The icon and the sarcophagus: why the Golden Ring matters to the Kremlin in 2023

The Trinity Lavra Monastery in Sergiev Posad, Russia, is one of the many historical and religious sites becoming a part of Vladimir Putin’s growing spiritual narrative about Russian history. Photo: Mitzo/Shutterstock

The timeliness was no accident either. The move came ten days after it was announced that the silver sarcophagus of St Alexander Nevsky, in St Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum, was to be handed back to the church for half a century. But that was not all…

Descendants of Rus’

The first thing to note is the crucial connection of the Golden Ring cities to the idea of the Russian nation and statehood. The Golden Ring cities, six to eight in number, are considered to be the Russian heartlands. Once the spiritual, cultural, economic and political centres of Old Rus’, the lineage from Rurik runs through here to Moscow. These cities are former capitals, important trading hubs and often what many think of when imagining picturesque Russian landscapes with wooden or gold-topped churches.

Rurik’s descendants ended up here as the Kyivan Princes often sent their sons to rule other parts of their loose federation. Yaroslav the Wise, a great moderniser who created the first Russian legal code, was sent to rule Rostov and the surrounding regions in his youth by his father. He went on to found Yaroslavl in this region, which he named after himself, as well as Tartu in Estonia, Bila Tserkva in Ukraine and Jarosław in Poland. His family became one of the four rival lineages descending from Rurik, who all vied for the Kyivan throne. It is from this line that Alexander Nevsky hailed.

Nevsky was born in Pereslavl-Zalessky, a Golden Ring town 140 kilometres northeast of Moscow. Once known for its carpenters, smiths and painters, it is also where Peter the Great played his “war games” on Lake Pleshcheyevo, dreaming of a Russian navy. Nevsky has been a national hero in Russia since his victory over the Teutonic Knights. He defeated them as Rus’ fell to the Mongols and refused to convert in exchange for their help. For his loyalty, the Mongols made him Grand Prince of Vladimir. Inadvertently, this protected Rurik’s lineage and kept Vladimir the most important city for the time being.

The Russian state today paints itself as the natural heir to this lineage and Vladimir. Russian autocracy was born in Vladimir, and its churches and monasteries were once among Europe’s largest and grandest. Vladimir’s Dormition Cathedral was built to host a Byzantine Icon said to have repelled attackers. In 1408, its interior was repainted by none other than Rublev. The fact that the Moscow Kremlin also modelled its cathedrals on those in Vladimir and Suzdal shows the need the Muscovite state had to affirm its lineage through Vladimir back to Rurik.

Divine intervention

The Trinity Lavra monastery was founded by St Sergius of Radonezh, who was actually from another Golden Ring city, Rostov Veliky. St Sergius is said to have lived a modest and humble life in prayer and reflection. It was St Sergius who blessed Dmitry Donskoy at the monastery before the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. This was Russia’s first victory against the Mongols. It came at a time when Moscow was still struggling to assert authority over its rival region, Tver, whose princes sought the title of Grand Prince. Not a part of a sacred or patriotic war as such, Kulikovo certainly has deep spiritual connotations in modern Russia. St Sergius played an important role in the spiritual strengthening of the Russian people during the occupation of the “demonic force”, as some called the Mongols. He became an important unifying force for the Russian nation in times of trouble thereafter.

The same can be said of the icon at the monastery. Nikon, a disciple of Sergius and abbot of the monastery, asked Rublev to paint an image of the Trinity to honour the saint. It depicts a story from the Bible – The Hospitality of Abraham (Genesis 18). Rublev stripped it of all secondary details to symbolise the Holy Trinity (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). In the icon, three angels sit at a table with a cup, which represents the Eucharist. Besides the relics of St Sergius, the icon became one of the monastery’s most sacred objects. This is partly because there are few surviving objects depicting the Trinity and Rublev seemed to have a unique understanding of it, depicting them in different ways (not God as an old man, or Jesus as a dove).

Yet, the icon also came to symbolise the idea of a united Russian nation. On the one hand, there is the connection to a saint who many Orthodox Christians in Russia and abroad have icons of in their homes. On the other is a crucial moment in Russia’s history, when Moscow and Russia’s heartlands participated in a symbolic military triumph. It was the beginning of a period in which Russia liberated itself from Mongol occupation. Following the re-emergence of Russia under its new capital Moscow, The Life of St Sergius was one of the first official histories published in the country. It was commissioned by the church rather than the new Muscovite state, but not by coincidence. The new Muscovite-led state, which became the most easterly point of Christianity, needed national figures from triumphant historical episodes. The ruling Muscovite family were descendants of Nevsky and the Vladimir princes. Sergius from Rostov Veliky and Sergiev Posad provided the religious connection. Through the lens of history, Moscow was the legitimate political and spiritual heir of Rus’.

The legacy of 1917

After the October coup, the Red Guard and militias seized the Golden Ring rail stations and nationalised the archives. This meant anything in the monasteries of the Golden Ring now belonged to the state, specifically the Bolsheviks. Many frescoes, relics and church artefacts were removed or looted. Overall, they were lucky to end up in the big city galleries. In Suzdal, for instance, the local Cheka took control of Suzdal’s Spaso-Efimiyeva Library, and raided the monastery again in 1920. The Ipatiev Monastery in Sergiev Posad was also seized before being turned into a folk and textile museum. Lenin even visited the museum personally. The city changed its name to Sergiev in 1919, and then to Zagorsk in 1930, which it remained until after the USSR’s collapse. Kostroma shared a similar fate, witnessing its main cathedral destroyed in 1933 for its connection to the Romanovs. The legendary Fyodorovskaya Icon of the Madonna, one of the most important icons in the Russian Orthodox Church, allegedly carved by the Apostle Luke and carried into Battle by Nevsky, was moved to the Church of the Resurrection on the Debra River; it would be hidden from the public. Vladimir’s Golden Gates were turned into a military history museum. It remained so for much of the 20th century. Many more of the Golden Ring’s churches and monasteries fell into disrepair, decay or were even demolished. By the 1960s, many were in danger of collapsing.

Since Putin came to power, there have been several conciliatory moves towards the Orthodox Church and White Army. In 2005, he attended the burial of White Army General Anton Denikin and granted his daughter in Paris Russian citizenship. Then came the gifting back of St Isaac’s Cathedral in 2017, which sparked huge protests. Whilst sympathies were no longer with the Bolsheviks, they had not yet turned in favour of the other side. This is perhaps reflected in Tretyakov’s defiance and the minor public outcry. Despite tightening censorship laws, the legacy of 1917 remains an uncrossable line and social taboo. Yet, the curators argue it needs the right conditions and complained about the damage caused to the Trinity on its last outing.

There is one final consideration when it comes to the proposed moves: local history. Does this icon not belong to the people of Sergiev Posad? Should it not be returned to its rightful place? Regional identities matter in Russia, especially given the controversial nature of its removal. After all, Vladimir, Rostov, Suzdal and Yaroslavl were principalities first, which operated more or less independently. The boost to tourism it would cause is not of any real consequence. What is more, Sergiev Posad might be a small regional town today, but its significance in the Russian story is up there with Kyiv, Vladimir and Moscow.

The Golden Ring cities are inseparable from Russian political and cultural identity. St Sergius and Nevsky are national heroes, and these particular artefacts could not be more significant to the Russian nation and state. The state needs the church today as both a unifying force and to provide spiritual justification for the invasion.

That Patriarch Kirill wants this “good endeavour” (referring to their proposed returns) to continue shows that more icons and artefacts will return home – or find new ones. Yet, public outcry is certain to accompany it. The fact that Tretyakov initially defied the state’s orders just as the people of St Petersburg did in 2017 is significant. Meaningful and common-sense conversations about national history can still happen in Russia today. For that, we should celebrate.

James C. Pearce is a historian at the College of West Anglia and author of The Use of History in Putin’s Russia (Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press, 2020).

Orthodoxy, religion, Russia, Vladimir Putin