Archaeological excavations in the lower part of the Nizhniy Novgorod Kremlin (preliminary results of the 2018-2019 excavations)

The article presents preliminary results of the first large-scale archaeological research in the lower part of the Nizhniy Novgorod Kremlin. The excavation, laid in the area of the reconstruction of the Church of St. Simeon the Stylite, uncovered cultural layer of two periods - the XIII - early XV centuries and the XVI - mid XVIII centuries. For the first time, the medieval estate development of Nizhniy Novgorod was recorded on such an element of the Volga valley as the coastal slope. The discovery of stratified cultural strata of the XIII - early XV centuries and the break in the active development of urban territory recorded on stratigraphic sections, corresponding to most of the XV century, are of outstanding significance for Nizhniy Novgorod archeology. The reconstruction of the history of development of the excavated site is proposed. It turned out that the little-known Nizhniy Novgorod Simeon monastery associated with the temple hardly existed before the construction of the Nizhniy Novgorod Kremlin. The earliest, presumably, monastic structure that arose after the disappearance of the manor buildings of the XIII -early XV centuries., dated to the end of the XV - mid XVI centuries. This period is associated with the construction of a wooden bridge that provided transport links between the «Nagorny» and riverine districts of the city. The discovery of the remains of this pile structure significantly corrects the well-known reconstruction of the Kremlin territory of the beginning of the XVII century, made according to written sources. The justification for the functioning of the necropolis discovered Simeon monastery in the middle of the XVI century - beginning of the XVIII centuries, the general characteristics of the studied burials. In the general historical context, the research materials are of interest for studying the processes that accompany the transformation of specific urban centers into cities of Muscovite Russia.