82 the village of Lyskovo is located, built not on the Volga itself, but on the so-called Volozhk (channel of the Volga); This village was built on the site of ancient Sundovit and during the Razine rebellion it produced a fair number of rebels. The history of the village with the KHUP pillar was especially original when it became the patrimony of Prince YU. A. Gruzin, who was called “the Georgian prince.” This pompositor, with his enormous funds, obviously also possessed a wide imagination; imagining himself as a philanthropist and patron of all the oppressed, the “Georgian prince” with special joy accepted under his protection all kinds of runaways and vagabonds, as well as the wicked, the homeless from his neighbors. To all these people—and their permanent contingent numbered several hundred people—the “prince” was given free quarters and grub. Thus formed, this “hotel for wanderers” was famous for hundreds of miles around, and to the honor of the “Georgian prince” it was known, among other things, that tramps were accepted into it with discrimination: so, for example, an indispensable certificate was required that the newcomer was simply an ignorant person, or a tramp, but by no means a thief and not a murderer. Thus patronizing the seedy people, the “prince” at the same time was a thunderstorm for the federal authorities and an object of horror for the zemstvo polyp. Dealing in his own way with the peasants, and with the tramps, and with the countrymen of the Polischi, the “prince” did not give any treats to the merchants who traded during the fair in Makaryev, located opposite Lyskov. Contemporaries told how it happened. “The prince will begin to walk through the rows of the fair, and all the merchants will be at his waist; he'll shout at one, scold another, and sometimes he'll spit in the face or treat him with booze if something is very wrong with the merchant." Semevsky talks about such a case: one merchant, probably one of the new ones, strongly crossed something with the prince who was torturing some thing; the prince instantly flared up, screamed and rushed at the merchant; he rushed to run out of the shop, and the prince followed him; the merchant followed him to the lake; the merchant threw himself into the water, and the prince also threw himself into the water, but he could not reach the merchant; I’ll rip your heart off and forgive you”; but the merchant did not want to go out and receive forgiveness in the proposed way, but continued to stand in the water. So the prince stood, stood, his anger vanished, he went ashore and announced that he forgives the merchant. This is how the notorious “Georgian prince” remained until a very old age. He died 90 years old. Currently, Lyskovo is the heir of Countess Tolstoy (née Gruzinskaya) and plays a very important role in the field of grain trade and as one of the most important grain ports. The inhabitants of Lyskov number up to 8,000, and in addition to trade, they engage in iron chests, fireproof boxes, and grinding rye; For the last days of the winter, there are more than 200 windmills here. During high water, tugboats approach Lyskov itself, and three versts below Lyskov, in Isady, the offices of light steamers are located; Before the waters recede, there is communication between both villages by boat, and after the waters recede, the piers are transferred to the right bank opposite Makaryev and then they communicate with Lyskov by land over a distance of two miles. The appearance of Lyskov is much more reminiscent of a beautiful, narrow town or a village; it contains offices, shops, hotels, several factories, etc.
Opposite Lyskov, on the left bank of the Volga, the once rich town of Makaryev is located; The city itself cannot be seen from the Volga: it is surrounded by the Makaryev Monastery, located on the very bank of the river.
Both in their past and in their present, Makaryev and Lyskovo are as complete opposites as their locations are opposite:
right and left banks of the Volga. In former times, Lyskovo sided with Stenka Razin, was not averse to joining Pugachev, and willingly sympathized with Vanz Cain; at the same time, Makaryev has always been a stronghold of law and order, for which he suffered quite a bit of ruin from the lower-ranking freemen. At present, Lyskovo is a practical merchant, a fat merchant, living in the present, looking little into the future and regularly forgetting the past; Makaryev is a common representative of the principles of honor and loyalty, life
The village of Lyskovo.