The legend about the girl who danced with the icon. Standing Zoya Karnaukhova. Stone Zoya - truth or myth? What form of government do you think is optimal?

On the morning of that day, my mother came home and immediately woke us all up. Here you are all asleep, - he says, - and the whole city is already on your ears! On Chkalov Street, the girl turned to stone! Standing right with the icon in her hands - and not from the spot, she saw it myself! And then the mother told us how she tried to give her an injection, but only broke all the needles, - Nina Mikhailovna, the daughter of doctor Kalashnikova, told the Russian Reporter.

Anna Pavlovna Kalashnikova in 1956 was an ambulance doctor in Kuibyshev (now Samara) and it was she who tried to provide first aid to a girl who was petrified with an icon in her hands. That girl, who was later named after Zoya Karnaukhova.

This year the history known to all Orthodox Christians in our country, which received the name "Zoino standing", is 60 years old.
Let's try in honor of this considerable anniversary to calmly and without jerking to figure out what happened then in quiet Samara.

So, we have already mentioned a witness who clearly said that the girl was there and that her condition did not allow her to be given an injection.

Another person speaks about Anna Pavlovna and her words.

This is priest Vitaly Kalashnikov, the rector of the Sophia Church, very respected in Samara:

“Anna Pavlovna Kalashnikova, my mother’s aunt, worked in Kuibyshev as an ambulance doctor in 1956. And she also confessed (although she signed up) that she was now in that house on call. She saw Zoya frozen. She saw the icon of St. Nicholas in her hands. She tried to give the unfortunate injection, but the needles bent, broke, and therefore injected Everyone was shocked by her story. Anna Pavlovna Kalashnikova worked in the ambulance for many years later. She died in 1996. I managed to help her shortly before her death. Now many of those to whom she was on that very first day are still alive. new year told about what happened. "

What happened at the end of December 1956? Why this event excited the whole city and forced the party authorities to raise this issue even at the 13th regional party conference (January 20, 1957), when the first secretary of the regional committee Mikhail Efremov said: “In Kuibyshev, rumors are spread about an alleged miracle that happened on Chkalovskaya street. on this occasion, about 20. Yes, such a miracle happened, shameful for us, communists ... Some old woman walked and said: here in this house young people were dancing - and one ohalnitsa began to dance with the icon and turned to stone, stiffened ... And off it went, people began to gather ... Immediately they set up a militia post. Where the militia, there were eyes. They put up the mounted militia, and the people, if so, all there. They wanted to send priests there to eliminate this shameful phenomenon. But the regional committee bureau consulted and decided to remove all the posts, there is nothing to guard. It was stupid: there were no dances there, an old woman lives there. "

This is how the secretary of the regional committee told about the incident. And this is how the people:

The city of Kuibyshev (now Samara), Chkalov street, January 1956, New Year's holidays.

There was a party in the house: people gathered to celebrate the holiday. Among others, Zoya Karnaukhova was at the table. She did not share the general fun, and she had reasons for that. The day before, at the pipe plant where she worked, Zoya met a young trainee named Nikolai, and he promised to come to the holiday. But time passed, and Nicholas was not there. Friends and girlfriends have been dancing for a long time, some of them began to tease Zoya: “Why aren't you dancing? Forget about him, he won't come, come to us! " - "Will not come?! - Karnaukhova flashed. - Well, since my Nicholas is not there, then I will dance with Nicholas the Wonderworker! " She grabbed the icon and began to dance in circles.

For such a sacrilege, the girl immediately suffered a terrible punishment: she turned to stone and stood without signs of life for 128 days, until Easter.

The rumor about the "stone girl" stirred up the whole city. People were rushing to the house, the iron gates were demolished, a double cordon was set up around the house, no one was allowed.

Panic grew, rumors multiplied, people fled en masse to the church, carried and took small children there, bought up all the crosses, took away holy water to their homes. And this was during Khrushchev's persecution of the church! The fear of God's wrath turned out to be stronger than the fear of the party bosses. And the bosses themselves were in fright: what to do now?

At first, it was decided to involve priests in order with their help to extinguish the popular unrest - the people will believe the priests!

Here is what Abbot Herman, a resident of Optina Hermitage, told in 1989 (in the 50s he served in cathedral Kuibyshev): "What I have not seen, I will not talk about, but what I know, I will tell you. The street was cordoned off, they took a nondisclosure agreement. The dean of the cathedral was called by the authorized representative and asked to announce from the pulpit next Sunday that there was no miracle.
The Father Superior replied: "Let me go and see and tell people what I saw." The commissioner thought for a minute and promised to call back soon. The second call rang out an hour later and Fr. the abbot was told that there was no need to announce anything. "

Other witnesses claim that some priests were nevertheless allowed into the house where the unfortunate woman stood.

Klavdia Georgievna Petrunenkova from St. Petersburg - the spiritual daughter of Metropolitan Nicholas (Yarushevich): “When Zoya's standing happened, I asked Vladyka if he had been to Kuibyshev and if he had seen Zoya. Vladyka answered: “I was there, I prayed, but I didn’t take the icon from Zoya — it was not time yet. And Father Seraphim (then still Father Dimitri) took the icon ”.

The testimony of Father Seraphim (Tyapochkin) is one of the most controversial. On the one hand, many argue that the elder indirectly confirmed that it was he who was able to take the icon from the petrified hands. On the other hand, there are still no direct words of the priest that everything was so.

Father Seraphim

From the memoirs of Alexandra Ivanovna A .: “In the fifth week of Great Lent, 1982, I arrived in Rakitnoe. I dared to ask:“ Father, where is the icon of St. Nicholas that you took from Zoya? ”He looked at me sternly. There was silence. Why I remembered exactly about the icon? My relatives lived in Kuibyshev - on the same street as Zoya. When all this happened, I was fourteen. To prevent people from gathering near the house, the lights were turned off in the evenings. Zoya's screams terrified everyone. The young policeman who was at the post turned gray from all this. My relatives, being eyewitnesses of what was happening, became believers and began to visit the temple. The miracle of "Zoya's standing" and everything that happened to her was deeply imprinted in my mind.

After Father Seraphim's stern glance, the thought pierced me: "Oh, woe to me, woe!" Suddenly, the priest said: "The icon was lying on a lectern in the church, and now it is in the altar. There were times when they ordered to remove it."

Here is what Claudia Georgievna Petrunenkova from St. Petersburg told:

"Not long before the death of Father Seraphim I was in Rakitnoye. In the church, on a high place, to the right of the throne, I saw an icon of St. Nicholas in a setting. During a conversation with Father Seraphim in his cell, I asked:" Father, you have an icon of the saint in your altar Nicholas - the one that Zoya had? "" Yes, "he replied. We didn't talk about Zoya anymore."

As we can see, in the stories of women we are clearly talking about one icon.

Archpriest Andrei Andreevich Savin, who was at that time secretary of the Samara diocesan administration, also talks about the Kuibyshev events:

“Under Bishop Jerome it was. In the morning I saw a group of people standing near that house. And by evening the crowd reached up to a thousand people. Patrols were set up. But people were not touched at first - apparently, it was the first confusion. A common pretext: “You disturb the peace of the inhabitants, the movement of vehicles.” But the crowd still grew by leaps and bounds. Many even came from the neighboring villages.
House 86 on Chkalovskaya Street in Samara, where in 1956 the petrified Zoya stood with the icon of Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Those days were very stressful. The people, naturally, expected explanations from us, but not a single priest came close to that house. They were afraid. Then we all walked on a "thin perch". The priests were "at the registration" - they were approved and dismissed by the Commissioner for Religious Affairs - from the executive committee. At any moment, everyone could be left without work and livelihood. And here is such a great reason to settle scores with us!

Soon there was a whisper among the believers that Zoya was forgiven and would be resurrected on the day of Holy Easter. People were waiting, hoping. And the Komsomol detachments were already walking around the city with might and main. Boyko was "exposed", claiming that they were in the house and did not see anything. All this only added fuel to the fire, so that those who really did not believe in a miracle, in the end, doubted: “Probably, all the same popular rumor is right, although not in everything; and something happened in the house on Chkalovskaya Street amazing - no doubt about it! "

After the icon was taken from Zoya, Father Dimitri (later Seraphim) was slandered and a criminal case was fabricated against him, and Vladyka Jerome was released from the administration of the Kuibyshev diocese.
Since there was a lot of talk among the people, even local Soviet newspapers could not pass over this miracle in silence and tried to present it as a "deception of the priests."

The house remained standing, and people constantly lived in it. Here is a relatively recent interview with the residents of the house where everything happened, this is a young couple with children:

“We have been living for two years - absolutely nothing. Not to say that we are strong believers, but the whole story still has a little influence on us. When we settled here, we still lived in a civil marriage, and now we got married and even got married. The son was recently born - They also named them Nicholas, in honor of the saint. ”Well, we are thinking about this more and more often,” Nikolai bent down and patted the floor with his palm.
In the very center of the room, the floorboards are fresher and narrower, the width of human feet, the rest are decrepit and twice as thick.
- For some reason, the cat loves to sit here, - Natalya smiles. - We tried to drive it, it still comes back. "

Now back to the name of the heroine. Zoya Karnaukhova. The name "Zoya" does not appear in any of the documents. It was first heard in the press four years after the sensational events.

Zoya Karnaukhova? - asked the 60-year-old Alexander Pavlovich Karnaukhov. - Yes, it was my aunt, my father's sister. She used to live in Samara. I was a kid when it all happened, and I didn't really believe in the legend. But Aunt Zoya, as a religious person, talked so much about the miracle that she became obsessed with it. And she herself began to identify herself with that sinner. And the neighbors began to laugh at her - they called her “stone Zoya”. But everyone saw that the aunt's head was not all right, although she was not registered in a psychiatric clinic. Since then, our surname has been undeservedly “glorified” throughout the city. And my aunt moved into old age to the village of Samarsk and died there of her heart. I have not preserved her photographs, and there is no need to write about it ... - this is an excerpt from the journalistic investigation of MK.

Now it is clear where the name came from and it is clear that it had nothing to do with the petrified girl. It turns out that it was not Zoya's standing, but whose ?!

Or was there no girl at all, and we are dealing with mass psychosis? But why then did the authorities do nothing to stop the hysteria ?! After all, it was as easy as shelling pears: to let people into the house, to show that there was nothing and there was nothing. Why do you need many days of cordoning off, intimidation ?!

It is unclear what happened to "Zoya" in the future. The last hope to find the key to this story burned down in 1997 along with documents during a fire in the Kuibyshev police archive.

Or are other witnesses and eyewitnesses still alive? One thing is clear: it's too early to put an end to this story.

For more than 60 years the people have kept the memory of the extraordinary incident that took place in Kuibyshev (now Samara). It is called "Zoino standing", the rumor about it is passed from mouth to mouth, sometimes something is added or subtracted. Some details of this miracle were invented, as it turned out, but the fact that the petrified girl with the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker really was, no doubt about it. Otherwise, why is there so much talk about him even after many years ?!

Wikipedia calls this event a popular legend, an urban legend. The article does not provide anything specific in confirming the existence of a girl who once froze with an icon. But on the other hand, there is information about the book "Standing" written by priest Nikolai Agafonov. According to the author, for a long time he collected information and documents about the story telling about the petrified girl with the icon.

At the beginning of this century, cinema returned to this legend. Several films were shot based on her.

One of them is a twenty-minute documentary film directed by Dmitry Oderusov. He shot the film through the eyes of a believing Orthodox person. Archbishop Sergiy of Samara and Syzran gave his blessing for the shooting of the film. It used the testimony of eyewitnesses and even a priest, whose mother worked in an ambulance and came to Zoya on call.

Another movie – art , directed by A. Proshkin, it is called "Miracle". It is played by famous actors:

• Sergey Makovetsky;
• Konstantin Khabensky;
• Polina Kutepova.

And the third television film "Zoya", based on the play by A. Ignashev, in it the main role played by an actress from Samara.

How it happened

The story of a petrified girl with an icon took place on New Year's Eve from December 31, 1955 to January 1, 1956. The Bolonkin family, mother and young son lived in house 84 on Chkalov Street. On this holiday, the son threw a party. Friends were invited, among whom was Zoya Karnaukhova.

After the feast, where, of course, there was alcohol, the young people staged dances. Everyone quickly went into pairs, and Zoya sat alone and missed because her boyfriend named Nikolai did not come to the party.

Probably, the tipsy girl decided to unwind and, taking out the image of St. Nicholas, said: "Since my Nicholas is not there, then I will dance with the icon of Nicholas the Wonderworker!"

Here even many drunk friends sobered up and began to reason with her, saying that this was a terrible sin. To their warnings, she boldly objected: "If God exists, let him stop me!" Zoya began to dance with the icon, but not even a minute passed when a terrible thunder sounded and lightning flashed.

Everyone was frightened and when they turned on the light, they saw a frozen girl with an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Friends at first thought that she simply froze with fear, began to shake her, move her, but suddenly realized that Zoya had become cold and motionless, like a stone. With screams of horror, boys and girls ran out of the hut and scattered in all directions.

Apparently, the tenants tried to stir up Zoya, push her, but nothing worked. Then they called ambulance... The doctor who came on call wanted to give an injection to the girl who was dancing with the icon and froze, but all attempts were unsuccessful.

The needles bent, touching her body, as if they were being driven into a stone. The surname of the female doctor Kalashnikov, her son, who became a priest, later told everyone this story.

He said that my mother arrived at dawn very agitated. She shouted: "You are sleeping here, and this is happening there!" And she told a story about a girl with an icon that happened to her. Although the doctor gave a non-disclosure receipt, she could not resist .

They also uselessly tried to move Zoya from her place to put her on the bed. She seemed to be rooted to the floor! They even tried to cut the boards with her with an ax, until blood gushed from the floor. No one could snatch the holy image from the hands of the petrified girl. Her mother, they say, was a religious person and dissuaded her daughter from the Christmas fast party, but Zoe did not obey.

Important! Fasting is known to be a time of repentance, prayer and abstinence in all senses. This applies not only to food, but also to entertainment. . Therefore, the church always warns people that the New Year's holiday, which comes at the end of the Christmas fast, should not be spent in drunken feasts, dances, etc.

When the mother was told that her daughter had turned to stone with the icon, she ran and, seeing Zoya, fainted. She was taken to the hospital, and after she was discharged, her mother constantly began to pray for her daughter.

Rumors quickly spread throughout the city, and by the morning many people were in a hurry to get into this house, where stood a frozen girl with an icon. Then the residents had to call the police, who were holding back the huge crowd on the street. No one was allowed into the house, although there were hundreds, sometimes even thousands, during the day.

Important! When celebrated according to the Orthodox Church calendar

They say that the policeman who guarded her heard at night how she screamed terribly: “Mom, pray! We are all perishing in sins! "

One resident of Samara says that she approached this policeman and asked: "What happened there?" He replied that he was not ordered to divulge. But when the 26-year-old took off his police cap, the woman saw that his hair had turned gray. This rarely happens just like that with young people - only from severe stress.

Hearing about the miracle of the girl with the icon, the bishop came to this house. They let him in, but he could not take the icon out of his hands, so he left.

Helpful video: documentary about petrified Zoya

The reaction of the authorities

Representatives of the Soviet government reacted very sharply to this miracle, apparently feeling a kind of threat to themselves. After all, many people after that rushed to the only open church, received the sacraments of baptism, confessed, received communion. It even happened that all the crosses in the church were sold out. Of course, this could not please the existing authorities.

Soon an article appeared in the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, exposing "deception and empty rumors." The newspaper's editors, however, did not deny the presence in the house of a girl who was petrified with an icon, but called this event "a disgrace for the communists." What the shame consisted was not disclosed in detail.

Once from the district committee they called the abbot of the local church with the order to announce at the sermon from the pulpit that there was no miracle in the house on Chkalov Street and there is not.

Then the wise father replied: “And you let me into the house, I will see that there is nothing there, then I will tell the people. I have no right to lie to people. " To this, the authorities replied that they would think about it and make their decision. After some time, the priest was called back and told that he would not be allowed into the house and that there was no need to announce anything from the pulpit.

According to some reports, everyone who was at that fateful party was imprisoned for several years.

There is a version that a certain priest Demetrius came to the house, served a prayer service and was able to take the icon out of the hands of the petrified girl.

Then he accepted monasticism with the name Seraphim, and he was also imprisoned for a certain period. Once freed, he served in a distant parish. He placed the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, with which the petrified girl stood, on the altar in his church.

Useful video: the film "Zoe's Standing"

Mysterious old man

While the authorities fought hotly against human superstitions about the petrified girl , Zoe continued to stand . And it lasted not a week, not a month, but almost six months.

Some doctors and even a certain professor examined the body, establishing a heartbeat. But they could not say anything concrete. In the beginning there was a version that this is an ordinary tetanus. However, with such a disease, they usually lie rather than stand for such a long time. Tetanus patients can be carried from place to place, and in this case, Zoe's body could not be torn off the floor.

Moreover, no human body will not stand the lack of food and water for several months. So, not really understanding this phenomenon, the doctors covered up the investigation about the girl with the icon.

And then one day to the house where Zoya froze with an icon , one fine-looking old man approached. He asked very much to let him in, but the police refused him. According to rumors, he came the next day, but again refused.

On the third day, grandfather was able to somehow get into the house. Recovering themselves, the officers of the order rushed after him, but in the room they did not find anyone except Zoe. They began to look for him everywhere, but he seemed to have sunk through the earth. And then, according to legend, when the militiamen looked at the girl, she pointed with her eyes to the red corner, where the images stood. And they realized that the old man had gone exactly there.

So there were rumors that Nicholas the Wonderworker himself visited the stone Zoya with the icon. It is assumed that he did this in order to forgive the girl. According to some reports, one could hear the old man say at the entrance: "Tired of standing, dear?"

Important! Saint Nicholas, who served as archbishop in the city of Myra in Lycia in the 4th century AD, performed many miracles during his life and after his departure to another world.

He is distinguished by such spiritual qualities as:

• kindness;
• condescension to poor people;
• simplicity;
• responsiveness.

Since then, Zoe's body began to go limp, and soon the girl, who froze for 128 days, woke up and took to her bed. It is significant that Zoe's forgiveness and release took place on Easter. According to some rumors, she repented of her terrible sin and received communion, and reposed on the 3rd day after the bright holiday.

According to other rumors, Zoya was admitted to a hospital (possibly to a psychiatric one), and after that she retired in a monastery until the end of her days.

One way or another, people believe that there was a saint's appearance in this house. And six years ago, a monument to St. Nicholas was erected opposite him as a sign of this miraculous event. Then ordinary people lived in that house, and in 2014 it was caught on fire. Some say it was arson.

Useful video: testimony of witnesses of a secret miracle

Output

Until now, people keep the memory of this incident, which appeared in those Hard times a serious reinforcement of the faith of the Orthodox. Perhaps it was no coincidence: Zoe, who danced with the icon of St. Nicholas, turned into a stone pillar like Lotova's wife, who was also punished for her unbelief. Most likely, this miracle was given for the enlightenment and awakening of the Soviet people.

In contact with

One of the most amazing events in the history of the Union took place 60 years ago. On the outskirts of the closed Kuibyshev, a young girl Zoya turned to stone with an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in her hands. Zoya's stand became an all-Union scandal: crowds of people from Zoya's house were dispersed by horse militia, party officials did everything to hide this mysterious incident.

“The whole city is buzzing like a beehive! You sit here, and there ... The girl froze with the icon in her hands, rooted to the spot! They say God punished her! " - Dr. Anna gasped with excitement.
The fact that the girl was petrified, there is evidence of eyewitnesses of those days, documents of party meetings.
This extraordinary and mysterious event took place on December 31, 1956 at 84 Chkalov Street. An ordinary woman, Claudia Bolonkina, lived in it, whose son decided to invite his friends on New Year's Eve. Among those invited was the girl Zoya, with whom Nikolai had started dating shortly before.

All the friends were with gentlemen, and Zoya was still sitting alone, Kolya was delayed. When the dancing began, she said: "If my Nikolai is not there, I will dance with Nikolai Pleasant!" And she went to the corner where the icons were hanging. Friends were horrified: "Zoe, this is a sin," but she said: "If there is a God, let him punish me!" She took the icon and pressed it to her chest. She entered the circle of dancers and suddenly froze, as if she had grown into the floor. It was impossible to move it from its place, and the icon could not be taken out of hand - it seemed to be glued tightly. External signs the girl did not give life. But in the area of ​​the heart, a subtle knock was heard.
Ambulance doctor Anna tried to revive Zoya. Anna's own sister, Nina Pavlovna Kalashnikova, is still alive, I managed to talk to her.
- She ran home excited. And although the police took a nondisclosure agreement from her, they told everything. And about how she tried to give the girl injections, but it turned out to be impossible. Zoya's body was so hard that the needles of the syringes did not go into it, they broke ...

The incident immediately became known to the law enforcement agencies of Samara. Since it was connected with religion, the case was given emergency status, a police squad was sent to the house in order not to let onlookers inside. There was something to worry about. By the third day of Zoya's standing, all the streets near the house were crowded with thousands of people. The girl was nicknamed "Zoya Stone".
Nevertheless, the clergy had to be invited to the house of the "stone Zoya", because the police were afraid to approach her holding the icon. But none of the priests managed to change something until Hieromonk Seraphim (Poloz) came. They say that he was so bright in soul and kind that he even had the gift of prediction. He was able to take the icon from Zoe's frozen hands, after which he predicted that her "standing" would end on Easter. And so it happened. They say that Poloz after this was asked by the authorities to refuse to be involved in Zoya's case, but he rejected the offer. Then he was fabricated an article about sodomy and sent to serve time. After his release to Samara, he did not return ...

Zoya's body came to life, but her mind was no longer the same. In the first days, she kept shouting: “The earth is perishing in sins! Pray, believe! " From a scientific and medical point of view, it is difficult to imagine how a young girl's body could last 128 days without food and water. Scientists from the capital, who came to Samara at that time for such a supernatural case, could not determine the "diagnosis", which at first was mistaken for a kind of tetanus.
After the incident with Zoya, as her contemporaries testify, people flocked en masse to churches and temples. People bought up crosses, candles, icons. Those who were not baptized were baptized ... Only it is known: from fright, a change in consciousness and heart occurs in exceptional cases. As a rule, a "good" person becomes only for a while. To deeply feel the essence of everything spiritual and present, to open the heart to goodness and love, the work of the soul is required. And religious, like any external attributes, have nothing to do with it.
Therefore, we are talking about Zoya or some other character with whom something out of the ordinary happened, the question begs the following: why should we, in order to gain faith, pay attention to ourselves, our actions, own life do you need dramas, tragedies or miracles and mysticism? Until the thunder breaks out, does the man cross himself?

This unusual mystical story happened on December 31, 1955 in the city of Samara, which at that time was called Kuibyshev. There is even a specific address - Chkalov Street, building 86. Subsequently, this amazing incident was described as the Standing of Zoe. But whether this is true or not is still unknown. However, let's first get acquainted with the chronology of events, and only after that we will try to draw conclusions.

Chronology of events

The incident happened in a house that belonged to Claudia Bolonkina, a woman who truly believes in God. She had a son named Nikolai. He decided to invite friends and girlfriends to celebrate the New Year's holiday with them. Before the arrival of the guests, the mother left home to stay with relatives, so as not to interfere with the young people having fun.

Zoya Karnaukhova was among those invited. She was considered Nikolai's girlfriend. The guy had tender feelings for her, but he has not yet started talking about the wedding. During the fun, he spent most of the time with Zoe, and then he went away somewhere and left the girl alone. She got bored, and everyone around began to dance.

Frustrated that the boyfriend is still not there, Zoya went up to the icon of Nicholas the Wonderworker (Nicholas the Pleasant), which was hanging in the corner, took it off, pressed it to her chest and exclaimed: "Since my beloved Nicholas is gone, I will dance with Nicholas the Pleasant." The guests looked back at the exclamation, began to dissuade the girl from committing such a sin, but she did not listen to anyone. She said: "If God exists, then he will punish me." After these words, with the icon pressed to her chest, Zoya began to circle the room to the sound of a gramophone.

The further course of events, according to eyewitnesses, looks incredible and fantastic. Supposedly there was a thunderclap, lightning flashed and the light went out. Someone lit a candle, and in its light the guests saw that Zoya froze in the middle of the room with an icon in her hands. They tried to move the girl from her place, but she seemed to have grown into the floor. It stood motionless, cold and white as a marble statue. Thus began Zoe's Stand, which lasted 128 days and ended only on Easter.

However, on New Year's Eve, no one knew anything about this yet. The guests called doctors, but they could not help. We tried to inject, but the needle just broke. They tried to take the icon from the hands of the frozen girl, but nothing happened. However, the Aesculapians said that Zoya was alive, as her heart was barely audible beating. Then the police arrived, escorted everyone out and set up a checkpoint near the house.

As soon as the eyewitnesses of the incident left, rumors about an amazing miracle immediately spread throughout the city. People reached out to the house on Chkalov Street, but the police squad did not let anyone closer than 50 meters to the scene of the incident. Later, local authorities moved bus routes as far away from the ill-fated house as possible, so that it would be difficult for the curious to get to it.

Further course of events

Now it is difficult to say who saved the poor girl. It is only known for certain that at first the local party authorities did not allow the ministers of the church to go to the scene of the incident. However, the people were worried, various rumors were creeping around the city, and hieromonk Seraphim was allowed into the house with the frozen Zoya. He served a prayer service and took the icon out of the girl's hands. After that, he said that Zoe's Stand would end on Easter. And indeed, on the indicated date, the unfortunate woman's skin turned pink, the poor thing began to move, breathe, and then began to speak.

But there is another interesting version. Allegedly, a fine-looking old man tried to pass through the police cordon. For many days in a row they did not want to let him in, but then the police took pity and let the persistent petitioner into the house. He approached the frozen girl and quietly asked: “Tired of standing? Will you blaspheme no more? " After that, he easily took the icon out of Zoya's hands and disappeared into thin air. The girl herself then came to her senses and left home on her own. There was a rumor among the people that the old man was none other than Nikolai the Pleasant himself.

Icon of Nicholas the Wonderworker (Nicholas the Pleasant)

The further fate of Zoya Karnaukhova

Before the unfortunate incident, Zoya worked at a pipe plant. But after the numbness subsided, the girl did not return to normal life. She was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. There she lived for many years and died within the walls of this institution. According to another version, Zoya was released from the hospital, and the ministers of the church took her to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. There, the woman spent the remaining years of her life in repentance and prayer.

So was Zoe's Stand or not?

Newspapers such as Komsomolskaya Pravda and Moskovsky Komsomolets wrote about this amazing incident. It follows from them that this story was invented by the owner of the house, Claudia Bolonkina. It was she who said that young people danced in her house, and one girl took an icon in her hands and began to dance with her. After that, the ohalnitsa turned to stone.

Pious old women, having heard this story, passed it on to others, and rumors spread throughout the city. The people went to the ill-fated house, and the police set up a post near it. As a result of such actions, rumors began to spread even more actively. Realizing their mistake, the local authorities removed the police post, but the rumors remained and grew into a whole story about Zoe's Stand. But there was no miracle in the house on Chkalov Street, and only a devout old woman lived there.

Already at the beginning of the XXI century, the city archives were checked. It turned out that Claudia Bolonkina actually lived in the 84th house on Chkalov Street. But such names as Zoya Karnaukhova and Hieromonk Seraphim were not found in the archives. It is assumed that the youth did indeed dance with the icon. Some pious people saw this and said that for such a sin one could turn into a pillar of salt. Bolonkina heard this and said that such a miracle had happened in her house.

Subsequently, some woman, fanatically believing in a miracle, said that she was exactly the same petrified girl. It was she who called herself Zoya Karnaukhova, and the miracle was transformed into Zoya's Stand and turned into an urban legend.

At the same time, it can be assumed that the above case is pure truth, since too many people talked about it at one time. But creating a legend from scratch is not so easy. People are not as gullible as they seem and they always need proof..

In 1955, a certain Zoya Karnaukhova allegedly lived in house No. 84 on Chkalov Street. On New Year's Eve, she decided to throw a party: she invited friends and was waiting for a groom named Nikolai. But he still did not go. Then the girl grabbed the image of Nicholas the Wonderworker, which apparently belonged to her mother, and rushed to dance with him. Her friends tried to persuade her to hang the icon in its place, but it was as if the devil possessed the girl - she answered playfully: "If there is a God, He will punish me!"

In the midst of the dancing, lightning flashed, and the sinner froze in place: her body became hard, turned into stone.

They tried to move her from her place, to take the image from her hands - it did not work. The girl was speechless, showed no signs of life, only the beat of her heart was barely audible.

Neither the police nor the doctors could do anything. The girl did not eat or drink, but she remained alive. At night she shouted out some words, asked to pray for human sins. Zoe still held the icon in her hands.

A prayer service was served in the house. On the feast of the Annunciation, some old man appeared - persuaded the policemen who were guarding the house from curious onlookers to let him in to Zoya. It was the local hieromonk Seraphim Tyapochkin. He was able to pull the icon out of her hands, and then said that it would stand until Easter. And so it happened: Zoya stood motionless for 128 days. On Easter, the girl returned to her previous state - her body became soft. She died three days later.

However, there is a version that there was no petrified girl. A woman named Claudia Bolonkina lived in the house with her son. On New Year he called friends. Among those invited was Zoya Karnaukhova, who had met the young intern Nikolai the day before. He was supposed to show up at the party too, but he was late.

Indeed, one of the girls (and maybe the same Zoya) staged a dance with the icon, and a nun passing by saw through the window and threw: "For such a sin, you will turn into a pillar of salt!" The mistress of the house subsequently began to spread rumors that this was what happened.