Its shape goes back to the shape of the cross, according to legend, which appeared in the sky to Emperor Constantine before the Battle of Milvi.
The cross received its name in Russia, since the first samples of it came to Russia from Byzantium through Korsun (Chersonesos).
Korsun crosses of the Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral
Apparently, this is exactly the crucifix that accompanied Princess Sophia Palaeologus on her arrival in Moscow from Rome. From the chronicles it is known about the scandal associated with it: according to the plan of the Catholic wedding organizers, this Catholic cross was to precede the wedding train, and under its shadow the procession was to enter the Kremlin. The papal legate Anthony Bonumbre was carrying him in a wagon train. The news of this caused great excitement in Russia. The behavior of the papal legate provoked a decisive rebuff in Moscow. Learning that before the legate " roofs are"According to the Catholic rite, the Grand Duke turned to Metropolitan Philip for clarification, who categorically demanded that any propaganda of Catholicism on the Russian land be banned. Then Ivan III " ambassador to that legatos, so as not to go before him". However, the groom Ivan III sent to meet the bride of the boyar Fyodor Davydovich Khromy with the order “ You took away the roofs from Legatos, and put them in the sleigh". He met a wagon train 15 versts from Moscow and snatched the cross from the legate's hands, not allowing the future empress to enter with a Catholic "canopy." ... "Then the legatos was afraid."
Researchers believe that the crucifix, nevertheless, remained in the Moscow treasuries. Its history was forgotten, and it was installed in the altar of the main cathedral - the Assumption, and used as a processional cross for large and small processions. A legend has developed around him that in the "old days before Ivan the Terrible" he was sent from the Greek patriarchs (that is, through Korsun) to bless the Russian sovereigns (compare with the legend of the Monomakh Hat), which is an example of Ivan III's planned PR policy in terms of ideological the transformation of Moscow into the "Third Rome", the heir to the "Second Rome".
He finds the closest analogs among the crosses made in medieval Germany.
The Korsun cross was one of the most revered shrines of the Assumption Cathedral. The complex of "Korsun" shrines also includes: one more extended rock crystal cross (17th century - made in Russia on the model of the above), a large silver altar cross, as well as several icons, including the "Savior Golden Robe", "Our Lady of Hodegetria Gethsemane "and the two-sided image" Christ Pantokrator / Mother of God Hodegetria (Korsunskaya) ". According to legend, both crosses were "long ago sent from the Greek patriarchs, as a blessing to the Russian sovereigns"
Korsun cross in Pereslavl-Zalessky
The Korsun cross has been preserved in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky. The Korsun cross is four-pointed, wooden, double-sided, overlaid with copper and gilded. The relics contain the relics of John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, the martyr Victor, the martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki, the great martyr George the Victorious, a particle of the tomb of John the Theologian.
The reliquary cross was made in the Rostov Metropolitanate in the 16th or 17th century. Its height is 208 cm, width is 135 cm. The schismatics from Suzdal brought this cross to the Nikolsky Monastery as payment for their accommodation, or maybe the cross was made at the beginning of the 18th century and brought to Pereslavl from Rostov. In 1923, the cross was transferred to the Pereslavl Museum-Reserve and was immediately exhibited in the Department of Church Antiquities. In 2007, the cross was restored at the expense of the state.
On August 23, 1998, Patriarch Alexy II visited Pereslavl and prayed before the Korsun cross. On June 12, 2009, it was installed in the Pereslavl Nikolsky Monastery in a transparent box under the responsibility of the museum.
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An excerpt characterizing the Korsun cross
Sonya went into the buffet with a glass across the hall. Natasha glanced at her, at the crack in the pantry door, and it seemed to her that she was recalling the light falling from the pantry door into the slot and that Sonya had gone with a glass. “And it was exactly the same,” thought Natasha. - Sonya, what is it? - Natasha shouted, playing with her fingers on a thick string.- Oh, you're here! - Startled, said Sonya, walked over and listened. - I do not know. Storm? - she said timidly, afraid to make a mistake.
“Well, in the same way, she shuddered, in the same way she approached and smiled timidly when that already happened,” thought Natasha, “and in the same way ... I thought that something was missing in her.”
- No, this is the choir from Vodonos, do you hear! - And Natasha finished the chorus tune to make it clear to Sonya.
- Where did you go? Natasha asked.
- Change the water in the glass. I'm going to finish painting the pattern now.
“You’re always busy, but I don’t know how,” Natasha said. - And where is Nikolai?
- Asleep, it seems.
“Sonya, go and wake him up,” Natasha said. - Say that I am calling him to sing. - She sat, thought about what this means, that all this was, and, without resolving this issue and not at all regretting that, again in her imagination she was transported to the time when she was with him, and he with loving eyes looked at her.
“Oh, he would come as soon as possible. I'm so afraid it won't happen! And most importantly: I'm getting old, that's what! What is now in me will no longer be. Or maybe he will come today, will come now. Maybe he came and is sitting there in the living room. Maybe he arrived yesterday and I forgot. " She got up, put her guitar down and went into the living room. All the household, teachers, governesses and guests were already sitting at the tea table. People were standing around the table - but Prince Andrey was not there, and everything was the same life.
“Ah, here she is,” said Ilya Andreevich, seeing Natasha come in. - Well, sit down with me. - But Natasha stopped beside her mother, looking around, as if she was looking for something.
- Mama! She said. “Give it to me, give it to me, mom, rather, rather,” and again she could hardly restrain her sobs.
She sat down at the table and listened to the conversations between the elders and Nikolai, who also came to the table. "My God, my God, the same faces, the same conversations, the same dad holds the cup and blows the same way!" thought Natasha, feeling with horror the disgust that arose in her against all her household because they were all the same.
After tea Nikolay, Sonya and Natasha went to the divan room, to their favorite corner, where their most intimate conversations always began.
“It happens to you,” Natasha said to her brother when they sat down in the sofa, “it happens to you that it seems to you that nothing will happen - nothing; that all that is good was? And not that boring, but sad?
- And how! - he said. - It happened to me that everything is fine, everyone is cheerful, but it would occur to me that all this is already tired and that everyone needs to die. Once I didn’t go for a walk in the regiment, and there was music playing ... and so I suddenly became bored ...
“Oh, I know that. I know, I know, ”Natasha said. - I was still little, so it happened to me. Do you remember, since I was punished for plums and you all danced, and I sat in the classroom and sobbed, I will never forget: I felt sad and felt sorry for everyone, myself, and everyone felt sorry for everyone. And, most importantly, I was not to blame, - said Natasha, - do you remember?
“I remember,” said Nikolai. - I remember that I came to you later and I wanted to comfort you and, you know, I was ashamed. We were awfully funny. I then had a dummy toy and I wanted to give it to you. Do you remember?
“Do you remember,” Natasha said with a wistful smile, how long, long ago, we were still quite small, uncle called us into his study, still in the old house, but it was dark - we came and suddenly it was standing there ...
- Arap, - Nikolay finished with a joyful smile, - how can you not remember? Even now I don’t know that it was an arap, or we saw it in a dream, or we were told.
- He was gray, do you remember, and white teeth - he stands and looks at us ...
- Do you remember, Sonya? - asked Nikolay ...
- Yes, yes, I also remember something, - Sonya answered timidly ...
“I asked my dad and my mom about this arap,” Natasha said. - They say that there was no arap. But you remember!
- How, how now I remember his teeth.
- How strange it is, as if it were in a dream. I like it.
- Do you remember how we rolled eggs in the hall and suddenly two old women, and began to spin on the carpet. Was it, or not? Do you remember how good it was?
- Yes. Do you remember how papa in a blue fur coat on the porch fired a gun. - They smiled with delight in recollections, not sad senile, but poetic youthful recollections, those impressions from the most distant past, where a dream merges with reality, and quietly laughed, rejoicing at something.
Sonya, as always, lagged behind them, although their memories were common.
Sonya did not remember much of what they remembered, and what she remembered did not arouse in her the poetic feeling that they experienced. She only enjoyed their joy, trying to imitate it.
She took part only when they remembered Sonya's first visit. Sonya told how she was afraid of Nicholas, because he had strings on his jacket, and the nanny told her that they would sew her into strings too.
“But I remember: I was told that you were born under a cabbage,” Natasha said, “and I remember that then I did not dare not to believe it, but I knew that it was not true, and I was so embarrassed.
During this conversation from back door The maid's head stuck out on the sofa. “Young lady, the cock has been brought in,” the girl said in a whisper.
“Don’t, Fields, take them,” Natasha said.
In the middle of the conversation in the couch, Dimmler entered the room and walked over to the harp in the corner. He took off the cloth, and the harp made a false sound.
- Eduard Karlich, please play my beloved Nocturiene Monsieur Field, - said the voice of the old countess from the living room.
Dimmler took a chord and, turning to Natasha, Nikolai and Sonya, said: - Youth, how quietly they sit!
- Yes, we are philosophizing, - said Natasha, looking around for a minute, and continued the conversation. The conversation was now about dreams.
Dimmler started playing. Natasha quietly, on tiptoe, went up to the table, took the candle, carried it out and, returning, quietly sat down in her place. It was dark in the room, especially on the sofa on which they were sitting, but through the large windows the silver light of a full moon fell on the floor.
- You know, I think, - Natasha said in a whisper, moving closer to Nikolai and Sonya, when Dimmler had already finished and was sitting, weakly playing the strings, apparently hesitating to leave, or to start something new, - that when you remember that, you remember, you remember everything , you remember so much that you remember what happened before I was in the world ...
“This is metampsikova,” said Sonya, who always studied well and remembered everything. - The Egyptians believed that our souls were in animals and will again go to animals.
“No, you know, I don’t believe it, so that we were in animals,” Natasha said in the same whisper, although the music ended, “but I know for certain that we were angels somewhere and here we were, and from this we remember everything ...
- May I join you? - said Dimmler, who quietly approached and sat down next to them.
- If we were angels, why did we get lower? - said Nikolay. - No, it can't be!
“Not lower, who told you that lower?… Why do I know what I was before,” Natasha objected with conviction. - After all, the soul is immortal ... therefore, if I live forever, this is how I lived before, lived for an eternity.
Since the St. Nicholas Monastery was opposite our hotel, it was a sin to get acquainted with Pereslavl not to start with it. 
The cathedral was founded presumably in 1348 and was nicknamed Nikolaevsky in the swamp. Since at one time there was a swampy area.
Its founder was Dmitry Prilutsky, a disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who more than once visited the Nikolskaya monastery. He was also the godfather of the children of the great Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy.
In 1382 the wooden buildings of the monastery were destroyed by the Tatars, in Time of Troubles - by the Lithuanians and Poles. At the end of the 17th - the middle of the 18th centuries, stone buildings appeared on the monastery territory, including a fence, a tent-roofed bell tower in 1693 and St. Nicholas Cathedral in 1721.
These buildings were dismantled in the first decades. Soviet power... In those years, a livestock base was located on the territory of the Nikolsky Monastery, many premises were rented out for apartments.
The New Nikolsky Cathedral is the tallest and most spacious temple in Pereslavl. Its height is 40 meters and it is designed for a thousand worshipers. This cathedral was erected recently, in 2003. It does not repeat the architecture of the previous cathedral, destroyed in the 1930s, although it was erected on its foundations.
Until now, only two churches have survived - the Annunciation (with wall paintings) and the gateway of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul from the middle of the 18th century.
At present, on the territory of the St. Nicholas Monastery, not only old buildings are being actively restored, but also at the expense of V.I. Tyryshkin, new ones were built in place of the destroyed ones. This is a fence, a bell tower and the main temple - St. Nicholas Cathedral, erected in the likeness of the Assumption Cathedral Kiev Pechersk Lavra... The relics of two Pereslavl saints rest in the temples of the monastery - the blessed prince Andrei of Smolensk and the Monk Korniliy the Silent.
Korsun cross. The typology of the "Korsun" cross goes back to a very ancient, pre-iconoclastic tradition. It is associated with the shape of the cross that miraculously appeared in the sky to Emperor Constantine before the victorious Battle of Milvi, and, as the ancient authors mention, this cross served as a model for the cross installed in Constantinople at the Forum, "gilded with round balls (apples) at the ends." Perhaps, the cross of Justinian, made for St. Sophia in Constantinople, served as a model for this kind of crosses decorated with gilding and precious stones.
Of the altar crosses that have survived to this day, the closest thing to the Korsun cross is the silver cross from the Lavra of St. Athanasius on Mount Athos (XI century), as well as a copper cross with imitation of precious stones on a chased setting from Novgorod (XI-XII centuries). Both crosses have flared ends - at the Novgorod cross, like the Moscow one, they sharpen at the edges - and medallions with images of the Deesis and selected saints (the middle medallion with the Crucifixion on the Novgorod cross was added in the 19th century).
Two Novgorod crosses also have much in common with the shape of the "Korsun" cross: one in a basma setting with a Crucifixion in the central medallion (wooden base - XI-XII centuries, setting - XIX centuries), the other in a silver base setting (wooden base - XI c., setting - XIV, XV-XVI centuries), with images of the Crucifixion (on both sides), the Savior Not Made by Hands and selected saints on the reverse side.
Finally, another cross, almost identical to the Moscow one and also called the Korsun one, comes from the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in Suzdal, from where it was in the second half of the 17th century. Transferred to the Nikolsky Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky.
At the end of the 17th century, the Korsun cross was brought to the Nikolsky monastery. It is believed that schismatics brought this great shrine and ancient monument to Pereslavl from Suzdal.
Smolensko-Kornilievskaya church of the end of the 17th century. - the only temple left from the once famous Borisoglebsk Monastery on the Sands. This monastery was founded in 1252 at the burial place of the Tver princess and governor Zhidislav killed by the Tatars. The monastery flourished in the 16th century, and in the 17th century. it was almost completely plundered by the Poles. In 1764 the monastery was abolished, and the church was turned into a parish.
The composition of the Smolensk-Kornilievskaya church is unusual. Cells were located under the bell tower, connected by the refectory to the temple. The high three-tiered bell tower of the temple collapsed in 1988. Now the church is transferred to the St. Nicholas Monastery.
Today St. Nicholas Monastery is one of the most prosperous monasteries in the city.
Among the ancient Russian external and altar crosses that have come down to our time, there are monuments whose history is fanned
legends about their "Korsun" origin. The funds of the Pereslavl-Zalessky Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve keep such a rare work of Russian decorative and applied art - the altar cross from the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in the local Nikolsky monastery. He entered the museum in 1923, after the closure of the monastery, and is listed in the catalog card as “a four-pointed Korsun cross. oak, Byzantine form of the XVI-XVII centuries. " With the same annotation and dating, the cross was exhibited at the permanent museum exhibition of "church values" from 1923 to 1926. At the same time, among the ministers of the church and some local historians, the opinion has developed and still exists that this monument is one of the oldest shrines of the Rostov-Yaroslavl diocese, associated with the first centuries of Christianity in Russia, almost the original of the "Korsun case". This point of view to this day remains very widespread due to the fact that the cross has long remained outside the field of vision of specialists. In this article we will try to restore the history of the appearance of the cross in Pereslavl-Zalessky, clarify its dating and give brief description artistic features of the monument.
The Pereslavl "Korsungkiy" cross, having a very impressive size, makes a monumental impression. Its height is 208 cm, width is 135 gm. The branches of the cross are of unequal length, the lower one is noticeably longer than the other three. The wooden base of the work is upholstered with gilded copper and is decorated with thirty silver reliquary-pitchers (15 on each side), encircled with silver cartouches. In addition, along the field of the cross, both with the obverse and with the reverse
on the sides, there are castes with faceted colored glasses and cabochon stones, as well as small crosses made of semi-precious stones - jasper, lapis lazuli, etc. Along the perimeter, the cross is encircled by large river pearls and emerald green glass beads.
On the front side of the cross, the fractional grinders with images engraved on them are located as follows: in the middle cross - the Crucifixion with the Mother of God and John the Baptist; at the ends - the Nativity of Christ, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Entombment and the Descent into Hell; on the branches - Dmitry Solunsky, John the Theologian, John the Baptist, St. Basil the Presbyter of Ankyra, the Great Martyr George, Apostle Paul, Theodore Tyron, Great Martyr Victor, Theodore Stratilat, Theodore of Smolensky and his children David and Constantine. On the reverse side: in the middle of the cross - the Ascension of Christ; at the ends - Entrance to Jerusalem, Annunciation, Dormition of the Mother of God, Presentation of the Lord; on the branches - Martyr Christina, Martyr Eustratius, Saint Basil Bishop of Amasia, Saint Agathonikus, Saint Mercury, Great Martyr Marina, Great Martyr Orest, Saint Ignatius of Rostov, Saint Isaiah of Rostov, Prince Vasily of Yaroslavl. Unfortunately, even before the cross entered the museum, the grinders were roughly opened and the relics of the saints listed above were lost. At the same time, some of the fractional grinders are damaged, and some are completely torn off from the cross and are now kept separately (for example, the central composition of the front side "The Crucifixion with the Forthcoming" was only recently discovered by museum curators among other objects of applied art of unknown origin) 2.
The documents of the Nikolsky Monastery that have survived to our time do not provide any information about the origin of the "Korsun" cross and the circumstances of its appearance in the monastery3. Supporters of the antiquity of this monument appeal to the opinion of the famous church historian and researcher of Pereslavl antiquity A.I.Svirelin, who dedicated separate work, published in 1900 in "Proceedings of the Vladimir Scientific Archive Commission".
A. I. Svirelin argues the assignment of the cross to the "Korsun" antiquities by its similarity with the famous altar cross from the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin: "If the Moscow cross is considered the Korsun cross, then the Pereslavl cross should also be classified as a Korsun cross." From this comparison and a number of abstract historical and theological reasoning, the researcher made unexpected, no more confirmed conclusions: 1) the cross located in the Pereslavl Nikolsky monastery is the Korsun cross, brought from Kiev to the Rostov-Suzdal land at the end of the 10th or the beginning of the 11th century; 2) the Moscow Korsun cross was brought to Moscow from Rostov in the second half of the 15th century; 3) the decorations on the Pereslavl Korsun cross were made in northern Russia by the care of Prince Dmitry Donskoy and Tsar Ivan the Terrible with their spouses; 4) the Korsun cross was brought to the Nikolsky monastery from Suzdal in the second half of the 17th century by some admirers of antiquity.
As for the shape of the Pereslavl cross, it really belongs to the ancient type of precession and altar crosses, dating back to the cross of Emperor Constantine, which appeared to him before the Battle of Milvia. An unknown Byzantine author of the late 8th - early 9th centuries describes one of these crosses that adorned the square of Constantinople: "In the northern part of the forum there is a cross [such] as the great Constantine saw it in the sky, gilded and with round balls [apples] at the ends." The evolution of this form of the cross has been studied and described in detail by A.P. Smirnov in an article dedicated to the Greek external cross of the 11th-12th centuries8. Crosses similar to Konstantinov, in the early Middle Ages, were found in the altars of the temples of Syria, Armenia, Georgia, on Athos. It is quite possible that such crosses first came to Russia from Byzantium through Korsun, and here the tradition of naming them "Korsun" was entrenched.
The branches of the cross from the Nikolsky Monastery, like its Byzantine prototypes, end in discs connected to the ends by jumpers extending from the middle of the notches of the ends. From deep antiquity, there is also a tradition to nibble the cross around the perimeter with beads and pearls (in some cases, the nipple was replaced by a chased pattern of convex plaques), to decorate
castes with precious and semi-precious stones and supply it with hooks and rings for ease of wearing during religious processions. In the middle cross, the Crucifixion (on the obverse) and Voskrssspie (on the reverse) are depicted as the leading subjects of the liturgical action. But that's where the similarities end.
In the XI-XII centuries, the ends of the Byzantine altar crosses were usually decorated with chased images of the Mother of God, John the Baptist, the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, Saints Dmitry Thessaloniki, George the Victorious, Theodore Stratilates and Nicholas of Mirlikisky. In the case of the Pereslavl cross, we are dealing with a more complex decoration, which includes in it a fraction with the relics of the saints of the Rostov metropolitanate, most of which were canonized only at the Makaryevsky cathedrals of the middle of the 16th century. On the places of honor on the upper branch on both sides are the relics of Saints Basil of Amasia and Basil of Ankyra, who became known as zealots of the purity of Christianity and fighters against heresy. Such a decoration program was undoubtedly due to some special circumstances accompanying the history of the manufacture of this monument.
In ancient times, victorious cross-over crosses were supposed to convince newly converted pagans and heretics of the triumph of true Christianity and played an important role in religious processions and events in both the Orthodox East and the Catholic West. It is no coincidence that this type of cross was common in Russia in the first centuries of its Christianization.
Interest in the shape of the large altar cross probably revived on Russian soil in the middle of the 17th century. NF Kapterev linked it with the activities of Patriarch Nikon. In 1656, Nikon ordered an exact copy of the Lord's Cross for the newly built Kia Cross Monastery, for which he even sent a hieromonk to Jerusalem. On the cross were built reliquaries with three hundred particles of various shrines. According to Nikon, the worship of the new cross was supposed to replace the journey to the Holy Land: "If anyone with faith raises to that Life-Giving Cross to worship, no less grace is given to those by the power of that Holy Life-Giving Cross, as if they were traveling to holy Palestinian places."
The deed of the patriarch, presumably, caused imitation among the zealots of ancient piety. It is known that such crosses appeared at this time not only in the Moscow Kremlin, but also in Yaroslavl, Dmitrov and other cities. Probably, these new shrines were used in the fight against schism and the influence of Protestant ideas.
When could such a cross appear in Pereslavl? In resolving this issue, perhaps, one can agree with A.I.Svirelin, who connects his transfer to the Nikolsky monastery with the activities in the monastery of the repentant schismatic teacher Pitirim, who since 1704 was a builder here. Since 1713, hegumen. At the beginning of the 18th century, Pitirim was already acting in the role of a fierce fighter against schism, for which he deserved to be appointed bishop of Nizhny Novgorod in 1719. Let us recall that among the reliquaries of the Pereslavl cross there is a reliquary with the relics of the Apostle Paul, who also survived the conversion to the true faith. The Rostov Metropolitanate, in whose jurisdiction Nikolsky Monastery was located in Pereslavl, during this period was also ruled by zealots of official Orthodoxy: the famous Metropolitan Dimitry (1702-1709), and then his successors, Archbishops Dositheus (1711-1718) and George (1718-1730).
Under the abbess of Pitirim, at the expense of the former Pereslavl merchant, and at that time already a "Moscow citizen", Gerasim Yakovlev Obukhov, a new stone St. Nicholas Cathedral was built in the monastery, for which the shrine was intended. The temple was completed in 1721.
In the monastery inventory of the end of the 18th century, among the essential cathedral property, it is indicated “on a high place, a large silver cross is lined with copper.” 17. Its antiquity is not mentioned. Perhaps, in the monastery itself, they did not harbor any illusions about the time of the creation of the shrine. Thus, the priest F. P. Delektorskii, who was appointed rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral in 1898, in his description of the monastery expressed himself quite definitely: "In the Nicholas Monastery there is a remarkable archaeological monument of the 17th century - the so-called Korsun Cross." And only below, as if recollecting himself, he expounds the version of A.I. Svirelin about his Korsun-Kiev origin.
Analysis of the stylistic features of the decor of the cross confirms the version of F.P.Delektorsky. The images on the splitters are made in the characteristic of the late XVII - early XVIII century "engraving" manner. And the cartouches framing them with European "imperial" crowns in the upper part leave no doubt about their belonging to the early Russian Baroque style. The same time and style was characterized by a love for decorating decorative art objects with finely cut large colored glasses and various semiprecious stones, with which the entire surface of the cross covered with copper was lavishly decorated (they are artistically "scattered" between cartouches with reliquaries). Considering the time of the construction of the temple, for the altar of which the cross was intended, it seems that it is possible to limit the dating of its creation to the very end of the 17th century - the first quarter of the 18th century.
The rigid, somewhat crude technique of engraving and embossing, as well as the absence of assay marks and author's marks on the decoration details made of silver, may indicate the provincial origin of the monument. The figures of people are engraved in contour, almost without shadows, which was especially characteristic of the Yaroslavl jewelers of the second half of the 17th century. The choice from among the Russian saints, whose relics were mounted in the cross, exclusively of those who were venerated in Rostov and Yaroslavl, also allows presumably to associate its production with local silversmiths who carried out church and private orders on the territory of the Rostov Metropolitanate.
In the 90s of the XIX century, St. Nicholas Cathedral was repaired at the expense of the merchant A.A. Varentsov from Pereslavl. After the repair, the "Korsun" cross moved from the altar and found itself "at the turn to the left kliros" 21. Probably, the cross itself was also "restored" in late XIX or at the beginning of the 20th century. In place of some fractional grinders, which A. I. Svirelin considered lost, new ones appeared - "Annunciation", "Assumption", and also the damaged reliquary of Fyodor Stratilat was replaced (it is noticeably different from the older ones in negligence of execution and primitiveness of drawing).
Thus, the "Korsun" cross from the Pereslavl Nikolsky Monastery, if it can be considered as such, is not by its origin, but solely by its typological affiliation. This monument can be dated to the end of the 17th century - the first decades of the 18th century, and nothing points to its more ancient origins... Around the same time, the cross ended up in Pereslavl, but it was brought here, most likely, not from Suzdal, but from Rostov or Yaroslavl. And the first serious researcher of the cross, AI Svirelin, apparently fell victim to the temptation to find among the Pereslavl antiquities so highly valued by him "a real Korsun thing", which was characteristic of many "archaeologists" of his time.
Typology of the so-called Korsun cross goes back to a very ancient, pre-iconoclastic tradition. It is associated with the shape of the Cross, which miraculously appeared in the sky to Emperor Constantine before the victorious Battle of Milvi, and, as the ancient authors mention, this cross served as a model for the cross installed in Constantinople at the Forum, "gilded with round balls (apples) at the ends." Such Crosses were simultaneously symbols of Christ's sacrifice and His triumph, victory over hell and death, which opens the door to the salvation of mankind. It was how such a dual symbol was placed the preciously decorated cross in the altar behind the throne. For, according to Archbishop Simeon of Thessaloniki (first half of the 15th century) - the sacrificial throne - the holy meal "reveals the tomb of Christ and the sacrament of suffering." "Therefore, behind the altar on its eastern side there is also a blessed instrument of sacrifice - the divine cross."
Of the altar crosses that have survived to this day, the closest thing to the Korsun cross is the silver cross from the Lavra of St. Athanasius on Mount Athos (XI century), as well as a copper cross with imitation of precious stones on a chased setting from Novgorod (XI-XII centuries). Both crosses have flared ends - at the Novgorod cross, like the Moscow one, they sharpen at the edges - and medallions with images of Deesis and selected saints (the middle medallion with the Crucifixion on the Novgorod cross was added in the 19th century).
Two Novgorod crosses also have much in common with the shape of the "Korsun" cross: one in a basma setting with a Crucifix in the central medallion (wooden base - XI-XII centuries, setting - XIX century), the other in a silver base setting (wooden base - XI c., setting - XIV, XV -XVI centuries), with images of the Crucifixion (on both sides), the Savior Not Made by Hands and selected saints on the reverse side.
Finally, another cross, almost identical to the Moscow one and also called Korsunsky, comes from the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in Suzdal, from where in the second half of the 17th century. this great shrine was transferred to the Nikolsky Monastery of Pereslavl-Zalessky. This large cross (247.5 x 135 cm), in a gilded copper setting, with medallions on both sides and images of holidays and with silver reliquaries with the relics of the holy saints and their images on the lids of the reliquaries.
Solemn transfer of the Korsun cross from Historical Museum Pereslavl-Zalessky at the Nikolsky Convent took place on June 12, 2010. Since then, the Cross has been located in the St. Nicholas Cathedral of the monastery and is considered its main shrine.
The relics of the saints, placed in the Korsun cross:
FRONT SIDE OF THE CROSS
Top branch:
Tomb "Ascension" of the Relics of St. John the Baptist
The relics of the Svsmch. Basil, presbyter of Ankir
Sredokrestie. Tomb with an overlay "Calvary cross"
Lower branch:
The relics of St. Martyr. Theodore Tyrone, warrior
The relics of St. Martyr. Victor, the warrior
The relics of St. Martyr. Theodore Stratilates, warrior (no inscription)
The relics of Blgv. Book. Theodore of Smolensky and his children David and Constantine
Tomb "Descent into Hell"
Left branch:
The relics of St. Martyr. Demetrius of Thessaloniki, warrior
The relics of St. Martyr. Apostle John the Divine
Right branch:
The relics of St. Paul the Apostle
Ancient altar cross in the mountains. Pereslavl-Zalessky
Ancient altar cross in the mountains. Pereslavl-Zalessky
This cross is in the mountains. Pereslavl-Zalessky, v.
It is four-pointed, made of wood, lined with copper gilded sheets, 3 yards long. 7 inches, and 1 arch wide. 14 inches. Both on the front and on the back of the cross, all four ends of it and the middle are decorated with metal round stamps, which depict the feasts of the Lord. From these brands, along the lines of the cross, there are silver reliquaries with royal crowns; on the arks are images of the holy saints of God, and in the arks are parts of the relics of these saints. In addition, small crosses made of stones are placed on the obverse of the cross. different colors, and on both sides of the crosses multi-colored stones and lenses are inserted. The entire front side of the cross is studded with pearls around it, interspersed with bluish lenses.
All the indicated decorations of the cross are arranged in the following order:
Front side - in a straight longitudinal line.
1. Upper round silver stamp with the image of the Ascension of the Lord (under it there should be either stars or 2 multi-colored pebbles; but they are not).
2. Under the stamp there is a carnelian cross, - under the cross, in metal sockets, on one side there is a green pebble, on the other - topaz.
3. The reliquary with the image of St. John the Baptist; on the sides of its topaz are smoky.
4. A cross made of pale yellow jasper with dark blue pebbles under it.
5. Ark with the image and relics of St. Vasily Amasiysky; under it are two places (empty now) for stones.
6. A cross made of blue stone (There should be 2 different colored stones under it).
7. Round stamp (in the middle of the cross) depicting the Crucifixion of the Lord with the forthcoming ones - the Mother of God and St. Ap. John the Evangelist; under it are greenish pebbles.
8. Ark with the image and relics of St. Theodore Tyrone; underneath there are 2 greenish topaz.
9. Carnelian cross - under it is a blue pebble (there is no other pebble).
10. Ark with the image and relics of St. Martyr Victor (there are no 2 stones under him).
11. A cross made of chocolate-colored stone (there are no 2 stones under it).
12. Ark with the image and relics of St. Theodora Stratilates; (there are no 2 stones under it).
13. A cross made of grayish stone (there are no 2 stones under it).
14. Silver cross (inelegant work) with the relics of St. Theodore of Smolensk and his children David and Constantine (under him there should be 2 stones).
15. Round stamp with the image of the Lord's descent into hell.
Cross line of the cross - on the obverse.
1. A round stamp (from the left side of the observer) with the image of the Nativity of Christ, under it is a red pebble and 2 empty spaces for stars or stones.
2. The reliquary with the image and relics of St. Martyr Demetrius (there should be an asterisk and a pebble under it).
3. A cross made of milky stone; underneath there are 2 lenses (and 2 empty places for stones or lenses).
4. Ark with the image of the Gospels. John (there should be a cross and 2 stones under it).
5. (On the other side of the middle of the cross). Ark with the image of St. Ap. Paul (under him. 2 empty places for stones).
6. A cross made of milky stone; underneath, there are 2 aquamarines.
7. Ark with the image and relics of St. torment. George, under it there are 2 empty nests for stones (under the ark there should be a cross, and under the cross there are 2 places for stones).
8. Round stamp with the image of the Lord's position in the tomb.
Note. In the transverse line of the cross on the obverse, 2 crosses and 14 multi-colored stones are missing.
The back of the cross is in a straight longitudinal line.
1. A place for a round mark - without the image of the holiday.
2. The reliquary with the image and relics of St. Vasily Ankirsky.
3. A stone neck cross with a metal Crucifix and letters on it.
4. The reliquary with the image and relics of St. torment. Agaѳonica.
5. Ark with the image and relics of St. torment. Mercury.
6. In the middle of the cross there is a round stamp with the image of the Resurrection of Christ.
7. Ark with the image and relics of St. Ignatius of Rostov (the crown is missing over the reliquary).
8. Ark with the image and relics of St. Isaiah of Rostov.
9. Ark with the image and relics of St. Prince Vasily Yaroslavsky.
10. Round stamp, and on it the Presentation of the Lord.
Note. Thus, on a straight longitudinal line there is no round stamp with the image of the holiday and crowns on several (3) reliquaries.
On the cross line of the cross.
1. (Left). Round stamp; on it the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.
2. The reliquary with the image and relics of St. Martyr Christina.
3. The reliquary with the image and relics of St. torment. Eustratia.
4. The reliquary with the image and relics of St. torment. Orestes.
5. Ark with the image and relics of St. torment. Marina.
6. Space (empty) for a round stamp.
Note. On the transverse line, a round stamp with the image of the holiday is missing.
What type does the Pereslavl cross belong to?
I made extensive inquiries about the wonderful life-giving crosses located in the city of Dmitrov and Moscow - in the Assumption Cathedral, in order to find in them something similar to the Pereslavl cross. At the same time, it turned out that the Dmitrov cross is not similar to the Pereslavsky one either in measure or in appearance. The seven-pointed Dmitrov cross with the image of the Crucified Lord on it has a length of 3 yards. 12 inches, width 2 arsh. 10 vers. and is overlaid, besides the body of the Savior, with silver without any other adornment. In the Moscow Assumption Cathedral there are three altarpieces, the so-called Korsun crosses: two of them are crystal, small in size, on long shafts, dissimilar to the Pereslavl cross; the third cross is completely similar to it as in measure in longitude - 3 arsh. 7 vers. and a latitude of 1 arsh. 14 inches. and on the round stamps at the ends of the cross with the image of the feasts of the Lord on them. Some of the holidays occupy exactly the same places in the hallmarks, as in the Pereslavl Cross. In addition to the round stamps with the holidays, in the Moscow cross, on the obverse there are 12 stamps with chased images of the 12 Apostles, and around them there are faceted crystals of various sizes in metal nests. In the Pereslavl Cross, instead of the images of the 12 Apostles, there are 10 silver reliquaries with crowns, images and relics of St. saints - and under the arks there are crosses made of multi-colored stones; pebbles and lenses of different colors are also placed near the arks and crosses. In addition, the entire front side of the Pereslavl cross is lined with pearls with bluish lenses along the edges. On the back side of the Moscow Cross there are (along the edges and in the middle) five round gilded images of holidays (without enamel), and from them along the longitudinal and transverse lines there are 12 crystal stars in metal nests (8 on the longitudinal line and 4 on the transverse ). In the Pereslavl cross, on the back side of it, there are also five round hallmarks with images of holidays; but instead of stars there are 10 reliquaries with images and relics of St. pleasers. So, the Pereslavl life-giving cross is completely similar to the Moscow one both in length and width, and in round hallmarks (on the front and back of the cross) with images of holidays. It differs from the Moscow one in the abundance of shrines, which are contained in the particles of the relics of St. saints and a variety of ornaments on it. But these decorations cannot contradict the similarity of one cross with another, because they were made later on and represent the fruits of the diligence of Russian benefactors. If the Moscow cross is considered the Korsun cross, then the Pereslavl cross should also be classified as a Korsun cross.
Where did the Korsun cross in Pereslavl come from and when the decorations were made on it
For lack of clear evidence, we cannot give positive answers to these questions. But there are historical data that can, if not solve the proposed questions, then at least bring their solution closer to the truth. It is possible to assume that both the Moscow cross and Pereslavsky belong to those crosses brought by St. Prince Vladimir from Korsun to Kiev. From Kiev, by his order, the crosses could be brought to the Rostov-Suzdal land or by the first bishop of the city of Rostov, Theodore (in 991), sent by St. Vladimir for the enlightenment of St. Christian faith, or the successors of Theodore, Saints Leonty (from 1054 to 1077) and Isaiah (1078-1090), tonsured Kiev-Pechersk monastery. This thought can be supported by the fact, in the first place, that Rostov was given into the possession of the most beloved St. Vladimir to the son of St. Boris, and in the second, that Bishop Theodore built in Rostov a magnificent temple in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God, which stood until 1160 and therefore stood during the life of St. Leonty and Isaiah in Rostov. It was very fitting for the saints to decorate this temple with the Korsun crosses.
Some venerable archaeologists have expressed to me the assumption that the Pereslavl cross was arranged by some noble and wealthy zealot of piety in the likeness of Korsunsky in the Moscow Dormition Cathedral. But history does not favor this assumption. At the beginning of the enlightenment of northern Russia by Christian faith, Moscow is not even mentioned. The main city of northern Russia was Rostov the Great, which had a special prince in the person of the Son of St. Vladimir Boris. Pereslavl was also in Rostov's possession. After the martyrdom of Boris, Rostov for a long time was part of the inheritance of Pereslavsky, and then of Suzdal and Vladimir under the Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky (1169-1174). Moscow is mentioned in the annals no earlier than 1147, and its independent significance as a principality began in 1271 under the ten-year-old prince Daniel. Under the Grand Duke John Danilovich Kalita and his successors, the Moscow principality grew more and more powerful and annexed the appanage cities. So in 1302, according to the will of the Pereslavl prince Ioann Dmitrievich, Pereslavl was denied to the Moscow prince; and in 1474, under Grand Duke John III, Rostov joined Moscow. In 1579, the famous, hitherto existing, Moscow Assumption Cathedral was rebuilt and consecrated.
In this newly built and consecrated Moscow Cathedral, they began to collect the most important shrines from other cities of Russia, either in originals or in exact copies. So the Korsun Icon was brought from Novgorod All-merciful Savior, from Vladimir - Vladimir icon The Mother of God, from Pskov - the Pskov-Pokrovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, from Ustyug (1567) - the image of the Annunciation to the Most Holy. Virgin Mary. We can probably assume that the Moscow Korsun cross was brought from Kiev first to. Rostov or Suzdal, and then to Moscow, for example. for the consecration of the Assumption Cathedral in 1479. The influence of the Rostov shrines affects the wall painting of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral; for example, above the northern doors (outside) the Rostov hierarchs are depicted.
It is not known whether the Pereslavl Korsun cross had any decorations on itself when it was transferred from Kiev. But it is undoubted that the current decorations of the cross, consisting in the reliquaries with the relics of St. saints and multi-colored crosses, made of stones, were made by the zeal of the faithful princes and princesses of northern Russia. This is evidenced, in the first place, by the royal crowns on the reliquaries with relics and Russian inscriptions over the images of the holidays and St. saints, in 2, the relics with the relics of the Russian saints of the Rostov land. As for the time when the decoration of the cross was made, then, taking into account that in the cross, there are no reliquaries with images and relics of the saints of Moscow - Peter (died 1320) J), Alexy (1354-1378), Jonah (1449-1471 ), Philip (1566 -1569) and St. Sergius of Radonezh the wonderworker (1391)); and there are reliquaries with images and relics of St. princes Theodore of Smolensk (whose relics were discovered in 1463) and Basil of Yaroslavsky (relics were discovered in 1501) and, stopping at the fact that the relics with the relics of Russian saints are the last on the line of the cross, and the relic in the form of a cross with the relics of St. Prince Theodore of Smolensk does not resemble other graceful relics, one cannot but come to the conclusion that the relics with the relics of Greek saints and multi-colored crosses were arranged earlier than the relics with the relics of Russian saints, precisely until 1472 - before the discovery of the relics of St. Jonah of Moscow, and that the complete completion the decoration of the cross with the relics of the relics of Russian saints followed not later than the reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584).
To whom of the Russian princes and princesses belongs the honor of the decorations of St. cross, about this, one can also make some assumptions, on the basis, however, of historical data.
In the Pereslavl period of time, i.e. when Pereslavl had its own appanage princes (1152-1302), it is difficult to imagine that it would be possible for princes and princesses to calmly take care of the decorations of St. cross. This was the period of the fragmentation of Russia into small regions, the period (from 1238) of the enslavement of Russia by the Tatars and the strife of princes among themselves, when not a single Russian prince was firmly convinced that his principality would hold on to him, when the cities passed from one ruler to another by right of the strong. In this period of the princes, one could dwell on the son of Monomakh Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgorukiy, about whom the chronicle noted: “Prince Yuri Dolgoruky built (1152) in Pereslavl a cathedral church in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord, which was decorated by St. icons and all splendor "; but Yuri Dolgoruky in 1155 became the Grand Duke of Kiev, died in Kiev and was buried in the Church of the Savior on Berestovo, Revising the chronicles of the princes of the Moscow period, from the reign of Grand Duke John Danilovich Kalita (1328-1340), you stop first on the piety of the Grand Duke Demetrius Ioannovich Donskoy (1363-1389) and his wife Evdokia (1367-1407). Both of them were distinguished by their zeal for the construction and decoration of the temples of God and lived during the prelacy of Metropolitan Alexy, who, of course, had big influence for the pious development of the princely couple. In addition, during the reign of Demetrius Donskoy, there were frequent visits of sacred persons from Palestine to Moscow to collect alms; and the patriarchs sent through them to bless the Grand Duke and Princess St. icons and relics of saints. Pereslavl was a special patrimony of Dmitry Donskoy. So, on the occasion of Tokhtamysh's invasion of Moscow in 1382, the chronicle noted: "I will go (Dimitri) to my city of Pereslavl." His wife Evdokia, too, apparently loved Pereslavl and lived in it for a long time. Her second son Yuri was born to her in Pereslavl. After the death of her husband in 1389, having received rich estates, she especially began to donate generously for the decoration and construction of the temples of God and monasteries. In Pereslavl, she built the Goritsky monastery in memory of the deliverance of her and her children in 1382 from the persecution of the Tatars, who almost captured them. Therefore, there is a high probability that the Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy, and especially his wife Evdokia, took a lively part in decorating the life-giving cross, which could first be placed in the Goritsky monastery arranged by her.
Of the princes that followed after the Donskoy, special zeal for the arrangement and decoration of the Pereslavl monasteries were: Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich III and Tsar Ivan Vasilievich the Terrible - with their spouses. Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich and his wife visited Pereslavl four times (in 1510, 1523, 1525 and 1526) and had special attention and affection for the Pereslavl miracle worker, the Monk Daniel and the monastery built by him (Daniel). Tsar Ioann Vasilievich the Terrible was more than once with his spouses on pilgrimage in Pereslavl and had a special zeal for the Monk Nikita the Stylite and the Nikitsky monastery. He built cathedral temple in the monastery in the name of the great martyr Nikita with a side-altar in the name of the Monk Nikita the Stylite, and his wife Anastasia Romanovna donated her labors an embroidered image of miracle workers and a cover on his shrine, and garments, and belts. In 1557, in memory of the birth of his son Theodore, he also built a cathedral church in the name of St. the great martyr Theodore Stratilates in the current Edorovsky nunnery... After Tsar Ivan the Terrible, in the Moscow sovereigns, according to the annals, one does not see much participation in the dispensation and decoration of Pereslavl churches and monasteries. Thus, the decoration of the Pereslavl cross of royal persons may refer to the diligence of Grand Duke Dimitry Donskoy and his wife Evdokia, and the complete completion of the decoration of the cross with reliquaries with the relics of Russian saints and to the zeal of Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his wife Anastasia Romanovna.
The most difficult question is how such a wonderful life-giving cross ended up in the Pereslavsky Nikolsky (in the swamp) monastery. This monastery has always been an insignificant monastery among other Pereslavl monasteries. In it, besides the ancient icon of St. Nicholas and other antiquities of church utensils and church economy, there are no shrines, for example. St. relics of St. saints, especially those who attract the zeal of pilgrims. It is also not visible that any of the famous persons lived in it for the sake of the welfare of their souls, as well as for any of the noble princes and princesses to visit it and donate to it. The history of the monastery is very simple.
It was founded by St. Dimitri Prilutsky around 1350. In the life of St. Demetrius, comp. Archbishop Philaret, it is said that St. Demetrius was the recipient of the children of the Grand Duke Demetrius of the Donskoy and received generous gifts from him for his monastery. It might be assumed that St. Demetrius received the life-giving cross of Korsun as a gift for the monastery from the Grand Duke Donskoy. But the acceptance of St. Dimitri's children of the Grand Duke are not confirmed by history. Grand Duke Dimitry Donskoy married the daughter of Prince Constantine of Suzdal - Evdokia in 1167, and St. In 1368, Demetrius left Pereslavl to the Vologda limits, and here, first near the Avnezh village, he built a temple in the name of the Resurrection of Christ, and then in 1371, 3 miles from Vologda, with a bow formed by the knee of the river. Vologda, built a cenobitic monastery with a temple in the name of the origin of the honest trees of the Savior Christ. In 1371, the first son of Vasily was born to the Grand Duke of Donskoy; but this year St. Dimitri was in Vologda. Donskoy's second son, Yuri, was born in Pereslavl in 1374 on November 26th; but hegumen Sergius baptized him under Prince Dimitri Konstantinovich of Suzdal, his brothers, wife and children, as well as other princes and many boyars.
About St. Dimitri Prilutsky and no trace of it. In 1382, Donskoy's son Andrei was born, but he was baptized by the abbot of the Simonov monastery, Theodor. In 1395, the son of Peter was born, and hegumen Sergius baptized him. After St. Demetrius about the Nikolsky monastery is only known that during the invasion of Pereslavl by Edigey in 1408 it was plundered by the Tatars, and in 1609 it was devastated by the Poles and Lithuanians - and stood devastated until Dionysius the Recluse (d. 1645 April 15th). Dionysius revived the Nikolsky monastery, built a church in it, cells and a fence around the monastery - wooden. Since then, this monastery has existed without leaving its poverty. In 1754 there were only 276 peasants behind him. Since 1767 it has been listed as a supernumerary monastery. Thus, there is no evidence that the life-giving cross of Korsun was donated by the grand dukes and princesses to the Nikolsky monastery. Undoubtedly, he entered this monastery from another city. But from what city, by whom and when was he brought here?
A definite answer to this question cannot be given in the absence of direct evidence that; you can only make assumptions and guesses. The history of the life of the Nikolsky monastery, very correctly falls into two periods: the first from the founding of the monastery of St. Dimitry Prilutsky - from 1350 to 1610 until the Polish ruin; the second - from its restoration from the ruins by Dionysius the recluse in 1613 (d. 1644) to the present time. In the 1st period, the life-giving cross of Korsun, as we have seen, could not be donated to the Nikolsky monastery. The second period of the monastery's existence, from Dionysius (from 1613-1644) and further until the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, represents a time of restlessness, a time of turmoil and disorder from schismatics who had a close relationship with Pereslavl in general, and in particular with the Nikolsky monastery. It is not known exactly whether Dionysius himself adhered to the Old Believers; but there is no doubt that he, through knowledge or ignorance, widely opened the doors of the monastery to the horse breeders of the Old Believers. To him came, while still white, from the priests of the village of Pavlovsky (near Suzdal), Theodor, who then in 1665 took monastic tonsure in that monastery with the name of Theoktist and lived there for some time. This Theoktist was one of the most prominent persons who acted in favor of the schism; he was a like-minded person and a disciple of the inveterate schismatic Grigory Neronov, who also wrote his life. Ivan Neronov himself, with the name of Grigoria, took monastic tonsure in Pereslavl from Archimandrite Tikhon of Danilov (1050 Dec. 25) and for some time also lived in Pereslavl in the Goritsky monastery. Without a doubt, Prsev, a fierce schismatic from Suzdal, came to visit his like-minded people. Theotokos priest Nikita Konstantinovich. Since 1665, the schismatic Pitirim, who was the builder of the monastery since 1704, and since 1713 the abbot, is still in the Nikolsky monastery. Thus, the Nikolsky Monastery, one might say, was restored from the ruins on the Old Believer soil and was a haven for the Old Believers from 1613 to 1719, in which Pitirim, already a fighter against schism, was Imp. Peter 1 was made bishop of Nizhny Novgorod. Comparing with the moral state of the Nikolsky Monastery, the above-mentioned testimony of the Suzdal Cathedral Archpriest John Vinogradov, who lived until 1741, that the life-giving Korsun Cross of the Lord was taken from the Suzdal Cathedral to Moscow to the Assumption Cathedral, richly decorated with stone and precious pearls, which is now missing in Moscow Uspensky Moscow Cathedral of the XVII century. until 1701 was not listed, you involuntarily come to the conclusion that the life-giving cross, “richly decorated with pearls and stones, ended up instead of Moscow in Pereslavl, instead of the Assumption Cathedral in the Nikolsky monastery. When is it? If Archpriest John Vinogradov testifies that the life-giving cross was taken away from Suzdal, then he testifies to an event not very distant, not yet out of memory; if, moreover, we assume that Fr. John lived more. 80 years, then the event of the taking away of the cross from Suzdal is more likely to fall during the reeling of the schismatic in the half of the 17th century. It may well be that the priests of Suzdal - Theoktist and Nikita brought the life-giving cross instead of Moscow, in which schismatics were not favored, to the Pereslavsky Nikolsky monastery, which is favorable to them. This idea is also confirmed by the fact that in the Nikolsky Monastery, in addition to the wonderful life-giving cross, there are other wonderful objects, which were also probably brought by admirers of antiquity.
What follows from all of the above?
From all of the above, it turns out that in the first place, the life-giving cross located in the Pereslavsky Nikolsky monastery is Korsunsky, brought from Kiev to the Rostov-Suzdal land at the end of the X or at the beginning of the XI century; in the second, that the Moscow Korsun cross was brought to Moscow from Rostov in the second half of the 15th century; in 3, the decoration on the Pereslavl Korsun cross was made in northern Russia under the care of V. Kn. Dmitry Donskoy and his wife Evdokia (1367-1407) and Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his wife Anastasia Romanovna (1533-1584); in 4 - the Pereslavl Korsun cross was brought to the Nicholas Monastery from Suzdal in the second half of the 17th century by admirers of antiquity.