The origins of the waterway
"The history of the canal goes back to 1824. At the imperial court in St. Petersburg, the question of how to connect the Vistula River with the Neman and reach the ports of the Baltic Sea was being decided. This was necessary because Prussia charged very large customs fees for access to the sea. Then expeditions were created that were looking for the most optimal solutions, and in 1825 the construction of the canal began," – says Edmund Viktorovich.
Back to the past
We enter the next room. It is dedicated to the history of the canal construction. Behind the glass there are absolutely incomprehensible objects to the ordinary man in the street.
"These are old lifting mechanisms for adjusting the water level", – explains our guide.
"And what kind of glossy colored tiles?" – I stroke the cool white-blue tile with my hand.
"This is a ruler for measuring the depth. By the way, the work of foreign masters. It was made in France in 1830. Like many other exhibits, they were found during the reconstruction of the canal".
The brick behind the glass is also part of the story. In the XIX century, by the beginning of the construction of the Augustovsky Canal, several factories were built along the riverbed, which produced clinker bricks - very durable, made of special clay. This building material was used for the construction of the canal, in particular, shipping locks.
Where is the treasury buried?
The expositions in the museum are divided by periods. Much attention is paid to the events that took place in the canal area during the wars – the First World War and the Great Patriotic War. Here our guide tells not dry historical data, but curious stories that are easy to remember.
For example, there is an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of August in the museum.
"During the First World War in 1914, Russian soldiers were surrounded in these August forests. It was then that they saw the face of the Mother of God in the sky. It is not known for certain what kind of sign it was and whether it helped them to get out of the environment, but today there is such an icon in the Sopotsk church. And the Church got its name – the Most Holy Theotokos of Augustovskaya – in honor of that very intercession," – says Edmund Viktorovich.
He recalls that earlier they even held a procession as a sign of veneration of this icon. Cossacks from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus came and walked with this icon from Grodno to Sopotsk.
Or here is another history of the same period – 1914-1915. In the August forests, when the First World War began, General Bulgakov's 2nd corps was surrounded. There were about 20 thousand soldiers. They decided to break through, to enter Grodno with a fight. The biggest battle was in the area of the village of Ratichi, now there is a wooden cross by the roadside. And then, in order to save the treasury with silver, which was in this building, it was hidden.
"Where exactly is unknown, presumably in the area of the villages of Markovtsy and Golynka", - says the interlocutor.
"Oh, there must have been a lot of treasure hunters here?" – I asked our guide.
"Not really. The fact is that these facts became known not so long ago, before that the information was stored in the archives in St. Petersburg. And again: where to look? The area is vast", – says Edmund Yutkevich.
In line with the times
After the war, the canal was not completely restored. In fact, he officially ceased to perform his functions in the 50s. The Augustovsky Renaissance survived only in 2006. Restoration of the canal began two years earlier, more than a thousand people worked here. It was difficult to work, as the area is swampy. It was possible to clear the riverbed, restore the collapsed areas of the coastline, reconstruct hydraulic structures and bridges.
Today, the maintenance of the channel is managed by the OUP "Grodnomeliovodkhoz". Employees of the organization repair waterworks, and gates are updated annually at shipping locks, because they are wooden. The canal relies on the authenticity of the structure, so all shipping locks are opened manually.
"Many tourists are surprised. They ask: how is it? Where is the motor hidden?" – Edmund Yutkevich laughs.
Fluffy helper
Or here's a giant vat. What could it be used for? Edmund Yutkevich suggests that, most likely, beer was brewed in it according to special Sopotsk recipes: from sugar beet, hops and burnt barley. It turned out to be quite a strong drink, which the Germans loved very much here in 1914. In any case, Edmund Viktorovich's grandmother told about it.
Numerous fishing nets are hung on the walls. There are still a lot of fish in the Augustovsky Canal today: pike, roach, perch, trout, grayling. And once, according to our narrator, they even saw an eel 1.5 meters long!
Attention is drawn to the anchor king, more than a meter in height. It was found in the canal during reconstruction, in the place where the Augustovsky Canal flows into the Neman. Nearby there are old mechanisms for opening clinkets on shipping gates.
"Clinkets are flag valves through which water enters the sluice", - explains Edmund Viktorovich and points to another intricate device.
Our tour was already coming to an end when a rather well-fed cat came out to us.
"He joined us in the summer. We feed him, so he stayed," – says Edmund Viktorovich.
"So this is now the caretaker of the house", – I smile in response.
Fluffy, as if to confirm my words, stopped and lay down importantly in the center of the yard - like a master
