Neglinnaya. Underground river system of the Neglinka

"... The past passes before me..." Vladimir Alekseevich Gilyarovsky, "Moscow and Muscovites"

About 140 rivers and streams flow through the territory of modern Moscow. 39 of them have completely open channels, and 40 are completely withdrawn into collectors. One of the most famous is Neglinka or Neglinnaya

Neglinka is not the largest, but not the smallest tributary of the Moscow River within the city. It originates in the swamps behind Maryina Grove and flows seven and a half kilometers before its confluence with the Moscow River at the Vodovzvodnaya Tower
The river was first mentioned in city chronicles in 1401. Now it is hard to believe that the Neglinka was then a full-flowing river in which they fished and used it as a transport artery. The course of the river made it possible to arrange mills on its bed. During floods, the width of the river reached one and a half kilometers and a depth of up to 25 meters.

The origin of the name has only versions. Neglinok is a swamp. The Neglinna is a river with a sandy bottom. Or Neglimna from "negla" - larch. A river overgrown with these trees. After the confluence of the Neglinka River with the Naprudnaya River, in the area of ​​​​the present Garden Ring, the channel overflowed with a cascade of natural flowing ponds, from which the river rushed by itself towards the Kremlin. Hence another name for it - Samoteka. The reliability of any of the versions can not already be established. And is this certainty necessary?
Neglinka - unique phenomenon. In the sense that everyone knows about this river, but no one has seen it, since the first section of the channel was enclosed in a pipe back in 1819. But, being hidden from human eyes, how many traces Neglinka left in Moscow names! This is Neglinnaya Street, which completely repeats the riverbed, and three Neglinny Lane
Kuznetsky bridge, dismantled in the same 1819.
Only drawings-reconstructions of the Soviet artist and enthusiastic historian Lopyalo Karl Karlovich remained.
In total, four bridges were thrown across the Neglinka - Kuznetsky, Petrovsky (on the site of the Maly Theater), Voskresensky (near the former Resurrection Gate of Kitay-Gorod) and Troitsky. The latter is still alive and connects the Trinity Tower with Kutafya
Trubnaya Square is not the most euphonious name, perhaps. But it's all from the very pipe into which they put the unfortunate Neglinka
They began to “mock” the river even under Peter I at the very beginning of the 1700s, erecting fortifications on the banks of the Neglinka - bolters, intended to protect the Kremlin. This construction was associated with a change in the natural course and drainage of one of the channel ponds. V early XIX centuries, the bolters were dismantled, but the construction of the Earthen City required the conclusion of the channel in the collector. This is how the underground history of the river began.

Back in Catherine's time, it was enclosed in an underground pipe: piles were piled into the riverbed, covered with a stone vault, a wooden floor was laid, street water drains were arranged through drain wells and an underground sewer was made under the streets. In addition to the "legitimate" sewers laid from the streets for rain and domestic water, most wealthy homeowners led secret underground drains to Neglinka to drain sewage, instead of taking them out in barrels, as was the case everywhere in Moscow before the sewage system was installed. And all these sewage went to the Moscow River. The police knew this, the landlords knew about all this, and everyone must have thought: it wasn’t started by us, it won’t end with us!
The second major intervention in the life of Neglinka occurred 60 years later:

In the eighties, the virgin integrity of the Theater Square had to be violated for a short time, and for this reason. The light-water river Neglinka, enclosed in a pipe, due to poor sewerage, became a cesspool of sewage that flowed into the Moscow River and contaminated the water. Over the years, the pipe became clogged, it was never cleaned, and after each big downpour, the water flooded the streets, squares, and the lower floors of houses along Neglinny Proyezd. Then the water left, leaving a fetid silt on the street and filling the basement floors with sewage. So the years went by until they guessed to find out the reason. It turned out that the turns (and there were two of them: one - at the corner of the Maly Theater, and the other - on the square, under the fountain with the figures of the sculptor Vitali) were clogged with garbage from the city. The underground swamps that surrounded the square, as in ancient times, also had no way out. They began to rebuild Neglinka, opened its vaults
The third reconstruction of underground collectors was started in the 60s of the last century. The reason for the forced work was the same as that described by Gilyarovsky. With every heavy downpour, the area of ​​Trubnaya Square it flooded so that the water cascaded through the doors of shops and into the lower floors of houses in the area. This happened because the uncleaned underground cesspool of the Neglinka, carried out from Samoteka under Tsvetnoy Boulevard, Neglinny passage, Theater Square and under Alexander Garden up to the Moskva River, did not contain the water that overflowed it in rainy weather. It was positively a disaster
By the beginning of the seventies of the XX century, new concrete vaults were built, the original collectors were duplicated, which could no longer cope with the passage of floods due to storm wells tripled everywhere in the city.
If earlier part of the storm and melt water went to the Moscow River along the pavements or filtered through the soil, then with asphalt pavement all precipitation could get into it only through storm drains connected to Neglinka. Of particular concern was the throughput capacity of the collector section in front of the mouth. Therefore, below the Metropol Hotel, the river was divided, and a second underground channel was built with a mouth opposite Balchug
Neglinka could have undergone a fourth reincarnation. During the reconstruction of Manezhnaya Square in the 90s, one of the projects provided for the extraction of the river into the light of day in the area of ​​​​Alexandrovsky Garden. But this would require huge excavation and hydraulic works, since the depth of the river collector in this section is more than 7 meters. Fortunately, we limited ourselves to the "decorative" Neglinka along Kremlin wall
Once I was walking along Neglinnaya and opposite the State Bank and saw in the middle of the street a wooden hut surrounded by a fence, entered it, met the engineer who was doing the work - it turned out that he knew me, and agreed to my request to inspect the work. There was a gaping hole in the middle of the barracks, from which the end of the ladder protruded.

We went down to the Neglinka sewer in the park behind the Theater. Durov on the Olympic Avenue. The digger accompanying us first illuminated the slippery and rusty brackets from above, and then dived after us, deftly sliding the cast-iron hatch behind him.
No one paid attention to our operation - everything was done very quickly: they raised the grate, lowered the ladder. Foul steam billowed from the hole. Fedya the plumber climbed first; the hole, damp and dirty, was narrow, the ladder stood vertically, the back shuffled against the wall. There was a splash of water and a voice, as if from a crypt:

- Climb, or something!

Nobody paid any attention to us either. A local resident who walked in the park with a dog, most likely, has long been accustomed to idiots, every evening pulling on OZK boots on an inconspicuous bench in front of the monument and descending into the dungeon
I was left alone in this walled-up crypt and walked knee-deep in the seething water for about ten steps. Has stopped. There was darkness all around me. The darkness is impenetrable, the complete absence of light. I turned my head in all directions, but my eye did not distinguish anything

The collector does not really have any lighting. We were saved by headlamps and a powerful searchlight in the hands of a digger. In a narrow tunnel, this amount of light was quite enough
It was not difficult for me to find two daredevils who decided on this journey. One of them is a licenseless plumber Fedya, who made his living by day work, and the other is a former janitor, solid and thorough. It was his duty to lower the ladder, lower us into the cesspool between Samotyok and Trubnaya Square, and then meet us at the next flight and lower the ladder for our exit. Fedi's duty is to accompany me in the dungeon and shine

We easily found an ad about this excursion to the belly of the city on the Internet. It was harder to sign up. Those who wish are more than enough, and the groups consist of only six people. A large one will simply stretch out and can get lost in the numerous labyrinths of tunnels. Yes, and an interesting story of the guide, muffled by the sound of water and booming blows car tires through sewer manholes, can only be heard by being close to the narrator
We went forward through deep water, sometimes avoiding the waterfalls of street runoff that hummed under our feet. Suddenly, a terrible roar, as if from collapsing buildings, made me shudder. It was a cart passing over us. More and more often carriages thundered over my head

The roar of automobile wheels, with great speed slipping through hatches and gratings, at first really frightened. There was a feeling that something was constantly exploding upstairs. Then you start to get used to it, and after a couple of kilometers the collector goes to a considerable depth, and the noise from above ceases to reach at all
It was a continuation of my constant work on the study of the Moscow slums, with which Neglinka had a connection, as I had to find out in the dens of Grachevka and Tsvetnoy Boulevard

For us, it was a very unusual, but nevertheless quite planned excursion.
I moved further forward and heard a noise like the roar of a waterfall. Indeed, just next to me, a waterfall roared, scattering millions of dirty splashes, barely illuminated by the pale yellowish light from the opening of the street pipe. It turned out to be a sewage drain from a side hole in the wall.

Nothing gets into the modern Neglinka except spring water, which enters the channel through special ceramic pipes. This water, according to the guide, is drinkable. We did not dare to do so. But visually, the purity of the influx of doubts did not cause. However, diggers say that a few years ago, a pipe suddenly descended from a restaurant on Samotechnaya Square, through which sewage began to flow. This went on for a week, after which the diggers plugged the pipe mounting foam. What happened next in this restaurant, one can only guess
A few minutes later we stumbled upon a rise under our feet. There was a particularly thick heap of mud here, and, apparently, something had been piled up under the mud... They climbed over the heap, illuminating it with a lamp. I poked around with my foot, and something bounced under my boot ... We stepped over the pile and went on. In one of these drifts, I managed to see halfway covered with silt the corpse of a huge dog. It was especially difficult to get over the last skid before the exit to Trubnaya Square, where the stairs were waiting for us. Here the mud was especially thick, and something kept slipping underfoot. It was scary to think about it.

In the 1920s, Moscow was a very criminal city. The settlements inhabited by working people were especially famous. Those who lost at cards were indeed sometimes thrown into the Neglinka. Now, of course, there is no such nightmare. But there are still plenty of idiots. True, they are afraid to go beyond the ventilation shafts
We walked for a long time, in some places plunging into deep mud or inaccessible, fetid liquid mud, in some places bending over, since the drifts of mud were so high that it was impossible to go straight - I had to bend down, and still I reached the vault with my head and shoulders. My feet sank into the mud, occasionally bumping into something hard. All this swam with liquid mud, it was impossible to see, and was it before

The bottom of the collector is only slightly washed out with clean sand. There was no stench now, except the musty smell of damp bricks. Spring floods and flash floods, when water rises under the very arch of the collector, wash away everything accidentally falling through rain grates pollution
I hit my head on something, raised my hand and felt the wet, cold, warty, slime-covered stone vault and nervously jerked my hand away ...

Stalagmites from filtering through ancient masonry ground water are formed now. But they don’t have time to petrify, since their life span is maximum from spring to spring.

I pulled up my hunting boots, buttoned up my leather jacket, and began to descend. It was getting creepy. Finally, the sound of water and squelching was heard. Cold, bone-penetrating dampness gripped me

It's actually quite warm in the collector today. Heating pipes laid under the city involuntarily heat up the collector in winter. In summer, hot air does not penetrate deep into the wells. So the temperature all year round fluctuates around +10°C. What do banal champignons use for their own reproduction
But the humidity in the collector is excessive. I had to take pictures while holding my breath so that the exhaled vapor did not fog the picture

In some places, the collector is pretty spoiled by modern "architects"
It's a pity. The building is unique. Nowhere else in the world are there such pipes, representing in cross section egg standing at the sharp end. Try to crush it with a simple press of the palm of your hand. Not sure it's going to happen. In the same way, these collectors, without the slightest damage, withstood the foundations of newly erected buildings, and armored parades, and even bombing during the Great Patriotic War

I must say that Neglinka is now being monitored and quite closely. Once every three months, a special commission thoroughly examines the condition of all sections of the underground channel. Performed if necessary various repairs and cleaning. Diggers provide official assistance to city services
In this stench they walked to the first well and stumbled upon a lowered ladder. I raised my head, was delighted with the blue sky.

- Well, are you safe? Get out! - a voice boomed from above

It is hard to imagine that this ventilation shaft grating right in the middle of Trubnaya Square is the exit from the underground river
While serving in the editorial office of Evening Moscow, Vladimir Alekseevich Gilyarovsky visited all the underground tunnels of the Neglinka several times, despite the fact that the height of some of them does not exceed a meter, and the writer was under two meters tall. In addition to a book about Moscow and its inhabitants, Gilyarovsky wrote a series of essays on the underground life of the capital, thanks to which in 1926 the Moscow Council adopted a resolution to clean up the Neglinka channel clogged with rubbish. The writer himself called this document the epilogue of his articles in the city newspaper

In general, something like this ...

Few residents and guests of Moscow know that they are only a short distance from the underground river in the center of the capital. manhole and a few feet of land. Neglinka originates from the Pashensky swamp near Maryina Roshcha and, crossing the central quarters of the city from north to south, flows under the streets that owe their names to it: Samotechny square, boulevard and lane, Neglinnaya street and Trubnaya square.

The Neglinka is a legendary river of its kind. Not very long and full of water, it played a significant role in the life of Moscow: Neglinnaya contributed to the emergence of a valley on the banks of which the Kremlin stands. How the Neglinnaya River turned from a completely ordinary river into underground collectors, and what is its fate in modern Moscow, we will tell in this material.

Change of river names in history

The Neglinka River was first mentioned in the annals of the early 15th century under the name Neglimny. By the way, over the past years, this river has changed many names, including Neglinaya, Neglinna and Samoteka. According to one version, the last name appeared due to the fact that the middle course of the river in the area of ​​​​the present Trubnaya Square flowed from flowing ponds, that is, it flowed by gravity.

The role of Neglinka in the life of Moscow residents

It's hard to imagine, but once the Neglinnaya was a full-flowing river with clean water, and in its lower reaches it was even navigable. At the beginning of the 16th century, water for the moat around the Kremlin wall came from Neglinnaya. Dams were built on the river, forming six interconnected ponds used for fish farming. Water from the ponds was also taken to extinguish fires that were frequent at that time.

Pollution problems

However, already in the middle of the 18th century, the waters of the Neglinnaya were heavily polluted, as they were used as a waste drain for the needs of the rapidly growing population of Moscow and the developing industry. Part of the ponds, it was decided to lower. It should be added that Neglinnaya flooded in full water and flooded neighboring streets. Therefore, by 1775, Catherine II drew up a project in which Neglinnaya was ordered to “turn into open channel, with boulevards for walking along the banks.

Pipe construction

However, the open canal, fragrant throughout its length with sewage, did not contribute to improving the atmosphere in the capital, so it was decided to fill it up, having previously blocked it with arches. Military engineer E. Cheliev undertook the construction of the underground bed, and under his leadership, by 1819, a part of Neglinnaya from Samotechochnaya Street to the mouth was enclosed in a pipe, which was a three-kilometer brick vault. And the banks of the former canal turned into Neglinnaya Street.

First overhaul

Half a century later, the Neglinnaya collector stopped coping with the flow of water. During strong floods and heavy rains, the river made its way to the surface. The situation was complicated by the owners of the houses, who arranged makeshift tie-ins through which sewage was dumped into the river. And 1886-87. under the guidance of engineer N. Levacheva was produced overhaul underground channel. The tunnel was divided into three sections.

Shchekotovsky tunnel

In 1910-1914. According to the project of engineer M. Shchekotov, a section of the Neglinka collector was built, located under Theater Square. This tunnel, exactly 117 meters long, runs next to the Metropol Hotel and the Maly Theatre. Now it is called in honor of its creator - "Shchekotovsky Tunnel", and illegal excursions around the Neglinka are usually held here.

Flood problem

Despite the construction of more and more collectors, flooding did not stop - in the mid-60s of the last century, the Neglinka again broke out to the surface and flooded some streets so much that they had to travel by boat. When in the early 1970s the collector from Trubnaya Square to the Metropol Hotel was renovated and significantly expanded, the flooding finally stopped.

Neglinka at the end of the 20th century

By 1997, the studio of the artist and sculptor Zurab Tsereteli completed a project that included the reconstruction of the Neglinka riverbed from Alexander Garden to Manezhnaya Square. This artificially maintained closed-loop reservoir is not really an attempt to bring a section of the river out of the ground, as many Muscovites believe. At the moment, the imitation of Neglinka in this place is equipped with fountains and sculptures.

Three centuries ago, it was impossible to imagine Moscow without the Neglinnaya River. But the city developed rapidly, and by the end of the 18th century the river turned into a sewer. They even tried to improve it: ponds appeared on the site of Tsvetnoy Boulevard, and along the entire length of the current Neglinnaya Street, the riverbed was straightened and stone embankments were built. But this did not save from the smells of sewage, and they decided to shackle the fetid river into a pipe. This was done in 1819, just during the mass reconstruction of Moscow during the restoration after the fire of 1812.

Underground Moscow is a whole world, and Neglinnaya is the most famous and well-traveled underground river of the capital.

Let's take a walk along the old underground river and see how things look now —>

It would seem that Neglinka remained only in names - Neglinnaya Street, Kuznetsky Most. You can also go down to the Museum of Archeology and admire the Resurrection Bridge. Or approach the Trinity Bridge from the Kutafya Tower, and imagine that instead of a stream of people along the Alexander Garden, Neglinnaya carries its waters under the arch of the bridge. And few people think about the fate of the river after its imprisonment in the collector.

Let us turn to the Neglinnaya collector scheme:

Pre-revolutionary collectors are marked in red, Soviet collectors are marked in black.
So, we go down and find ourselves in the collector of 1906, with stunning brickwork.

We are under the square on Samotechnaya Street. View upstream to the north: the Neglinnaya collector goes to the left, straight ahead - the Naprudnaya river, the left tributary of the Neglinka.

All elements of the collector are very beautiful, despite the fact that this is an absolutely utilitarian structure.

Once again, look up before heading down the river. The hatch is very close, the surface of the earth is only a meter from the arch of the tunnel.

Before us is a straight section of 1906, we are under Samotechny Boulevard, we are going towards the Garden Ring.

Along the way, we meet various interesting things. For example, storm drain collectors. This is also 1906. All these tunnels were built open way. The egg-shaped form was obtained thanks to the wooden formwork, which was lined with bricks, and then moved on.

Smaller streams were let in ceramic pipes. These pipes were made at the beginning of the 20th century at a ceramic factory in the city of Borovichi. Pay attention to the elegant section with four stripes. When laying new concrete pipes, old ceramic pipes were filled up. Here, a tree root comes out of the pipe. Moreover, it was much larger, part of it had already been chopped off.

A little closer to the Garden Ring, the brick collector is plastered. In some places it is crossed by other communications. The river seems very muddy and dirty. But, it is worth noting that in Moscow the sewerage and storm drain systems are separate. There are no bad smells in the Neglinnaya sewer, it smells of rainy dampness! Although, for example, in St. Petersburg, Paris, London, Kiev and many other cities, sewerage and stormwater systems are common.

And here we are at the Garden Ring. There is a whole crossroads of underground roads. On the left is Neglinka's understudy. More to the left is a small tributary.
There was a snow chute here. Instead of concrete slab there was a grate on top, through which snow was thrown into the collector from above back in the early 2000s.

A small influx right side. A ladder is visible upstairs and a well leading to the hatch.

We cross the Garden Ring. This is a collector from the 1880s. The base, the water tray and the lower parts of the walls are made of white stone. Above - plastered brick. Attention! There is a sharp left turn ahead.

Until 1974, the collector went further straight, and then a new tunnel was laid parallel to it on the left, and now the river turns 90 degrees to the left, in its direction. The old collector was preserved, but the passage to it was blocked. Now it can only be reached from Trubnaya Square. What is there, around the corner?

Around the corner is a waterfall, albeit a small one. It is not difficult to overcome it.

You can get to this place if you turn left after the waterfall, against the current of the river. This is part of the 1974 tunnel under the Garden Ring, so there is no current here.

From the jumper with the waterfall we, together with the waters of the Neglinnaya, turn sharply to the right and find ourselves in a long reinforced concrete sewer under Tsvetnoy Boulevard. And yet, why did they lay a new collector here parallel to the old one? The reason is floods. And it's not just the 19th century. Imagine, in the 1960s and early 1970s, Tsvetnoy Boulevard and Trubnaya Square turned into a water surface several times.

1960 flood. Neglinnaya street

The old collector of 1819 did not always cope with the volume of water during heavy summer showers. Almost every year there were small floods, Muscovites especially remember the floods of 1949, 1960, 1965 and 1973.

1960 flood. Garden Ring, Samotechnaya Square. Ahead is Tsvetnoy Boulevard.

The patience of the city authorities snapped, and in 1974 they laid a new concrete sewer, much wider than the original one. The difference is obvious, the old collector passed only 13.7 m3 / s of water, and the new one - 66.5 m3 / s. Neglinka was tamed, and since then it has not gone outside.

The collector was built in an open way, from precast concrete elements. The new tunnel ran from the Garden Ring to Teatralny Proyezd: under Tsvetnoy Boulevard and Neglinnaya Street.

The hatch and the light from it are very close.

We pass the entire Tsvetnoy Boulevard along the concrete sewer of 1974, and turn right under Trubnaya Square. This is what we were looking for - the legendary "Gilyarovsky Path", a fragment of the original collector of 1819. Water has not flowed here for more than 40 years.

Vladimir Gilyarovsky:
“And on a hot July day, we raised the iron grate of the drain well in front of Malyushin’s house, near Samoteka, and lowered a ladder there. No one paid attention to our operation - everything was done very quickly: they raised the grate, lowered the ladder. A fetid steam was pouring out of the hole.

Malyushin's house is house 19. It was located at the site of the current exit from the Tsvetnoy Bulvar metro station. From there, Gilyarovsky walked along the Neglinka to Trubnaya Square. And climbed to the surface approximately where we enter this area:

Gilyarovsky trail. This original sewer is wider and lower in cross-section than the one that runs under Gravity Street. The photo was taken from point 1 (look at the map).

Gilyarovsky:
“I was left alone in this walled-up crypt and walked knee-deep in the seething water for ten steps. Has stopped. There was darkness all around me. The darkness is impenetrable, the complete absence of light. I turned my head in all directions, but my eyes did not distinguish anything.

I hit my head on something, raised my hand and felt the wet, cold, warty, slime-covered stone vault and nervously jerked my hand away ... It even became frightening. It was quiet, only the water gurgled below. Every second of waiting for a worker with fire seemed like an eternity to me.

Gilyarovsky:
“With the help of a light bulb, I examined the walls of the dungeon, damp, covered with thick slime. We walked for a long time, in some places plunging into deep mud or inaccessible, fetid liquid mud, in some places bending over, since the drifts of mud were so high that it was impossible to go straight - I had to bend down, and still I reached the vault with my head and shoulders. My feet sank into the mud, occasionally bumping into something hard. All this swam with liquid mud, it was impossible to see, and indeed it was before that.

We have reached point 2. Now this collector is a dead end. The water here is stagnant, and since there is no current, further - impassable mud. Somewhere out there, in the distance, is the same hatch into which Gilyarovsky descended.

Gilyarovsky:
“Again, above us is a quadrangle of clear sky. A few minutes later we stumbled upon a rise under our feet. There was a particularly thick heap of mud here, and, apparently, something had been piled up under the mud... They climbed over the heap, illuminating it with a lamp. I poked around with my foot, and something bounced under my boot ... We stepped over the pile and went on. In one of these drifts, I managed to see halfway covered with silt the corpse of a huge dog. It was especially difficult to get over the last skid before the exit to Trubnaya Square, where the stairs were waiting for us. Here the mud was especially thick, and something always slipped underfoot. It was scary to think about it.
But Fedya still broke through:
“I’m telling you right: we go after people.”

And this could well be true, because the places around are gangsters - the slum Grachevka with taverns, brothels and rooming houses. What is only one tavern Hell - a hotbed of crime. In the middle of the 19th century, Governor-General Zakrevsky even ordered the trees on Trubnoy Boulevard to be cut down so that bandits would not hide in the thickets. And on the boulevard itself, flower shops were set up to cultivate it and the most criminal boulevard in Moscow was renamed Tsvetnoy.

The vault is brick and plastered, the base is white stone. On the bricks of the vault there are hallmarks:

Brick stamp with the abbreviation KAZ. These stamps date back to the 1810s - 1830s, which corresponds to the construction of the Neglinnaya collector.

We return along the Gilyarovsky path back to Trubnaya Square.

By the way, Trubnaya Square is called so not because the Neglinka flows in the pipe. The name is much older. In this place, from the end of the 16th century, Neglinnaya crossed the fortress wall of the White City. For some reason, the arch in the wall for the river was called a pipe:

Trubnaya Square at the beginning of the 18th century. Reconstruction by Apollinary Vasnetsov

The name spread to the surrounding area and then justified itself when the river was really chained into a "pipe". Tsvetnoy Boulevard in the first half of the 19th century was called Trubnoy.

And now a little about the inhabitants of Neglinnaya.

Where without cockroaches! Here they are of a noble color, the color of mahogany. 3-4 centimeters long. In 2010, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov came down to Neglinka and spoke about others, white and 10 cm:

“Large cockroaches live and thrive there, which we could not even imagine in our everyday life - about ten centimeters. They are white, because it is dark there, and they do not want a person to touch them with their hands. I tried this but they immediately jump into the water. They are good swimmers.

Suddenly, the concrete sewer breaks and beauty awaits us ahead:

In the frame, the so-called Shchekotovsky tunnel is a section laid by engineer M.P. Shchekotov in 1914 under Theater Square. This section is only 117 meters long, 3.6 meters high and 5.8 meters wide. Not just a monument of engineering art, but also insanely a nice place. Brickwork mesmerizing! There is not a single corner here, the entire section line is smooth, as if the influence of Art Nouveau is felt. Everything was built using wooden formwork. And this is the only one of the pre-revolutionary tunnels of the Neglinnaya, in which there are sidewalks on the sides of the man-made river bed. There is evidence that they wanted to make the entire Neglinnaya collector from Tsvetnoy Boulevard the same, but the outbreak of the First World War prevented it.

In the previous frame, traces of exits of the old sewer from the beginning of the 19th century are visible on the sides, which is now out of service.

The turn of the Shchekotovsky tunnel is the most beautiful place in the Neglinnaya. It was here that Yuri Luzhkov descended.

This tunnel runs from the corner of the Maly Theater obliquely under Teatralnaya Proyezd, and makes a turn already under Theater Square. Prior to its construction, the narrow old sewer ran from Neglinnaya Street almost to the wall of the Metropol Hotel and turned right at a right angle. For this reason, great blockages constantly occurred here, and because of them - floods. The construction of the Shchekotovsky tunnel solved the problem in the Theater Square area.

In the meantime, we approached the finish point - the slide chamber under the park on Theater Square.

Fork. The collector under the blocks of Kitay-gorod goes straight out, flowing into the Moscow River near Zaryadye. It was built in 1966 in a closed way(driving shield). And to the right is the old collector of 1819, passing under the Alexander Garden. It was reconstructed and is now used as a reserve watercourse in case of a strong reservoir filling. Three years ago, through this tunnel it was possible to reach the place where it flows into the Moscow River at the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge. But then bars were put here and any movement in this tunnel is subject to complex approvals from the FSO.

We are standing at point 4 - at the fork. Point 3 - the beginning of the Shchekotovsky tunnel.

The beauty of Moscow even underground!

Text: Alexander Ivanov
Photo: found on the Internet

The Neglinka River (Neglinaya) was first mentioned in the annals of 1401 as the Neglimna River. Over the years, it has had a number of names, including Neglinna, Neglimna and even Samoteka. There are several versions of the origin of this toponym.

One of them says that the name comes from the many swamps and swamps that were in its channel. "Neglinkok" in ancient times meant a swampy place with springs or just a swamp.

The next assumption, which was made by philologists, in particular, Galina Petrovna Smolitskaya, the name comes from the hydrological component of the river - its sandy and "non-clay" bed.

The toponym "Neglimna" is associated with the northern term, which sounds like "megla" (also - "negla" and "negla") and means "larch". In this case, a definition is given to the river, which is overgrown with larch.

Photo 1. Artificial bed of the Neglinnaya River in the city of Moscow

The famous philologist Vladimir Nikolaevich Toporov in 1972 put forward another hypothesis and connected the name of the Neglinna/Neglimna river with Baltic roots, breaking it into syllables - Ne-glim-in-. It is the root "gilm" in Lithuanian that means "depth". Thus, in the end we get a "shallow river".

Another name for Neglinnaya (Neglinka) - Samoteka - is associated with rivers that flowed from flowing ponds, i.e. flowed by itself. This toponym was applied to the river in its middle course in the region of the present and. Based on other sources, this was the name of the part of the river, starting from its upper reaches and up to the confluence with another river - the Naprudnaya.

Photo 2. The former bed of the Neglinka near Manezhnaya Square was dressed in granite

The Neglinnaya River in antiquity

It is hard to believe today, but in ancient times the Neglinnaya (Neglinka) was a full-flowing river, which was used not only for fishing, damming watermills and as a means of communication, but also as an important fortification that protected from the western and northwestern direction.

The total length of the river channel was about 7.5 kilometers. The source was located in the area of ​​​​the current Maryina Grove. During floods, the width of the river reached one and a half kilometers and a depth of up to 25 meters.

In the area of ​​the current Samotechny Boulevard, the Naprudnaya River flowed into Neglinnaya, which originated in the area and Trifonovskaya Street. The toponym is associated with the grand ducal settlement of Naprudnoe, which has been mentioned since the time of Ivan Kalita.

Neglinka in the 15th-17th centuries

The waters of this same Samotyok through a stone pipe once arranged fell straight into the Earthen City and then overflowed again in its course.

The next obstacle in the way of the river was an opening in the fortress wall, which was equipped with a grate. This gap was called the "Pipe" and was located in the area of ​​​​the current Trubnaya Square.

Further, before confluence with the Moscow River, bridges were thrown across the bed of the Neglinnaya (Neglinka): Kuznetsky, Petrovsky (discovered during the reconstruction of the building of the Maly Theater), Voskresensky (near the former Kitai-Gorod) and Troitsky (still located between the Kremlin towers - Troitskaya and Kutafya).

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the waters of the Neglinka filled the moat, which stretched along the Kremlin walls. During this period, there were six ponds along the entire course, some of which were drained in the middle of the 18th century.

In the spring flood, the Neglinnaya flooded the entire low-lying valley. To imagine this, we list the areas that were flooded - these are the neighborhoods around, the area from Rakhmanovsky lane to, the area between and the building of the State Duma.

River in the 18th century

The Northern War, which lasted from 1700 to 1721, made its mark on the history of Neglinnaya (Neglinka). So, by order of Peter the Great, to protect the Kremlin walls, only along the riverbed were erected 5 bolters - defensive structures, which in plan were a triangle. This construction was associated with the diversion of the natural channel a little to the west of the former place, for which the Swan Pond was even lowered, located at.

The Swedes did not reach Moscow and in the period from 1821 to 1823 the bolters were dismantled.

In the 80s of the XVIII century, in the area of ​​the Upper Neglinny Pond that existed then, an embankment was built, which was decorated using iron bars and wild stone. The project was made by engineer Ivan Kondratievich Gerard. Muscovites liked the place and became "a pleasant amusement park for all hunters to walk around."

It is worth noting that the waters of the Neglinnaya (Neglinka), as well as the Naprudnaya River with Samotechny Ponds, were clean and suitable for fishing. Ecological cleanliness, as they say today, was monitored by a special division of the Police Office: the townsfolk were forbidden to bathe horses and rinse clothes here. The Neglinensky ponds were rented out to merchants for fish breeding. During the winter, local ice was in demand because of its purity and it was harvested for the then "refrigerators" - glaciers.

True, the lower course of the river could not boast of such. Because of the heavy pollution, the dams in these places were called "nasty".

The Neglinnaya or Neglinka River is completely hidden from the eyes of Muscovites: this river, 7.5 km long, dates back to the 19th century. was hidden in the sewer. Neglinka has become a legend among metropolitan diggers, an unusual attraction that people go to.

There are several versions of the origin of this toponym. The most common option: the river got its name due to the fact that its bed is sandy, without clay impurities. Philologists do not exclude that the toponym could come from the northern word "negla" (willow) or from the Lithuanian root "giml" ("depth"). In addition, in ancient times, a marshland was called a neglink.

The first chronicle mention of the Neglinka River dates back to 1401. Judging by the old records, at that time the Neglinka was a powerful water artery. They fished in the river, put mills on it and even used it for navigation. Neglinka also performed a defensive function, being a natural barrier on the way to. In the spring flood, the width of the Neglinka in some places was 1.5 km, and the depth was 25 m.

The river originates in the Maryina Roshcha area, flows into the Moscow River at. The Neglinka has several tributaries, the largest of which is the Naprudnaya River.

In the XVI century. the Neglinka River fed six Moscow ponds, as well as a wide moat near the Kremlin. Numerous disasters are also associated with the Neglinka: it is this river that is “responsible” for large-scale Moscow floods of the 16th-19th centuries.

At the beginning of the XVIII century. Peter I ordered to additionally strengthen the Kremlin with five bolters: sheer triangular walls, under which there were deep ditches. The ditches were flooded with the waters of the Neglinka River, in addition, for these purposes, the Swan Pond was completely lowered, which disappeared forever from the map of Moscow.

Despite Peter's fears, the Swedish troops did not enter Moscow. And in 1823, the Kremlin bolverki were demolished.

In the upper reaches, the water of the Neglinka River was exceptionally pure: the sand acted as a natural filter. Up until the 19th century. the river was used as a natural "farm" for growing fish. Merchants bought a license for this activity from the Moscow authorities. In winter, ice from the Neglinka was transported throughout Moscow and used to store food. A special police department monitored the purity of the water: Muscovites were strictly forbidden to wash clothes in Neglinka and wash horses.

Downstream, the ecological situation was no longer so joyful: due to a large number dam water became muddy. The lower reaches of the Neglinka were popularly called "nasty places".

The turning point in the history of the river came at the beginning of the 19th century. The city authorities decided to hide under the ground part of the Neglinka with a length of about 3 km. The plan of a grandiose brick collector was developed by engineer E.G. Cheliev. In addition, he created a unique cement composition that is not afraid of moisture.

In 1817, work began on the "bricking up" of Neglinka, in 1819 they were completed. Despite the quality of the collector, the river from time to time got out, flooding the surrounding areas. The causes of flooding were showers, floods and clogged pipes.

In 1860, the collector was lengthened by 1 km, and in 1970 Neglinka was almost completely hidden from the eyes of Moscow residents. The river has become a kind of ghost attraction, a legend among diggers, lovers of history and archeology.

But despite all attempts to hide the Neglinka, from time to time this river breaks out of its underground channel. For example, in 2015, the Neglinka flood caused by rain flooded the streets of the center of Moscow.

Excursions to Neglinka

The passage along the artificial channel of the Neglinka was described in his book "Moscow and Muscovites" by the famous writer and journalist V. Gilyarovsky. Modern metropolitan diggers sometimes call the extreme route along the underground river the “Gilyarovsky path”.

An excursion to the Neglinka can be started from various places in Moscow. Participants descend underground through an ordinary manhole. All tourists must be equipped with special shoe covers, helmets with headlamps and rubber gloves.

There is no unpleasant smell in the collector: Neglinka is not a sewerage system, but a real underground river with fresh water.

Part of the route will have to go on the water. The depth is mostly below the knee, but due to the large amount of silt, it is quite difficult to move around. However, after a while, sidewalks appear in the collector. In the underground channel of the Neglinka, the temperature in summer is approximately 17 °, in winter - 10 ° warm.

During the tour, tourists will see numerous tributaries of the Neglinka, including the mouth of the Naprudnaya River, brick collectors of 1904 and 1914, ancient chambers, underground waterfalls.

The brick vault, through which the Neglinka flows, amazes with the quality of construction. For 200 years, the masonry is practically not damaged, despite daily exposure to moisture.

An excursion to the Neglinka River will be of interest to lovers of unusual places, historians, and ordinary tourists. Staying in an old man-made grotto with a slowly flowing river makes you think about the eternal. In the Neglinka collector you can take memorable photographs.