Moore - not Moore?
I descend steeply down the stone steps, polished to a mirror-like shine with millions of shoes. Instantly penetrate the grave cold and dampness. The trembling flame of a candle, firmly gripped in my hand, slightly trembling with excitement, casts bizarre shadows on the vaults of the cave, snatches mysterious niches and labyrinth corridors from the darkness of the dungeon, going somewhere into the distance. I feel the hair on my head begin to move from a feeling that is, perhaps, akin to sacred horror. Superstitious fear of the unknown pushes back, upward, towards the light, the sun, but curiosity and the desire to see History with our own eyes win. The figure of a monk walking in front, dressed all in black and therefore almost dissolving into the darkness of the cave, calms. With such a guide, I feel a little more confident.
There, above, the passions of the 20th century are raging, here, under the thickness of the earth's rocks, time has stopped forever. The 12th century, the “golden age” of Kievan Rus, reigns here.
In front of the tomb, the inscription at the head of which reads - "Ilya from the city of Murom", I stop. This is the purpose of my visit to the catacombs of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
Much has been written and rewritten about Ilya Muromets. But I could not even imagine that the epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber” alone had over a hundred variants. Add to this a huge number of literary articles and hardly less - the fundamental works of venerable pundits. All of them studied the history of the heroic epic.
And how many copies, or rather feathers, were broken when studying the question of the reality of the existence of Ilya Muromets! The majority of researchers, with persistence worthy of better application, argued that the image of Ilya is "the fruit of an artistic generalization of the aspirations of the people, their ideals." Almost all modern researchers unanimously argue that the historicism of epics is special, not always based on specific historical facts. Far fewer scientists defended the diametrically opposite point of view. Their works are mainly related to the last century. My task was to separate the grains of the real from the chaff of dogmas and to recreate the biography of the glorious knight of the Russian land as a real person. And I took up the key questions: where did he come from, where and when did he lay down his wild head? Despite all the complexity of this task, it seems to me that I managed to lift the veil of secrecy over the name of Ilya - after all, we have data in our hands that were not known until now.
… On the banks of the Oka River, near the ancient city of Murom, the village of Karacharovo is comfortably located - the birthplace of the famous hero. “In a glorious city in Murom, in a village in Karacharovo” - this is how epics tell us in exactly the same way about the place of his birth. Repeatedly, in the course of the story, he himself recalls his birthplaces, lost among the dense forests and impenetrable and swampy swamps.
Everything seems to be clear: Ilya is a native of Murom, period. But no! It turns out that there is at least one more place on earth that claims to be called the birthplace of the great hero. This is the city of Morovsk (in the old days - Moroviysk), located on the territory of the modern Chernihiv region of Ukraine.
This version is based on information about Ilya recorded in the 16th century. The researchers drew attention to the changed name of the hero - Morovlin and hastened to draw a conclusion: he comes from Moroviysk, and not from Murom. A city was also found whose name is consonant with Karacharov - Karachev. It turned out that Ilya was not a hero of Murom, but a native of the Chernigov principality.
In support of this hypothesis, the following arguments were cited: in the vicinity of Karachev there is the village of Devyatydubye and the Smorodinnaya River flows. And if we also remember that everything is surrounded by dense Bryn (Bryansk) forests, then we get all the necessary attributes of the scene of the epic “Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber”. Even 150 years ago, old-timers showed the place where the famous robber's nest was, and on the bank of the river there was even a stump from a huge oak tree.
Everyone knows that no historical research can do without a geographical map. One of the most famous atlases of Russia is the “Great World Desktop Atlas” published by A. F. Marx in 1905. The revolutionary changes had not yet touched geographical names. The huge pages of the map have turned yellow from time to time … Yes! Here is the city of Karachev, Oryol province, and 25 versts to the north-east of it, the village of Nine Oaks. I carefully transferred everything that may be associated with Ilya's name to my map.
The first thing that catches your eye upon a detailed study of the map is the remoteness of Karachev from Moroviysk. If Murom and Karacharovo are in close proximity to each other, then Moroviysk and Karachev are separated by hundreds of kilometers. Talking about the "Morovian city of Karachev" is almost as absurd as calling Moscow a Kiev city. From this point of view, the version of Ilya's Chernigov origin does not stand up to criticism.
On the other hand, Murom, Karacharovo, Nine Oaks, Chernigov, Moroviysk and Kiev are on the same line, which completely coincides with the ancient trade route. I have a legitimate desire to combine the two hypotheses into one, and then we will get that Ilya, a hero of Murom, was riding a "straight path" to the capital Kiev city "through those Bryansk forests, across that Smorodinnaya river", through Nine Oaks, dealt here with A nightingale-robber, he captured him and with this expensive gift arrived to the Great Kiev prince.
Murom is the most ancient city in the Vladimir land. We find the first mention of him in the "Tale of Bygone Years". An article under the year 862 reports on the settlements of Ancient Rus and their inhabitants: "In Novgorod - Slovenia, in Murom - Murom". Here it would be logical to assume that if the Muroma is the Finno-Ugric nationality, which has its own unique culture, then Muromets is a representative of this nationality, its hero.
In fairness, it should be noted that there are other versions of the interpretation of the name of the epic hero. Some, for example, saw a similarity of the root "mur" to the word "wall" found in Russian (remember: "mutter"), Ukrainian and Belarusian languages. In this case, Ilya's nickname "The Wall" is equivalent to the word "hero", that is, an invincible, firm, staunch person. Another version is based on the same root and assumes the second profession of Ilya - Murovets from the word "mutilate", build fortresses, erect walls, morass. But, perhaps, the nickname is based on the ancient word "murava" - grass, meadow. Then Murovets would mean a mower, a farmer, a farmer. This completely coincides with the content of the epics and in no way contradicts its origin - "the son of a black-plowed peasant."
There is a version based on the first feat of Ilya - the liberation of roads from evil robbers. The name of the hero is associated with Muravsky shlyakh, or ant. In the famous Encyclopedic Dictionary of F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron can be found that the Crimean Tatars went to Russia this way. The shlyakh walked in a tall ant (hence the name) along the deserted steppe, avoiding the crossings. It started from Tula and stretched to Perekop; it was not connected with Kiev and Murom at all.
In order to clarify and give a final answer to this question, let us trace the evolution of the name of the hero over the past 400 years: from Muravlenin - Murovlin - Muravich - Muramech - Murovsky - Muromets and to "Ilya from the city of Murom" in the latest version of the signature over his burial, which, in my opinion, most fully corresponds to reality. So it is most correct to conclude that the glorious hero Ilya comes from the ancient city of Murom.
Gushchins from the Murom clan
Outside the train windows on the Murom, nature floats, not yet awakened from winter sleep; rather monotonous unpretentious landscape - endless spruce and birch forests, swamps, withered last year's grass and in some places miraculously preserved snowy glades. A quick shadow flickered past the tree trunks. Wolf? Is it really a hardened gray robber? The possibility is not excluded, although, perhaps, in fact, I saw an ordinary feral mongrel, lost in the forest. But the very atmosphere of the dense Murom forests adjusts in such a way as to suggest a wolf rather than a dog.
The purpose of my trip to Murom is to see the epic places with my own eyes, to meet with the possible descendants of Ilya Muromets, to talk with local ethnographers, to collect Karacharov's legends and legends about the great hero.
In the Murom Museum of History and Art, fate gave me a glorious gift - a local ethnographer A. Epanchin. An enthusiast, a true connoisseur of the history of his native city, a tireless collector of local traditions and legends, and also a representative of an ancient noble family. Not one day we wandered around Murom and Karacharov. As for Ilya, he speaks with such fervor about his great countryman, as if he knew him personally.
In the homeland of the hero, everything known by epics is perceived in a new way. Here, for example, was Ilya's hut. Address: st. Priokskaya, 279. Here a heroic horse punched a spring with his hoof. Epics take on real form, fairy-tale landscapes smoothly turn into reality.
Here are the possible heirs of Ilya Muromets - the Gushchins family. Local legends explain that before the hut of Muromets stood in the thick of the forest, hence his second nickname - Gushchin, later it became the surname of descendants. Hospitable hosts set the table. Smoked pike perch, skillfully prepared by the careful hands of the hostess, pickled mushrooms, pickles, and preserves appear on the table. And this makes us remember one more attribute of legends and fairy tales - self-assembled tablecloths. And, of course, a conversation over self-assembly - about the great ancestor, grandfathers-great-grandfathers of the glorious family of the Gushchins.
The phenomenal strength of Ilya Muromets was inherited by his distant descendants. So, for example, the great-grandfather of the owner Ivan Afanasyevich Gushchin was known in Karacharovo and beyond for his remarkable strength. He was even forbidden to participate in fist fights, because, without calculating the force of the blow, he could kill a person. He could also easily pull a load of wood, which the horse would not budge. Legends say that a similar incident happened to Ilya Muromets. Once the hero brought to the mountain three huge bog oaks, caught in the Oka by fishermen. Such a load would be beyond the strength of horses. These oaks formed the foundation of the Trinity Church, the ruins of which have survived to this day. It is interesting that recently, while cleaning the Oka fairway, several more ancient bog oaks were discovered, each with three girths. Yes, only they could not be pulled out to the steep bank - they did not get the equipment, and the heroes died out.
There is no doubt that the family of the Karacharov peasants of the Gushchins is ancient. It was quite easy to trace their ancestry to the middle of the 17th century, or rather, to 1636.
I just want to write: "The memory of the great hero is kept sacred in the city." Alas, this is not true. The chapel, which Ilya himself had cut down, was destroyed; the springs that arose at the races of his horse fell asleep. The city collected and collected money for a monument to Ilya, but only time turned those thousands into dust, and they were barely enough to install a memorial plaque to one famous writer. The city authorities forgot about the monument. Ilya's descendants - Gushchina - honor his memory. With their own money, they ordered an icon of the Monk Ilya of Muromets. A reliquary was inserted into it with a particle of the relics of the hero, transferred at one time by the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The icon was solemnly installed in the newly rebuilt Karacharov church of Guria, Samon and Aviv on the day of memory of Ilya - January 1, 1993.
Ilya Russian
The exploits of Muromets are known to everyone, and there is no particular need to describe them, especially since this is not the purpose of our story. It is much easier and more interesting for the reader to learn about them from primary sources. And if this article arouses in someone a passionate desire to re-read Russian epics, then this modest work was not in vain. We will deal with another important issue: the real existence of our hero and the last pages of his glorious biography. There are some recent facts that make us rethink everything we know until now.
Unfortunately, no mention of Ilya Muromets could be found in the annals and other historical documents. Perhaps their compilers deliberately avoided this image because of the ignorant origin of the hero, because the chronicles mainly reflected the life of princes and political events of national importance. One way or another, but the fact remains - searches for the name of Ilya in ancient Russian sources have not yet yielded any tangible results.
At the same time, it is known that not all the facts of Russian history were reflected in the annals. However, it would be hasty and thoughtless to conclude: not found - did not exist. And such a categorical conclusion was made, and done more than once.
Nevertheless, in the annals we find mention of Alexei Popovich (the prototype of the epic hero Alyosha Popovich), Dobryna (Dobrynya Nikitich), boyar Stavr (Stavr Godinovich) and others. There were attempts to identify Ilya with the hero Rogdai, mentioned in the Nikon Chronicle under the year 1000. Rogdai bravely entered the battle with three hundred enemies. The death of the hero, who served the Fatherland with truth, was bitterly mourned by Prince Vladimir.
It is possible that, paradoxically, but we do not know the real name of the epic hero. “Judge for yourself, because if he became a monk in his declining years, then he would definitely change his name. Maybe there he became Ilya, and nicknamed Muromets. His true name has not survived in church chronicles. This worldly name could be anything, perhaps it was repeatedly mentioned in the annals and is well known to us, but we simply did not suspect who was hiding behind it. Let's hope so far.
In foreign sources, the name of Ilya has been recorded more than once. We find a mention of him in one of the Germanic epics of the Lombard cycle, in a poem about Ortnite, the ruler of Garda. Uncle Ortnita on the maternal side is none other than the well-known Ilya. Here, too, he appears as a mighty and indomitable warrior, famous for his heroic deeds. Ilya Russky takes part in a campaign on the Sudera, helps Ortnit to get a bride. There is an episode in the poem in which Ilya speaks of his desire to return to Russia to his wife and children. He had not seen them for almost a whole year.
This is complemented by the Scandinavian sagas recorded in Norway around 1250. This is the "Vilkina Saga" or "Tidrek Saga" from the northern set of narratives about Dietrich of Berne. The ruler of Russia Gertnit had two sons from the lawful wife Ozantrix and Valdemar, and the third son from the concubine was Ilias. Thus, Ilya Muromets, according to this information, is nothing more and nothing less, but the blood brother of Vladimir, who later became the Grand Duke of Kiev and his patron. Maybe this is the key to the absence of Ilya's name in the annals? Maybe the princely censorship tried to remove the information about the son of the concubine during repeated editions of the chronicles?
True, on the other hand, according to Russian legends, Vladimir himself is also the son of the concubine Malusha and Prince Svyatoslav. And if you also remember that Dobrynya Nikitich is Malusha's brother, companions-in-arms of Ilya Muromets' cross-brother, then the picture is completely confused. Therefore, let's not try to reconstruct Ilya's family tree using the transformed and specific information gleaned from the sagas. We will only agree with the fact that the name of Ilya Muromets was widely known in the 13th century, not only in Russia, but also abroad.
In the scientific literature, it has already become a kind of tradition to consider that the first mention of Ilya Muromets refers to 1574. In the "Messenger's formal reply" of the mayor of the city of Orsha, Filon Kmita, it is said about the heroes Ilya Muravlenin and Nightingale Budimirovich. The next entry related to our hero was made ten years later. Lviv merchant Martin Gruneveg was in Kiev in 1584. He described his travels in detail in his memoirs, which are kept in the Gdansk Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Among these records there is also a story about a hero buried in a cave. Gruneveg notes that his relics are a real giant.
The greatest confusion in the question of the burial of Ilya Muromets was brought by information taken from the diaries of Erich Lyasota, Ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. In 1594 he wrote: “In another chapel of the church (St. Sophia of Kiev. - S. Kh.) I outside was the grave of Ilya Morovlin, a famous hero or hero, about whom many fables are told. This tomb is now destroyed, but the same tomb of his comrade is still intact in the same chapel. " And further in the description of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery: “There is also one giant or hero called Chobotka (probably more correct“Chobotok”-“Boot”- S. Kh.), they say that he was once attacked by many enemies at that time, when he put on a boot, and since in a hurry he could not grab any other weapon, he began to defend himself with another boot, which he had not yet put on and defeated everyone with it, which is why he received such a nickname."
Let's stop and try to figure it out. For Lyasota, Ilya Muromets and Chobotok are different people. But should we absolutely believe this? After all, it is known for certain that Lyasota was passing through Kiev and only three days (May 7-9, 1594). These days were obviously full of receptions, visits and just introductory "excursions" around the city. During one such excursion, he visited the St. Sophia Cathedral and the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. It is clear that he spent several hours in them and perceived the information by ear, according to the people of Kiev. It is not surprising if later, when he finished writing in the diary, he could confuse something. Obviously, this happened with the name of the hero. It seems to me that Ilya Muromets and Chobotok are one person, but his first name is official, and the second is common.
Subsequently, Lyasota's notes were quoted by whoever he could, and there were many readings. As a result of unskilled translation, the original meaning of the quoted passages was often distorted. So, for example, the version of the "heroic side-chapel" was born. In order not to repeat the mistakes of our predecessors, we will use the original text. It turns out that the translations released the word "outside" (outside), and it turned out that the burial place of Ilya and his comrade was inside the Sophia Cathedral, next to the tomb of Yaroslav the Wise. The question of Ilya's companion was immediately resolved. Who was closest to him? Well, of course, Dobrynya Nikitich!
Ai Ilyushka was then
and big brother, Ai Dobrynyushka was then
and the little brother, Cross brother.
Both of them were allegedly awarded a high honor, and especially for them, an extension to the temple was built next to the grand ducal tomb. But in fact, it was about a chapel next to the cathedral, which could have stood here before the construction of the temple in 1037.
Lyasota retelling folk legends and fairy tales with pleasure. So, in his notes we find a story about a magic mirror that was in the cathedral. "In this mirror, by means of magical art, one could see everything that was thought about, even if it happened at a distance of several hundred miles." Once the princess saw in him the love betrayal of her husband and in anger broke the magic mirror. As far as I know, it never occurred to anyone to look for fragments of a fairy-tale mirror or try to recreate this first "television" in the history of mankind. Why is everything else written by Liasota taken for granted? This also applies to the changed name of Ilya - Morovlin and to the subsequent ups and downs with the search for the second homeland of the hero. But there could simply be an inaccuracy in the translation of the name into German!
Relics in the cave
The next source of information deserves much more attention, because its lines were written not by a foreigner, but by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Athanasius Kalofoysky. In 1638, his book "Teraturgima" was published in the printing house of the Lavra. In it, among the descriptions of the lives of the saints of Lavra, there are lines dedicated to Ilya. The meaning of Kalofoisky's words can be interpreted as follows: it is in vain that the people call Ilya Chobotk, since in fact he is Muromets. The Teraturgim says that Ilya lived "450 years before that time." Knowing the time of writing the book, let's make simple arithmetic calculations and get the year of Ilya Muromets' life according to Kalofoisky - 1188!
The founder of Ukrainian folklore M. A. Maximovich. A well-known writer and friend of Gogol, he argued that Kalofoisky knew Russian history well enough. When writing the date of Ilya's life, he was guided by church materials, which are more important and more reliable than Lyasota's "poetic fables". It is known that the church sacredly kept information about its miracle workers. So, according to church traditions, it is believed that Ilya from Murom lived in the XII century, and according to the church calendar, the day of his memory is December 19 according to the old style or January 1 according to the new one.
Liasota's information could also be explained from this point of view and a compromise could be found between the two sources. The testimonies of Lyasota and Kalofoisky do not contradict each other, if we assume that at the beginning Ilya's burial was in the St. Sophia Cathedral. Then the relics of the hero were transferred to the Lavra caves. This was done before 1584, if we take into account the testimony of Gruneweg. I repeat, this could be assumed (and this has been done repeatedly), if not for one very important detail that the researchers missed. All without exception. In the tomb of Ilya are his mummified remains, which means only one thing: Muromets was buried immediately after his death in the Lavra caves! The natural conditions in them are such that low humidity and constant temperature throughout the year prevent the reproduction of microbes that destroy organic bodies. There is a slow process of drying the remains and turning them into mummies. From time immemorial, the Lavra monks knew about this, and medieval travelers noted this, comparing the Kiev mummies with the Egyptian ones.
We are quite well aware of the history of the creation of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. The first mention of his cave is found in the "Tale of Bygone Years" under the year 1051. The first burial in the Lavra dungeons dates back to 1073, when one of the founders of the monastery, Anthony, was buried here. Thus, the body of Ilya Muromets could not have ended up in the caves earlier than this time.
Of course, we are tempted to simply take and tie the exploits of Ilya to the time of the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich or Vladimir Monomakh, but all attempts at such a chronologization are in vain. The image of Prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko is most likely not a reflection of any one person, but a collective image of many princes. Let us turn again to the Encyclopedic Dictionary of A. F. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron. In it we find information about 29 (!) Princes named Vladimir. Therefore, I took the starting date for my research from church literature, the degree of trust in which is incomparably higher than in epics. In addition, we simply do not have any other dates besides the one reported by Kalofoysky. I think there is no need to talk about its approximation. After all, not 400 or 500, but 450! When asked why Kalofoisky did not write the years of Ilya Muromets' life, one can only answer that such information was not always known even for the great dukes.
Now let's look at the events of those distant years. In 1157 - 1169 there were frequent wars for Kiev, 8 princes were replaced on the Kiev throne. In 1169 the capital city was ravaged by Andrey Bogolyubsky. In 1169 - 1181, the leapfrog on the grand prince's throne continued - 18 princes were replaced, some of them ruled for several months and sat on the throne several times. The end of the 12th century was marked by new invasions of the Polovtsians. In 1173 and 1190, they made their devastating raids on the Kiev lands. In a word, the field for military exploits of Ilya Muromets was extensive at that time, and he clearly would not have had to be bored.
Doubts that none other than Ilya Muromets was buried in the Lavra caves, they will help us to dispel the same epics.
And the relics became
yes saints
Yes, from an old Cossack
Ilya Muromets, Ilya Muromets
son of Ivanovich.
And in another version of the epic:
And he built
cathedral church, Then Ilya turned to stone, And nowadays his power
imperishable.
The imperishable relics of Ilya Muromets have indeed survived in the Lavra catacombs to this day. In order to completely dispel the aura of secrecy over his burial, they turned to scientists, specialists in forensic medicine. They had to answer many questions, and looking ahead, I want to say that the research results have exceeded all expectations.
Ilya is alive
The growth of Ilya Muromets was 177 centimeters. Of course, today you will not surprise anyone with such growth, but then, in the XII century, this growth was much higher than average. Ilya's constitution is real heroic. He was well cut and tightly knocked down, about people like him, in the old days they used to say - a slanting fathom in the shoulders.
Morphological and anthropometric studies have confirmed that Ilya cannot be attributed to the Mongoloids. But in the Soviet period, it was believed that the relics of the hero were a skillful church hoax. Instead of him, allegedly much later, they planted the body of a murdered Tatar.
Scientists noted in the lumbar spine a curvature of the spine to the right and pronounced additional processes on the vertebrae. I will not bore the reader with specific medical terms, but only note that this could seriously impede the movement of the hero in his youth, due to the pinching of the nerves of the spinal cord. How can one fail to remember that “Ilya had not walked at his feet” for thirty years. Kaliki pedestrians could turn out to be folk healers who set Ilya's vertebrae and gave him a medicinal herbal decoction to drink.
The age of the epic hero was determined by experts at 40 - 45 years (plus 10 years due to his specific disease). Agree, this somehow does not fit with our ideas about an old Cossack with a gray beard fluttering in the wind. Although, on the other hand, some researchers of epics who had no idea about the real age of Ilya, we find that the definition of "old Cossack" is not an indication of age, but only the title of a hero.
So, in the epics:
Tuto rode a good fellow
Old Cossack Ilya Muromets.
Thus, based on the information of Kalofoisky and the data of recent studies, we can determine the time period of the life of Ilya Muromets. He could live between about 1148 and 1203.
Several wounds were found on the body of Ilya Muromets, one of which was on the arm and the other in the region of the heart. This latter was the cause of his death. In addition, there are traces of old injuries received in battles. Unfortunately, the pedestrians made a mistake, saying that "death is not written for you in battle."
Now the last years of the life of Ilya Muromets loom before us with all the evidence. Having performed many feats of arms, he found a quiet refuge in his declining years in the monastery of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. Here Ilya atoned for his sins, led a measured lifestyle. However, the heroic strength did not leave him. An example of this is the last feat described by Lyasota, for which the hero received the nickname Chobotok. It was not the first time that Ilya defended himself with such an unusual weapon, in one of the epics he grabbed a hat or helmet from his head and smashed with it the robbers without number:
And he started here
wave the shellam, How to wave aside -
so here is the street, Ai will brush aside a friend -
duck lane.
According to my version, Ilya Muromets died in 1203 during a devastating raid on Kiev by the combined troops of Rurikai Polovtsi. The city was taken by assault, the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery and St. Sophia Cathedral were plundered. All church values were plundered, most of the city was burned to the ground. Enemies mercilessly dealt with the inhabitants of the capital city, they did not spare either gray-haired elders or small children. According to the chroniclers, such a devastation in Kiev had never happened before. It is clear that the glorious hero could not stay away from the battle. Again he had to take up arms. Judging by his wounds, he was not an easy prey for his enemies. He put many opponents in that mortal battle.
The wounds of the hero on the arm and on the chest were inflicted with a narrow piercing weapon, most likely with a spear or dagger. It is curious that back in 1701, a wandering priest Ivan Lukyanov noted: “right there (in the cave - S. Kh.) seeing the brave warrior Ilya Muromets incorruptible under a golden veil, his left hand was pierced with a spear”. The pilgrim could not see another wound on his chest because of the gilded veil.
Scientists have dated the burial to the 12th century. This also testifies to the correctness of our calculations.
Still, I met with Ilya Muromets. Of course, not with himself, but with his sculptural portrait, but the essence of the matter changes little from this. I am one of the few lucky people who happened to see the epic hero 800 years after his death. All the previous images of Ilya, familiar to us from the paintings, had one drawback - they are not a reflection of reality, but the fruit of the creative imagination of artists. The same sculptural portrait is the result of a plastic reconstruction of the hero's appearance based on his surviving remains. The creator of the portrait is a leading expert in this field, criminologist and sculptor S. Nikitin.
The portrait was clearly a success for the master. It is the embodiment of calm strength, wisdom, generosity and peace. There is no remorse in his eyes, he fought for a just cause and did not live his life for nothing. The strong arms of the hero do not rest on a damask sword, but on a monastic staff as a symbol of the last years of his life spent in the monastery.
… Once again I go down the polished stone steps into the gloomy womb of the catacombs of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The feelings that I have are somewhat different from the previous ones. I stop again at the tomb of Ilya from the city of Murom. There is no more doubt, there is only a firm conviction that in front of me is the ashes of a glorious epic hero. An image, painfully familiar from childhood, instantly appears in the brain, it takes on concrete outlines, turns into a portrait of a real person … Living Ilya.
January 1994
