Secrets and Ghosts of the Nevyan Tower

The famous leaning tower, located almost in the center of the city of Nevyansk, is listed among the monuments of federal significance and is one of the architectural wonders of the Sverdlovsk region. The history of this unique structure dates back to the first half of the XVIII century and is full of dark secrets and mysteries, many of which historians have yet to unravel.

The structure is a massive square at the base, on which three octagonal tiers are built. The height of the Nevyansk tower is 57 meters, and the vertical deviation is almost two meters. Due to this tilt, it is often compared to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but in their purpose they differ fundamentally.

If the tower in Pisa was built as a monument, then Nevyanskaya performed many functions. In the XVIII century, there was a prison, and the Treasury, and the archive, and even a secret laboratory. And the construction of the tower is associated with the name of the famous industrialist Akinfiy Demidov, who wanted to have his own attraction in the Ural wilderness.

There is a beautiful story that it was thanks to Demidov’s desire that it was built under a slope, but this is not true. Nevyanskaya tower is not “falling” in the literal sense of the word. The thing is that due to the impact of nearby groundwater, the soil under it, as they say, “moved out”, and that it remained in a vertical position, the following tiers had to be adjusted with a deviation.

The name of the creator of the miracle tower history has not preserved. According to one legend, when its construction was completed, Akinfiy Demidov called the architect to the balcony of the upper tier to see if he could make another one. When he answered in the affirmative, the master pushed the architect down and he died.

But this is not the last of the sinister stories about this place. It is believed that in the Nevyansk tower, in addition to the treasury, prison and office, there were also several special cellars, in which there was some secret production with many serfs chained to the walls. And when Demidov learned that a check was coming to him, he ordered the floodgates to be raised and the basements flooded. One such basement, the researchers actually found, and it found shackles embedded in the wall, several human skeletons and particles of silver.

Traces of precious metals were also found in soot taken from the chimney of the furnaces on the third floor. According to one version, counterfeit money was minted here, the sample of which was even higher than in real coins issued by the imperial mint. And according to another theory, silver and gold were secretly smelted here, which was mined in Altai mines in secret from the state treasury.

Demidovs were generally famous as enterprising, but at the same time very harsh people. In all their factories there was strict discipline, so the prison cell, located on the first floor of the Nevyansk tower, was rarely empty. Brutal punishments were the norm and it is not surprising that many workers and craftsmen often just ran away from the Nevyansk factory. When they were caught, they were punished with brutal cruelty, according to legend, they were walled up alive in the walls of the tower. However, this is nothing more than a legend: no cavities and voids are found here.

 

There is another special room in the Nevyansk tower, known as the “hearing room”. It is arranged in such a way that a word spoken in a whisper in one corner is clearly audible at the opposite end of the room. At the same time, neither in the center nor in any other point of the statement is absolutely not heard. Why it was used in practice is not entirely clear. Perhaps it was just a mistake of the builders, but most likely the room served as another “bizarre” and was used to surprise visiting guests.

They had more to wonder about. For example, a specially grounded spire in the form of a “sun with spikes”, which served as a lightning rod or a clock mechanism installed on the upper floor. The latter was brought from England and cost five thousand rubles in gold, which exceeds the amount spent on the construction of the tower itself. At certain times, the clock still plays one of the programmed melodies, playing minuets, marches and fragments of operas. Initially, there were twenty of them, but the Ural craftsmen added a Russian folk song "You come in the red sunshine."

Nevyanskaya Tower is considered one of the brightest and most mysterious wonders of the Urals. Now there is a museum, on excursions to which both adults and children go. On some days, for the sharpness of sensations, you can climb the Nevyansk Tower even at night, in addition, newlyweds love to come here. Akinfiy Demidov himself meets them. However, only by prior arrangement, because this is not a ghost from a cruel past, but only a costumed part of the tour of the mysterious tower.

 

Anton Gataulin