1.
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
2.
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
3.
Dormition of the Mother of God
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It is celebrated on August 15 as the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Dormition not on a fixed date, the Feast of the Dormition is preceded by a two-week fast, referred to as the Dormition Fast. From August 1 to August 14 Orthodox and Eastern Catholics fast from red meat, poultry, meat products, dairy products, fish, oil, and wine. The Dormition Fast is a stricter fast than either the Nativity Fast or the Apostles Fast, with only wine and oil allowed on weekends. As with the other Fasts of the Church year, there is a Great Feast that falls during the Fast, in this case, in some places, the services on weekdays during the Fast are similar to the services during Great Lent. Many churches and monasteries in the Russian tradition perform the services on at least the first day of the Dormition Fast. In the Greek tradition, during the Fast either the Great Paraklesis or the Small Paraklesis is celebrated every evening except Saturday evening and the Eves of the Transfiguration and the Dormition. The first day of the Dormition Fast is a feast day called the Procession of the Cross, on which day it is customary to have an outdoor procession, in Orthodoxy and Catholicism, in the language of the scripture, death is often called a sleeping or falling asleep. A prominent example of this is the name of this feast, another is the Dormition of Anna, up until the 5th century Church Fathers do not mention the Dormition of the Virgin and to the 6th century Dormition was not celebrated among the Christians as a holy day. And yet, nowhere does he say that he took the holy Virgin with him, Scripture simply kept silence because of the overwhelming wonder, not to throw men’s minds into consternation. For I dare not say — though I have my suspicions, perhaps, just as her death is not to be found, so I may have found some traces of the holy and blessed Virgin. The holy virgin may have dead and been buried — her falling asleep was with honor, her death in purity, or she may have remained alive, for God is not incapable of doing whatever he wills. But we must not honor the saints to excess, we must honor their Master and it is time for the error of those who have gone astray to cease. Christians in the late 4th century had different opinions regarding Marys death, for this reason, Ambrose, for example, wrote, Neither the letter of Scripture nor Tradition does not teach us that Mary had left this life as a consequence of suffering from bodily ulcers. One of these placed in the History of the Church Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos. All listed Apocrypha quite late and differ from other content. Therefore, the Church was not taken all their content, but only the idea that the Virgin Mary blissfully rested. According to Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos in his History of the Church, after that Christians in the empire began to celebrate the death of the Virgin Mary
4.
Kirillov (town)
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In the 13th century, the territory on which Kirillov now stands was a part of the Principality of Beloozero, which was taken over by the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the 14th century. In 1397, St. Cyril of White Lake, a monk, a monastic sloboda, from which the town later grew, developed around the monastery. The monastery was subordinate to Archbishops of Rostov, in the 15th–17th centuries, the monastery developed into one of the most influential monasteries in Russia. It also helped that the Sheksna River was one of the most heavily used waterways connecting central, at some point, the monastery was the second biggest landowner after the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. Vasili III of Russia, the Grand Prince of Moscow, and Ivan the Terrible, in the course of the administrative reform carried out in 1708 by Peter the Great, the territory was included into Ingermanland Governorate. In 1727, separate Novgorod Governorate was split off, the territory became a part of Charondsky Uyezd of Belozersk Province of Novgorod Governorate. In 1776, the territory was transferred to Novgorod Viceroyalty, at the same time, Kirillov was chartered and became the seat of Kirillovsky Uyezd. In 1796, the viceroyalty was abolished and the territory was transferred to Novgorod Governorate, Kirillovsky Uyezd was abolished as well, however, it was reestablished in 1802. In June 1918, five uyezds of Novgorod Governorate, including Kirillovsky Uyezd, were split off to form Cherepovets Governorate, on August 1,1927 Cherepovets Governorate was abolished and its territory became Cherepovets Okrug of Leningrad Oblast. At the same time, uyezds were abolished and Kirillovsky District was established, on September 23,1937, Kirillovsky District was transferred to newly established Vologda Oblast. Within the framework of administrative divisions, Kirillov serves as the center of Kirillovsky District. As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Kirillovsky District as the town of significance of Kirillov. There are enterprises of timber industry and food industry, Kirillov is connected by all-seasonal roads with Vologda, Cherepovets, Belozersk, and Vytegra. In the southern part of the town, one of the locks of the Northern Dvina Canal is located, the canal connects Lake Kubenskoye in the basin of the Northern Dvina with the Sheksna River, thus connecting the basins of the White Sea and the Volga. In the 19th century, the canal was the waterway connecting the Volga with the White Sea. However, in the 1930s the White Sea – Baltic Canal was built, the canal is still in operation, serving cargo traffic and occasional cruise ships moving from the Sheksna to Lake Kubenskoye. The economy of Kirillov is mainly tourist-oriented, Kirillov has been a tourist attraction since the Soviet times. The Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, located in the town, is an ensemble built in the 15th
5.
Belozersk
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Known as Beloozero until 1777, it was first chronicled in 862 as one of the five original Russian towns. According to the Primary Chronicle, Sineus, a brother of Rurik, however, Sineus most likely never existed. On several occasions, the settlement was moved from one bank of the lake to another, in the 11th century, the region was still inhabited primarily by Finno-Ugric tribes who fiercely resisted Christianization. In 1071, local pagan priests rose in rebellion, which was put down by the Kievan commander Yan Vyshatich, the Primary Chronicle reports that the dead bodies of priests were suspended from an oak tree, until they were torn to pieces by a bear. From the 10th to the 13th centuries, the territory was controlled by the Novgorod Republic, Beloozero was the seat of a small principality between 1238 and the 1370s, but subsequently between 1380 and 1384 became subordinate to the Grand Duchy of Moscow. On July 10,1612, Polish and Lithuanian vagabonds captured Belozersk without a fight, in the course of the administrative reform carried out in 1708 by Peter the Great, Beloozero was included into Ingermanland Governorate and named one of the towns constituting the governorate. In 1727, a separate Novgorod Governorate was split off and Belozersk became the seat of Belozersk Province in Novgorod Governorate, in 1776, the territory was transferred to Novgorod Viceroyalty. In 1796, the viceroyalty was abolished and Belozersky Uyezd became a part of Novgorod Governorate, in June 1918, five uyezds of Novgorod Governorate, including Belozersky Uyezd, were split off to form Cherepovets Governorate, with the administrative center in Cherepovets. On August 1,1927, Cherepovets Governorate was abolished and its territory became Cherepovets Okrug of Leningrad Oblast, at the same time, uyezds were abolished and Belozersky District was established. On September 23,1937, Belozersky District was transferred to newly established Vologda Oblast, within the framework of administrative divisions, Belozersk serves as the administrative center of Belozersky District. As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Belozersky District as the town of significance of Belozersk. Belozersk falls just within the subarctic climate range, with the fourth-warmest month being just below the isotherm of 10 °C to nearby humid continental areas, winters are cold but not severe by Russian standards for areas north of the 60th parallel. The economy of Belozersk is based on industry and food industry. Belozersk is connected by roads with Cherepovets, Kirillov. The Belozersky Canal, a part of the Volga–Baltic Waterway, which connects the river courses of the Sheksna, the town of Belozersk is classified as a historical town by the Ministry of Culture of Russia, which implies certain restrictions on construction in the historical center. The medieval monuments in the center are the Assumption Church. The wooden shrine of St. Elijah was built in 1690, the neighborhood is rich in old cloisters, such as Kirillo-Belozersky and Ferapontov Monasteries. Two of the most famous medieval icons were created in the 13th century in Belozersk and they constitute an intermediate style between Novgorodian and Northern icon painting
6.
Vologda Oblast
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Vologda Oblast is a federal subject of Russia. The largest city is Cherepovets, the home of the Severstal metallurgical plant, large reserves of wood and fresh water are the main natural resources. The area of Vologda Oblast was settled by Finno-Ugric peoples since prehistory, Vepsians still living in the west of the Oblast are the descendants of that population. Subsequently, the area was colonized by the Russians, Belozersk has been mentioned in chronicles in 862 as one of the oldest towns in Russia. Much of the area was controlled by the Novgorod Republic, in particular, Veliky Ustyug and the west of the current territory of the Oblast, with Belozersk and Ustyuzhna, belonged to the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality and were constantly threatened by Novgorod. Not later than in the 13th century the Novgorod merchants already reached the White Sea and they penetrated the area using the waterways. In the 13th century, minor principalities started to proliferate, first, the Principality of Beloozero separated from Rostov. It northern and northeastern parts in the 15th century became quasi-independent, many smaller principalities are only mentioned once in chronicles, and the very existence of these principalities is questionable. Vologda between 1452 and 1481 was the center of the Principality of Vologda, the last independent principality in Vologda lands, by the end of the 15th century, all these lands were a part of the Great Duchy of Moscow. In the 14th and the 15th centuries, the lands around Vologda became attractive for monks looking for desolate areas, the princes, in their turn, viewed the monasteries as means to keep the influence of the Grand Duchy of Moscow in its remote areas. A number of monasteries, including Spaso-Prilutsky, Pavlo-Obnorsky, Kirillo-Belozersky. Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery soon became one of the most prominent Russian monasteries, with a lot of political influence, during the Time of Troubles, the area was ravaged by Polish troops, who at some point besieged Vologda but did not succeed in conquering the city. In the 17th century, Vologda was a city located on the main trading route from Moscow to Western Europe. During the reign of Tsar Peter the Great in the 18th century, Vologda became a shipbuilding center, however, the importance of Vologda as a trade center was diminished after Saint Petersburg was founded in 1703, and the foreign trade was rerouted to the Baltic Sea. Peter even imposed restrictions to the White Sea trade, Vologda was the northernmost territory where serfdom existed in Russia. In the lands west and south of Vologda, estates existed, but to the north and to the east of Vologda serfdom was never implemented, in 1708, Peter the Great issued an edict which established seven governorates. The description of the borders of the governorates was not given, instead, their area was defined as a set of towns, in the present area of Vologda oblast, two of the governorates — Archangelgorod Governorate and Ingermanland Governorate — were located. Vologda was part of Archangelgorod Governorate, subsequently, the western part of the Oblast was transferred to Novgorod Governorate
7.
Cyril of Beloozero
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Cyril of Beloozero was a monk and saint of the Russian Orthodox Church who lived in the 15th century. Saint Cyril was a disciple of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, in 1397, he founded the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery in Northern Russia, in the present-day Vologda Oblast. Cyril was born as Kosma in Moscow in 1337 and his origin is not entirely clear, but he was in any case close to the boyar family of Velyaminov. Cyrils parents died when he was a child, around 1380 he became a monk in the Simonov Monastery and took the name of Cyril. In the monastery, he got in contact with Sergius of Radonezh, in 1387, the archimandrite of the Simonov Monastery, Feodor, was appointed a bishop of Rostov, and Cyril became his successor. Together with St. Therapont, previously the monk of the same monastery, on arrival, following the advice of Sergius of Radonezh, he first dug a cave, and then built a wooden Assumption chapel and a loghouse for other monks. Therapont, who found the restriction imposed by Cyril too strict, left within a year, in what became Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Cyril established a very strict order. The monastery grew and later became the largest monastery of Northern Russia, Cyril, as the first hegumen, arranged purchases of large areas of land by the monastery. Cyril of White Lake died in the monastery in 1427, at the age of ninety, at present there are several churches in Russia bearing the name of Cyril. His day is marked by Russian Orthodox Church on June 9
8.
Sergius of Radonezh
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Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, also transliterated as Sergey Radonezhsky or Serge of Radonezh, was a spiritual leader and monastic reformer of medieval Russia. Together with Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the Russian Orthodox Churchs most highly venerated saints, the date of his birth is unclear, it could be 1314,1319, or 1322. His medieval biography states that he was born to Kiril and Maria, a family, near Rostov the Great. It is considered that it is the village Varnitsa near Rostov, the future saint received the baptismal name of Bartholomew in honor of the Apostle Bartholomew. Although an intelligent boy, Bartholomew had great difficulty learning to read and his biography states that a starets met him one day and gave him a piece of prosphora to eat, and from that day forward he was able to read. Orthodox Christians interpret the incident as being an angelic visitation, upon his parents death, Bartholomew went to Khotkovo near Moscow, where his older brother Stefan was a monk. He persuaded Stefan to find a secluded place to live the ascetic life. In the deep forest at Makovets Hill they decided to build a small cell, thus started the history of the great Trinity-St. In time, Stefan moved to a monastery in Moscow, varfolomei took monastic vows, taking the name Sergius, and spent more than a year in the forest alone as a hermit. Soon, however, other monks started coming to him and building their own cells, after some time, they persuaded him to become their hegumen, or father superior, and he was ordained to the priesthood. Following his example, all the monks had to live by their own labor, over time, more and more monks and donations came to this place. Nearby, there appeared a posad, which grew into the town of Sergiev Posad, when the news of Sergiuss accomplishments reached Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople, he sent to him a monastic charter. During the reign of St. Dmitri Donskoi, his disciples started to spread his teaching across central and they settled intentionally in the most impracticable places and founded numerous monasteries, of which Borisoglebsky, Ferapontov, Kirillo-Belozersky and Vysotsky monasteries could be mentioned. St. Sergius was also connected with the foundation of two communities in Moscow, Andronikov and Simonov monasteries. All in all, the disciples of Sergius founded about 40 monasteries, thus extending the geographical extent of his influence. However, when Metropolitan Alexius asked him to become his successor, Sergius declined, as an ascetic, Sergius did not take part in the political life of the country. Some historians interpreted his political stance as aspiring to make peace, Sergius died on September 25,1392, and was glorified in 1452. His incorrupt relics were found in 1422 and placed in the new Trinity Cathedral of the lavra which he founded, the church commemorates him on September 25, the day of his death, and on July 5, the day his relics were uncovered
9.
Grand Duchy of Moscow
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The Grand Duchy of Moscow, or Grand Principality of Moscow, was a late medieval Rus principality centered on Moscow and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia. The state originated with Daniel I, who inherited Moscow in 1283, eclipsing and it later annexed the Novgorod Republic in 1478 and the Grand Duchy of Tver in 1485. After the Mongol invasion of Rus, Muscovy was a vassal to the Mongol ruled Golden Horde until 1480. By his marriage to the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, he established Muscovy as the state of the Roman Empire. Ivans successor Vasili III also enjoyed success, gaining Smolensk from Lithuania in 1512. Vasilis son Ivan IV was an infant at his fathers death in 1533 and he was crowned in 1547, assuming the title of tsar together with the proclamation of Tsardom of Russia. As with many states the country had no particular official name. The Duke of Moscow or the Sovereign of Moscow were common short titles, in rivalry with other duchies Moscow dukes also designated themselves as the Grand Dukes, claiming a higher position in the hierarchy of Russian dukes. During the territorial growth and later acquisitions, the title became rather lengthy. Since the 14th century various Moscow dukes added of all Rus to their titles, after the title of Russian metropolitans, Dmitry Shemyaka was the first Moscow duke who minted coins with the title the Sovereign of all Rus. Under the Polish-Lithuanian influence the country began to be called Muscovy in Western Europe, the first appearances of the term were in an Italian document of 1500. Initially Moscovia was the Latinized name of the city of Moscow itself, not of the state, later it acquired its meaning and has been used alongside of the older name. The term Muscovy persisted in the West until the beginning of the 18th century and is used in historical contexts. When the Mongols invaded the lands of Kievan Rus in the 13th century, the first ruler of the principality of Moscow, Daniel I, was the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky of Vladimir-Suzdal. He started to expand his principality by seizing Kolomna and securing the bequest of Pereslavl-Zalessky to his family, daniels son Yuriy controlled the entire basin of the Moskva River and expanded westward by conquering Mozhaisk. He then forged an alliance with the overlord of the Rus principalities, Uzbeg Khan of the Golden Horde, the Khan allowed Yuriy to claim the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir-Suzdal, a position which allowed him to interfere in the affairs of the Novgorod Republic to the north-west. Yuriys successor, Ivan I, managed to retain the title of Grand Duke by cooperating closely with the Mongols and by collecting tribute and taxes from other Rus principalities on their behalf. This relationship enabled Ivan to gain regional ascendancy, particularly over Moscows chief rival, the city of Tver
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