300 years ago, on the morning of September 10 (August 30, old style), 1724, the cannons of the Peter and Paul Fortress fired three times. At this signal, the Neva Flotilla in full force, including the “grandfather of the Russian fleet”, the legendary boat of Tsar Peter I, went up the Neva… No, this was not a sudden attack by the enemy. This was the beginning of a great holiday that had been awaited all year. The flotilla moved up the Neva to bow to the beloved shrine of the Russian Empire. Tsar Peter the Great, who led the sea procession, met the galley heading towards his yacht, stepped on it, knelt before the shrine and then stood at the helm. He had to do it himself. personally A Living Work The meeting of the royal yacht and the galley took place at the confluence of the Izhora River, a tributary of the Neva. And the place was not chosen by chance. It was here, according to the chronicles, that another meeting took place on July 15, 1240. The detachment of Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, approaching from the Novgorod fortress of Ladoga “in exile”, that is, at full speed, attacked the camp of the Swedes, who had settled here several weeks before. Yes, this was the very place of that battle, which is called the Battle of the Neva and which later gave the nickname to one of the most recognizable princes of Ancient Rus’. In his youth, Prince Alexander was often called by his patronymic, in adulthood the epithet “Brave” was added to his patronymic, and several centuries after his death he was glorified as Nevsky; You can bet that the name of Alexander Nevsky will evoke in our memory a clear image created by director Sergei Eisenstein and actor Nikolai Cherkasov in the film of the same name. What does the prince look like, who defeated the Swedes on the Neva and the Germans on Lake Peipus? There can be no two opinions here – of course, he wears armor and a helmet, and in his hands he holds what is said at the end of the famous film: “Whoever comes to us with a sword, will perish by the sword! Here stood and stands the Russian land!” And so it is now. And three hundred years ago, the people who spent a whole year carrying the relics of Alexander Nevsky from Vladimir, the capital of Ancient Rus’, to St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, did not know such a prince. Or rather, they had no idea. However, it turned out that when leaving Vladimir on August 11, 1723, by strict order of the tsar “Do not carry them on horses, but carry them with you.” your hands, went over to very radical changes. In fact, the prince, officially canonized by the Orthodox Church in 1547 and revered as a saint since the end of the 13th century, was depicted on icons in completely different ways for hundreds of years. Most often, Alexander Nevsky appeared in princely clothing, somewhat less often – in the clothing of a monk, which also did not raise questions – everyone knew that Alexander Yaroslavich was the first of the great princes to take monastic vows and conceive before his death. I had a special opinion on this matter. Icon of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky In general, the Tsar-Carpenter felt a certain kinship with this prince. Not by blood, no, because the Rurikovichs and the Romanovs are different dynasties, although they were related – the first wife of Ivan the Terrible was Anastasia Romanova. But here there was a kinship of a higher order – spiritual. Many, of course, will draw analogies – of course, both Alexander and Peter defeated the Swedes and established a Russian presence in the Baltic, what can you think? But we need to think. Peter entered the war with the Swedes in 1700, when he was already 28 years old. And almost all these years, from a very early age, he knew for sure that he was destined to be born on the same day as Alexander Nevsky – May 30. The coincidence itself is significant. But that’s not all. “Transfer of the relics of the blessed prince Alexander Nevsky to St. Petersburg by Peter the Great.” Left: Peter the Great; right: Menshikov, Apraksin, Yaguzhinsky When choosing a place to build a merry fleet, Peter, who turned 19 in the spring of 1692, first looked at Lake Nero, where the city of Rostov the Great is located. But it quickly became clear that the muddy and shallow “Nero” was not suitable for naval exercises. But Lake Pleshcheyevo, located 60 miles from Rostov, was quite suitable. There, in the village of Veskovo, Peter founded the first shipyard. Since then, Lake Pleshcheyevo has deservedly received the name of the cradle of the Russian fleet. The trick is that the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky is located on Lake Pleshcheyevo. And Prince Alexander Nevsky was born and baptized in this city. After Peter recaptured the mouth of the Neva from the Swedes, the riddle was finally solved. Who would become the patron saint of the new capital and the renewed state? Of course, Alexander Nevsky, no need to go to a fortune teller to guess. That is why the tsar, who banned the creation of new monasteries, made an exception – the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, which later received the status of a monastery, was founded in 1710, just 7 years after the founding of St. Petersburg. That is why the relics of the holy faithful prince were transferred here 300 years ago – to the place that made him famous and gave him his nickname. That is why Peter, by a special decree, categorically forbade depicting Alexander Nevsky as he was in the old days – as a prince or a monk. Just a warrior, just with a sword and armor. That is why we now imagine the prince only like this, and no other way.
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