"City of Kitezh" in Vladimirskoye

Along the route across North Zavolzhye and across the legendary Batiy's road Svetloyar is the culmination object. Here, according to the legends, having no desire to be captured by Batiy's army the city of righteous people - Great City of Kitezh - in a mysterious way was hidden under the waters of a lake subsequently called Svetloyar. This is a saint place and it is especially honored by the orthodoxy. In the 19th century the lake was a place for pilgrimage of Old Believers, it is here where arguments about beliefs took place. "When Batiy's army came very closely towards Kitezh righteous elderly monks prayed to Heaven Tsaritsa asking for help. Suddenly god's light lightened up those in need and God's Mother came from the sky holding a miracle cover in her hands, which hid the city of Kitesh. From that moment the city became invisible" as the legend says. This poetically sad legend about the invisible city of Kitezh is depicted in the basis of many landscapes, including pictures by Glazunov, Vasnetsov, Rerikh, Korovin, also in literature - poems by Maykov, Voloshin and others.

Melnikov-Pechersky in his novel "In Woods" wrote about Kitezh as follows: "...That city still exists but it is invisible...It is hidden miraculously. With the help of God's order... And on the lake Svetliy Yar on a quite summer evening you can see reflection in the water of the walls, churches, princes' houses...And one can hear music of Kitezh bells at nights...".

The theme of Kitezhsky Rus is becoming more acute as well as for Russian and for foreign tourists. In 2008 in France an opera will be staged based on motifs of Rimsky-Korsakov's work "Story about an invisible city of Kitezh and maiden Fevroniya".

The lake is a unique object and a monument both to historical-cultural and natural ancestry (has a status OOPT, a monument to nature of federal meaning). Unusual beauty and mystery of Svetloyar, special energy which in a mysterious way opens up creative abilities in a human being as well as connection with a higher and more refined world attract many people to these places. Many of them still hear ringing of bells at the lake. For the purposes of creating a visual image of the city of Kitezh it is planned to build a museum-tourist complex "The City of Kitezh" in Vladimirskoye (is. a historic settlement of regional meaning) in the suburbs of which the mysterious lake is situated. From the outside the complex should resemble an Old Russian city looking like Kitezh according to the legends. It will include: a museum "Kitezh" in the form of prince's house, optical theatre where based on a special technology films will be demonstrated showing the era and plots of the legend, also creative and handicrafts workshops, museum-exhibition hall, education centre, centre of non-traditional medicine, stylized chapel-belfry, a souvenir shop and a restaurant. Total approximate cost of the project - USD 2 million. Co-financing is necessary for creation of museum objects. Project-estimate documentation is at an assimilation stage.

      Near the complex there is an area of 8hectare (agricultural land) with a possibility to build tourist accommodation in the form of cottages (apart-hotels), approximate amount of investments - USD 3-4 million.