In Penza, there are places with a grim reputation and frightening names. For example, the area of Korolenko, Grazhdanskaya, and Gornaya streets in pre-revolutionary Penza was known as the Devil's Pits.

This place truly instilled fear: it was surrounded by old groves, and nearby was an ancient cemetery with crooked crosses and gloomy crypts. However, this area also attracted those seeking easy profit. Here, at the foot of the hill, clay was mined by digging long deep tunnels and extracting 'ore' from them. Our compatriot, the Bolshevik Alexander Bogdanov, recalled: 'Cave-ins often buried the clay diggers. There was no technical oversight or safety regulations. The bodies extracted from under the rubble lay for whole days with swollen hands and crushed chests. Horseflies and bluebottles swarmed around the dead, clinging to the dried foamy-bloody rim around their mouths.' Therefore, the Devil's Pits were considered a sinister place in Penza. Thieves, bandits, street children, and homeless individuals often hid in these tunnels.

Moreover, murders and rapes frequently occurred here. People tried not to walk alone. Fortunately, these terrifying times are now in the past.