an engineer, builder of Kronstadt, Colonel De Kolong. The fortress was originally laid as a military base for Russian troops during the Russo-Turkish wars. But after 1741, the fortress essentially turned into a city with a civilian merchant population. There were noisy bazaars and auctions, there were shops and warehouses with weapons. There were forges, taverns, a school, a church and chapels. For a long time there was a customs house in the fortress. A postal road was brought to the fortress, which connected it with Moscow. Life was seething here, all trade transactions were made here by the Russian-Constantinople trading company.

However, the location of the fortress, its remoteness from trade routes and the constant threat of flooding in the spring brought significant inconvenience and losses to the commercial life of the fortress. On the initiative of Count Shuvalov, a decision was made to move the fortress to a new location. For her, a place was found on the high native bank of the Don, convenient for the construction of a port, shipyard, customs and a vast settlement. After the laying of the fortress of Dmitry of Rostov in 1761, the commercial and military life of the Anninsky fortress began to fade.

Now, the fortress stands alone away from the tourist trails, we got the impression that it is sleeping and keeping its secrets. The fortress can only be visited during the summer period in good weather. Here, clean air, stunning nature and lulling silence. From the height of the ramparts, a panorama of the Aksai Mountains opens up; in good weather, even the Novocherkassk Cathedral is visible. On the other hand, among the endless steppe, all four Old Cherkassy churches are very clearly visible.

Most of all, the children were struck by the shape of the fortress - it is an almost regular hexagon, the bastions of which are oriented to the cardinal points. In the encyclopedia of symbols, the children found a decoding of the hexagram, it is also called the star of David or the seal of Solomon. This symbol was used as a talisman against enemy attacks. During the study, it turned out that the fortress had never been attacked, so it was very well preserved. In addition to six bastions, the fortress had three more ravelins, five exits, a moat and earthen ramparts.

I would like to believe that the fortress will be restored and everyone will be happy to visit this paradise, and maybe even work. Therefore, this work was called "Anninsky fortress yesterday, today, tomorrow."

USED ​​LITERATURE AND DOCUMENTS:

1. Bayov A K. Russian army in the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna. The war between Russia and Turkey in 1736-39 St. Petersburg, 1906.
2. Military encyclopedia. Volume 1 St. Petersburg, b/d pp 571-572, article "Anna's holy fortress".
3. Levitsky G. Starocherkassk and its sights. Novocherkassk 1906.
4. Lunin B V, Potapov N I. Azov campaigns of Peter 1. Rostov-on-Don, 1940.
5. Rigelman A I, History of the Don Cossacks. Moscow, 1846.
6. Sukhorukov VD, Historical description of the land of the Don army. Novocherkassk, 1872.
7. Fund 349, op 3, part 1. Collection of plans for the fortress of St. Anna in the collection of the Main Engineering Directorate of the Russian State Military Historical Archive.
8. Folder TsGADA, fund 248 "Senate" from 1716 - 1745
9. Kesler V Yu. General scheme for the development of the Starocherkassk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve. Fortress of St. Anna of the 18th century. Volume 1 Book 5, part 1. Moscow. 2003

A unique fortification in the Rostov region is the Anninsky fortress. It is located near the station. Starocherkasskaya, and is the object of the Starocherkassky Museum-Reserve

Fortress of St. Anne.

Anninsky Fortress or Fortress of St. Anna began to build in 1737 by decree of the Empress of All Russia Anna Ioannovna. It was erected from the soil of numerous Vasilyevsky barrows. As we can see, this almost perfectly shaped fortification is a hexagon (6 forts in each corner), each side was 360 m long.

The fortress is nothing more than earthen ramparts 5-6 meters high and 3.5 meters wide, enclosing a certain area. On its territory were built:

• powder cellar,
• commandant's house
• liberty,
• Church of the Intercession (made of wood).

​

Defense system.

Anninsky fortress belonged to the so-called Ukrainian defense system, and carried the function of a stronghold-transshipment point in the Russian-Turkish war (1735-1739).

The second strategic task of the fortress was complete control over the Cossack army. The commandant of the fortress represented the royal power and was the direct superior of the Cossacks. The tsarist government did not trust the Cossacks, they were afraid of turmoil.

The fall of the fortress.

But, unfortunately, the fortress of St. Anna was very far from the Sea of ​​​​Azov. In addition, she often suffered from spring floods, and the swampy terrain had a bad effect on the health of the soldiers of the garrison. In 1760, soldiers from the fortification of St. Anna was moved to the fortress of Dmitry Rostov (Rostov-on-Don).

For some time on the territory of the fortress was located:

• timber market,
• further 2 hospital buildings, where people with leprosy were kept,
• and also a fair was held near the fortress at Platov.

In the nineteenth century, the buildings in the fortress were destroyed.

Afterword.

According to scientists, this is the only earthen fortification of a similar shape that has been preserved in an ideal form.