Mologa is a left tributary of the Volga that flows into the Rybinsk reservoir, as well as the city of the same name with a tragic fate. Despite the fact that this name does not mean anything to many, its former residents, since 1960, regularly meet to honor the memory of their disappeared city.
If, in search of the meaning of the word "mologa", we look into the large Soviet encyclopedia (TSB), published before 1978, we will only be able to find information about the river under that name. Mologa is a left tributary of the Volga, belongs to the Tikhvin water system, flows through a swampy plain, strongly winding, and flows into the Rybinsk reservoir. Such cities as Bezhetsk, Pestovo, Ustyuzhna are located on the river. The information, of course, is correct, but not complete, because there was one more among these cities - the county town of Mologa.
Mologa: how it all began
The brevity of the encyclopedic information is understandable. Until the 1880s, information about Mologa was strictly prohibited. Nevertheless, the city was, and the first chronicle mentions of it date back to 1149, when the Kiev prince Izyaslav Mstislavich burnt all the villages along the Volga up to Mologa. It is unlikely that Mologa was then considered a city, but according to the assumption of scientists, at the beginning of the XIV century, after the death of Prince David of Yaroslavl, the inheritance on the Mologa River went to his son, Mikhail. As proof of his father's blessing, Mikhail had with him the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God, which became the Shrine of the Mologa Athanasievsky Monastery.
The location of Mologa was the best as a water trade route of communication and until the 16th century the city was ranked among the significant shopping centers of local importance and had several fairs. Trade subsided somewhat after the trade routes were forced to shift due to the beginning of the shallowing of the Volga. However, until the end of the 17th century, Mologa was listed as a palace settlement, and its fishermen had to supply a certain amount of sturgeon and sterlet to the royal court every year. The development of the settlement is evidenced by the data that from 1676 to 1682 the number of households increased from 125 to 1281. In subsequent years, the prosperity of the cities of the Tikhvin water system was facilitated by the improvements of Peter I, since he saw in it the main artery connecting the Volga with the Baltic Sea …
In 1777, Mologa received the status of a county town. By the end of the 19th century, it had over 7 thousand inhabitants, there were 3 fairs, 3 libraries, 9 educational institutions, several factories (brick, glue, bone-grinding, distillery). Residents mostly found employment on the spot, without leaving to work. There was an opportunity to engage in agriculture, fishing, and craft.
Execute, no mercy
Not everything was going smoothly in the fate of the district town of Mologa. So, in 1864, there was a terrible fire, as a result of which the largest part of the city burned down. The consequences of the fire were eliminated only after 20 years. However, many researchers studying this area note that thanks to the dry, healthy climate, Mologu has passed numerous epidemics of plague and cholera. 6 doctors successfully coped with minor illnesses, 3 midwives “came” to their aid. The work of charitable institutions was well organized in the city, so it was almost impossible to meet a beggar on the street.
The establishment of Soviet power in Mologa, although it met with resistance, passed without much bloodshed. From 1929 to 1940, the city was the center of the district of the same name, in fact, at the last date, the history of the settlement ended. If Mologa was not destroyed by the princely civil strife, fire, plague and lack of food in 1918, then the government did it, making a deadly decision for the city to flood.
It all began in 1935, with a decree on the construction of the Rybinsk and Uglich hydroelectric complexes. Initially, the project assumed the height of the water mirror above sea level of 98 m. It is at this level that Mologa is located. For the sake of increasing the capacity of the Rybinsk hydroelectric power station, after 2 years, it was decided to bring this level to the mark of 103 meters, which doubled the amount of flooded lands. 663 villages, the city of Mologa, 140 churches and 3 monasteries went under the water. The resettlement, which was planned to be carried out in 2 months, lasted for 4 years. In 1940, the city was finally flooded by the waters of the Rybinsk reservoir, but until now, once every 2 years, when the water level falls, Mologa comes to the surface, like a dumb reproach for the unreasonable destruction of cities.
Today Mologa is called either the Russian Atlantis, or the drowned city, or the ghost town, but the worst of all is the fact that not all residents have left their homes. Some refused to do so, having gone to the bottom together with the city. Monuments of Ancient culture and human destinies were also deformed. On a popular initiative, a museum of the Mologa region has been created today, and among scientists, disputes about the possibility of draining the reservoir and reviving the flooded place are not abating.