TOP 10 famous treasures of Russia, which have been looking for decades

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

The messages about the treasures found in Russia appear on average once every six months. In fact, they are found much more often, however, the relationship of treasure hunters with the law in our country does not contribute to publicity in this area. Every treasure hunter dreams of finding one of those famous treasures that they have been looking for for more than a dozen years …

Synopsis of Lenka Panteleev

The career of the famous St. Petersburg thief Lenka Panteleev is divided into three stages, one shorter than the other. Until 1922, Leonid Panteleev was a Red Army soldier and a Chekist. After the mysterious dismissal from the authorities, Panteleev became a kind of Robin Hood, robbing exclusively of the Nepmen and burning "earned" with a truly Russian scale. Pretty quickly Panteleev was caught, but in November 1922 he organized the only successful escape in the history of Kresty.

Freed in this way from prison, Lyonka decided to work hard, and then go abroad. Within two months, he carried out about 35 armed assassination raids; money, chains, bracelets, earrings, rings and other small valuables were taken from the victims. Lyonka did not manage to leave the country.

On the night of February 12, 1923, operatives tracked him down and shot him during his arrest. However, the wealth accumulated by Panteleev fell through the ground. At least, the St. Petersburg diggers are sure of this version, who continue to search for him to this day in the numerous underground passages of the city. From time to time they stumble upon bandit caches consisting of weapons, tools and other elements of thieves' life, but the grand prix has not yet been won.

What to look for: Gold coins, jewelry. Estimated cost to date - $ 150,000

Where to look: St. Petersburg; cellars of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Ligovsky catacombs and other undergrounds in the city center

Gold from the ship "Varyagin"

It is known that the cargo-passenger steamer "Varyagin" under the command of Captain Ovchinnikov, owned by the merchant Alexei Semenovich Varyagin, crashed in the Ussuri Bay on October 7, 1906.

He followed from Vladivostok to Sukhodol Bay (then called Gankgouza Bay) and, according to local newspapers, "carried out the delivery of mail and money for the population and military units", and also carried 250 passengers. But on its way the steamer came across a mine - one of those that remained in the gulf after the Russo-Japanese War. The steamer sank almost instantly; only 15 people managed to escape, including the captain.

This incident to this day remains the largest disaster in the history of Russian Far Eastern shipping, but the media did not have much influence at that time, and the case was quickly consigned to oblivion. Except for one detail: in a petition to the local governor-general, Varyagin's attorney asked "due to exceptional circumstances" to compensate the 60,000 rubles transported on the ship in gold, as well as some "especially valuable cargo."

The governor refused the merchant, but in 1913 Captain Ovchinnikov himself attempted a ship-lifting expedition. The ship was discovered, but it turned out that a successful operation would require much greater forces and resources. At first, the second expedition was postponed due to storms, then the First World War began, and then the revolution. Therefore, after the unsuccessful expedition of Captain Ovchinnikov, no attempts were made to raise the Varyagin.

What to look for: Gold coins. Estimated cost today - 3.5 billion rubles

Where to look: Vladivostok; Ussuri Bay, between the Three Stones section, Vargli Mountain and Sukhodol Bay

Kolchak's gold

Kolchak's gold is one of the most popular stories among today's treasure hunters. Therefore, it is not surprising that versions, indications, and search vectors vary widely. We only know for sure that in 1918 in Omsk, Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was proclaimed the Supreme Ruler of the Russian state - and this alternative power to the Bolsheviks was reinforced by most of the Russian gold reserve taken out by White troops from Kazan (where this reserve was evacuated at the beginning of the First World War).).

After checking in the Omsk branch of the state bank, the total cost of the stock was estimated at 650 million rubles. When, in 1921, after the defeat of Kolchak, the Czechoslovak corps gave gold to the Bolsheviks in exchange for guarantees of an unhindered exit from Russia, it turned out that the number of ingots had decreased, and now it is estimated at only 400 million.

The fate of about 250 million royal gold rubles remains unknown, and here versions have already appeared, among which it makes sense to single out two main ones. Some researchers believe that gold remained in the region: some in the underground passages under the building of the state bank branch and some in the ground, in the area of the village of Zakhlamino.

According to another version, the gold was sent by carts to Vladivostok. According to the testimony of the Estonian soldier Karl Purrok, who served in the Siberian regiment of the Kolchak army, the gold had to be unloaded at the Taiga station near Kemerovo and buried.

The second version is supported by the fact that at the beginning of 1941 the NKVD summoned Purrok from Estonia to help investigators in their Siberian searches. Having made many excavations in the indicated area, they never found anything. Purrok was arrested for “abuse of trust and deception of the authorities,” and died a year later in a forced labor camp.

What to Look for: Gold Bars

Where to look: Omsk, Omsk region, Kemerovo region, Taiga village

Treasure of the breeder Andrey Batashev

In the second half of the 18th century, Andrey Batashev, a wealthy Tula breeder, founded the village of Gus-Zhelezny, the first part of its name was given by the Gus River, which flows into the Oka, and the second - from the iron ore deposits that allowed Batashev to build a plant here. In fact, Batashev was the unlimited master of all these places and, having driven almost all the people from the villages under his control, in two years he built himself a grandiose manor-fortress, according to his contemporaries, "resembling much more the dwelling of a medieval feudal lord than the manor of a Russian landowner." The Trinity Cathedral, which has survived to this day, served as his home church.

Andrey's brother Ivan Batashev continued to be engaged in industry, and Andrey himself, according to numerous stories, gradually turned from a breeder into a local robber. At least it is known for certain that he abandoned all his industrial affairs and concentrated on building the estate, regularly going to Moscow to waste money. As for the surrounding lands, in spite of the annihilation of all robber bands declared by Batashev, the looting of passing carts continued. And 300 people involved in secret work inside the estate disappeared somewhere.

Until the death of the patron of Batashev, Prince Potemkin, there were no official questions to the breeder, but after Potemkin died, an audit arrived at the Eagle's Nest (as Batashev called his estate). Including in order to check the presence of a certain "secret mint". However, no untold wealth or apparent infringement was found.

The former breeder himself finally turned into a hermit and died on his estate in 1799. Despite the fact that Batashev was one of the richest Russians of his time, no significant material values were found in the estate after his death. To date, the manor house (where the children's sanatorium is now located), several outbuildings, the ruins of a theater and numerous greenhouses have survived.

However, archaeologists, historians and treasure hunters are worried not only and not so much as they are, as the secret system of underground passages and hiding places. But the estate is a historical monument, so it is extremely problematic to carry out any serious excavations here.

What to look for: different values

Where to look: Ryazan region, Gus-Zhelezny village, Eagle's Nest estate

Treasures of the Smolensk Bank

It is known that bank values were taken out of Smolensk, which was desperately resisting the Nazi troops, almost at the last moment. It is also known that at the beginning of August 1941, a column of eight trucks went to Vyazma, however, at the Solovyevskaya ferry, it was fired upon, and only five vehicles reached the nearest village of Otnosovo, the further fate of which is unknown (Vyazma, located 20 km to the east, is practically was captured by the Germans).

Despite the fact that nothing is known for certain about the cargo, it is customary to believe that it was these trucks that transported the values of the Smolensk Bank. This idea was put forward at one time by local residents, who claimed that when a bomb hit one of the trucks covered with a tarpaulin, “thousands of sparkling coins scattered like a fountain through the forest”.

It is assumed that the command of the column came to an unambiguous conclusion: it is no longer possible to take out the bank values safe and sound from the "Vyazma cauldron", and if the paper money could be burned, then the gold and silver had to be buried. The main proof of this story is the fact that after the war in Otnosovo, many silver coins of the 1924 issue were discovered, which went out of circulation long before the war. However, the whereabouts of the treasure itself are still unknown.

What to look for: Silver coins, gold bars. Estimated cost to date - $ 6.5 million

Where to look: Smolensk region, Otnosovo village

Wealth of Count Rostopchin

During the war of 1812, the historic Voronovo estate, 37 km from Moscow, was the residence of the Governor-General of Moscow, Count Rostopchin (about whom Tolstoy wrote rather dismissively in War and Peace). At one time Rostopchin managed to make something out of the estate that his contemporaries called little Versailles. Marble statues, antique vases and works of art were brought here from European capitals.

However, Rostopchin, who surrendered Moscow to Napoleon's troops, during the retreat, defiantly set fire to his palace and left a note in French: “The French! In Moscow, I left you two of my houses and movables for half a million rubles, but here you will find one ashes."

It is believed that in this way he made everyone understand that he destroyed his property - for no evacuation of valuables was carried out. However, contemporaries point to the general's strange behavior in the last days of the defense: Rostopchin, famous for his hospitality, did not invite anyone from the headquarters located near the estate to his estate.

Suspicious is the fact that Rostopchin did not even try to send anything of value with his servants and peasants who went to his other estate in the Lipetsk province. He carried out the arson personally, and in the event of a fire, even what could not be burned, for example, marble statues, disappeared.

Finally, everything began to add up to a single picture, when in 1983 specialists from the Spetsproektrestavratsiya institute discovered a long underground passage with a height of more than two meters on the territory. It was not possible to go far along it - its vaults turned out to be too fragile, and the course was covered with earth "in order to avoid accidents."

Thus, the existence of underground passages in Voronovo does not raise any doubts, but serious searches have not yet been carried out. Moreover, the Voronovo sanatorium has recently been opened on the territory of the former estate.

What to look for: porcelain, silver and bronze items, paintings, tapestries

Where to look: Sanatorium "Voronovo", 61st km of the Staro-Kaluzhskoe highway, 37 km from the Moscow Ring Road

Treasure of Sigismund III

The Time of Troubles, which is quite logical, was especially rich in burying valuables in the ground, and a considerable part of the treasures found in Russia date back to the 16th-17th centuries. However, the history of the main treasure of those times is still not over, but it begins with the words “I sent 923 carts from Moscow to the Kaluga Gate to Mozhaisk”. According to legend, the original of this pantry record was made on a copper plate and is kept in Warsaw, where the treasures plundered in Russia, intended for King Sigismund III, were sent.

As you know, in 1611 an uprising broke out in Moscow against the Polish occupiers, which was brutally suppressed and only led to further plunder of the capital. The Poles, according to Karamzin, "plundered the royal treasury, took all the utensils of our ancient crowned heads, their crowns, wands, vessels, rich clothes to send to Sigismund … tore off the salaries from the icons, divided gold, silver, pearls, stones and precious fabrics" … Whether these values were really going to be sent to Sigismund or whether one of his subordinates planned to use them in order to rule in Russia is unknown.

But the aforementioned 923 carts did not even reach Smolensk, disappearing along the way. At the same time, there are seemingly even precise indications of the burial place of the treasure: the treasures were buried 650 m from the churchyard of Nicholas the Wonderworker Lapotny, which stands by the Khvorostyanka River. The only problem is that no one today knows exactly what kind of churchyard it is, and too many places fall under the given geographical definition. Researchers agree on what to look for near modern Mozhaisk or in the vicinity of Aprelevka.

What to look for: Jewelry, Jewelry, Gold and Silver

Where to look: Moscow region, Mozhaisk, Aprelevka

Napoleon's treasure

The treasures seized by Napoleonic troops in Moscow are the same talk of the town as, for example, the library of Ivan the Terrible. Meanwhile, there is no reason to doubt their reality - but you can argue about the details endlessly.

Any history textbook will report that in October 1812, the French commander-in-chief decided to leave the captured capital, that his troops went to the Old Kaluga road, that Russian regiments blocked the way and forced uninvited guests to retreat along the Old Smolensk road.

It is known that under Napoleon there were two convoys: the so-called gold one with precious things from the Kremlin and an iron one with a collection of ancient weapons. They were followed by many more carts with loot - the French definitely did not want to leave Russia without trophies. But in addition to the Russian troops, Russian winter, Russian roads, and then famine intervened in their already spoiled plans.

The least valuable goods began to be thrown off after a few days, and the first treasure related to these events was found near the Nara River near Moscow (silver dishes were found there). Napoleon gave the order to destroy unnecessary carts and not leave anything to the Russians (that is, burn, drown or hide goods) even before they reached Mozhaisk. He kept his carts at least up to the Berezina River, after the battle at which it became clear: there was no time for treasures. The main thing is to get as many soldiers out of Russia as possible.

Belarusian researchers insist that the commander-in-chief dragged his carts further, while Russian treasure hunters believe that the valuables were flooded in one of the lakes in the west of the Smolensk region. At different times, repeated attempts were made to survey this area.

In the early 1960s, for example, Komsomol detachments went to the lakes - but without result. Today, expeditions to Lake Semlev are most often organized, since several years ago geophysicists discovered an increased content of silver and gold in its waters. The task for the seekers, however, is not an easy one - the bottom of the lake is covered with a 16-meter layer of silt.

What to look for: ancient weapons, a gilded cross from the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, silver chandeliers, candlesticks, diamonds, gold bullion and coins

Where to look: Smolensk region, Semlevo village, Lake Semlevskoe

Golden horses of Khan Batu

The horses of Batu Khan are a golden, in the literal sense of the word, dream of Volgograd treasure hunters. Once upon a time, two life-size golden horses adorned the entrance to Saray-Baty, the capital of the Golden Horde.

They were made by order of Batu from all the gold collected in a year as a tribute (plus ruby eyes). The next after Batu khan - Berke - moved them to his capital, his Saray, located not far from the present village of Tsarev in the Volgograd region.

They disappeared already under the famous Mama, or rather, simultaneously with him. As you know, Khan Mamai lost the Battle of Kulikovo, after which the Horde began to retreat and could not drag the two horses far. There is debate over whether the horses were whole gold or hollow, and whether they were hidden together or apart.

There is a version that one of them was buried together with Mamai. And therefore, it makes sense to look in the mounds, of which there are a great many in those places. For example, on the banks of the Akhtuba River, just below the city of Leninsk.

What to look for: a pair of golden horses

Where to look: Leninsky district of the Volgograd region

Suitcase with Bosporan gold

Strictly speaking, the suitcase, which treasure hunters often call gold, was black, and according to the documents it passed as "special cargo No. 15". But due to its contents, the suitcase more than lives up to its name. Seventy silver Pontic and Bosporan coins of the Mithridates time, Panticapaean coins of pure gold, gold Bosporan coins, Genoese, Byzantine, Turkish coins, medals, gold plaques, ancient jewelry - these and many other treasures of the III-V centuries A. D. e. were found in a Gothic burial and transferred to the Kerch Historical and Archaeological Museum in 1926.

They were lost only 15 years later. In September 1941, when the German units broke through to the Crimea, the director of the museum, Yuri Yulievich Marty, together with the secretary of the local city committee, Ivanenko, put the Gothic collection into a plywood suitcase upholstered with leatherette. With a suitcase, they first went through the Kerch Strait by ferry, and then by truck through Krasnodar to Armavir, where they handed it over together with the rest of the evacuated exhibits. However, the building where the valuables were kept was completely bombed in an air raid and burned down.

There were rumors that the "golden suitcase", as being of particular value, was kept separately, in the city executive committee, and therefore survived. Only in 1982, historians and researchers found out that later the suitcase was nevertheless taken to the village of Spokoinaya and fell into the hands of the partisans. All this was happening already at the moment when the area was completely surrounded by the Nazis. It is believed that they knew about the valuable cargo, but could not find it. Now visiting treasure hunters try to do this from time to time. They are looking, among other things, in the mountains and near the village, where the partisan detachment was once located - so far without result.

What to look for: 719 ancient objects made of gold and silver with a total weight of about 80 kg

Where to look: Otradnensky district of Krasnodar Territory, village Spokoynaya