Columns of the Vyborg Bay

Video: Columns of the Vyborg Bay

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

By the will of providence, in the company of very pleasant women, fate brought me to the vicinity of the city of Vyborg to search and study the columns. I myself was not going there, and if it were not for the unrestrained activity of Lydia Solovieva, I probably would hardly ever find myself there. For which many thanks to her. And also a special thank you for the selected team in the person of Tatiana Gasnikova and Anna Kirillovskaya.

Two years ago, the public was excited by the news of the columns found in the Gulf of Finland. So we went to study them. News clip 2018.

The video says that these are the columns lost during the construction of the Issakievsky Cathedral. True, later versions appeared that it was allegedly for the Kazan Cathedral.

Now the crux of the matter.

At the moment, the water level in the Gulf of Finland is natural, despite the fact that there has been no rain for at least a week, and even more large, and the last days are sunny and quiet. In principle, I expected that the columns would hardly be above the water, not for July-August tea, but nevertheless such a hope glimmered. For it will be difficult to look for columns under water, especially if you do not have a clear understanding of their location. The columns were under water, but we still found them. I must say that it would hardly have happened alone, the water turned out to be rather muddy, and it was possible to see them only by looking ahead while standing in the boat. Sitting in a boat, you cannot see them in the distance, the refraction of the rays interferes.

And so it turned out. We have two columns and several blocks of the correct shape. Columns are side by side, in one axis, blocks are on the side of the columns. This is a frame from the video.

Now the technical information on the results of the study. This is granite, rocks of pink rapakivi (vyborgita). The brine (breed pattern) is medium-sized, in the bulk of the order of 2-4 cm, the largest brine spots have a diameter of up to 6.5-7 cm, with a pronounced rounded shape. There are many large spots (brine), they are not exceptional. The actual pattern of the breed is quite characteristic with very good distinctive features. There are many granite products of this breed in St. Petersburg. It is found in blocks of embankments, on Staro-Kalinkin and Lomonosov bridges, in a number of blocks at the base of the Kazan Cathedral, and so on. The columns of St. Isaac's Cathedral differ in design; small and medium-sized brine predominates there, mostly of irregular geometry. At least the columns of the lower colonnade, which I don’t remember on the upper one and I don’t have detailed photographs in my collection. After quarantine, it will be necessary to study this issue.

The columns currently lie at a depth of 120 cm. One is slightly deeper, partially covered with sand. The length of the columns is 930 cm, the diameter in the wide part is 140 cm, in the narrow part it is 130 cm. All measurements with an error of plus or minus 2 cm. The column that was less flooded was measured.

In the wide end, on both columns there is at least one protrusion of 3-4 cm. The protrusion is even, unambiguously of a technological nature. Most likely, there is the same protrusion on the reverse side, but it was not possible to check its presence at the moment. As well as in the narrow part. Too deep, out of reach. You also have to dig in the sand. If we assume that there is the same protrusion on the reverse side, and this is most likely so, since the presence of only one protrusion has no logical explanation, then there is a technological opening for fixing the granite block in a kind of clamp. And if so, the workpiece for the column either stood or hung horizontally in these very clamps. Simply put, they made it on a lathe. In this case, whether the cutter was rotating, whether the workpiece was rotating, it does not matter. What is important is what was done on the machine. By the way, the geometry of the columns is very accurate. This is not manual work with some kind of chisel by eye. This was a machine with a fixed cutter stroke on a slide. I found one palm-sized chip, but this is probably a trace of mechanical damage from a fall.

These are rough blanks. The ends are not finished. In addition, if we assume the decorative character of the columns, as indicated by the different diameters at the ends, then the columns were subject to further finishing. In the diagram, I showed the correct geometry of the columns. At the bottom of the column, where the so-called base is attached, a selection is made for the base of the column, always of a smaller diameter. Usually it is a monolith with the main body of the column, but sometimes it is a separate element. Where the column capital is placed, there is usually a flat platform. In gray, I showed how the columns in the bay look now.

Now to the question of where these columns were intended. I have already shown the size of the columns. The calculation of the weight of the columns will be as follows.

(1, 4 + 1, 3): 2 = 1, 35m is the average diameter of the columns. We calculate the volume as follows:

1.35 (average diameter): 2 = 0.675 (radius) x 0.675 = 0.456 (squared) x 3.34 = 1.43 (area of a circle) x 9.3 = 13.3 cubic meters. Multiply by the density of rapakivi 2, 7 and get 35, 9 tons. Round up to 36 tons. This is the weight of the rough pieces that are currently in the water. If we bring the column into the correct form, then we will have to reduce the radius by about 5 cm, and also take into account the base for the base. That is, the net weight of the column will be 2+ tons less. No more than 34 tons. And not less than 32 tons with approximate preservation of the general geometric parameters.

What do we have in fact. But in fact, we have the fact that these columns do not fit either under St. Isaac's Cathedral or under the Kazan Cathedral. According to various sources, the columns of the lower colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral have a weight of 114-117 tons with a length of 17 meters, and the upper colonnade is 64-67 tons with a length of 14 meters. This is according to the official reference books. True, there are also columns of four small domes (bell towers) and half-columns on the facade of the walls. Their size and weight are not known to me, but they do not seem to fit in size (smaller). The columns of the Kazan Cathedral weigh 26-30 tons according to various sources, while the official website of the cathedral indicates that they are 10.7 meters long. That is, also by. And according to the texture of the breed, they also do not fit. The rapa (spot) of the columns of the Kazan Cathedral is large, some more than 10 cm, that is, much larger than those of the columns in the Gulf of Finland.

By the way, I forgot to write. It should have been at the beginning of the article. Although those who regularly read my articles already know this, because I wrote this more than once. The word rapakivi, which everyone translates as "rotten stone" from the Finnish language, is not the correct translation. Rapa-kiwi, two roots in the word. Kiwi is a stone, brine is a stain, a round piece. The literal translation is a spotted stone, a speckled stone, and the like. The concept of "rotten stone" is slang among stone cutters, for the simple reason that moss, lichens and other mold grow on granites of the pink rapakivi rock. In contrast to gray granites, which, due to their fine-grainedness, and therefore less hygroscopicity and greater hardness, are almost not subject to all kinds of thickets. At least in the short term. That is why gray and black granites are often used, for example, on grave monuments. Put it on and forget it, no mold. On the monuments made of pink rapakivi, in a few years you will see ugly growths.

Now to the question of how the columns ended up there. I would like to start with the fact that the version that the columns from the barge, which were blown away by the wind during the delivery of the columns from the quarry in Puterlax (now Finland), is completely out of the question. This place is in a quiet cove hidden behind the peninsula. In this region, strong winds can be of only two directions. It is either west-southwest (Atlantic cyclones), or east-northeast, mainly in summer. Strong winds in other directions can be present only for a short time period measured in tens of minutes in the event of a thunderstorm. I have marked with the dotted line the approximate vector of the path from Puterlax. It is far.

And even if we assume that the delivery was carried out along the route along the coast, it still will not work, because all direct options for the demolition of the ship by the wind do not fall into the right place.

Here I painted everything in detail. The red star is where the columns are. Black circles represent stone ridges. Plus, it should be noted that all the banks are in stones. Solid mounds of wild stone, without obvious traces of processing. The bay is formed by a small stone promontory; there is a worked out granite quarry on it. It is marked with a yellow square. If we assume that the columns were worked out in this quarry, then in fact there are only three possible options for the pier. The most convenient and logical ones are marked with a yellow asterisk. There are two of them. Everything is smooth and clean there, a direct azimuth to the open sea (Vyborg Bay). Here is a photo of place number 1. Clickable (very nice). A huge almost flat stone platform, where birches stick out a convenient approach to the water.

This is number two. It peeps through the pine trees, you can see the sand. There are a couple of comfortable spots on the 60-70 meter section.

A blue star indicates a less convenient berth location. But nevertheless, theoretically, it can be assumed that the stone could be exported from there. True, in this case, you need to sniper through two stone ridges. One ridge can be seen in the center of the picture, the second did not get into the frame, it is right along the left edge of the photo. And the place itself is rocky, there are many pitfalls. This is the place. Clickable. In general, all photos will be clickable.

The quarry itself looks like this.

The last photo shows traces from two holes where the wedges were inserted when the stone was mined. In general, I would like to note that all the granite is in cracks and it is clearly seen that the stone (blocks) were mined along natural cracks. There are three tiers of block development in the vertical axis. The type of stone is the same as the type of the columns. However, it should be noted that in the foreseeable area, almost the entire granite massif of this particular rock with the characteristic pattern of brine described above. On the right edge of the image, you can see a relatively convenient place for a pier, this is still the same place at number two. With a high degree of probability, the pier was here, in any case I would have made it here. Now with regards to stone processing. There are traces of stone production in the quarry. Shards, extra fragments. At the same time, I did not see the place where the processing of blocks into a column could be. Apparently they cleaned up well, or the columns are not from here. In the diagram, I showed that the columns are in a secluded place in the depths of the bay. Provided that the berth is in zones 1 and 2, the vessel with columns could not get to this point in any way. It is theoretically possible to hit from a point marked with a blue asterisk. But under what conditions this would have happened is completely unclear. This is a closed bay, there can be no strong wind with a wave that could disrupt the ship from anchor. And who will load and send the ship somewhere in a storm? And in general, in an emergency, any captain first drops anchor so that the ship does not get carried away. In general, there is little logic, or rather not at all.

The most logical assumption would be that the vessel with columns skidded into the bay along the line marked in orange. Then it must be assumed that the columns were transported from the area indicated by the orange bracket. There is a large bay and it is possible that there were also granite workings (quarries). At the same time, it would also be quite logical to assume that the columns were just transported to this bay. That is, not from there, but there. Moreover, there is a fairly large settlement there, this is the village of Baltiets, with a fairly ancient history. For example, in this "Baltiytsa" there was a mansion of some local huckster or prince who desired stone columns in his garden, but did not grow together. In general, one can only guess.

And finally, the cherry on the cake. I would even say such a fat cherry. Crawling around the neighborhood, an incredible artifact was discovered that just hits the bull's-eye, proving my hypothesis about a grand catastrophe in the relatively recent past. Between the late 12th and mid-14th century, I guess, which I wrote about in a series of articles called "When Pra-Peter Drowned". Outcrops of soft igneous rocks have been discovered that formed a granite massif. At the same time, on the surface of the massif there are traces in the form of dents from falling stones. These stones are scattered all over the place. I imagined the visual of this event - eerie. There are traces of several exits of the liquid mass. Well, like liquid, relatively liquid. Judging by the traces, its consistency was comparable to that of dense sand or earth. Stones flew from the sky, large and small. The largest ones weighed under a hundred tons, there are several such stones, and some have rolled far enough over the smaller ones. Traces of the direction of flight of the stones were also found. That is, some literally fell from the sky, and some left striking traces in the horizontal longitudinal plane. And, most importantly, the caverns in these outlets are different, and the structure of the magmatic outlets (stone pattern) is also different. We have at least two events spaced apart in time. The first event squeezed out a rock of granite of exactly the same structure and pattern as on the columns. Large and medium rounded brine. Then traces of how this array tore apart and kicked out the second layer. It is lighter in color, it contains more fine grain, and round large brine is already in a rare variant.

The second time I will show this photo (where there is a convenient berth at number 1). Now look at the grayer granite in front and the lighter granite behind it. Gray in front, this is ordinary granite, like everywhere else, without traces of "softness". Behind it, light-colored granite with dents. And the dents left pebbles that lie on it. These stones came from the sky. Large stones in the background have several tens of cubic meters in volume and weigh under a hundred tons. The large pebble at the end lies on top of the small ones.

This lighter granite. All dents.

Do you see three stones in a row? Pay attention to the third one. It is red in color. One such. We drove the exits of such red granite by car about 20 km from this place. Can you imagine the scale of the cataclysm, in which a pebble flew tens of kilometers?

Now it is clear how the Koporye fortress flew up 100 meters above sea level. It was so sausage here that the earth literally boiled and shook. I think the height of the waves in some locations was measured in hundreds of meters. Everything, or almost everything, was lost.

Here are the footprints close up, and the striking footprint is visible.

After the cherry, there will be raspberries on the cake. Sweetheart. It lies in the traces of human activity on the not yet fully strengthened stone. When I first saw these traces, I was stunned. I walked for a long time and did not understand how this could be done. What tool. The circular saw disappears, there are traces that it cannot leave. The cable saw is also omitted. There is nothing to say about wedges, it is in the very middle of a granite plateau. Only the option with water cutting (waterjet cutting) came to mind. Despite the fact that it is very similar to the fact that it is only cut from the top. But the option with water cutting does not fit into any theory, this is a technology of the 21st century. I walked and thought until I saw the dents and realized that the granite was soft at some point. It looks like it was cut with something similar to a modern jigsaw. True, this "jigsaw" was clearly driving along some kind of guide, on some kind of trolley, it was too straight, and the two slots were too exactly parallel. It can be seen that there were two or three cuts. And one of them was apparently in manual mode, because there are locally some curvatures of the line compatible with the size of a human step. In general, here is a photo for you, see for yourself and think for yourself. Maybe tell me something. Both for cutting the stone and for the possible ways of delivering it. Including where and to whom. And as the columns were unloaded from the "flooded" barge. No overlaps, no traces of the barge itself.

This is the first cut, in "manual mode", from the water's edge. By the way, closer to the water, there are traces of erosion on the face, that is, delamination and delamination have already gone.