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Yuriev Monastery

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The St. George's (Yuriev) Monastery ( Russian : Юрьев монастырь , romanized :  Yur'ev monastyr' ) is usually cited as Russia 's oldest monastery. It stands in 5 kilometers south of Novgorod on the left bank of the Volkhov River near where it flows out of Lake Ilmen . The monastery used to be the most important in the medieval Novgorod Republic . It is part of the World Heritage Site named Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings .

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55-583: According to legend, the monastery of wood was founded around the year 1030 by Yaroslav the Wise whose baptismal name was George ( Old East Slavic : Гюрьгi , Gjurĭgì ) after Saint George . The first historically reliable reference to it is from the early 12th century when the stone building of the main church (the Church of St. George, Georgieveskii Church) was started in 1119 by Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich of Novgorod and Pskov and Hegumen (roughly equivalent to

110-598: A council hall for the nobility council and a clocktower were built in the episcopal compound in 1433 and 1436 respectively. The council hall, now called the Episcopal Chamber or the Chamber of Facets due to its elaborate Gothic vaults, is one of the easternmost examples of Brick Gothic . In 1437, part of Vasily's walls collapsed into the Volkhov River and were rebuilt by Evfimy II, too. The fortress

165-631: A grand prince was to confer on the loyal Novgorodians, who had helped him to gain the Kievan throne, numerous freedoms and privileges. Thus, the foundation of the Novgorod Republic was laid. For their part, the Novgorodians respected Yaroslav more than they did other Kievan princes; and the princely residence in their city, next to the marketplace (and where the veche often convened) was named Yaroslav's Court after him. It probably

220-610: A heavy defeat on Yaroslav in 1024. Yaroslav and Mstislav then divided Kievan Rus' between them: the area stretched east from the Dnieper River , with the capital at Chernigov , was ceded to Mstislav until his death in 1036. In his foreign policy, Yaroslav relied on a Scandinavian alliance and attempted to weaken the Byzantine influence on Kiev. According to Heimskringla , Olaf the Swede made an alliance with Yaroslav, even though

275-731: A local saint. Novgorod Kremlin The Novgorod Detinets ( Russian : Новгородский детинец , romanized :  Novgorodskiy detinets ), also known as the Novgorod Kremlin (Russian: Новгородский кремль , romanized:  Novgorodskiy kreml' ), is a fortified complex ( detinets ) in Veliky Novgorod , Russia . It stands on the left bank of the Volkhov River about two miles north of where it empties out of Lake Ilmen . The compound

330-574: A silver dome. It was built in the 18th century, and its name is of Swedish origin. Today it is possible to enter this tower and climb to the top. The walls are 1,487 metres in circumference. The main buildings in the Detinets are the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom and the archiepiscopal/metropolitan compound in the northwestern corner. To the south of this, across the plaza in which stands the Monument to

385-497: A strained relationship with his father and refused to pay tribute to Kiev in 1014. Following Vladimir's death in 1015, Yaroslav waged a complicated war for the Kievan throne against his half-brother Sviatopolk , ultimately emerging victorious in 1019. As the Grand Prince of Kiev, Yaroslav focused on foreign policy, forming alliances with Scandinavian countries and weakening Byzantine influence on Kiev. He successfully captured

440-514: A war. During the next four years Yaroslav waged a complicated and bloody war for Kiev against his half-brother Sviatopolk I of Kiev , who was supported by his father-in-law, Duke Bolesław I the Brave ( King of Poland from 1025). During the course of this struggle, several other brothers ( Boris, Gleb , and Svyatoslav) were brutally murdered. The Primary Chronicle accused Sviatopolk of planning those murders. The saga Eymundar þáttr hrings

495-625: A wealthy spinster, to donate her immense funds to the eparchy . Both are buried in the penticupolar Church of the Transfiguration which they had built. After the 1917 revolution, the monastery was ravaged. Five of its six churches were either destroyed or badly damaged by 1928; the monastery was closed in 1929. During the World War II , the buildings were occupied by the German and Spanish armed forces, and were seriously damaged. In 1991

550-454: A western prior) Kyuriak (Kirik) and built by the master Peter. By the first third of the 13th century the hegumen had been raised to the status of an archimandrite (roughly equivalent to an abbot, i.e., the head of an important monastery, although the comparison with western abbots is imprecise); Archimandrite Savatii is mentioned asking the Novgorodians to bless his successor just before his death in 1226. This has led some scholars to argue that

605-567: Is a certain pattern in his sons having Slavic names, and his daughters having Greek names only. Furthermore, Yaroslav's maternity by Rogneda of Polotsk had been questioned by Mykola Kostomarov in the 19th century. Yaroslav figures prominently in the Norse sagas under the name Jarisleif the Lame ; his legendary lameness (probably resulting from an arrow wound) was corroborated by the scientists who examined his remains. In his youth, Yaroslav

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660-659: Is named after him. Iron Lord was a 2010 feature film based on Yaroslav's early life as a regional prince on the frontier. On December 12, 2022, on the Constitution Day of the Russian Federation , a monument to Yaroslav the Wise was unveiled at the site near the Novgorod Technical School. The author of the monument is sculptor Sergey Gaev. Yaroslav was at the earliest named a saint by Adam of Bremen in his " Deeds of Bishops of

715-976: Is often interpreted as recounting the story of Boris' assassination by the Varangians in the service of Yaroslav. However, the victim's name is given there as Burizaf , which is also a name of Boleslaus I in the Scandinavian sources. It is thus possible that the Saga tells the story of Yaroslav's struggle against Sviatopolk (whose troops were commanded by the Polish duke), and not against Boris. Yaroslav defeated Sviatopolk in their first battle, in 1016, and Sviatopolk fled to Poland. Sviatopolk returned in 1018 with Polish troops furnished by his father-in-law, seized Kiev , and pushed Yaroslav back into Novgorod . Yaroslav prevailed over Sviatopolk, and in 1019 firmly established his rule over Kiev. One of his first actions as

770-542: Is revealed by his having imprisoned his youngest brother Sudislav for life. In response, another brother, Mstislav of Chernigov , whose distant realm bordered the North Caucasus and the Black Sea , hastened to Kiev. Despite reinforcements led by Yaroslav's brother-in-law King Anund Jacob of Sweden (as Yakun - "blind and dressed in a gold suit" or "handsome and dressed in a gold suit") Mstislav inflicted

825-682: The Pechenegs in 1036, who thereafter were never a threat to Kiev, he sponsored the construction of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in 1037. In 1037 the monasteries of Saint George and Saint Irene were built, named after patron saints of Yaroslav and his wife. Some mentioned and other celebrated monuments of his reign such as the Golden Gate of Kiev were destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Rus' , but later restored. Yaroslav

880-592: The Principality of Smolensk . There is almost no information about Vyacheslav. Some documents point out the fact of him having a son, Boris Vyacheslavich , who challenged Vsevolod I sometime in 1077–1078. Following his death, the body of Yaroslav the Wise was entombed in a white marble sarcophagus within Saint Sophia's Cathedral . In 1936, the sarcophagus was opened and found to contain the skeletal remains of two individuals, one male and one female. The male

935-591: The 1964 reinterment of the remains were falsified to hide the fact that Yaroslav's remains had been lost. Subsequent questioning of individuals involved in the research and reinterment of the remains seems to point to the idea that Yaroslav's remains were purposely hidden prior to the German occupation of Ukraine and then either lost completely or stolen and transported to the United States , where many ancient religious artifacts were placed to avoid "mistreatment" by

990-405: The Church of St. Andrew Stratilates near the southeastern wall, and other buildings are found south of the museum, an area of the Detinets that has been left a park. There are numerous references in the chronicles to no longer extant buildings, including chapels over the gates (there were six in the republican period) and the Church of Sts. Boris and Gleb, built by Sitko Sitinits, who is thought to be

1045-847: The Hamburg Church " in 1075 , but he was not formally canonized . On 9 March 2004, on his 950th death anniversary he was included in the calendar of saints of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) . On 8 December 2005, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow added his name to the Menologium as a local saint. On 3 February 2016, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church held in Moscow established church-wide veneration of Yaroslav as

1100-546: The Marketplace in 1337. The chronicle does not say how the crisis was resolved, but the next year Esif was elevated to the Archimandrite of St. George after the death of Lavrenti. In 1342 he was sent to Koporye on a mission to secure Posadnik (burgomaster) Fedor Danilovich who was detained there. Russian monasteries at various times became guard-houses for prisoners of state. Also, in 1345, the church of St. George

1155-556: The Novgorodian Land, this, however, remains uncertain. Archimandrite Sava was buried in the Antoniev Monastery , and several archimandrites built churches in other monasteries, perhaps indicating their power or influence over all the city-state's monasteries. Archbishop Spiridon (1229–1249) was a monk and deacon at the monastery before he was elected archbishop of Novgorod. Archbishop Moisei (1325–1330, 1352–1359)

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1210-806: The Thousand Years of Russia , is the Novgorod Museum and the Novgorod Regional Library, housed in what had in the imperial period been the administrative building of Novgorod. The museum houses a fine icon collection and other artifacts from the city's history. Several smaller churches (the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God along the southwestern wall near the Pokrovskii (Intercession) and Kokui towers, and

1265-504: The Wise , was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death in 1054. He was also earlier Prince of Novgorod from 1010 to 1034 and Prince of Rostov from 987 to 1010, uniting the principalities for a time. Yaroslav's baptismal name was George after Saint George . Yaroslav was a son of Vladimir the Great and Rogneda of Polotsk . Yaroslav ruled the northern lands around Rostov before being transferred to Novgorod in 1010. He had

1320-681: The alliance was not liked in Sweden, in order to declare war against Olaf II of Norway . This was sealed in 1019 when King Olof of Sweden married his daughter to Yaroslav instead of the Norwegian king. That led to protests in Sweden because the Swedes wanted to reestablish control over their lost eastern territories and bring in tribute from Kievan Rus', as his father Eric the Victorious had, but after years of war against Norway, Sweden no longer had

1375-614: The archimandrites of the Yuriev Monastery were elected by the veche, although there is very little evidence of this; in 1226 it appears that the Novgorodian elite approved the election of Savatii's successor although whether the veche took part is unclear. A later veche (more a mob than a governmental assembly in this case) held the Archimandrite Esif (Iosif - Joseph) overnight in the Church of St. Nicholas on

1430-465: The archimandrites of the Yuriev Monastery were, for several centuries, the only archimandrites in the Novgorodian Land, and thus they were, in a manner of speaking, the Archimandrites of Novgorod. Some scholars argue theirole in the Novgorodian church administration was more formal than that though, and they were the deputy to the archbishops of Novgorod or else they headed all the monasteries in

1485-627: The area around present-day Tartu , Estonia, establishing the fort of Yuryev, and forced nearby regions to pay tribute. Yaroslav also defended his state against nomadic tribes such as the Pechenegs by constructing a line of forts. He was a patron of literary culture, sponsoring the construction of Saint Sophia Cathedral in 1037 and promoting the first work of Old East Slavic literature by Hilarion of Kiev . Yaroslav married Ingegerd Olofsdotter in 1019 and had several children who married into foreign royal families. His children from his second marriage went on to rule various parts of Kievan Rus'. Yaroslav

1540-503: The city otherwise. Whatever the reason, the Greeks refused to pay and preferred to fight. The Rus' flotilla defeated the Byzantine fleet but was almost destroyed by a storm and came back to Kiev empty-handed. To defend his state from the Pechenegs and other nomadic tribes threatening it from the south he constructed a line of forts, composed of Yuriev , Bohuslav , Kaniv , Korsun , and Pereyaslavl . To celebrate his decisive victory over

1595-568: The communists. Four towns in four countries were named after Yaroslav, three of which he also founded: Yaroslavl (in today's Russia), Jarosław in Poland, Yuryev (now Bila Tserkva , Ukraine), and another Yuryev in place of conquered Tarbatu (now Tartu ) between 1030 and 1061 in Estonia . Following the Russian custom of naming military objects such as tanks and planes after historical figures,

1650-513: The helmet worn by many Russian soldiers during the Crimean War was called the "Helmet of Yaroslav the Wise". It was the first pointed helmet to be used by a modern army, even before German troops wore pointed helmets . In 2008 Yaroslav was placed first (with 40% of the votes) in their ranking of "our greatest compatriots " by the viewers of the TV show Velyki Ukraintsi . Afterwards, one of

1705-548: The king of Sweden . He gave Ladoga to her as a marriage gift. Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev houses a fresco representing the whole family: Yaroslav, Irene (as Ingegerd was known in Rus'), their four daughters and six sons. Yaroslav had at least three of his daughters married to foreign princes who lived in exile at his court: Yaroslav had one son from the first marriage (his Christian name being Ilya (?–1020)), and six sons from

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1760-520: The medieval frescoes remain, but most of the church was refrescoed in 1902. Among the frescoes is a large Christ Pantokrator in the main dome, a full-length portrait of Novgorodian Archbishop Feoktist, and another full-length (although smaller) portrait of Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich on the southwestern pier. The monastery also has the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in the northeastern corner of

1815-671: The monastery during the Ingrian War (1610 - 1617), the remains of prince Theodor were found imperishable. They "put him out of grave and stand him leaned at wall, he was like alive". As the result, the great prince Theodor was canonized in Novgorod and is the local saint. The monastery was an important source for historical information on medieval Novgorod, as part of the Novgorod First Chronicle (the Synodal text)

1870-473: The monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church , and parts of it have been renovated since then. However the western part, including a church there, are still in ruins. 58°29′15″N 31°17′07″E  /  58.48750°N 31.28528°E  / 58.48750; 31.28528 Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav I Vladimirovich ( c. 978 – 20 February 1054), better known as Yaroslav

1925-414: The monastery, with five blue domes and gold stars on it, built in the 18th century. The gateway into the monastery is crowned by a tall gold-domed tower which is visible from the city centre, including the Novgorod Kremlin two miles to the north. The monastery owes its resurgence to the efforts of its powerful and energetic hegumen Archimandrite Photius (1792-1838) who persuaded Countess Anna Orlova ,

1980-665: The north. Later in Yaroslav's reign, around c.1035, Ingvar the Far-Travelled , Anund Jakob 's jarl, sent Swedish soldiers into Kievan Rus due to Olof's son wanting to assist his father's ally Yaroslav in his wars against the Pechenegs and Byzantines. Later, in c.1041 Anund Jakob tried to reestablish Swedish control over the Eastern trade routes and reopen them. The Georgian annals report 1000 men coming into Georgia but

2035-443: The original force was likely much larger, around 3,000 men. Ingvar's fate is unknown, but he was likely captured in battle during the Byzantine campaigns or killed, supposedly in 1041. Only one ship returned to Sweden, according to the legend. Yaroslav presented his second direct challenge to Constantinople in 1043, when a Rus' flotilla headed by one of his sons appeared near Constantinople and demanded money, threatening to attack

2090-403: The power to collect regular tributes from Kievan Rus', according to Heimskringla . In 1022 Olaf was deposed and forced to give power to his son Anund Jakob . He defended the Eastern countries from invaders, ensuring Swedish military interests. In a successful military raid in 1030, he captured Tartu , Estonia and renamed it Yuryev (named after Yury, Yaroslav's patron saint ) and forced

2145-634: The producers of The Greatest Ukrainians claimed that Yaroslav had only won because of vote manipulation and that (if that had been prevented) the real first place would have been awarded to Stepan Bandera . In 2003, a monument to Yaroslav the Wise was erected in Kyiv , Ukraine. The creators of the monument are Boris Krylov and Oles Sydoruk. There is also a Yaroslavska Street in Kiev, and there are various streets named after him in cities throughout Ukraine. The Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Kharkiv

2200-457: The role of Novgorodian princes burial place. In 1198 two sons of Yaroslav the Wise , Izyaslav of Luki and Rostislav, are buried in the Church of Saint George. In 1233 the elder brother of Great Prince Alexander Nevsky called Фёдор (Theodor), and in 11 years, in 1244, their mother called Феодосия (Theodosia) found the last resting in the church. Almost 200 years afterwards, when Swedish intervents had unearthed graves looking for lucre while invading

2255-632: The second marriage. Apprehending the danger that could ensue from divisions between brothers, he exhorted them to live in peace with each other. The eldest of these, Vladimir of Novgorod , best remembered for building the Cathedral of St. Sophia, Novgorod , predeceased his father. Vladimir succeeded Yaroslav as prince of Novgorod in 1034. Three other sons— Iziaslav I , Sviatoslav II , and Vsevolod I —reigned in Kiev one after another. The youngest children of Yaroslav were Igor Yaroslavich (1036–1060) of Volhynia and Vyacheslav Yaroslavich (1036–1057) of

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2310-412: The site dates to 1044, with additional construction taking place in 1116. These were probably earthen embankments topped by a wooden palisade, although stone towers and walls were built in 1302. Archbishop Vasily Kalika (1330–1352) rebuilt the stone wall along the eastern side of the Detinets in 1331–1335. The rest was completed in stone only in 1400. Under the rule of Archbishop Evfimy II (1429–1458),

2365-536: The surrounding Ugandi County to pay annual tribute. In 1031, he conquered Cherven cities from the Poles followed by the construction of Sutiejsk to guard the newly acquired lands. In c.1034 Yaroslav concluded an alliance with Polish King Casimir I the Restorer , sealed by the latter's marriage to Yaroslav's sister, Maria. Yaroslav's eldest son, Vladimir , ruled in Novgorod from 1034 and supervised relations in

2420-483: Was a child of Anna Porphyrogenita herself. French historian Jean-Pierre Arrignon argues that he was indeed Anna's son, as this would explain his interference in Byzantine affairs in 1043. William Humphreys also favors a reconstruction making Yaroslav the son, rather than the step-son, of Anna, by invoking onomastic arguments. It is curious that Yaroslav named his elder son Vladimir (after his own father) and one of his daughters Anna (as if after his own mother). There

2475-446: Was a notable patron of literary culture and learning. In 1051, he had a Slavic monk, Hilarion of Kiev , proclaimed the metropolitan bishop of Kiev, thus challenging the Byzantine tradition of placing Greeks on the episcopal sees. Hilarion's discourse on Yaroslav and his father Vladimir is frequently cited as the first work of Old East Slavic literature. In 1019, Yaroslav married Ingegerd Olofsdotter , daughter of Olof Skötkonung ,

2530-668: Was archimandrite of the Yuriev Monastery before being elected archbishop, and Archbishop Feoktist was, according to some sources, buried at the Yuriev monastery (explaining the large fresco of him and a smaller icon in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross), but other sources give another monastery, the Monastery of the Annunciation, as his place of burial. Prince Dmitry Shemyaka was also allegedly buried there. The monastery played

2585-400: Was compiled in the monastery. The Church of St. George is one of the largest in Novgorod and its immediate environs. It is a tall (105 feet tall) white-stone church 85 feet long by 75 feet wide with three silver domes, which is somewhat unusual for Russian churches which usually have five (the main dome representing Christ, the four smaller ones representing the evangelists). Some remnants of

2640-416: Was determined to be Yaroslav. The identity of the female was never established, though some believe them to be those of Yaroslav's spouse Ingegerd. The sarcophagus was again opened in 1939 and the remains removed for research, not being documented as returned until 1964. In 2009, the sarcophagus was opened and surprisingly found to contain only one skeleton, that of a female. It seems the documents detailing

2695-601: Was during this period that Yaroslav promulgated the first code of laws in the lands of the East Slavs , the Russkaya Pravda . Leaving aside the legitimacy of Yaroslav's claims to the Kievan throne and his postulated guilt in the murder of his brothers, Nestor the Chronicler and later Russian historians often presented him as a model of virtue, styling him "the Wise". A less appealing side of his personality

2750-464: Was known for promoting unity among his children and emphasizing the importance of living in peace. After his death, his body was placed in a sarcophagus within Saint Sophia's Cathedral, but his remains were later lost or stolen. Yaroslav's legacy includes founding several towns and having numerous monuments and institutions named after him. The early years of Yaroslav's life are mostly unknown. He

2805-521: Was one of the numerous sons of Vladimir the Great , presumably his second by Rogneda of Polotsk , although his actual age (as stated in the Primary Chronicle and corroborated by the examination of his skeleton in the 1930s) would place him among the youngest children of Vladimir. It has been suggested that he was a child begotten out of wedlock after Vladimir's divorce from Rogneda and marriage to Anna Porphyrogenita , or even that he

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2860-401: Was originally the site of a pagan burial ground upon which the first bishop of Novgorod, Ioakim Korsunianin , built the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom upon his arrival in the area in 989 or so. Thus the compound was and remained largely an ecclesiastical site, although many Novgorodian boyars built their houses in the southern part of the Detinets . The first reference of the fortification on

2915-408: Was rebuilt between 1484 and 1490 by Muscovite builders in the wake of Grand Prince Ivan III's conquest of the city in 1478; a third of it was paid for by the Novgorodian archbishop Gennady , a Muscovite appointee (1484–1504). It is a large oval 545 metres long and 240 metres wide with nine surviving towers (three additional towers have not survived). The tallest tower, the Kokui tower, is capped by

2970-404: Was renovated and new lead added to the roof under the direction of Archimandrite Esif. The archimandrites of the Yuriev Monastery were often called Archimandrite of Novgorod, as in 1270, when Varlaam "Hegumen of St. George's [the Yuriev Monastery] and Archimandtire of Novgorod" died. A listing of the "Archimandrites of Novgorod," is included in the back of the Novgorodian First Chronicle. In fact,

3025-519: Was sent by his father to rule the northern lands around Rostov . He was transferred to Veliky Novgorod, as befitted a senior heir to the throne, in 1010. While living there, he founded the town of Yaroslavl (literally, "Yaroslav's") on the Volga River . His relations with his father were apparently strained, and grew only worse on the news that Vladimir bequeathed the Kievan throne to his younger son, Boris . In 1014 Yaroslav refused to pay tribute to Kiev and only Vladimir's death, in July 1015, prevented

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