It is not surprising that in a country that has raised such typical robbers as Uranus, Stenka Razin, Eedka Sheludyak and others, there are many folk stories about treasures buried by robbers here and there, treasures, of course, fenced off by all sorts of conspiracies and witchcraft. Therefore, it is quite natural that the entire region of the mountainous bank of the Great River, along the stretch where the Volga freemen roamed especially widely, that is, starting from Simbirsk all the way to Tsaritsyn, is filled with beliefs, legends and stories about robbers and the treasures they buried; at the same time, of course, the name of Stenka Razin appears more often than others. This is the story about the tented treasure, buried, according to legend, in the village of Shaltrapakh, Buinsky federal department, Simbirsk province; Buried in this treasure is 40 pounds of gold, two chests of pearls, and 4 pounds of copper, and it all belonged to Stenka’s brother, Ivan Razin. Whoever gets the treasure, whoever succeeds in conquering it, can take the gold and pearls for himself, and give the copper away; The latter, of course, would not be difficult to fulfill, especially in view of 40 pounds of gold, but the problem is that until now no one has gotten their hands on the treasure. Another treasure, buried, according to tradition, in the villages of Matyunina, Sengileisky district, Simbirsk province, is even richer: the value of this treasure is estimated by the people's province at 104 million. rub. A half-crazed treasure hunter, peasant woman Abramova-Azovskaya, who lived in the village of Podvali in the sixties, always trying to get that “gap-grass” through which one could seize the treasure, reported a story about it that was so characteristic that we consider it necessary to quote it verbatim, borrowing from Mr. Demyanov’s book (206 pages). "A treasure of 104,000,000 rubles was placed in the courtyard of Philip Samsonov. There is a tin table nailed to a black oak table. There was a table at the exit; on the table there was a Gospel book, there was also a dish, and on the dishes there was a self-stone of one and a half pounds. In the corner of the exit there were 42 guns, around them there was a copper spike, or a ring shining like gold. At the exit there is a chapel, and in it there is a life-giving cross.
— 119 yes, Arsidima the Sick Mother and St. Nicholas the Merciful are right there; A large unquenchable candle burns in front of their icons. The treasure contains double gold, silver - all crosses, pearls and copper money all with horses. A bailiff (devil) stands near the treasure and doesn’t give money to anyone: suddenly the grass will be found at sunrise and the treasury will go there - there is a basement, the treasury will go there. “He will take this treasure, build a cathedral-church and put a life-giving cross in it, located at the exit, and take the icon of Arsidima Boyaya Maleri to the Solovetsky Monastery, where it was before.”
Four versets from the village of Trusleiki, according to legend, Razin also placed a treasure and an icon of the Mother of Bolya on the bee yard under the threshold of the hut. Whoever finds the icon will be given the treasure; Whoever starts looking for treasure without an icon will fall asleep forever.
Two versts from the village of Kuvay, Alatyrsky district, Simbirsk province, there is a small mound in the valleys of two hills covered with forest; A treasure is also buried in this mound, and above the treasure hangs an icon of the Mother of God in a golden robe on a golden chain. In the tented treasure, which was discussed above, there will also be an icon of the Mother of God with an unquenchable lamp in front of it.
Saving the gates in Kazan.
In any case, the most valuable treasure in popular belief is the one that was buried in the hill of Sotenka Razin and which did not fall into people’s hands, thanks to the frivolity of the barge hauler, who could not keep his silence. Even the popular imagination refuses to value it at even such an amazing price as the value of the Abramova-Azov treasure in the village of Matyunina.
The remarkable thing about the history of all these treasures is that although they were placed with well-known conspiracies, therefore with the participation of evil spirits, which is sometimes even present in the form of a bailiff-devil, as is the case in Matyunin’s treasure, yet each treasure cannot do without a sacred icon, the discovery and taking of which is an indispensable condition for the treasure to be given into the hands person. It is difficult to say how both are combined in the popular imagination, but nevertheless, it is so.
One of the unexplored ancient monuments in the region described is the Ukek settlement, located on the steep bank of the Volga, 15 versts below Saratov.