1.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
2.
Monastery
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A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone. A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church or temple, a monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary. These may include a hospice, a school and a range of agricultural and manufacturing such as a barn. In English usage, the monastery is generally used to denote the buildings of a community of monks. In modern usage, convent tends to be applied only to institutions of female monastics, historically, a convent denoted a house of friars, now more commonly called a friary. Various religions may apply these terms in specific ways. The earliest extant use of the term monastērion is by the 1st century AD Jewish philosopher Philo in On The Contemplative Life, in England the word monastery was also applied to the habitation of a bishop and the cathedral clergy who lived apart from the lay community. Most cathedrals were not monasteries, and were served by canons secular, however, some were run by monasteries orders, such as York Minster. Westminster Abbey was for a time a cathedral, and was a Benedictine monastery until the Reformation. They are also to be distinguished from collegiate churches, such as St Georges Chapel, in most of this article, the term monastery is used generically to refer to any of a number of types of religious community. In the Roman Catholic religion and to some extent in certain branches of Buddhism, there is a more specific definition of the term. Buddhist monasteries are generally called vihara, viharas may be occupied by males or females, and in keeping with common English usage, a vihara populated by females may often be called a nunnery or a convent. However, vihara can also refer to a temple, in Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries are often called gompa. In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, a monastery is called a wat, in Burma, a monastery is called a kyaung. A Christian monastery may be an abbey, or a priory and it may be a community of men or of women. A charterhouse is any monastery belonging to the Carthusian order, in Eastern Christianity, a very small monastic community can be called a skete, and a very large or important monastery can be given the dignity of a lavra. The great communal life of a Christian monastery is called cenobitic, as opposed to the life of an anchorite. In Hinduism monasteries are called matha, mandir, koil, or most commonly an ashram, jains use the Buddhist term vihara
3.
Volokolamsk
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It was first mentioned in the Voskresensk Chronicle under the year 1135. It was built by Novgorodian merchants on a 5-kilometer portage on a waterway from Novgorod to Moscow and Ryazan, in 1178, the town was burned by Vsevolod the Big Nest, who added it to Vladimir-Suzdal lands. His son Yaroslav II restored it to Novgorod in 1231, after the Mongol invasion of Rus, the town was divided into two parts, one assigned to Novgorod and another one to the Grand Dukes of Vladimir. The Principality of Tver failed to take it in 1273, Ivan Kalita presented his part of the town to the boyar Rodion Nestorovich, who presently wrested the other part from Novgorod. In 1345, Simeon the Proud gave Volokolamsk to his father-in-law, while in possession of Smolensk, the town withstood a siege by Algirdas during the Lithuanian–Muscovite War. Vladimir the Bold defeated Tokhtamysh near Volokolamsk in 1383, soon thereafter, it reverted to Novgorod. The town remained the southernmost enclave of the Novgorod Republic until 1398, ten years later, it was granted for two years to Švitrigaila, who had just defected to Moscow. Having lost its Hanseatic trade and connections with Novgorod, the town declined and was not mentioned by any sources for the half a century. It was in 1462, when Volokolamsk was given by Ivan III to his younger brother and its first prince erected the single-domed limestone Resurrection Cathedral, which still stands. Another prince was Andrey Volotsky, the monument from his reign is the three-domed cathedral of the Vyazmischi Cloister. In 1613, Volokolamsk braved a siege by Sigismund III Vasa, by that time, Volokolamsk had been associated primarily with the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery, situated 17 kilometers to the northeast. The Soviet authority in Volokolamsk was established in late October 1917, during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, a number of violent clashes between the German and Soviet troops and partisans took place near Volokolamsk. The town was under German occupation from October 27 to December 20,1941, within the framework of administrative divisions, Volokolamsk serves as the administrative center of Volokolamsky District. As an administrative division, it is, together with seven rural localities, as a municipal division, the Town of Volokolamsk is incorporated within Volokolamsky Municipal District as Volokolamsk Urban Settlement. Постановление №123-ПГ от28 сентября2010 г, «Об учётных данных административно-территориальных и территориальных единиц Московской области», в ред. Постановления №252-ПГ от26 июня2015 г, «О внесении изменения в учётные данные административно-территориальных и территориальных единиц Московской области». Опубликован, Информационный вестник Правительства МО, №10,30 октября2010 г, Закон №1/2005-ОЗ от11 января2005 г. «О статусе и границах Волоколамского муниципального района и вновь образованных в его составе муниципальных образований», Закона №127/2010-ОЗ от29 октября2010 г
4.
Moscow Oblast
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Moscow Oblast, or Podmoskovye, is a federal subject of Russia. With a population of 7,095,120 living in an area of 44,300 square kilometers, the oblast has no official administrative center, its public authorities are located in Moscow and across other locations in the oblast. In the center stands the city of Moscow, which is a separate federal subject in its own right. The oblast is highly industrialized, with its main branches being metallurgy, oil refining, and mechanical engineering, food, energy. The oblast is flat, with some hills with the height of about 160 meters in the western. The western and northern parts of the oblast contain the Moscow Uplands and their average height peaks at about 300 meters near Dmitrov and the upper point of 310 meters lies near the village of Shapkino in Mozhaysky District. The northern part of the Moscow Uplands is steeper than the southern part, the uplands contain lakes of glacial origin, such as Lakes Nerskoye and Krugloye. To the north of the Moscow Uplands lies the alluvial Verhnevolzhsk Depression, It is marshy, to the south stretches a hilly area of the Moskvoretsko-Oksk plain. Its greatest height of 254 meters lies in the area of Tyoply Stan, the plain has clearly defined river valleys, especially in the south parts, and occasional karst relief, mostly in Serpukhovsky District. In the extreme south, after the Oka River, lies the Central Russian Upland and it contains numerous gullies and ravines and has average height above 200 m with the maximum of 236 m near Pushchino. Most of the part of Moscow Oblast is taken by the vast Meshchera Lowlands with much wetland in their eastern part. Their highest hill peaks at 214 meters but the heights are 120–150 meters. Most lakes of the lowlands, such as Lakes Chyornoye and Svyatoye, are of glacial origin, here lies the lowest natural elevation of the region, the water level of Oka River at 97 meters. Moscow Oblast is located in the part of the East European craton. Like all cratons, the latter is composed of the crystalline basement, the basement consists of Archaean and Proterozoic rocks and the cover is deposited in the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. The lowest depth of the basement is to the south of Serebryanye Prudy, in the south area of the oblast. Tertiary deposits are almost absent within the oblast, significantly more abundant are deposits of the Carboniferous and Jurassic periods. In the Cretaceous period, a sea was covering Moscow Oblast, as evidenced by phosphate deposits, Cretaceous sediments are most common in the north of the oblast
5.
Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius
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The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about 70 km to the north-east from Moscow by the leading to Yaroslavl. The monastery was founded in 1337 by one of the most venerated Russian saints, Sergius of Radonezh, early development of the monastic community is well documented in contemporary lives of Sergius and his disciples. In 1355, Sergius introduced a charter which required the construction of buildings, such as refectory, kitchen. This charter was a model for Sergius numerous followers who founded more than 400 cloisters all over Russia, including the celebrated Solovetsky, Kirillov, and Simonov monasteries. St. Sergius supported Dmitri Donskoi in his struggle against the Tatars, at the outbreak of the battle, Peresvet died in a single combat against a Tatar bogatyr. The monastery was devastated by fire, when a Tatar unit raided the area in 1408, St. Sergius was declared patron saint of the Russian state in 1422. The same year the first stone cathedral was built by a team of Serbian monks who had found refuge in the monastery after the Battle of Kosovo, the relics of St. Sergius still may be seen in this cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The greatest icon painters of medieval Russia, Andrei Rublev and Daniil Chyorny, were summoned to decorate the cathedral with frescoes, traditionally, Muscovite royals were baptized in this cathedral and held thanksgiving services here. In 1476, Ivan III invited several Pskovian masters to build the church of the Holy Spirit and this graceful structure is one of the few remaining examples of a Russian church topped with a belltower. The interior contains the earliest specimens of the use of glazed tiles for decoration, in the early 16th century, Vasily III added the Nikon annex and the Serapion tent, where several of Sergius disciples were interred. It took 26 years to construct the six-pillared Assumption Cathedral, which was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in 1559, the cathedral is much larger than its model and namesake in the Moscow Kremlin. The magnificent iconostasis of the 16th–18th centuries features Simon Ushakovs masterpiece, interior walls were painted with violet and blue frescoes by a team of Yaroslavl masters in 1684. The vault contains burials of Boris Godunov, his family and several 20th-century patriarchs, as the monastery grew into one of the wealthiest landowners in Russia, the woods where it had stood were cut over and a village sprang up near the monastery walls. It gradually developed into the town of Sergiyev Posad. The cloister itself was a centre of chronicle-writing and icon painting. A shell-hole in the gates is preserved as a reminder of Wladyslaw IVs abortive siege in 1618. By the end of the 17th century, when young Peter I twice found refuge within the monastery from his enemies and these include a small baroque palace of the patriarchs, noted for its luxurious interiors, and a royal palace, with its facades painted in checkerboard design
6.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
7.
Lavra
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A lavra or laura is a type of monastery consisting of a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center. It is erected within the Orthodox and other Eastern Christian traditions, the term in Greek initially meant a narrow lane or an alley in a city. The Greek term lavra was employed from the century on specifically for the semi-eremitical monastic settlements of the Judean desert. The first lauras of Palestine were founded by St. Chariton, the Laura of Pharan, Saint Euthymius the Great founded one of the early Lavras in fifth-century Palestine. The Lavra of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified, known as Mar Saba, is one of the most ancient, weekdays were spent in the cells, accompanied only by a rush mat, a small amount of food and palm blades with which to make ropes and baskets. On Saturdays they would bring their handiwork to the coenobium and receive communion together, cells were left open, and those in need could take whatever they wished from the cell if it were found empty. The lavra had a priest, the contact with the outside world. Unless proven otherwise by future scholarship, this seems to be theirs alone. It was a community of 600 hermits who lived scattered over the area, reliant on the town of Nitria for bread, the Great Lavra founded by Athanasius the Athonite in 963 is the oldest monastery on Mount Athos. The largest and the most important Russian Orthodox monasteries have been called lavras and have been subordinated directly to the Patriarch of Moscow, in 1721, they became subordinated to the Holy Synod. Sabbas Polish Orthodox Church, Supraśl Lavra Romanian Orthodox Church, Neamț Lavra Russian Orthodox Church, sergius Lavra Alexander Nevsky Lavra St. The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity, the Archaeology of Ancient Judea and Palestine. Sergius Lavra Photo of Holy Mountain Lavra in Ukraine Herbermann, Charles, ed. Laura
8.
Joseph Volotsky
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The Russian Orthodox Church considers him a saint, his memory is celebrated on 9 September and 18 October. Joseph Volotsky came from a family of a landowner whose property consisted of the Yazvishche village in the Principaity of Volokolamsk. He learned to read and write at the monastery and then took the tonsure at the Borovsk Monastery in 1459. Upon the death of its abbot, St. Paphnutius of Borovsk, Joseph Volotsky took his place, the monks, however, rebuffed his idea, and he had to leave the monastery for good. Josephs charter prescribed a monks chief virtue as absolute obedience to his abbot, all aspects of a monks life at the monastery were regulated and controlled. Initially, Joseph Volotsky was connected with the princes of Volokolamsk and defended the right of local ecclesiastical. Joseph Volotsky addressed a number of epistles to the nestiazhateli, in which he tried to prove the legality of monastic landownership, eventually, Joseph Volotsky gained the upper hand and the monasteries preserved their landholdings. Joseph Volotsky restated the formula of an early Byzantine ecclesiastical writer Agapetus that the tsar was a man in essence, but his power is that of God and that he was God’s deputy on Earth. According to Joseph, however, since the duty of the tsar is to care for the well-being of the Christian Church, he is legitimate only as long as he adheres to Church rules. Joseph Volotsky is also known to have been an opponent of the heretical sect which was spreading in Russia at that time. During the Church Sobor of 1504, he demanded that all heretics be executed by the state, as with the controversy over monastic ownership of estates, Joseph Volotsky was opposed in this matter by Saint Nil Sorsky. Josephs teachings were officially adopted by the Russian Orthodox Church following his canonization in 1579. Russian biography Saint Josephs epistle on veneration of holy icons
9.
Diocese of Novgorod
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The Novgorod and Staraya Russa Diocese is one of the oldest offices in the Russian Orthodox Church. The office of bishop of Novgorod was created around the time of the Christianization of Rus, the first bishop, Ioakim Korsunianin, built the first Cathedral of Holy Wisdom with thirteen tops around the time of his arrival in Novgorod. That cathedral burned in 1045, and the current, stone, cathedral and it was consecrated by Bishop Luka Zhidiata on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14,1052. The office remained a bishopric until it 1165 when Metropolitan Kirill raised Ilya to the archiepiscopal dignity, formally, though the status of the Novgorodian church remained unchanged and was still part of the Province of Kiev. Around 1400, the archbishops began referring to themselves as Archbishop of Novgorod the Great, in 1156, Bishop Arkadii was elected by the veche because the metropolitan throne in Kiev was vacant at that time. Over the next centuries, a process of local election either by the veche, by the local clergy. It was last used in the election of Archbishop Sergei in 1483, while some Russian chronicles refer to all Novgorodian prelates as archbishops, the office was not formally raised to the archiepiscopal status until 1165. There is evidence, however, that suggests that Nifont held the archiepiscopal title personally even before that, an antimins from the St. Nicholas Cathedral on the Market bears an inscription referring to Nifont as archbishop. It then continued to grow in power into the fifteenth century. After the Muscovite conquest in 1478, the office fell somewhat into decline and his successor, Serapion was removed from office after only three years and the see sat vacant for seventeen years. Like the rest of Russia, the archiepiscopal office suffered hardship during the reign of Ivan the Terrible and the subsequent Time of Troubles. Novgorod seems to have suffered more than most, as the Oprichnina massacred a number of the citizenry in the city in 1570 and looted the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom and other places in the city. At around the time of the massacre, Tsar Ivan the Terrible removed Archbishop Pimen from office, Pimen died in 1572 under uncertain circumstances in the Monastery of St. Nicholas in Tula. His successor, Archbishop Leonid, was beheaded in Moscow on Cathedral Square in the Kremlin on the orders of the Tsar in October 1575, leonids successor, Aleksandr, was elevated to the metropolitan rank in 1589, becoming the Metropolitan of Novgorod the Great and Velikie Luki. The office remained a metropolitanate until 1720 when it was reduced to an archiepiscopate. It was elevated to the level again in 1762. It was separated from St. Petersburg in 1892, the new city of St. Archbishop Dmitry, served as Catherine the Greats spiritual advisor for the first few years of her reign and crowned her Empress in 1762. The Novgorodian Eparchy was combined again with Leningrad after the re-legalization of the church in 1943 and it was briefly separated in the 1950s and combined with Leningrad, again, in the 1960s
10.
Heresy
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Heresy /hār ə sē/ is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs. A heretic is a proponent of such claims or beliefs, the term is usually used to refer to violations of important religious teachings, but is used also of views strongly opposed to any generally accepted ideas. It is used in particular in reference to Christianity, Judaism, the word heresy is usually used within a Christian, Jewish, or Islamic context, and implies slightly different meanings in each. The founder or leader of a movement is called a heresiarch. Heresiology is the study of heresy, according to Titus 3,10 a divisive person should be warned two times before separating from him. The Greek for the phrase divisive person became a term in the early Church for a type of heretic who promoted dissension. In contrast correct teaching is called not only because it builds up the faith. The Church Fathers identified Jews and Judaism with heresy and they saw deviations from orthodox Christianity as heresies that were essentially Jewish in spirit. The use of the word heresy was given currency by Irenaeus in his 2nd century tract Contra Haereses to describe. He described the beliefs and doctrines as orthodox and the Gnostics teachings as heretical. He also pointed out the concept of succession to support his arguments. By Roman law the Emperor was Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of the College of Pontiffs of all recognized religions in ancient Rome. To put an end to the doctrinal debate initiated by Arius, Constantine called the first of what would afterwards be called the ecumenical councils and then enforced orthodoxy by Imperial authority. The first known usage of the term in a context was in AD380 by the Edict of Thessalonica of Theodosius I. Prior to the issuance of this edict, the Church had no state-sponsored support for any particular legal mechanism to counter what it perceived as heresy, by this edict the states authority and that of the Church became somewhat overlapping. One of the outcomes of this blurring of Church and state was the sharing of state powers of legal enforcement with church authorities and this reinforcement of the Churchs authority gave church leaders the power to, in effect, pronounce the death sentence upon those whom the church considered heretical. The edict of Theodosius II provided severe punishments for those who had or spread writings of Nestorius and those who possessed writings of Arius were sentenced to death. For some years after the Reformation, Protestant churches were known to execute those they considered heretics
11.
Maximus the Greek
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Maximus the Greek, also known as Maximos the Greek or Maksim Grek, was a Greek monk, publicist, writer, scholar, and translator active in Russia. He is also called Maximos the Hagiorite, as well as Maximus the Philosopher, Maximus was born Michael Trivolis circa 1475 in Arta, Greece. While in Italy, he studied ancient languages, as well as ecclesiastic and philosophic works, Maximus was also greatly influenced by the preachings of the fiery Dominican priest and reformer Girolamo Savonarola whose ashes were gathered by Maximus in 1498. In 1504, Maximus left the Dominican monastery of St. Mark, in 1515, Grand Prince Vasili III asked the abbot of the monastery to send him a certain monk by the name of Savva to translate a number of religious texts. Savva was so old that the abbot decided to send the energetic Maximus instead, nevertheless, the monks vouched for him, and he went to Moscow, where he was met with great honor. Upon arriving in Moscow in 1518, Maximus headed the movement of religious reform, in 1518, Maximus met Prince Kurbskii who later wrote about Maximus and his time in Moscow in Skazanie o Maxsime Filosofe. In this work, Kurbskii describes a meeting between Maximus and Vasili III whereupon Maximus was astonished at the countless multitudes of Greek books displayed at Vasili IIIs court, Maximus assured the Prince that he had never seen so many Greek works in Greece itself. This lost library later became a research topic of early twentieth century Russian archaeologist Ignatius Stelletskii. After Vasili III rejected his request to go home, Maximus continued to work on translations and this would make him one of the worst enemies of the Josephinians, who stood for the right of the monasteries to own land. He was then exiled to the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery and placed in a dungeon without the right to take communion or correspond, worn out by the harsh conditions of his imprisonment, Maximus acknowledged some minor mistakes in his translations and excessive wine drinking. Finally, the sobor banned him from receiving communion and exiled him to the Otroch Monastery in Tver, the Patriarch of Antioch, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Patriarch of Jerusalem all attempted to negotiate Maximuss release with the Russian authorities, but to no avail. He himself pleaded with Ivan the Terrible and Metropolitan Macarius for his freedom, Moscow was afraid of Maximuss ability to expose wrongdoings and criticize the powers that be and, therefore, was reluctant to let him go. In 1551, Maximus was transferred to the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra at the solicitation of some boyars, in 1554, Maximus was invited to join a sobor, which would deal with the heresy of Matvei Bashkin, but he refused, being wary of getting entangled in this case. Maximus died in 1556 in Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra, Sergiyev Posad and he is buried in the Saint Spirit Church in the Lavra. Maximus left a body of original writings and translations into Russian Church Slavonic. He devoted a great deal of energy and ink to the attempt to prove his innocence, for example, he was the first to bring the discovery of the New World to the attention of Muscovite readers. He is considered a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church, which commemorates him on January 21
12.
Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow
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Macarius was a notable Russian cleric, writer, and icon painter who served as the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia from 1542 until 1563. Macarius was born in the region around Moscow and his parents names are known because he dedicates the Great Menaion Reader to them. His secular name is thought to have been Mikhail, in the late 15th century, Macarius became a monk at the St. Paphnutius Monastery in Borovsk, where he would serve as a reader, subdeacon, deacon, and priest. It was here that Macarius mastered the art of icon painting and he is also known to have been a firm supporter of Joseph Volotsky and his disciples. In 1523, Metropolitan Daniel raised Macarius to the rank of archmandrite of a monastery in Mozhaisk and it was there that Macarius became acquainted with the Grand Prince of Moscow, Vasili III. He was one of a few clerics who supported Vasili IIIs divorce from the barren Solomonia Saburova, in 1526, Macarius was appointed Archbishop of Novgorod, where he conducted pro-Muscovite policies. In 1533 and again in 1535, he sent the monk Ilia and others on work among the Finno-Ugric peoples along the Neva, Lakes Ladoga and Onega. In 1541, Macarius and his companions finished work on the first edition of their great work and this compilation of lives of the Russian saints comprised 12 volumes arranged on monthly basis. He is also credited with beginning the Stepennaia Kniga which traced Ivan the Terribles lineage back to a brother of Caesar Augustus named Prus. He is also said to have painted the icons in the iconostasis of the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Novgorod. Having secured the support of powerful Prince Andrey Shuisky, Macarius was elected Metropolitan of Moscow, during Ivan IVs nonage and Shuiskys regency, Macariuss relations with the Boyar Duma gradually worsened due to his constant grief over the disgrace of courtiers and church dignitaries. His independent-mindedness induced a number of attempts to dislodge him, in the summer of 1544, Macarius escaped a sure death in the fire raging in the Moscow Kremlin. Three years later, he took part in removing Ivans maternal relatives, upon becoming one of the closest advisers of Ivan the Terrible, Macarius arranged his coronation on January 16,1547. That same year, he blessed the marriage with Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuriyeva. Macarius was a participant at the zemsky sobors of 1547,1549. During the synod of 1542, Macarius achieved the excommunication of Maximus the Greeks associate Isaac Sobaka. Curiously enough, Macarius would later correspond with the exiled Maximus the Greek and include some of his essays in his the Great Menaion Reader, rejecting, however, during Stoglav and other such synods, Macarius carried out canonization of 39 all-Russian saints. In 1551, Macarius convened the so-called Stoglavi Sobor and he also blessed the Russian army before its departure to Kazan in 1552
13.
Vasili IV of Russia
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Vasili IV of Russia was Tsar of Russia between 1606 and 1610 after the murder of False Dmitriy I. His reign fell during the Time of Troubles and he was the only member of House of Shuysky to become Tsar and the last member of the Rurikid dynasty to rule. He was a son of Ivan Andreyevich Shuisky, born Prince Vasili Ivanovich Shuisky, he was descended from sovereign princes of Nizhny Novgorod and a 20th generation male line descendant of the Varangian prince Rurik. He was one of the boyars of Tsardom of Russia during the reigns of Feodor I. In all the intrigues of the Time of Troubles, Vasily and his younger brother Dmitry Shuisky usually acted together. Shuisky reported that it was a case of suicide, though rumors abounded that the Tsarevich had been assassinated on the orders of the regent Boris Godunov. Some suspected that Dmitry escaped the assassination and that boy was killed in his place. Shuisky recognized the pretender as the real Dmitry despite having earlier determined the boy had committed suicide, Shuisky then conspired against the false Dmitriy and brought about his death. After stating publicly that the real Dmitriy had indeed been slain and he reigned until 19 July 1610, but was never generally recognized. Even in Moscow itself he had little or no authority, in 1610, he was deposed by his former adherents Princes Vorotynsky and Mstislavsky. He was made a monk and eventually transported together with his two brothers to Warsaw by the Polish hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski and he died a prisoner in the castle of Gostynin, near Warsaw, in 1612, followed soon by his brother Dmitry. There they were forced to perform the Shuysky Tribute before the Polish King, the Romanovs, elected in 1613, did recognize Vasili posthumously as a legal tsar, and during their negotiations with the Polish authorities constantly demanded the right to rebury his body in Russia. Following the Treaty of Polyanovka in 1635, Vasilis remains were returned to Moscow. His first wife, Elena Mikhailovna Repnina, died prior his election to tsardom, after his coronation, Vasili remarried Princess Ekaterina Buynosova-Rostovskaya, whose name was changed to Maria, deemed more suitable for a tsarina consort. They had two daughters together, Princesses Anna and Anastasia of all the Russias, but both died in infancy during their fathers reign, and were buried in the Old Maidens Convent in Kremlin. As both brothers of Vasili, Princes Dmitri Shuisky and Ivan Shuisky the Button, died also childless, the future Tsar Vasili IV serves as a character in Alexander Pushkins blank verse drama Boris Godunov and Modest Mussorgskys opera of the same name. In both depictions, the character is an adviser to Boris Godunov and a master of palace intrigue, Pushkin later described his intention to write further plays about the Time of Troubles. About Vasili Shuisky, Pushkin wrote, I intend to return to Shuisky also, in the historical account he shows a singular mixture of audacity, flexibility, and strength of character
14.
Malyuta Skuratov
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Grigory Lukyanovich Skuratov-Belskiy, better known as Malyuta Skuratov was one of the most odious leaders of the Oprichnina during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Malyuta Skuratov rose to prominence in 1569 by taking part in the trial and execution of Vladimir of Staritsa, Ivan IVs only cousin and a possible claimant to the throne. In December 1569, Malyuta Skuratov strangled a former Metropolitan of Moscow, Philip II, by the order of Ivan the Terrible, in January 1571, Skuratov led a punitive expedition against Novgorod, killing thousands of its citizens on suspicion of treason. In 1571, Skuratov was put in charge of the investigation into the causes of the Russian armys defeat by the army of the Crimean Khan Devlet I Giray, Malyuta Skuratov was killed during the siege of Weissenstein in the Livonian War in 1573. He lies buried near the grave of his father in the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery, one of Skuratovs daughters, Maria Grigorievna, married Boris Godunov. His other daughter, who had poisoned Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, was married to Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Skopin-Shuisky, Ivan the Terrible Tsar, a 2009 Russian drama film directed by Pavel Lungin. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, in the chapter entitled Satans Great Ball, Bulgakov makes a passing but arguably important reference to the figure of Skuratov
15.
Arable land
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Arable land is, according to one definition, land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops. In Britain, it was contrasted with pasturable lands such as heaths which could be used for sheep-rearing. A quite different kind of definition is used by various agencies concerned with agriculture, the abandoned land resulting from shifting cultivation is not included in this category. Data for ‘Arable land’ are not meant to indicate the amount of land that is potentially cultivable, a briefer definition appearing in the Eurostat glossary similarly refers to actual, rather than potential use, land worked regularly, generally under a system of crop rotation. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations the worlds Arable land amounted to 1,407 M ha, out of a total 4,924 M ha land used for agriculture, as for year 2013. Agricultural land that is not arable according to the FAO definition above includes, Permanent crop - land that produces crops from woody vegetation, other non-arable land includes land unsuitable for any agricultural use. Although such limitations may preclude cultivation, and some will in some cases preclude any agricultural use, for example, US NRCS statistics indicate that about 59 percent of US non-federal pasture and unforested rangeland is unsuitable for cultivation, yet such land has value for grazing of livestock. Similar examples can be found in many rangeland areas elsewhere, land incapable of being cultivated for production of crops can sometimes be converted to arable land. New arable land makes more food, and can reduce starvation and this outcome also makes a country more self-sufficient and politically independent, because food importation is reduced. This process is extremely expensive. An alternative is the Seawater Greenhouse which desalinates water through evaporation and condensation using solar energy as the energy input. This technology is optimized to grow crops on land close to the sea. The people covered the islands with a layer of seaweed. Israel, The construction of desalination plants along Israels coast allowed agriculture in areas that were formerly desert. The desalination plants, which remove the salt from water, have created a new source of water for farming, drinking. Slash and burn agriculture uses nutrients in wood ash, but these expire within a few years, terra preta, fertile tropical soils created by adding charcoal. Some examples of fertile land being turned into infertile land are. Rainforest deforestation, The fertile tropical forests are converted into infertile desert land, for example, Madagascars central highland plateau has become virtually totally barren, as a result of slash-and-burn deforestation, an element of shifting cultivation practiced by many natives
16.
Dionisius
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Dionisius was acknowledged as a head of the Moscow school of icon painters at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. His style of painting is sometimes termed the Muscovite mannerism, dionisys first important commission was a series of icons for the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Moscow Kremlin, executed in 1481. The figures on his icons are famously elongated, the hands and feet are diminutive, among his many rich and notable patrons, Joseph of Volokolamsk alone commissioned him to paint more than eighty icons, primarily for the Joseph-Volokolamsk and Pavel-Obnorsk cloisters. The most comprehensive and the best preserved work of Dionisy is the fresco painting of the Virgin Nativity Cathedral of the Ferapontov Monastery. The frescoes, depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin in singularly pure and gentle colours, are permeated with a solemn, the work at the Ferapontov was executed by Dionisy in collaboration with his sons and disciples, who continued a Dionisiesque tradition after the masters death. His son Feodosy painted the mural of Michael and Joshua before the battle of Jericho in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin in 1508, as his father did not take part in this important commission, it is thought that he had died shortly before that date
17.
Ivan the Great Bell Tower
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The Ivan the Great Bell Tower is the tallest of the towers in the Moscow Kremlin complex, with a total height of 81 metres. It was built in 1508 for the Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Cathedral Square, namely the Assumption, Archangel and Annunciation cathedrals, which do not have their own belfries. From 1329, Moscows first stone tower stood on this site, affiliated with the Church of St. Ivan of the Ladder-under-the Bell. This church was erected by Grand Duke Ivan Kalita, and was one of the first to be built in Moscow out of stone, during Grand Duke Ivan III’s major renovation of the Kremlin, he hired an Italian architect to replace this church. Construction was begun in 1505, the year of Ivan’s death, vasilly also ordered that a new and unprecedentedly large tower be erected on the foundations of the old tower as a monument to honour his father. The new bell tower, completed in 1508, originally had two belfries on different levels and a height of around 60 meters, because of its height, the tower also served as an observation point against fires and the approach of enemies. In 1600 on the orders of Boris Godunov the tower was raised to its present height, but he confused the cathedral with the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, which only had a gilded iron cross. This cross resisted all attempts of French equipment and engineers to remove it from the tower and it was only after a Russian peasant volunteered to climb up to the dome that the cross was lowered on a rope. When he went up to Napoleon seeking a reward, the latter had him out of hand as a traitor to his fatherland. During the retreat Napoleon attempted to blow up the tower, the blast destroyed the former Church of the Resurrection, but the tower itself proved to be extremely stable and suffered only a few cracks in the foundation walls. Ivan the Great Bell Tower adjoins the Assumption Belfry, which was built between 1523 and 1543 by the Italian immigrant architect Petrok Maly Fryazin. It contains the Great Assumption Bell which was cast in the century by Zavyalov. This ensemble contains 24 large bells, the Ivan the Great Bell Tower is an ensemble with three components. All of the buildings are made of brick, and are whitewashed in accord with the buildings of Cathedral Square. The tower itself consists of three octagonal drums, narrowing towards the top, and surmounted by a dome and seven-meter high cross. Each section has cut-out windows for the bells, and the third has a series of kokoshnik ornamentation. Inside the tower a total of 329 steps long spiral staircase leads to the highest observation deck, the space on the ground floor of the base was once home to the Church of St. John Climacus and is cramped due to the walls being five meters thick. The former Church of the Resurrection, since the late 17th Century, a top drum decorated with a dome and cross
18.
Moscow Kremlin
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It is the best known of the kremlins and includes five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers. Also within this complex is the Grand Kremlin Palace, the complex serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. It had previously used to refer to the government of the Soviet Union. Kremlinology refers to the study of Soviet and Russian politics, the site has been continuously inhabited by Finno-Ugric peoples since the 2nd century BC. Vyatichi built a structure on the hill where the Neglinnaya River flowed into the Moskva River. Up to the 14th century, the site was known as the grad of Moscow, the word Kremlin was first recorded in 1331. The grad was greatly extended by Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy in 1156, destroyed by the Mongols in 1237, dmitri Donskoi replaced the oak walls with a strong citadel of white limestone in 1366–1368 on the basic foundations of the current walls, this fortification withstood a siege by Khan Tokhtamysh. Dmitris son Vasily I resumed construction of churches and cloisters in the Kremlin, the newly built Annunciation Cathedral was painted by Theophanes the Greek, Andrei Rublev, and Prokhor in 1406. The Chudov Monastery was founded by Dmitris tutor, Metropolitan Alexis, while his widow, Eudoxia and it was during his reign that three extant cathedrals of the Kremlin, the Deposition Church, and the Palace of Facets were constructed. The highest building of the city and Muscovite Russia was the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, built in 1505–08, the Kremlin walls as they now appear were built between 1485 and 1495. Spasskie gates of the wall bear a dedication in Latin praising Petrus Antonius Solarius for the design. After construction of the new walls and churches was complete. The Kremlin was separated from the merchant town by a 30-meter-wide moat. The same tsar also renovated some of his grandfathers palaces, added a new palace and cathedral for his sons, and endowed the Trinity metochion inside the Kremlin. The metochion was administrated by the Trinity Monastery and boasted the graceful tower church of St. Sergius, during the Time of Troubles, the Kremlin was held by the Polish forces for two years, between 21 September 1610 and 26 October 1612. The Kremlins liberation by the army of prince Dmitry Pozharsky. During his reign and that of his son Alexis, the eleven-domed Upper Saviour Cathedral, Armorial Gate, Terem Palace, Amusement Palace, following the death of Alexis, the Kremlin witnessed the Moscow Uprising of 1682, from which czar Peter barely escaped. As a result, both of them disliked the Kremlin, three decades later, Peter abandoned the residence of his forefathers for his new capital, Saint Petersburg
19.
Time of Troubles
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In 1601–03, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third of the population, about two million. At the time, during the Polish–Muscovite War, Russia was occupied by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Godunovs short reign was not as successful as his administration under the weak Feodor. Extremely poor harvests were encountered in 1601–03, with night temperatures in all summer months often below freezing, wrecking crops. The probable cause of changes was the eruption of Huaynaputina volcano in Peru in 1600. Under the influence of the nobles who had unsuccessfully opposed the election of Godunov. Rumours circulated that the tsars younger brother Dmitri, thought to be dead, was still alive. In 1603 a man calling himself Dmitri—first of the so-called False Dmitris—and professing to be the heir to the throne. He attracted support both in Russia and outside its borders, particularly in the Polish Commonwealth and the Papal States, False Dmitri was married per procura to Marina Mniszech, and immediately after Godunovs death in 1605, he made his triumphal entry into Moscow. The reign of False Dimitri was short, before a year had passed, Vasily Shuisky, an ambitious Rurikid prince, formed a conspiracy against him. His forces murdered False Dimitri soon after his marriage in the Moscow Kremlin, together with many of his supporters, Shuisky and his men were estimated to have killed 2,000 Poles. The reaction to the massacre in Poland was strong, but the government decided to postpone revenge against those responsible, like his predecessor, he enjoyed the protection and support of the Polish–Lithuanian magnates. After Shuisky signed an alliance with Sweden, the king of the Commonwealth, Sigismund III, seeing the Russian–Swedish alliance as a threat, resolved to intervene, Polish–Lithuanian troops crossed the Russian borders and laid siege to the fortress of Smolensk. After the combined Russo–Swedish forces were destroyed at the Battle of Klushino, before False Dmitri II could gain the throne, the Polish commander, voivode, and magnate Stanisław Żółkiewski, put forward a rival candidate, Sigismunds son, Władysław. Some people in Moscow swore allegiance to him on condition of his maintaining Orthodoxy, on this understanding, they allowed Polish troops to enter the city and occupy the Kremlin. The Polish king opposed the compromise, deciding to take the throne for himself, the contending factions were opposed and his plan aroused the anti-Catholic and anti-Polish feelings in Russia. The Swedes disapproved as they were rivals of the Poles on the Baltic coast and they declared war on Russia, supporting a false Dmitri of their choice in Ivangorod. Russia was in a critical condition, tens of thousands died in battles and riots, on 17–19 March 1611, the Poles and German mercenaries suppressed riots in Moscow, they massacred 7,000 Muscovites and set the city on fire. Many other cities were devastated or weakened
20.
Ivan Bolotnikov
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Ivan Isayevich Bolotnikov was the leader of a popular uprising in Russia in 1606–1607 known as the Bolotnikov Rebellion. The uprising was part of the Time of Troubles in Russia, little information is available about Ivan Bolotnikov’s life before the uprising. It is known that he was a kholop and belonged to the household of Prince Andrei Telyatevsky and it appears that Bolotnikov fled from his master’s estate, then was captured by the Crimean Tatars, and sold to the Turks as a galley slave. He somehow managed to escape from his owners, reached Venice, Molchanov sent Ivan Bolotnikov to the town of Putyvl to meet a voyevoda named Grigory Shakhovskoy. The latter received him as the new tsar’s envoy and put him in charge of a Cossack unit, Ivan Bolotnikov used this opportunity to muster a small army of runaway kholops, peasants, outlaws, and vagabonds, disgruntled at the powers that be. He promised them to exterminate the ruling class and establish a new social system, by the order of Grigory Shakhovskoy, Bolotnikov and his army advanced to Kromy in August 1606, defeating the Muscovite army under the command of Prince Yury Trubetskoy. From there, he moved towards Serpukhov and ravaged the city, there were several other rebellions across Russia at that time, the participants of which would join Ivan Bolotnikov’s army. Most of the insurgents organized themselves into three groups under the command of Grigory Sumbulov, Prokopy Lyapunov, and Istoma Pashkov. All these rebels united and then besieged Moscow, settling in a village of Zagorye on October 12,1606, the consensus among these rebellious groups, however, did not last long. Soon enough, the noblemen realized that most of Ivan Bolotnikov’s plans had really been aimed against them, on November 15, Sumbulov and Lyapunov left Zagorye and gave up to the authorities, asking the tsar for forgiveness. Now that Bolotnikov’s army had lost some of its men, Vasili Shuisky decided to make his move, on December 2, Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky attacked the enemy near Kolomenskoye. During the battle, Istoma Pashkov and his men decided to switch camps, left all by himself, Ivan Bolotnikov suffered a defeat and fled to Kaluga. Vasili Shuisky’s commanders Fyodor Mstislavsky and Ivan Shuisky laid siege to the city, in the spring of 1607, another imposter by the name of False Peter came to Tula with a whole mob of robbers to meet with Prince Grigory Shakhovskoy. Immediately after this, the latter dispatched Prince Andrei Telyatevsky and his men to help out Ivan Bolotnikov, thus, all the rebels met together in one place, their joint forces numbering some 30,000 people. It was then that Vasili Shuisky decided to all of them at once. He besieged Tula, but the insurgents managed to hold out until October despite deprivations, finally, Bolotnikov decided to negotiate his surrender. The tsar promised to pardon the insurgents in return for Tula, on October 10, the rebels surrendered to the authorities. Shuisky, however, did not keep his promise, instead, he transported all of the rebel leaders to Moscow on October 30, and then executed each of them in a different way
21.
Hetman
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Hetman is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. For much of the history of the Principality of Moldavia, the Hetman was the second in rank in the army after the ruling prince, the Hetman was also the highest military officer in Ukraines Hetmanates, the Zaporizhian Host and the Ukrainian State. The title was used by Ukraines Cossacks from the 16th century, hejtman is today the term for the elected governor of a Czech region. One theory derives the word from the Early Modern High German Heubtmann, with Heubt meaning head, hauptmann was a common military title during medieval times, literally meaning captain but functionally corresponding rather to todays general. Moreover, it has suggested that the Czech language may have served as an intermediary. The first Polish title of Grand Crown Hetman dates from 1505, the title of Hetman was given to the leader of the Polish Army and until 1581 the Hetman position existed only during specific campaigns and wars. After that, it became a permanent title, as were all the titles in the Kingdom of Poland, at any given time the Commonwealth had four Hetmans – a Great and Field Hetman for each of both Poland and Lithuania. Hetmans were not paid for their job by the Royal Treasury, Hetmans were the main commanders of the military forces, second only to the monarch in the armys chain of command. The fact that they could not be removed by the monarch made them very independent and this system worked well when a Hetman had great ability and the monarch was weak, but sometimes produced disastrous results in the opposite case. The contrast with states bordering the Commonwealth, where sovereigns could dismiss their army-commanders at any time, was immense, in 1648 the Zaporizhian Host elected a Hetman of their own igniting the Ukrainian struggle for independence. The military reform of 1776 limited the powers of the Hetmans, the Hetman office was abolished after the third partition of Poland in 1795. At the end of the century, the commanders of the Zaporizhian Cossacks were called Koshovyi Otaman or Hetmans. In 1572, the hetman was a commander of the Registered Cossack Army of the Rzeczpospolita too, from 1648, the start of Bohdan Khmelnytskys uprising, a hetman was the head of the whole Ukrainian State — Hetmanshchyna. Although they were elected, Ukrainian Hetmans had very broad powers and acted as heads of the Cossack state, their military commanders. After the split of Ukraine along the Dnieper River by the 1667 Polish-Russian Treaty of Andrusovo, Ukrainian Cossacks became known as Left-bank Cossacks, in the Russian Empire, the office of Cossack Hetman was abolished by Catherine II of Russia in 1764. The last Hetman of the Zaporozhian Army was Kyrylo Rozumovsky, who reigned from 1751 until 1764, the title was revived in Ukraine during the revolution of 1917 to 1920. This regime lasted until late 1918, when it was overthrown by a new Directory of the re-established Ukrainian Peoples Republic, ataman Bulawa Hatman Hetmans sign Media related to Hetmans at Wikimedia Commons Hetman
22.
Naryshkin Baroque
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Naryshkin baroque is essentially a fusion of traditional Russian architecture with baroque elements imported from Central Europe. It is in contrast to the radical approach of Petrine baroque. Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg and the Menshikov tower in Moscow, the first baroque churches were built in the estates of the Naryshkin family of Moscow boyars. It was the family of Natalia Naryshkina, Peter the Greats mother, most notable in this category of small suburban churches were the Intercession in Fili, the Sign in Dubrovitsy, and the Saviour in Ubory. They were built in red brick with profuse detailed decoration in white stone, as the style gradually spread around Russia, many monasteries were remodeled after the latest fashion. The most delightful of these were the Novodevichy Convent and the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow, as well as Krutitsy metochion and Solotcha Cloister near Riazan. Civic architecture also sought to conform to the aesthetics, e. g. the Sukharev Tower in Moscow. The most important architects associated with the Naryshkin Baroque were Yakov Bukhvostov, in the 1730s the Moscow Baroque style gave way to the Rastrelliesque, or Elizabethan, Baroque. A History of Russian Architecture ISBN 978-0-521-40333-7 Petrine Baroque Octagon on cube Naryshkin-Stroganov Baroque
23.
Refectory
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A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools, and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries and it derives from the Latin reficere to remake or restore, via Late Latin refectorium, which means a place one goes to be restored. Communal meals are the times when all monks of an institution are together, diet and eating habits differ somewhat by monastic order, and more widely by schedule. The Rule of St Benedict orders two meals, dinner is provided for year-round, supper is also served from late spring to early fall, except for Wednesdays and Fridays. The diet originally consisted of simple fare, two dishes, with fruit as a course if available. The food was simple, with the meat of mammals forbidden to all, moderation in all aspects of diet is the spirit of Benedicts law. Meals are eaten in silence, facilitated sometimes by hand signals, a single monk might read from the Scriptures or writings of the saints aloud during the meals. Refectories vary in size and dimension, based primarily on wealth and size of the monastery, monks eat at long benches, important officials sit at raised benches at one end of the hall. A lavabo, or large basin for hand-washing usually stands outside the refectory, in England, the refectory is generally built on an undercroft on the side of the cloister opposite the church. Benedictine models are generally laid out on an east–west axis. Norman refectories could be as large as 160 feet long by 35 feet wide, even relatively early refectories might have windows, but these became larger and more elaborate in the high medieval period. The refectory at Cluny Abbey was lit through thirty-six large glazed windows, the twelfth-century abbey at Mont Saint-Michel had six windows, five feet wide by twenty feet high. In Eastern Orthodox monasteries, the Trapeza is considered a sacred place, some services are intended to be performed specifically in the Trapeza. There is always at least one Icon with a lampada kept burning in front of it, the service of the Lifting of the Panagia is performed at the end of meals. During Bright Week, this service is replaced with the Lifting of the Artos, in some monasteries, the Ceremony of Forgiveness at the beginning of Great Lent is performed in the Trapeza. All food served in the Trapeza should be blessed, and for that purpose and this usage is particularly prevalent in Church of England buildings, which use the takings to supplement their income. Many universities in the UK also call their student cafeteria or dining facilities the refectory, the term is rare at American colleges, although Brown University calls its main dining hall the Sharpe Refectory. Refectory table Adams, Henry, Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres, living and Dying in England, 1100-1450
24.
Iconostasis
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In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church, the iconostasis evolved from the Byzantine templon, a process complete by the fifteenth century. A direct comparison for the function of the iconostasis can be made to the layout of the great Temple in Jerusalem. That Temple was designed with three parts, the holiest and inner-most portion was that where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. This portion, the Holy of Holies, was separated from the larger part of the buildings interior by a curtain. Only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, the third part was the entrance court. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition only men can enter the altar portion behind the iconostasis, the word comes from the Greek εἰκονοστάσι, which means icon stand. The nave is the body of the church where most of the worshippers stand. The sanctuary is one to three steps higher than the nave. The Iconostasis does not sit directly on the edge of the sanctuary and this forms a walkway in front of the iconostasis for the clergy, called a soleas. In the very center of the soleas is an extension, often rounded, called the ambon, on which the deacon will stand to give litanies during the services, the iconostasis, though often tall, rarely touches the ceiling. Acoustically, this permits the ekphoneses of the clergy to be heard clearly by the faithful, in small, modern churches the iconostasis may be completely absent, in such cases it is replaced by a few small icons on analogia, forming a virtual divide. The iconostasis typically has three openings or sets of doors, the Beautiful Gates or Holy Doors in the center, and the North and South Doors to either side. The Beautiful Gates are sometimes called the Royal Doors, but that more properly belongs to the central doors connecting the narthex, or porch. They remain shut whenever a service is not being held, modern custom as to when they should be opened during services varies depending upon jurisdiction and local custom. The North and South Doors are often called Deacons Doors because the use them frequently. Icons of sainted deacons are often depicted on these doors, alternatively, they may be called Angels Doors, and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel are often depicted there. The South Door is typically the entrance door, and Michael is depicted there because he is the Defender, the North Door is the exit and these doors may also be casually referred to as the side doors
25.
October Revolution
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It took place with an armed insurrection in Petrograd on 25 October 1917. During this time, urban workers began to organize into councils wherein revolutionaries criticized the provisional government and this immediately initiated the establishment of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the worlds first self-proclaimed socialist state. The revolution was led by the Bolsheviks, who used their influence in the Petrograd Soviet to organize the armed forces, Bolshevik Red Guards forces under the Military Revolutionary Committee began the takeover of government buildings on 24 October 1917. The following day, the Winter Palace, was captured, the long-awaited Constituent Assembly elections were held on 12 November 1917. The Bolsheviks only won 175 seats in the 715-seat legislative body, coming in second behind the Socialist Revolutionary party, the Constituent Assembly was to first meet on 28 November 1917, but its convocation was delayed until 5 January 1918 by the Bolsheviks. On its first and only day in session, the body rejected Soviet decrees on peace and land, as the revolution was not universally recognized, there followed the struggles of the Russian Civil War and the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. At first, the event was referred to as the October coup or the Uprising of 25th, in Russian, however, переворот has a similar meaning to revolution and also means upheaval or overturn, so coup is not necessarily the correct translation. With time, the term October Revolution came into use and it is also known as the November Revolution having occurred in November according to the Gregorian Calendar. The Great October Socialist Revolution was the name for the October Revolution in the Soviet Union after the 10th anniversary of the Revolution in 1927. The February Revolution had toppled Tsar Nicolas II of Russia, however, the provisional government was weak and riven by internal dissension. It continued to wage World War I, which became increasingly unpopular, a nationwide crisis developed in Russia, affecting social, economic, and political relations. Disorder in industry and transport had intensified, and difficulties in obtaining provisions had increased, gross industrial production in 1917 had decreased by over 36% from what it had been in 1914. In the autumn, as much as 50% of all enterprises were closed down in the Urals, the Donbas, at the same time, the cost of living increased sharply. Real wages fell about 50% from what they had been in 1913, russias national debt in October 1917 had risen to 50 billion rubles. Of this, debts to foreign governments constituted more than 11 billion rubles, the country faced the threat of financial bankruptcy. In these months alone, more than a million took part in strikes. Workers established control over production and distribution in many factories and plants in a social revolution, by October 1917, there had been over 4,000 peasant uprisings against landowners. When the Provisional Government sent punitive detachments, it only enraged the peasants
26.
Museum
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Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities, towns and even the countryside. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public, the goal of serving researchers is increasingly shifting to serving the general public. There are many types of museums, including art museums, natural history museums, science museums, war museums, the city with the largest number of museums is Mexico City with over 128 museums. According to The World Museum Community, there are more than 55,000 museums in 202 countries, the English museum comes from the Latin word, and is pluralized as museums. The first museum/library is considered to be the one of Plato in Athens, however, Pausanias gives another place called Museum, namely a small hill in Classical Athens opposite to the Akropolis. The hill was called Mouseion after Mousaious, a man who used to sing on the hill, the purpose of modern museums is to collect, preserve, interpret, and display items of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the education of the public. The purpose can also depend on ones point of view, to a family looking for entertainment on a Sunday afternoon, a trip to a local history museum or large city art museum could be a fun, and enlightening way to spend the day. To city leaders, a healthy museum community can be seen as a gauge of the health of a city. To a museum professional, a museum might be seen as a way to educate the public about the museums mission, Museums are, above all, storehouses of knowledge. In 1829, James Smithsons bequest, that would fund the Smithsonian Institution, stated he wanted to establish an institution for the increase, Museums of natural history in the late 19th century exemplified the Victorian desire for consumption and for order. Gathering all examples of classification of a field of knowledge for research. As American colleges grew in the 19th century, they developed their own natural history collections for the use of their students, while many large museums, such as the Smithsonian Institution, are still respected as research centers, research is no longer a main purpose of most museums. While there is a debate about the purposes of interpretation of a museums collection, there has been a consistent mission to protect. Much care, expertise, and expense is invested in efforts to retard decomposition in aging documents, artifacts, artworks. All museums display objects that are important to a culture, as historian Steven Conn writes, To see the thing itself, with ones own eyes and in a public place, surrounded by other people having some version of the same experience can be enchanting. Museum purposes vary from institution to institution, some favor education over conservation, or vice versa. For example, in the 1970s, the Canada Science and Technology Museum favored education over preservation of their objects and they displayed objects as well as their functions. One exhibit featured a printing press that a staff member used for visitors to create museum memorabilia
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Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
28.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
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Nazi Germany
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Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
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Katholikon
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A katholikon or catholicon or sobor refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church, The cathedral of a diocese. The major church building of a monastery corresponding to a church in Western Christianity. A large church in a city at all the faithful of the city gather to celebrate certain important feasts rather than go to their local parish church. The name derives from the fact that it is the largest church where all gather together to celebrate the major feast days of the liturgical year. In Russia, it is common for a katholikon to have a church in the basement which can be more easily heated in the winter. A katholikon may have special features in it, such as a kathedra. The word katholikon is often translated into English as cathedral rather than assembly, however an Eastern Orthodox diocese may have several katholikons, only one of which is the bishops cathedral, other important churches being known as katholicons. The rector of churches is usually an archpriest
31.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
