Svyatovo Lake

This lake is located 10 km from Tambov, in the direction of Trigulyai. It is located in the forest and has been one of the main urban legends for many years.

According to legend, there is a sunken church at the bottom of the reservoir. Some citizens claim that they hear bells ringing at night near the lake.  And it also has a perfectly round shape, which undoubtedly gives it mystery.

At night, people get lost near the Svyatovsky Lake, sometimes wander in circles until the morning, and can not reach it in any way.

There are several legends about the origin of the lake:

• there was a village with a church on the site of the lake, but since the area is swampy, and due to an earthquake (Tambov does not belong to seismically active zones), the village went under water.  And nowadays, on major religious holidays, at midnight, you can see a church rising above the water. To hear the sound of bells (whether there was a village on the site of the lake is unknown).
• the lake has its own guardian who protects it. This keeper is the master of the one who went under the water of the village. It is because of him that people disappear in this area. Since the master takes everything who wants to harm his village.
• there is a village on the site of the lake, headed by the council. One day a man came to the council, began to tell about the approaching trouble and asked everyone to leave the village. A council was assembled, the entire population, led by the elders, thought for a long time, and it was decided not to leave their native places. But it was decided to send two young people (a guy and a girl) on a long journey. The person who brought this news told them: "No matter what you hear, no matter how much you want to come back, don't look back for anything! Otherwise, you will also die." And they left. For a long time they walked and even ran. And suddenly, they heard the sound of running water. There were shouts of villagers calling for help. At first they tried not to pay attention to the screams, even increased their speed, but the screams did not become quieter. Tired of running, they stopped. Thinking that they had gone far enough, they decided to take a last look at their native places and turned around. In the same instant, they turned into stones. (At the moment, 2 stones are really in the lake area).
• there was a church and a priest lived in it, kept order in the church, regularly conducted the service and observed the fasts. One day his church was attacked by robbers. God, seeing this, decided to hide "his servant" and the church began to slowly sink under the water (religious people often go hiking to this lake in order to honor the memory of the priest, and consider the lake holy, hence the name).

There are also many stories of eyewitnesses who "saw" ghosts, the church, the guardian of the lake and the forest, and even an overgrown creature similar to a monkey, who claimed that he was the keeper of the forest and would not give branches for the fire they wanted to light. For example:

"Over the lake, where wisps of fog were floating, they saw "how this gray cotton mass began to acquire the contours of a human body" and heard a terrible voice. When one of them decided to swim, then after that his behavior inexplicably changed, also a camera and a tape recorder disappeared from their camp..."