The picture that appears to a person walking along the railway from Syzran to Samara is extremely impressive. Having reached the Farmers, he saw in front of him the beautiful Volga, carrying its waters in deep and wide valleys; and the elegant lace endless ribbon of the Alexander Bridge. When he approaches the bridge itself, in front of him are spread out a whole range of river and riverine expanses, the contemplation of which cannot help but impress the most insensitive person. Almost no less interesting is the picture of the Alexander Bridge, spanned over the mighty river, and from the ship, especially if you go up the river; it can be seen many miles away with both pillars, with its tall bulls and with the lace ribbon of its upper structure. In both cases, Alexander’s bridge made an extremely strong impression on nervous people; walking along it, sitting in the carriage, with the train running quietly, these people are filled with an almost invincible feeling of fear at the height at which they are located, and at the enormous width of the spans, under which the giant river rolls its muddy waters. The same people, when boarding a ship, experience a feeling of positive horror at the moment when the ship approaches under the bridge, and at a great height above it the train moving along the bridge rumbles.
Actually, it is better to admire the bridge itself, of course, from a steamship, but it is more advantageous to admire distant views from a railway train, traveling here at a considerable height above the Volga.
20 versts below the Alexander Bridge is the city of Syzran, the district town of the Simbirsk province. It extends not on the Volgf itself, but on the Volozh, the channel of which is navigable only in spring. Thus, the Syzran pier has a lift to the island and only in the spring does it move closer to the city. The main part of the city is located along the steep left bank of the Syzran river, at the confluence of the small Vrymza river.
Syzran was founded in 1688 in the interests of protecting Russian settlements from nomadic foreigners. Until now, the city has developed very poorly; The region adjacent to it is sparsely populated and undeveloped. Only from the beginning of the current year did the development of Syzran begin, which is especially strong.
dates back to the construction of the railway running through it. In na-
Currently the city has up to 80 thousand inhabitants and is constantly growing; spreading mainly to the east, towards the village of Batraki, spread over a huge extent along the banks of the Volga, 10 versts from the city and constituting a railway station, the last one before the Alexander Bridge.
On the site of the former castle in Syzran there are now three stone churches, an ancient stone balina, the building of official churches and several private houses; this entire small area of the city is still called z1e Kremlin. To the east, between the rivers VKrymza and Syzran, there is a town square, furnished with stone buildings; from here, right up to the exit from the city,
Simbirskaya Street stretches long, 21 versts. In essence, if you count from settlements of Ilyinskaya, Pokrovskaya and Preobrazhenskaya, then it will appear that Syzran is for”
It occupies a space slightly less extensive than that of Simbirsk, but in terms of presentability, only the city center and Simbirskaya Street have a relatively dapper appearance, while its outskirts are more reminiscent of a village than a county town. In industrial terms, however, perhaps the time is not far when Syzran will outshine Simbirsk; The Syzran pier is better than the Simbirsk one, and the railway track passing through the city is also of no small importance. T
The main trade activity of Syzran revolves around four fairs, of which the most important is the National Assembly Fair. Main subject export - grain and in particular, well-known throughout Russia under the name “Syzran”, millet of excellent processing.
Since we have already mentioned the village of Batraki, it would be appropriate to say here that this village, now lively and trading, spread over a long distance, and as a railway station very busy, in the past the table was the seat of the leaders of the Khlyst sect; The notorious Shambarov, together with his false apostles, was even buried 1/4 verst from the Farmers, on the so-called Mount Zion, and regarding his grave there is a rather original following belief among the Met residents.