Golosov Ravine

Golosov Ravine (Голосов Овраг), also known as Vlasov (Власов) ravine is a deep ravine, Russia, between the Kolomenskoe Hill and Dyakovo Hill. The ravine has several springs and a brook streaming at its bottom. Up in the ravine, on the left side of it, there is a Neopagan shrine, organized around two venerated " sacred stones". In years 2006–2007, during the renovation of Kolomenskoe sides of the ravine were reinforced, and pedestrian paths and stairs were created on its sides.

History

Since ancient times, this ravine has always been shrouded in mystery. There was something unexplained that happened here all the time. For example, one amazing story was recorded in the 17th-century sources. In 1621, a small unit of the Crimean Tatars cavalry turned up at the walls of the Tsar's palace in Kolomna. It was immediately surrounded by the soldiers, who guarded the entrance to the palace. Being lost and disoriented, the horsemen claimed to be part of the armies of the Crimean khan Devlet I Giray that raided Moscow in 1571. Sensing defeat and wanting to avoid capture, they retreated into what we refer to as Golosov ravine, where they were quickly enveloped in thick mist. Spending what seemed to them like only a few minutes and trying to find their way back in, they found that fifty years had passed. One of the captives, named ''Murza'', said that the mist was unusual - of light green colour, but none of them paid attention to it in fear of the chasing. Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich ordered to hold an inquiry, which revealed that the men “probably told the truth.” They had even old-fashioned arms and armour (mostly of 1560s or 1570s types).

This wasn't the only reported case of time travel that took place in the vicinity of Golosov Ravine. In 19th century, such cases were documented by the Moscow province's police office. One such story was published in the newspaper ''“Moscovkie vedomosti”'' in July 1832. Two local villagers, ''Arhip Kuzmin'' and ''Ivan Botchkarev'', who had a big night out at a neighboring village, decided to take a shortcut home through Golosov Ravine. A blanket of thick greenish fog settled over the ravine, and all of a sudden, a corridor appeared. The men walked into it and met giant humanlike creatures, who tried to show them the way back by signs. A few minutes later, the villagers left the ravine and moved further. When they eventually came to their village, it appeared that twenty years had passed. Their wives and children have been significantly aged and hardly recognized them. The incident was reported to the police. An investigation was launched, during which one of the “time travellers” disappeared in the fog again without a trace.

For centuries, giant humanlike creatures have been periodically spotted in and around Golosov ravine. Such cases were recorded not only in the ancient and medieval chronicles, but also in the Soviet periodical press. Large hairy manlike creatures are most likely identified with leshy - a sort of bigfoot from Slavic mythology, who is more a man than an ape, and is more a woodland spirit than a mortal being. In 1926, a policeman reported seeing a “giant hairy wild man”, who was allegedly over two meters tall (6.6 ft) in Golosov Ravine. The policeman pulled out his pistol, but “the creature” instantly disappeared in the fog. Local schoolchildren were even involved in the search for the unusual guest, but any attempts to locate and catch him were unsuccessful. However, this unusual case made the front page of one of the metropolitan's dailies under the headline “Pioneers catching leshy” written by the journalist A.Ryazantsev.

The sacred stones

The "sacred stones of Kolomenskoe" are a pair of local sandstone rocks of peculiar shape, located high in the ravine. Some sources claim them to be granite boulders of glacial origin, but this seems to be a misconception. Both rocks have traces of manual processing, both old (exaggerating the shape of the stones), and new (as they have been vandalized by modern graffiti). Initially the stones were located further down the ravine, closer to the springs, but during one of the renovations of the park in the Soviet era they were dragged to the place where they reside now.

The ancient shrine of Veles

According to a recently popularized theory, Golosov Ravine might have initially hosted a shrine dedicated to the Slavic deity Veles. The name of Veles is said to be traceable in modern name of the ravine (Golosov or Vlasov, through Volosov, from Velesov). The shrine might have been later Christianized, with the stones re-interepreted by local inhabitants as traces of a famous battle between St. George (the patron saint of Moscow) and the dragon, thus preserving the ancient mythological motif under new names (see "Enemy of Perun and storm myth" section in Veles article).

Modern veneration practices

The stones have their own names: one is called ''Deviy'' (or ''Devichiy'', russian: Девий, Девичий, meaning "Virgin"), and is associated by modern worshipers with giving fertility to women, while the other one is called ''Gus’'' (''Гусь'', meaning "Goose"). Local lore tells that they help to cure certain diseases, so people come and sit by them, and also tie small pieces of tissue onto nearby trees.

History of the veneration

According to some sources, the stones were not continuously venerated by locals in the 20th century, which would mean that the tradition is discontinuous, and may not follow the older patterns, whatever they might have been.

Springs

The nearby springs are also considered sacred (miracle-bearing) in contemporary Eastern Orthodoxy,Чудотворные православные источники России
/ref> Neopagan and New-AgeСовсем не про Коломенское
- a comprehensive set of modern urban legends about Golosov Ravine (in Russian) traditions. Before the Revolution of 1917 there was a wooden chapel standing on top of (or near?) the springs,History of the ravine
at archnadzor.ru (in Russian) which implies that the springs were considered "sacred" or "holy" in the past as well. Several springs have (or had) their own names: Kadochka (literally: "Little Tub"; seemingly the most venerated one, with its sub-springs associated with St. George and Our Lady of Kazan); Peter and Paul's spring; the spring of the 12 apostles; St. Nicholas spring. Ю.Насимович. РЕКИ, ОЗЁРА И ПРУДЫ МОСКВЫ
(in Russian) Some of these springs were destroyed during the recent renovation works in the ravine.

References

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Sacred rocks
Slavic mythology
Religious buildings and structures in Moscow
Modern paganism in Russia