Starocherkassk fortress of St. Anne. Fortress of St. Anna - facts about the only earthen fortress in Russia. Where is she located

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

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

St. Anne's Fortress on the Yandex satellite map

Fortress of St. Anne. Ancient plan

Currently, the Anninskaya Fortress is the best-preserved large earthen fortress of the 18th century in the south of Russia, a monument of military engineering architecture. That's where we went in search of treasures...

Brief history of the St. Anna fortress

A large outpost was built on the Vasilievsky hillocks near Erik Vasiliev (a shallow river flowing 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.

Vasilyev Erik

Fortress gate

For 30 years, the fortress of St. Anna was the southernmost Russian citadel and played an important role in the liberation of Azov from the Turks. However, due to the marshy terrain and distance from the Sea of ​​Azov, over time the outpost lost its significance. In addition, a larger fortress of Demetrius of Rostov was built (which marked the beginning) 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, you can see the scope of the polygonal fortress with 6 bastions. Its diameter (together with the ravelins) is about one and a half kilometers. The internal fortifications have not survived to this day, so one can only imagine what the ancient fortress might have looked like almost four centuries ago.

Ramparts

Ramparts. View from inside the fortress

No less than the ramparts, we liked the photogenic rolls of hay installed on the outpost’s interior. They give the building a real rural autumn flavor.

Bales of hay

Rolls of hay inside the fortress

These are not towers, these are also rolls of hay

And most importantly, you can sit on the roll, like a bird in a nest, and climb into the 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. A geocaching cache is hidden near one of the ravelins.

We walk along the perimeter of the St. Anna fortress

Geocaching is a game that uses precise coordinates and location descriptions to help you find treasures. Although the game is popularly called “treasure hunting,” the treasures are usually not precious trinkets, but historical, cultural and natural attractions.

Vegetation of the fortress

There are two types of geocaching caches: virtual (without a material cache) and real (when a container with a notepad, pencil and all sorts of things that usually do not represent any material value is hidden on the ground).

Our children prefer to look for real treasures. When there is a container with all sorts of gizmos. We rarely take anything from hiding places. But children understand: the essence of the game is not to get rich, but in the exciting process of searching.

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

We know the road well; we go there often and with great pleasure. We like these places.

Road to Starocherkassk

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

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

The thickets are taller than a person, but the exact coordinates helped us find the hiding place quickly, with minimal damage to health. Of course, it was not without scratches and splinters. Having made our way through the bushes and dry grass, attaching thorns to our clothes, we came to the hiding place.

Difficult road through the bush

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

Young treasure hunters

Cache

Geocaching notebook of the St. Anna fortress cache

Our young geocachers

Our entry in the geocaching notebook of the St. Anna fortress

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

And the second cache has been taken!

Our recording is in another cache

In the first (which is a double) they put a bouncy ball. We always try to leave something that will bring joy to children: many geocachers participate in treasure hunts with the whole family, with children. Therefore, we leave what will not rust, will not get wet, and will not deteriorate. After all, geocaching caches 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 before us (not a duplicate) was visited by other geocachers on July 23, 2016, a month and a half ago. I didn’t remember the date in the other notebook. But it seems even earlier. So the visits of geocachers here are not so frequent.

Previous entry in notepad

Results: in search of the treasures of the ancient fortress, we found two treasures instead of one, touched history (my daughter will have something to report on at her “Donology” lesson at school), walked along the ramparts, rolled rolls of straw, 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 also go geocaching. You don't need much for this. Only desire. And also register on the website www.geocaching.su. Registration is free. As is participation in the game. Many people ask: what does this game give? It depends on the players. Everyone has an individual answer to this question.

However, not only geocachers can visit the St. Anna fortress. If you want to see this miraculously preserved structure in the Don steppe, come whenever you want.

How to get to St. Anne's Fortress

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 district), 5 kilometers from the center of Starocherkassk (Sovetskaya Street, where the Ataman Palace is located), 3 kilometers from the Starocherkasskaya - Krasnodvorsk fork. This text was stolen from the Roads of the World website (site)!

How to get to the St. Anna fortress. According to Yandex maps

From Rostov-on-Don by public transport take minibus No. 151, departing from Leo Tolstoy Square near the Armenian temple. To get to the ancient fortress you will have to walk about 3 kilometers.

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 onto Krasnodvorsk. There will be abandoned farms on the left. After them, turn right along the yellow dirt road along the power line. After driving 2.5 kilometers along a dirt road, you will come to the earthen ramparts of an ancient fortress. They will be to the left of the yellow dirt road, but don’t miss the turn; the earthen ramparts are visible from afar. Coordinates of the St. Anna fortress: N47.252823, E40.088525.

Yellow primer road to St. Anne's fortress

A visit to the Anninskaya Fortress is free, available at any hour, at any time of the year. Only after rains can the primer become slightly loose.

Did you like our treasure hunting adventures? ancient fortress?

Have you ever looked for treasures, treasures and hiding places?

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

A unique fortification structure in the Rostov region is the Anninsk Fortress. It is located near the station. Starocherkasskaya, and is an object of the Starocherkassk Museum-Reserve

Fortress of St. Anne.

Anninsky fortress or fortress of St. Anna began to be built in 1737 by decree of the Empress of All Rus' Anna Ioanovna. It was erected from the soil of numerous Vasilyevsky mounds. As we see, this is an almost ideally shaped fortification structure, representing a hexagon (6 forts in each corner), each side had a length of 360 m.

A 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 magazine,
• commandant's house
• settlement,
• Church of the Intercession (made of wood).

​

Defensive system.

The Anninskaya fortress belonged to the so-called Ukrainian defense system, and served as a stronghold and transit point in the Russian-Turkish war (1735-1739).

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

Decline of the fortress.

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

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

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

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

Afterword.

According to scientists, this is the only earthen fortification fortress of this shape that has been preserved in perfect condition.

It reminded me of traces left on Earth by aliens or ancient civilizations. But everything turned out to be not so exotic. This, as I later found out, is the Anninskaya fortress, built by the Russian army in the 18th century as a transit point for the campaign against the city of Azov, which was still occupied by the Turks at that time. Detailed information about this historical monument can be found, for example, here: www.voopiik-don.ru/main/2009-06-01-10-23-3 9/37-2009-06-01-06-57-03/ 666-2010-03-05-0 8-13-56. Let me just say that I was interested in several things about this fortress. Firstly, this is an earthen type fortress, i.e. from the very beginning it was an earthen embankment without brickwork. I have never seen anything like this before or even heard anything about it. Secondly, it is located very close to Novocherkassk, where I live, i.e. visiting the monument was very easy. Thirdly, I am generally a lover of history and all kinds of historical monuments. Well, fourthly, look at the photo again, don’t you yourself want to look at this “crystal” up close?
Read more about the location of the fortress. It is located in Russia in the Rostov region near the village of Starocherkasskaya, 700 meters from the Don River. Coordinates in Google Earth: 47"15"10.31""C 40"05"21.27""B.

In the photo the fortress is in the upper right corner.
Dimensions of the monument (approximate): The perimeter of the fortress excluding protruding bastions is 1 km 320 m; the perimeter of one large bastion (eastern) is 313 m.
The trip took place on November 21, 2010. Late autumn. Bare trees. Withered dried grass. So there was nothing to expect in terms of enjoying nature.
We reached the village of Starocherkasskaya easily and naturally along the recently repaired old Aksai road and the new road from Bolshoi Log to Starocherkasskaya. The village of Starocherkasskaya itself is an open-air museum, the first capital of the Don Cossacks. We have visited it before and we advise you to visit it too if you have the opportunity.
From Starocherkasskaya to the fortress we traveled along a dirt road along the Don. This path can be seen in the second photo. This road, of course, is very problematic - narrow, with deep ruts and holes. In short, you can’t get through the mud in a regular car (and we were driving a Kalina).
We stopped several times to explore the Don coastline for a future summer vacation. In general, the places are not bad, but you can see from everything that there are a lot of vacationers here in the summer. Heaps of garbage, fire pits, places suitable for toilets and tents, rickety plywood shacks of homeless appearance and even dugouts.
Shortly before the turn to the fortress, the dirt road turns into a tiled one, i.e. lined with concrete slabs. But this did not mean at all that she became better, rather the opposite. The slabs are old, broken, sticking out at blunt angles in all directions, with deep sharp cracks between them. In short, no one drives on it, the real road (dirt) is nearby, and they moved along it.
And finally, we have arrived, please, Anninskaya Fortress.

We saw this inside almost every bastion of the fortress - such a pit. What did he do for the soldiers? Maybe it was a dugout with gunpowder or other supplies or weapons.

And this is one of the corners of the fortress. Almost 300 years have passed since it was built, but its strict forms have been preserved.

One more angle. The wind gently combed the feather grass on the surface of the fortress. When you see this hairstyle, an analogy arises with the intricate designs of aliens in wheat and corn fields.

Summarizing my impressions, I will say this: if you are not a romantic and not a history buff, then the Anninskaya Fortress will seem dull to you. But I love places like this, thoughtful and melancholic.
Back we decided to go along another road, a shorter one, from the fortress directly to Novocherkassk, bypassing Starocherkasskaya. This is the same road made of concrete slabs. It goes further past the fortress to the north, crosses small rivers, then the Aksai River and comes out to Bolshoy Mishkin, and from there it’s a stone’s throw to Novocherkassk. But we hadn’t driven along it even two kilometers before we hurried back. Firstly, further on it became even more broken, and there were no bypass roads. Secondly, there is not a soul around, just thickets, you know the atmosphere of the swamps from “The Hound of the Baskervilles”.
But we still found an opportunity not to drive back again along the bad dirt road along the Don. There is a power line running straight from the fortress towards Starocherkasskaya, and along it there is a dirt road, but it is good and smooth.

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Five kilometers north of the current village of Starocherkasskaya there are earthen ramparts in the form of a regular hexagon, overgrown with perennial grass and shrubs. This is the fortress of St. Anna - a unique monument of fortification art in Russia of the 18th century.

The background and reasons for the creation of the St. Anna fortress on the Vasilievsky Hills, near the former city of Cherkassk (now the village of Starocherkasskaya), begin with the Prut Peace Treaty, concluded by Peter the Great with Turkey on July 11, 1711. This was the time when, surrounded by superior Ottoman forces on the banks of the Prut, the arrogant Russian sovereign was forced to conclude a peace treaty, shameful for Russia, but saving for himself, his wife Catherine and children. According to him, Russia abandoned Azov, conquered with such difficulty, tore down Taganrog (Trinity Fortress), which was rebuilt in a short time, cleared the Peter's Fortress and left the Don and Azov regions, returning the situation in the south of Russia to the Azov campaign of 1696.

In the agreement concluded between Russia and Turkey on April 15, 1712, on this occasion it was written: “The fortress of Azov on the edge of the border of the Sublime Porte acquires, and His Royal Majesty’s fortress of Cherkasy on the edge of its border acquires, and for this reason between two fortifications with “Don’t build a fort on both sides.” Part of the garrisons of the Azov, Petrovsk and Trinity fortresses, as well as serf property from Taganrog and Azov, were transferred to the Monastic trenchment (in French “earth fortification”) four miles from Cherkassk.

Due to the delay in fulfilling the terms of the Prut Treaty by the Russians, the Turks again declared war on Russia on October 31, 1712, but both sides had little desire to fight, so on June 13, 1713, a peace treaty was concluded in Adrianople. According to its terms, Russia could not have its own fortresses between Azov and Cherkassy. The crossing at the Monastyrskoe tract was abandoned, the garrison was transferred to the Vasilievsky hillocks, two miles above Cherkassk, where in 1695 the travel palace of Peter I stood.

The location of the New Transition on the ground was extremely unfortunate: the annual floods of the Don washed away the earthen ramparts, and the inner area of ​​the fortification was flooded. And at the end of the 1720s, a proposal was made not to spend money on expensive annual repairs of the trenchment, but to move it to a new, elevated location.

On March 16, 1730, the Governing Senate decided: “To build the Tranzhement fortress again on the Vasilievsky Hills, hexagonal, in three years. And for the construction of that fortress, send General Count von Minich, on my own behalf, a good and skillful engineer.” Count Minich, who was at that time the president of the Military Collegium, sent General Engineer Peter de Brigny and Colonel de Coulong, the engineer who built the fortifications of Kronstadt, to Cherkassk to conduct survey work. The place chosen for the construction of the fortress bordered on the Don River in the south, on the Vasilyev Erik in the east, and on the Gnila River, which flows into the Don, in the west. In the north, unflooded hills adjoined the future fortress.

After carrying out survey work, de Brigny left, and de Coulong in May 1730 began construction of a new fortress. It is important to note that the future fortress was not built on legally legitimate Russian soil, but on territory politically dependent on Turkey, where Russia had, according to the agreement, the right only to limited supervisory functions in relation to its coreligionists - the Don Cossacks. The location chosen for the construction of the fortress was tied to the existing base of its troops, agreed with the Turkish side, to the Cherkassy town. Formally, the new fortress was supposed to be the heir to the existing New Transition, which was unsuitable for its intended use due to floods.

However, the Anninsk Fortress was immediately conceived to be fundamentally different in size, structure and purpose. If the New Transition performed the supervisory functions of a guard and a checkpoint at the Cherkassy town on the Moscow road and at the crossing of the Don, then the St. Anna fortress from the very beginning was conceived as a military base in its purest form and a support base for the Russian invasion army, advanced to the future theater military actions against Azov and surrounding areas (on July 12, 1736, the Treaty of Prut, which was unfavorable to Russia, ended).

Engineer-Colonel de Coulong received the task of building a fortress “according to the attached design, hexagonal with the possibility of having a stone scarp, and if this is not possible, then with a plaque or turf.” For the first time in the military policy of organizing military affairs and military planning in Russia, a new fortress was built not according to the traditional practice of fortification analogues, but “according to Vauban’s science.” Therefore, the Saint Anne fortress received almost ideal forms, becoming the practical embodiment of the theoretical ideal example of the classical fortification system of the famous French military engineer, Marshal of France Sebastian Vauban (1633 - 1707).

In May 1730, soldiers of the Voronezh garrison began building the fortress. A powerful earthen fortress had to be built on sandy soil, in an area periodically flooded by spring floods (March - May), so the construction time was somewhat delayed (it was built eight months longer than planned). To reduce the harmful effects of floods, the builders proposed making a “clothing” for the fortress from wooden sheet piles covered with boards behind. However, it was not possible to fully implement this, and the “wooden clothes” were made only by Vasilyev Erik.

By decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna of January 22, 1731, the fortress, which was still under construction at full speed, received the name St. Anna Fortress. A ferry was arranged from the fortress to the Alytuba redoubt to cross the guard. Not far from the fortress, there was a ford across the Don, along which people crossed with carts on dry summer days.

The fortress of St. Anne consisted of six forts forming a regular hexagon, the sides of which were 318 meters in length. Earthen redoubts (ravelins) were built in the north, south and southeast. The earthen ramparts stretched along the circumference for a distance of up to two kilometers. The lowest height of the ramparts was five and a half meters, the highest was eight meters, the depth of the main ditch reached three and a half meters.

The internal structure of the Anninskaya fortress was determined by five directions, in accordance with which its development was formed:

1. Management: brigadier's yard, chief commandant's house, garrison office and guardhouse.

2. Garrison supply institutions (provisions and fodder), equipment (ammunition) and weapons (arsenal, cannon yard).

3. Apartment unit (headquarters and chief officers' apartments, soldiers' barracks).

4. Engineering team (including engineering office and drawing department).

5. Security (guards).

The core of the internal layout of the fortress was the parade ground, around which the main buildings were grouped. Here were: the Church of the Intercession, the commandant's yard with a guardhouse and barn, the brigadier's yard with a guardhouse and stables, the garrison office, regimental offices, the garrison school, headquarters and chief officers' apartments, soldiers' barracks, the main guardhouse and prison, a prison with a prison, gunpowder cellars, artillery cannon yard, artillery stores and barns, artillery workshops, regimental workshops, a forge, a salt barn, provision stores, oat stores, taverns, merchant shops, priestly yards, wells, bridges, guardhouses. The Moscow Gate led to the fortress from the southern ravelin, and the Spassky Gate from the northern one. In addition, there were four gates: Pavlovskaya, Tambovskaya, Korotoyakskaya and Kozlovskaya, named after the regiments based here.

Commissioned in November 1733, the St. Anna fortress continued to be completed and improved in subsequent years. Since the Prut Peace Treaty, which was unfavorable for Russia, ended in July 1736, according to the plan of the builders of the St. Anna fortress, it was to become the base of the Russian army in the upcoming war with Turkey.

The war broke out in the summer of 1735 and the reason for Russia declaring it to Turkey was the Tatar raids on Ukraine and the movement of the Crimean cavalry to Persia through Russian territory. In the autumn of the same year, Russian troops under the command of General Weisbach were to capture the Azov fortress. For this purpose, in the fortress of St. Anna, by order of Field Marshal Minich, the necessary supplies of food and provisions were created, siege artillery was prepared, and new ones were brought up.

However, due to the material unpreparedness of the Russian army, the blockade and assault on such a strong fortress as Azov had to be postponed until the spring-summer of next year.

On March 8, 1736, Field Marshal Minich arrived at the fortress of St. Anna to inspect the readiness of the fortress for the upcoming battles. By this time, a powerful provisions store had been established in the fortress, powder magazines had been built, and siege and field artillery had been repaired. In the fortress, the field marshal was informed of information received by Cossack intelligence: about five thousand Turks and Tatars were concentrated in Azov, but due to stormy weather, the Turkish fleet could not enter the Don from the sea.

Minikh ordered to urgently begin the siege of Azov. In the fortress of St. Anna at that time there were six thousand regular infantry, two thousand horse and 1.5 thousand foot Cossacks; the latter were commanded by the famous marching ataman Ivan Matveevich Krasnoshchekov and the military ataman Ivan Ivanovich Frolov. By order of Minikh, all these troops moved towards Azov.

On July 17, 1736, Russian troops under the command of Field Marshal Peter Lassi captured Azov. After this, the Lassi army moved to Perekop to go further to the Crimea, and its garrison with all services and the Soldiers' Settlement, located under the fortress and making up the Azov outstadt, were transferred to Azov from the fortress of St. Anna. Here they remained until the spring of 1742, when, in pursuance of the Belgrade Peace Treaty (September 18, 1739) and the Constantinople Convention (August 26, 1741), the Russians left the demilitarized Azov, withdrawing its garrison, weapons and equipment back to the Anninsky fortress.

Following the army and under its protection, the urban and townspeople of Azov moved to the fortress of St. Anna. In accordance with Article 3 of the Belgrade Peace Treaty, in the presence of Turkish observers, the fortifications of Azov were demolished and the fortress was empty. There was only a neutral trading point, where peaceful traders from Russia, the Caucasus, Turkey, and Crimea came.

In the spring of 1742, a period of prosperity began, a kind of “golden age” of the St. Anna fortress. It should be noted that according to the same 3rd article of the Belgrade Treaty, the fortress of St. Anne legally remained outside the territory of the Russian state, and Russia could only have a fortress here, but not a city. In fact, the Anninskaya fortress was a city, the successor of the former Azov, absorbing its Russian population.

The former Soldatskaya Sloboda at the fortress began to be called Podgorodnaya Sloboda, and after it was strengthened with redoubts - “outshtadt”. Trade began to develop in the fortress and suburb, and merchant shops and taverns appeared. The director of Russian fortresses, Field Marshal General P.I. Shuvalov, placed in the fortress the Constantinople Trading Company (which actually belonged to him), which had a monopoly on all foreign trade in raw materials in the south of Russia.

By July 1760, the garrison of the Anninsky fortress consisted of four regiments - Pavlovsky, Kozlovsky, Tambov and Korotoyaksky - a total of 4,750 people. By this time, a large stationary hospital already existed in the fortress.

Although it had a number of advantages, the fortress of St. Anna had significant disadvantages. Due to the unhealthy low-lying terrain, the garrison suffered from disease, and spring floods exacerbated these difficulties. The fortress was far from the mouth of the Don and the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov (more than 80 miles), which made it unreliable in the event of an attack by the Turks and did not contribute to the prosperity of international trade here. That is why, by signing the Belgrade Treaty with Turkey, Russia reserved the right to build a new fortress between Cherkassy and Azov, and Turkey could have the same fortress in the Kuban.

In order to select a site for the construction of a new fortress, by decree of the Governing Senate of July 31, 1744, Lieutenant General de Brigny was sent to the Don. After inspecting the territory, the Frenchman proposed three options: “1) From Azov along the Don River up and down the Dead Donets River, where a fortress called Donetskaya was built for safe communication with piers and transportation. 2) a place on the banks of the Don River above the Donetsk fortress at the last border with the Turks at the mouth of the Temernik River. 3) a place near the same river Temernik at the mouth on the other side of the Cherkassy side and in those places there are spring waters, and of all three places the second place should be honored for the best.”

On December 21, 1760, the Senate decided to transfer the garrison of the St. Anna fortress to the Bogaty Kolodez tract and to begin construction of temporary fortifications at this site. On September 21, 1761, in memory of the discovery of the relics of St. Demetrius of Rostov, a fortress of the same name was founded here (now the city of Rostov-on-Don). Its construction and the transfer of the garrison of the Anninsk Fortress here were carried out by engineer-captain Alexander Ivanovich Rigelman, special representative of Field Marshal, Count P.I. Shuvalova.

Since that time, the fortress of St. Anna has lost its former significance. Only part of the merchants who were resettled here in 1731 continued to live here. Subsequently, a timber exchange operated near the fortress. At the beginning of the 19th century, by order of Ataman M.I. Platov, near the fortress, the first Cherkassy fair was opened. To popularize it widely, the ataman ordered the organization of grandiose horse races, the winners of which received silver cups and harnesses. In the evening, in the vicinity of the Anninskaya fortress, barrels of tar were lit and fireworks in the form of a shield with the monogram of Emperor Alexander the First were burned.

Years passed, the buildings of the fortress gradually collapsed, and the area became wild. In the 1830s, a quarantine place was created on the territory of the former fortress and two small houses were built to house those infected with leprosy. Cossacks sick with this incurable disease were brought here, and here they were treated by the doctor of the Cherkassy district. Then these buildings were liquidated, the area was disinfected, and from the second half of the 19th century, the vegetable gardens of the residents of the village of Starocherkasskaya were located here. During the Soviet period, the interior space of the Anninskaya fortress was used for growing melons and melons by the Starocherkassky state farm.

From almost complete oblivion, the fortress of St. Anne returned in the 1970s, when by decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR of December 30, 1970, the Starocherkassk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve was formed, whose protected zone became the former fortress. On December 4, 1974, the Government of the Russian Federation, by its resolution number 624, included the St. Anna fortress, along with other objects of the Starocherkassk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, into the List of protected historical and cultural monuments of state (republican) significance.

And finally, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated February 20, 1995 (No. 176), the Anninsk Fortress, as part of all the monuments of the Starocherkassk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, was included in the “List of objects of historical and cultural heritage of federal (all-Russian) significance.”

In 2002 – 2003, the Moscow Institute for the Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments “Spetsproektrestavratsiya” developed an interesting project for the restoration and use of the St. Anna fortress as an object of wide display to domestic and foreign tourists. The implementation of the first stage of this project is scheduled for 2020.

A new phenomenon in the history of the old fortress was the international presentation of the film cluster, which took place here on August 25, 2016. Next to the fortress of St. Anne - with complete preservation of the fortress itself, its ramparts and ditches! – a film city will be built with streets of past centuries for filming domestic and foreign feature films. Popular actors from Russia and abroad took an active part in the presentation: Vasily Mishchenko, Alexey Nikulnikov, Anatoly Kotenev, Mark Dacascos and others.

With the implementation of this project, the old fortress will receive new life and accessibility for domestic and foreign tourists, thus emerging from centuries-old historical oblivion.

Starocherkassk land is replete with numerous historical monuments. Many of them are very well preserved and can be viewed, met and photographed. Also, our village, both in past centuries and now, is actively studied by scientists and even just amateurs who publish a lot of articles and publications. Members of the museum club “Young Guide” study these fragments of history, write reports, speak at school conferences and seminars, and 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 Starocherkassk Museum-Reserve. The museum has three protected zones - this is the Ratnenskoye tract with the Transfiguration Church, this monastery tract better known 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 know more about the fortress of St. Anna. Today we present the research work “Anninskaya 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 Anninskaya Fortress as a historical monument could not be resolved positively for a long time due to the lack of access roads. Despite the fact that in 2001 the village of Starocherkasskaya was connected by road to Aksai across the floodplain, the Anninskaya fortress remained aside, 4 kilometers from the main road. Currently, a country road leads to the fortress, which remains impassable for road transport most of the year. But this is only temporary; according to the master plan for the development of Starocherkassk as a tourist complex, the development of this protected zone is also envisaged.

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

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, a seal of inclusion in 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, this is an ancient sign of acceptance under patronage, an emblem of patronage and protection, well known in the 18th century.

As a monument - a sign, a monument - a symbol, the Anninskaya Fortress needs to preserve and protect its symbolic component, including preserving its visibility, symbolic purity and protecting it from the introduction of extraneous semantic dissonances into the visible picture of the symbolic monument.

The history of the Anninskaya fortress can be divided into several periods: Prehistory - 1711-1730; First period – 1730-1736; Second period - city fortress - 1741-1765; Third period – 1765-2009

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

The third period of the fortress’s existence was its oblivion for 2 centuries, which ensured the fortress’s rare preservation. 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 development scheme for the territory of the St. Anna fortress 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 planned to restore the historical setting of the fortress to its original form.

Background to the construction of the Anninskaya fortress.

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

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

The unsuccessful Prut campaign of Peter 1 erased 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 Transition. 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 location was unfortunate; it was flooded every year.

At the end of 1720, the decision was made that it would be 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 location 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 plans of the hillocks that were taken. Debrigny's main argument was that the Vasilievskie 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 lasted for a whole year. An engineer, Lieutenant Colonel De-Kolong, was sent to the Don, who, having examined the Vasilievsky Hills, provided his calculations for the construction of a new fortress. The Senate approved the construction of the fortress, agreeing with the arguments of Minich and De-Colong. The Senate verdict of March 10, 1730 also stated that the fortress was to be built in three years. On January 14, 1731, Field Marshal Count von Minich wrote a letter to Senator General-Chief M. M. Golitsyn with a request to give the name of a new fortress near the city of Cherkassy on the Vasilievsky Hills. On January 22, 1731, Empress Anna Ioanovna issued a decree naming a new fortress near the city of Cherkassk “Fortress of St. Anna.” In its abbreviated form, the fortress was most often called Anninskaya.

The first period of operation of the fortress was 1730-1736.

The construction of the new fortress was entrusted to the builder of the Kronstadt fortifications, engineer-Colonel De-Kolong. The foundation stone for the new fortress took place in May 1730. The Vyborg and Ryazan regiments took part in the construction of the fortress. The timber 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. The earthworks had to be covered with turf. The difficulty of construction was that the earthworks had to be erected on sandy soil, in an area periodically flooded with water, so the construction of the fortress was delayed. The ramparts of the Anninskaya fortress were constantly being washed away under the pressure of spring floods.

Engineer De-Kolong proposed lining the foot of the fortress ramparts with thorny thorns, which perfectly withstood spring floods, and also strengthened the ground and served as an additional means of defense. These plants still grow on the ramparts of the fortress, providing local residents with rich harvests of blackthorn berries.

At the first stage of its operation, the Anninsk Fortress was a pure military base of the Russian armed forces. It served as a support base for the invading army in the Crimean and Turkish directions. Therefore, the fortress was built as a powerful, bastion type with a main rampart, bastions, ravelins and bridgeheads along the main lines of attack of the alleged enemy. All bastions and ravelins were equipped with defensive artillery. A provision store and a powder magazine were established in the fortress itself. A tent Soldier's settlement and a Cossack settlement were built next to the fortress.

Built in basic terms in three years, the Anninsk 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 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 Minich himself, came to accept the readiness of the fortress.

During the Crimean-Turkish campaign of 1736-1737, the fortress of St. Anna served as a support base for the expeditionary force of the army of Field Marshal Lessie, which operated in the Azov region and numbered, according to various sources, from 55 thousand to 60 thousand people. This was the peak of the military significance of the fortress, the culmination of its military destiny, in which its purpose was fully realized and the first period of its existence ended.

The second period of operation of the fortress was 1741 - 1765.

After the capture of Azov on July 17, 1736, the garrison of the Anninskaya fortress was transferred in its entirety to the city of Azov, liberated from the Turks. The Soldatsky settlement at the Anninskaya fortress was also transferred here, which later formed the Azov outstadt. In the Anninskaya fortress there remained a provision store, gunpowder magazines, barns, a church, headquarters and regimental apartments, which were mostly empty until 1741. The Cossack settlement with its 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 entire garrison of the fortress was withdrawn back to the Anninsky fortress. The urban trading 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. Anne 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 old Azov, because it took over all its functions. And this was precisely the content of the second period of the fortress’s life.

The interior of the fortress is being built up with new quarters, merchant shops and taverns; customs was also transferred here. A prison with a prison and a guardhouse was built. The former Soldatskaya Sloboda at the fortress was turned into Podgornaya Sloboda, but after strengthening it with redoubts and a palisade it was called “Forstadt”.

The internal life of the fortress flowed in the direction of trade. The Russian-Constantinople trade campaign, led by Field Marshal Count P.I. Shuvalov, settled here. He gathered in his powerful hand the entire monopoly of foreign trade in raw materials. The Anninsk Fortress now combined new functions, not only a trading city, but also a warehouse, a transshipment base for international trade. Trade 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. A very profitable place from a commercial point of view was found for it on the high bank of the Don, convenient for establishing a port, a shipyard, customs and a large settlement. The foundation stone of the new fortress was carried out on September 21, 1761 with a new name in honor of St. Dmitry of Rostov. Construction was entrusted to engineer-captain A. I. Rigelman. Until 1765, all garrison services and institutions were withdrawn from the Anninsk Fortress.

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

In 1766, the Anninskaya Fortress was no longer listed in the register of state fortresses in Russia, although the civilian population continued to live here. At the end of the 18th century, the remaining structures of the Anninskaya fortress were used by the Cossacks for gunpowder warehouses 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 here, consisting of two houses in which up to forty sick people were placed. After the hospital closed, the interior of the fortress was not used until the beginning of the 20th century.

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

The fortress of St. Anne was never involved in military battles; this contributed to the rare preservation of its ramparts, ravelins and bastions. The Anninsk Fortress was included in the Starocherkassk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve by Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation No. 624 dated December 4, 1974 and was included in the list 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 Starocherkassk Museum-Reserve as a whole, as a single object of protection, was 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. The design work was carried out by the Moscow Institute for the Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments. Scientific and design documentation and a design solution for the use of the Anninsk Fortress were prepared by the institute’s team of authors 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 the option of recreating the central building complex of the fortress, around its main square, and partial restoration of the fortifications. First of all, the project proposes to restore: the Moscow Gate, the Spassky Gate and two ravelins with an exhibition of cannons and artillery.

All newly erected buildings will perform certain functions: museum and exhibition, 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 built in a random order, based on the needs of the museum and the organization of leisure time for tourists.

Fortifications of the Anninskaya fortress.

The Anninskaya fortress was located on the southern tip of the hill, bounded by the Don River, Lake Peschanoe, and the Erik Vasilyov and Gniloya rivers. The main structures lie on an area of ​​640 x 700 meters. The fortress has an earthen rampart in the form of a regular hexagon like the Star of David, it is also called the seal of Solomon. This is a hexagram formed by two intertwined equilateral triangles. A triangle with its apex facing up to the north represents the fire element, and a triangle with its apex facing downwards to the south represents the element of water. In the Middle Ages, this symbol was used to protect against enemy attacks. The Anninsk fortress is located with its peaks from north to south and has never been attacked by enemies.

The six corners of the fortress are six bastions. In 1733, powder magazines were built in bastions No. 3 and No. 6; by 1760, powder magazines were also built 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 with a prison for convicts was built.

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

Outside the walls of the Anninskaya fortress there were also fortifications, so 350 fathoms from the earthen ramparts on the banks of the Don River a rifle battery was built, which appeared on the plan of the fortress in 1739. It was planned to set up a coastal battery at the site of the battery to bombard 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 built with a log palisade made of a palisade and slingshots.
The fortress was surrounded by a dry moat; it was not intentionally filled 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 Anninskaya 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.

Internal structure of the Anninskaya fortress.

The internal structure of the fortress was determined by five directions, according to which its development was formed:
– management (brigadier’s yard, chief commandant’s house, garrison office and guardhouse);
– garrison institutions:
- supplies – barns for provisions and fodder;
- equipment - a warehouse for storing ammunition;
- weapons - arsenal, powder magazines, cannon yard;
– apartment unit (headquarters and chief officers’ apartments, soldiers’ barracks);
– engineering team (office and drafting buildings);
– security (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 residential areas 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 guardhouse building, there was another small square, on which a church with a courtyard and a sacristy was built in 1733. Around this square were located numerous provision stores.

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 of 1756 and 1761 there appears a salt barn, regimental offices, guardhouses at each bastion and a garrison school in which children studied.

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

After strengthening with redoubts and uniting this entire territory, it began to be designated as Forstadt of the Anninsky Fortress. The last two plans of the fortress in Forstadt show regimental blacksmiths, meat rows, taverns, regimental churches and training houses, sea barns and provision stores. In the Dolomanovskaya 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.

Currently, not a single building has survived, either on the territory of the fortress or outside it.

Garrison of the fortress of St. Anna.

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

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

In 1730, the fortress was founded, and 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 Minich arrived at the fortress.

The Anninskaya fortress was designated as a gathering point for troops for the assault on Azov. Instead of six complete regiments numbering up to 9,250 people, he found in the fortress only 4,000 infantry and 200 miners, having added the entire garrison to his army, Minikh went to Azov, leaving the Anninsky fortress almost empty. Only the civilian population remained to live in Vasilyevskaya Sloboda.

In the spring of 1740, there was a severe flood that flooded and destroyed Transition. General Levashov transferred his people from Trangement to the empty fortress of St. Anne. 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 were in charge of customs affairs. Then, after the construction of the Temernitsk customs house, 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 trading 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, in the fortress of St. Anna there were 5 regiments: Pavlovsky, Kozlovsky, Tambov and Korotoyarsky - with a total number of 4,750 people and the Azov Cossack regiment of 465 people. Until 1766, almost the entire garrison of the Anninskaya fortress was transferred to the new fortress of Dmitry Rostov. On maps and plans of the Lower Don, drawn up 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 took photographs. Then the school conducted a survey of schoolchildren with the following questions:
– What is the name of the fortress, which is located not far from our village?
-Who built this fortress?
– In what year was the fortress built?
– Why was the fortress abandoned?

It was also suggested to write a legend, tale or true story about the fortress. Almost everyone correctly identified the name of the fortress, but there were no clear answers to the remaining questions. Many people answer the question: Who built the fortress? They answered that the Cossacks, some suggested that the fortress was built by Ataman Danila Efremov or Empress Catherine II. The remaining questions caused some difficulties among the respondents and many were unable to answer them at all. As a result of the survey, members of the circle learned several interesting legends about the Anninsk Fortress.

For example, in past times there was an underground passage from the fortress all the way to the cathedral, that the Cossacks built this fortress in one night, they dug a ditch and erected ramparts with the help of their trukmenka 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 leadership of the engineer, the builder of Kronstadt, Colonel De-Colong. The fortress was originally founded as a military base for Russian troops during the Russian-Turkish wars. But after 1741, the fortress essentially turned into a city with a civilian merchant population. There were noisy bazaars and trades here, 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 route was connected to the fortress, which connected it with Moscow. Life was in full swing here, all trade transactions of the Russian-Constantinople Trading Company were carried out here.

However, the location of the fortress, its distance from trade routes and the constant threat of flooding in the spring, brought significant inconvenience and damage 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. A place was found for it on the high indigenous bank of the Don, convenient for establishing a port, shipyard, customs office and a large settlement. After the foundation of the fortress by Dmitry Rostovsky in 1761, the trade and military life of the Anninsk fortress began to fade.

Now, the fortress stands alone away from the tourist trails; we got the impression that it sleeps and keeps its secrets. The fortress can only be visited in summer in good weather. Here, clean air, stunning nature and soothing 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 Starocherkassk 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 piece of paradise, and maybe even work. Therefore, this work was called “Anninskaya Fortress Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow.”

LITERATURE AND DOCUMENTS USED:

1. Bayov AK. The Russian army during the reign of Empress Anna Ioanovna. 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 attractions. Novocherkassk 1906.
4. Lunin B V, Potapov N I. Azov campaigns of Peter I. 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. Fond 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. Anne of the 18th century. Volume 1 Book 5, part 1. Moscow. 2003