Konduisky town

The first plan of the ancient buildings was completed by P.K. Frolov in 1798.

In 1835 V. Parshin examined the ruins.

Vasily Parshin, who visited in this way describes his impressions: “These ruins were discovered in 1803–1804, were torn apart, and the stone with the inscription found in them was sent to the factory authorities in St. Petersburg. The structure was stone, and residents of the Konduy settlement thought to use part of the brick to erect the church that was being built at that time. These ancient remains are easily embedded in their walls in the temple, and even, they say, two stone dragons are inserted in one place (probably for decoration). On the site of the ruins, fragments of stone dragons are still preserved. ” ^[one]

In the 1840s, two stone sculptures (dragons) were sent to St. Petersburg. Another statue was transferred by Cossack A. Epov to the Nerchinsk Museum.

In 1867, mining engineer A.I. Pavlutsky reported on the town of Konduy. In 1889, A.K. Kuznetsov studied the Konduisky town.

S.V. Kiselev at the excavation site. 1957-58

In 1957–58, under the leadership of S.V. Kiselev, a systematic study of the Konduisky town was carried out. An excavation with an area of ​​2.5 thousand m ² uncovered the central part - the remains of the palace complex (gate building, palace, park zone), built in the Chinese style.

In 1979-84, N.P. Kradin was engaged in the study.

In 2002 A.R. Artemyev performed a detailed topographic survey.

The main building of the palace stood on a high 2-meter platform, which had 2 levels of terraces, lined with bricks 30 x 30 cm in size. The terraces were decorated with wooden balustrades covered with red varnish. Wooden columns of the balustrade were mounted in the supporting granite slabs. The design of the balustrade is lower. the terraces were decorated with granite sculptures of dragons mounted in it with an interval of 2 m (31 specimens were found). The corners of the terrace were decorated with sculptures of another type - in the form of the front of a dragon-tortoise monster, covered with shell plaques. From different sides to the palace were ramps lined with bricks, consisting of 2 marches.

The palace was a cross-shaped building. A wall of supposedly 1.5–2 m high was built from rubble stone and brick. Top. parts of it formed wooden shields with windows. Stone bases served as the basis for wooden columns, which supported the roof ceilings (part of the columns was mounted in the walls). The palace consisted of 3 rooms with a total area of ​​approx. 500 m ² . Inside the halls with an interval of 2.5 m there were bases with columns wrapped in cloth and covered with red varnish. The walls of the palace were decorated with frescoes.

The complex roof of the palace was tiled. To color the most significant places, irrigation tiles were used for the most part, green, less often yellow and red. A large number of fragments of ebbs and trailer discs, decorated with the image of golden dragons, clouds, relief plant elements, was revealed. The skates of the roofs on both sides were decorated with the heads of dragons with wings. In the corners of the roof, human figures adorned the bud. robes, phoenixes and chimeras. S.V. Kiselev transferred part of the architectural collection to the ChOKM, one of the stone sculptures of dragons to the ChSPI. ^[2]

Probably, the Konduy Palace repeated the plan of the Khubilai Palace in Dadu and belonged to the ruler (apparently, Genghisid) of the city located around the palace and the surrounding area. The urban buildings surrounding the Konduy Palace were the estates of relatives and courtiers of its owner, artisans.

It was established that around the 15th century the palace burned down during a major fire.

In 1675, the Russian ambassador to China, Spafariy , traveling to his destination through Dauria, wrote in his travel diary: “And south of Nerchinsk there is a great city, stone with many buildings, and the chambers in it are intact, and they say that the city from the sea people all disappeared ... " ^[3]

1805 the church of the Holy Martyrs Kirik and Iulitta was built from the ruins of the palace by a Cossack officer S. Epov at the expense of his mother.

Many legends explaining its origin are associated with the Konduy Palace. The most striking of which is the legend of the beautiful Balzhit Kutum and Khan Kontoy, who loved each other. But against their love was the evil stepmother of the young khan, who herself had views of the stepson. This story has a tragic ending, much of it repeats established motives and echoes the famous plots of classical literature, such as Romeo and Juliet , as well as The Tale of the Dead Princess.

Since 2017, an archaeological festival has been held annually at the site of the Konduisky settlement. ^[four]

- F. I. Baldauf poem "Awan and Guyro".

- A.K. Kuznetsov "Ruins of the Konduisky town and its environs"