Beautiful places in Vietnam. How solar panels work

…History, opening the tombs, raising the dead, putting life into their hearts and words into their mouths, from decay, rebuilding the Kingdoms, and presenting to the imagination the centuries with their different passions, morals, deeds, expands the limits of our own being…

N. M. Karamzin

In 1934, an incomplete skeleton of the “unknown” was sent to the hands of the employees of the Institute of the History of Feudal Societies (the modern Institute of Archeology), without tags and identification marks, only with an accompanying sheet in which anthropologist radiologists were asked to conduct an impartial examination of the remains and answer questions: age of a person, his anthropological type and, most importantly, why and how did this person die?

Such secrecy in the study of these seemingly unremarkable remains should have saved scientists from the temptation to draw their conclusions closer to the desired result. After a short time, the experts answered: before us are the remains of a man, about fifty years old, about 170 cm tall.

The person is physically strong, who has lived an active life, despite the partially fused cervical vertebrae, as well as the diseases identified in him (spondylosis and osteochondrosis), which significantly limit the mobility of this person.

Based on the study of the characteristics of the endocrine system, it was suggested that the person was easily irritable, excitable and extremely strongly showed his emotions, apparently not embarrassed by his reaction to even the most insignificant events.

The type of his skull was determined by the anthropologist V.V. Ginsburg as northern, close to the kurgan Slavic, with undoubted Mongoloid features. The forehead sloping back, always, due to the fused vertebrae, the head proudly raised - all this gave the “unknown” an imperious, hard, adamant look.

After analyzing all the remains, scientists came to the conclusion that in front of them was a warrior who participated in many battles, as evidenced by scars from old healed wounds, which could only be obtained on the battlefield or in a duel, but there were also new wounds that did not have time to heal, received just before death.

Who is this? Perhaps this is a warrior who laid down his head on the battlefield?

But the nature of the "new" wounds spoke of something else: this man was treacherously killed. Numerous wounds inflicted by a variety of weapons: chopping, presumably with swords and sabers, stabbing with spears or daggers - all wounds were inflicted from the sides or from the back on a completely defenseless person. The experts had no doubts: "This is an attack by several people, with a specific goal - not to injure, even if severe, but to kill right there, on the spot, by all means."

Thus, the assumptions and hopes of archaeologists were justified: an anonymous anthropological examination became the last confirming factor that made it possible to give a final answer to the question of who this person was. Before the researchers were the remains of the holy noble Grand Duke of Vladimir Andrei Yuryevich, who was brutally murdered on the night of June 29-30, 1174 in Bogolyubovo.

Despite the joy of historians at the justified hopes, the answer to this question has generated many new unknowns. It was known for certain what the Grand Duke died from, but how did this happen and why? Who killed him and why? And also, what was the significance of this event for the contemporaries of the prince, and why was Grand Duke Andrei Yuryevich, who died a violent death at the hands of murderers, not canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church? This did not happen immediately after his death in 1174, nor ten years later, nor even a hundred years later. He was canonized around 1702, that is, only 528 years after his death ...

The figure of Andrei Yurievich has always attracted all people interested in history. - not just a prince, he is a milestone in the history of Russian statehood; the ideas he put into practice were reflected in the deeds of subsequent generations of the great Russian princes and tsars. In his life and death, as in a mirror, the difficult political and social relations of the era were reflected.

Andrei Bogolyubsky was born in 1112 in the family of the Rostov prince Yuri Vladimirovich, better known by the nickname Dolgoruky, and the daughter of the Polovtsian Khan Aepa. His father spent his life in a constant struggle for the grand princely throne of Kyiv, which he eventually managed to take, but this did not bring him happiness, after a few years of reign he was poisoned.

After the death of his father in 1157, Andrei Yurievich became the Grand Duke and immediately showed himself to be an outstanding ruler and an extraordinary personality. Taking the title of Grand Duke, but not going to reign in Kyiv, for the first time, in fact, he destroys the tradition that had developed up to that time: since the Grand Duke means the Prince of Kyiv.

The Grand Duke now reigns in the Rostov-Suzdal land. Having received the land, he decides to gain a foothold on it and, using the right of the strong, expels his three brothers, two nephews, his stepmother and almost all of his father’s close associates from the Rostov-Suzdal principality. His next step towards strengthening his own power is the fight against the boyar aristocracy.

Here it is necessary to make a small remark: the prince did not have full power then, often he was only the first among equals, he always had to look back at the boyars and the senior squad, otherwise, having lost their support or entered into a confrontation with them, he could simply lose all his real power, leaving himself only the beautiful title of prince.

Andrey Bogolyubsky also set out to stop this established tradition. He, ignoring all obstacles, steps towards autocracy, concentrating power in his hands. How to get rid of constant intrigues and boyar influence? He acts straightforwardly and simply: he transfers the capital of the principality to the Suzdal suburb - the city of Vladimir-on-Klyazma.

In this new capital, everything will be as he wants: grandiose construction is underway, the Assumption Cathedral is being built, which amazed contemporaries with its luxury, the Golden Gates, similar to those in Kyiv, are opening the way to it. The Grand Duke, with no less splendor, furnishes his country residence - the fortified castle town of Bogolyubovo-on-Nerl, where the pearl of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality was located - the magnificent courtyard church of the prince, dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin.

The floor of the cathedral was lined with polished copper slabs, the choirs were lined with majolica slabs, in the mirror surface of which the reflections of the sun and candles played. The abundance of precious utensils, frescoes, expensive fabrics - the combination of all this with a beautiful interior amazed everyone who saw the decoration of the temple, which emphasized the greatness of the prince.

The Ipatiev Chronicle conveys the deep symbolism of what is happening, in fact, directly identifying Andrei with Solomon, the church in Bogolyubovo with the Old Testament temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, and Vladimir with Kyiv as New Jerusalem. Apparently, this was conceived by Andrei himself, and this is how all this was perceived by his contemporaries.

The secular power of the prince grew stronger, the temples he built glorified his greatness, but this was not enough. Realizing the influence of the Church on the minds of people, Andrei Bogolyubsky decides to use its colossal opportunities for his own political purposes. He promotes the idea of ​​God's chosenness of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, in fact, it is he who initiates the adoption of new public holidays - the Savior and the Intercession, and under him a whole cycle of literary works is created: "The word of Andrei Bogolyubsky about the holiday of August 1", "The Life of Leonty of Rostov", etc. d.

Having concentrated colossal power in the Rostov-Suzdal land in his hands, the Grand Duke continues his policy, transferring it beyond the borders of his principality: here both Kyiv and Novgorod lie at his feet, and there is no person in Russia more powerful than Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky. But when a person reaches the top and does not stay on it, there is only one way - down.

Kyiv rises, and then Andrey Yuryevich gathers a grandiose campaign against Kyiv, which the Russian land has not yet known. The army consists of all the principalities subordinate to him: here are Rostov, and Suzdal, Ryazan, Murom, Novgorod, Belozer, Vladimir, Pereyaslav. By order of the prince, under his banner, the squads of the adjacent lands of Chernigov, Kursk, Polotsk, Smolensk and other princes stood up.

However, the ways of the Lord are inscrutable: under the walls of Kyiv, the army suffered a crushing defeat, and he had to disperse in disgrace. Power gradually began to flow away from the hands of Andrei Bogolyubsky, and it is not known how this could have ended if not for the martyrdom that summed up his earthly life.

Returning to the topic of the murder of the prince, it is necessary to ask ourselves the question, can we even, eight hundred years later, understand the intricacies of the events of that ill-fated night for Andrei Bogolyubsky?

We can answer this question: yes, it is possible. In the Laurentian and Ipatiev Chronicles, the so-called "The Tale of the Murder of Andrei Bogolyubsky" has been preserved - a text telling about the final hours of the prince's life in the earthly vale.

This text has been studied many times by historians, and its classical, literal understanding presents us with such a picture of the last hours of the prince's life: before the murder of Andrei, the conspirators went down to the wine cellars to give themselves confidence and got drunk there. Then, finally gathering their courage, they went to the prince's bedroom.

Deciding first to penetrate him with cunning, one of the conspirators knocked and called himself Procopius, the name of one of the prince's trusted servants, but either the prince recognized the voice of the speaker, or it was drunk too much - the prince recognized the deception, did not unlock the door and, remaining to the end prince-warrior, rushed to the sword, according to legend, belonged to St. Boris, but the sword was stolen by the prince's keykeeper, who also participated in the conspiracy. So the prince, according to whose word all of Russia became under the spear, turned out to be absolutely defenseless.

The conspirators began to break the door, and when it fell, they rushed at the prince. Having spent most of his life on military campaigns, the prince was not an easy rival - even unarmed, he was a threat, besides, many of the conspirators were drunk, but the numerical superiority (there were about 20 of them) and edged weapons completed the job. The prince fell. Thinking that he was dead, the conspirators again went to the cellars.

Meanwhile, the prince woke up and, despite the wounds inflicted on him, tried to hide. Deciding to inspect, but rather simply rob the body of the prince, the conspirators did not find him in his bedroom, but were able to find him on a trail of blood. The chronicle says that when he saw the killers, Andrei said: “If, God, this is the end for me, I accept it.” The murderers completed their work, the body of the prince lay on the street, while the people robbed his majestic mansions.

Old Russian texts should never be taken literally, they are all riddled with allusions to sacred history; chroniclers never set themselves the task of engaging in thoughtless chronicling. The chronicle was a topical work in which an educated reader of that time could see much more than a modern one. In this regard, the so-called. “The story of the severed hand” is considered in detail by I. N. Danilevsky, and it is his assumptions that are currently the most interesting.

Despite the almost complete coincidence of the results of the examination and the text of the "story about the murder of Andrei Bogolyubsky", a slight discrepancy was revealed. The head of the conspirators, Peter, cuts off the right hand of the prince, after which he dies. The examination says that the right hand was untouched, but the left hand was cut in many places.

This discrepancy was ignored for a long time - well, you never know, the ancient scribe was mistaken, with whom he does not happen. But the chronicler does not need our patronizing attitude, he knew what he was writing, and he knew which hand was cut off. For example, on a miniature in the Radzivilov Chronicle (XV century!) a woman stands near the lying prince and holds his severed hand - and precisely the left one. So what does it all mean?

The world of medieval man is full of symbols that reveal the meaning of phenomena. The main book on which the world order of that time was based was the Holy Scripture, where I. N. Danilevsky suggested looking for an answer. The Gospel of Matthew says: “And if your right hand offends you, cut it off and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members perish, and not your whole body be cast into hell”(Matthew 5:30). How could the right hand "seduce" the Grand Duke?

Here we need to delve into another document, where there is a motif of a severed hand, namely, the Laurentian Chronicle, which deals with Vladyka Theodorets, a protege of the prince, whom he wanted to put at the head of the new Metropolis of Vladimir, having separated from the Metropolis of Kyiv.

Grandiose plans of the prince were not crowned with success. His pride and the behavior of Vladyka Theodorets caused general condemnation from the public of that time. Neither the idea itself nor the methods by which the prince and his protege achieved their goal met with approval. For example, Bishop Nestor of Rostov, who opposed the prince, was expelled from his diocese. Only the intervention of the Patriarch of Constantinople stopped the process of dividing the Russian metropolis into two parts. But this did not stop Andrei and Theodorets.

In 1168, at the Council in Kyiv, Bogolyubsky, through Theodorets, wrote to Prince Mstislav of Kyiv that Metropolitan Konstantin should be removed and a new one should be installed with the help of the Council of Bishops, and in general, one should think about whether to abandon such a troublesome and costly power of the Patriarchs. However, Mstislav was frightened and, despite all the efforts of Theodorets, did not dare to do this.

Then Theodorets went with gifts to the Patriarch and began to assure him that there was no metropolitan in Russia, and to ask him to make him a metropolitan. The patriarch disagreed. Then he began to beg at least for the episcopal chair in Rostov. The patriarch took pity and gave in. Then Theodoretz, without calling for a blessing from the Metropolitan and ignoring him in every possible way, went to the episcopal chair.

Upon learning of all this, the Metropolitan wrote to the abbots and presbyters of the Rostov diocese, so that they would not serve with Theodorets until he accepted his blessing. The power of the metropolitan turned out to be even greater, and even the laity stopped asking for blessings from the new bishop, which only angered Theodorets even more. And when, finally, all the deadlines had already passed, and Theodorets nevertheless appeared in Kyiv, he was seized by the people of the metropolitan, and there "... his cut off, and cut off his tongue, like a villain heretic and cut off his right hand ..."

Everything that Theodorets did, being a protege of Andrei Bogolyubsky, he could not do without his knowledge, which means that the blame for the entire church crisis and the attempt to usurp church power lies with the prince himself - and this is a very serious crime. And yet, despite all his sins, very serious at that time, the chronicler treats him with respect, saying that Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky “Having washed your sins with the blood of Martynich,” i.e., at the end of his martyrdom, he atoned for his sins.

Thus, we answered several very important questions: how the prince died, how his contemporaries treated him, and why he was not canonized immediately after his death - apparently, the memory of his sins has not subsided yet. The last question remains, who and why killed the prince?

It is quite difficult to sort out the question of who exactly killed the prince: apparently each of the killers had their own motives - greed, resentment, etc. They were united by one thing - the desire to kill the prince, for us the main thing is why?

Throughout his life, the prince sought to concentrate maximum power in his hands, he fought with the old established orders: the city council, the boyar aristocracy. The environment of the prince has also changed: according to I. N. Danilevsky, he is changing “the personal devotion of the squad, where he was“ the first among equals ”, to the slavish devotion of“ merciful ”,“ assistants ”and serfs who are completely dependent on the master, and therefore they fear him and hate him, in spite of all his favors.

Here you can still remember that the relatives of the prince and his father's squad were expelled. Prince Andrei "although the autocrat of being", and this concept for that time is almost a claim to equality with God: “Do you want to understand that there is an autocrat, or that under power, then you understand: the apostles are under power, and the Savior is the ruler.”

This desire to become an “autocrat” opposed him to all his relatives, followers, serfs, even the failure of the campaign against Kyiv is not the result of the mediocrity of the prince as a commander, but rather the army’s rejection of new values, refusal to oppose traditions, resulting in low morale and uncertainty in their own strength.

Centuries will pass, and there will be a Mongol invasion, which in fact destroyed the old squad orders, as well as the warriors themselves, and “autocrats” will reappear in Russia: tsars and grand dukes, already surrounded by servants-nobles and lackeys-boyars, according to their word establishing new metropolises, fulfilling the dream of Andrei Bogolyubsky, taking control of the Patriarchate. But all this in the XII century is not yet the place. The prince was killed by time itself and the strength of the traditions in which he lived, and in the slow course of which he could not exist.

ndrey was born in the north-east of Russia, in the Rostov-Suzdal land. His father gave him the small town of Vladimir-on-Klyazma, where Andrei lived half his life, leaving no trace in Russian history during this time. He appeared in Southern Russia only in 1149, when he occupied Kyiv. Andrei received from his father Vyshgorod, and then the Turov-Pinsk land, but did not want to reign there and in 1156, against the will of his parent, he fled back to the Rostov-Suzdal land. Before fleeing, he took with him the icon of the Mother of God, which was kept in the Vyshgorod convent, painted by the Evangelist Luke. According to church tradition, on the road between Vladimir and Rostov, the horses on which the icon was being carried stopped, and no one managed to move them. Andrei spent the night in a field, and in a dream the Mother of God appeared to him, ordering him to leave the icon in Vladimir. Andrew did just that. He even moved the capital of the Rostov-Suzdal Principality to Vladimir. Surely, thoughts about the transfer had visited him before, and the "miracle with the icon" was the last argument in his favor. The icon, now known as the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, was placed in the Assumption Cathedral of Vladimir, and on the site of the miraculous appearance of the Virgin, Andrei founded a monastery and founded the village of Bogolyubovo, which became the prince's favorite residence.

Andrei was short in stature, but broad in the shoulders and "strong grand." From his mother, a Polovtsian, he inherited a bony face with typical Mongoloid features and black curly hair, and from his father - large bright eyes. Due to illness, the prince's cervical vertebrae fused, so he never "bent the neck" (neck), which was perceived by many as arrogance.

By his nature, Andrei was a typical northerner. Like the southerners, he forgot himself in the midst of the battle, climbed into its very thick, sometimes not noticing that the helmet had been knocked off his head. But Andrei was not proud of military glory and did not like wars. Immediately after the battle, he sobered up, became a cautious, prudent politician, a prudent manager. Andrei always had everything in order and ready; he could not be taken by surprise; he knew how not to lose his head in the midst of the general commotion. By the habit of being on guard every minute and bringing order everywhere, he resembled his grandfather. However, unfortunately, over time, lust for power, self-will and capriciousness took precedence over prudence, and Andrei did a lot of bad deeds.

It is difficult to say what Andrei did in Vladimir during the life of his father, but it is obvious that with his activities he managed to win over the boyars so much that during his lifetime they elected Andrei the prince of the entire Rostov-Suzdal land. Against their father's will, Andrei's younger brothers were completely deprived of their inheritances and, together with their mother, went into exile in Greece. Andrey became the sole ruler of the Rostov-Suzdal land. It should be noted that in Rostov and Suzdal the old customs were strong, putting the opinion of the veche above the will of the prince. Andrey, who dreamed of strong princely power, did not like this at all, and therefore he decided to move the capital to the hitherto small town of Vladimir, where veche gatherings were not held. Andrei did a lot for the development of his new capital. He resettled many people in Vladimir, including from the southern principalities, built many churches and monasteries, a white-stone fortress, from which the famous Golden Gate has been preserved. Moreover, for the construction, Andrei ordered craftsmen not from Byzantium, but from Western Europe.

Andrei Bogolyubsky was very pious. He could often be found at night in the temple for prayer. Andrei attributed the victory over the Volga Bulgars in 1164 to the help of the same miraculous icon of the Mother of God, which was taken on a campaign.

Andrei frankly did not like Kyiv and tried in every possible way to belittle its significance. In 1160, he even tried to allocate the Vladimir-Suzdal land into a separate metropolis, but Patriarch Luke Chrysovert refused to consecrate the prince's favorite Theodore. In 1168, Andrei got involved in the civil strife of the South Russian princes, taking the side of the Rostislavichs against the Grand Duke of Kyiv. The squabble began due to the fact that the Novgorodians expelled and asked to give them a prince of one of his sons. turned to Andrew for help. Four brothers and Polotsk princes also took his side. Andrei went to war against the Novgorodians, but they were not afraid and begged to send them a son as a prince. Now Andrei had a reason to attack and. Andrew gathered a coalition of 11 princes and moved to Kyiv. On the side was only Andreev's brother and not very faithful Berendeys and Torks. In addition, the people of Kiev usually did not hold the siege very steadfastly. This time they surrendered after three days. fled to Vasilev, leaving his wife and children behind. On March 12, 1169, the troops of Andrei Bogolyubsky entered Kyiv. For two days, Suzdal, Smolensk, Chernigov and Polovtsy plundered the ancient city. There was no mercy for the old or the young, for men or women. Even churches and monasteries were plundered, from where icons, robes and bells were taken out. In the atrocities to which the Russians subjected the Russian city, not only Andrei's dislike for the ancient capital was manifested. Surely, the feeling of revenge experienced by Suzdal residents towards the people of Kiev for the massacre of 1157 also played a role. After the pogrom, the "Second Constantinople" finally lost its luster. Andrei planted his humble brother in Kyiv, planning to continue to appoint princes in Kyiv at his own discretion, and he returned to Vladimir.

Having defeated Kyiv, Andrey decided to deal with Novgorod. In the winter of 1170, at the head of the same coalition, he approached the walls of the Kremlin. The siege began successfully, and the allies had already begun to divide the booty in advance. However, according to legend, on the fourth day of the siege, Archbishop John brought the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (later known as Znamenskaya) to the fortress wall, after which the attackers became mad, and they began to shoot at each other. February 25 completed the defeat of Suzdal. He put the allies to flight, while capturing so many prisoners that they were then sold for next to nothing. Soon, however, the hostility cooled down. Novgorodians got along with Andrei Yuryevich, drove away and invited first, and in 1172 -. Although, of course, the Novgorodians managed to retain many of their privileges.

Even after the sack of Kyiv, his table remained desirable for many princes. After his imminent death, Andrei tried to dispose of it at his own discretion, however, the Rostislavichi did not obey his decision. The unfaithful Andreev brother joined them. The Rostislavichi expelled Andreev's envoy Mikhn in disgrace, which caused the prince's wrath. He again gathered the militia from many principalities, put his son and boyar Zhidislavich at the head of it and ordered him to go to Kyiv. However, among the twenty princes who marched in the militia, there was no agreement. For example, and, who considered themselves the oldest in the family, were also not averse to occupying the Kyiv table. When the allies heard that a large Galician army was coming to the aid of the besieged, their entire army of many thousands fled. he even managed to make a daring sortie, capturing the convoy of the retreating and many prisoners, for which he received the nickname Brave. After the lifting of the siege in Kyiv, he sat down, but, as expected, did not last long there, and the poor old capital again began to change hands, and its fate no longer depended on Andrei. The Rostislavichi, who did not give up hope of gaining a foothold in Kyiv, even agreed to make peace with Andrei if he helped to plant in Kyiv, the most obedient of the Rostislavichi. Andrei, however, hesitated, considering in whose favor to make a choice, and an unexpected death stopped his plans.

Andrei Bogolyubsky was, of course, smart and cunning, but too power-hungry. He wanted to rule as an autocrat, moving the specific princes, like pawns, at his discretion. Apparently, the attitude of the prince to those close to him and to the common people was not at all the best. Once Andrei ordered the execution of the brother of his servant Yakim Kuchkovich. The boyars, dissatisfied with the arbitrariness of the prince, decided to kill him. On the night of June 28-29, 1174, having previously drunk wine, the conspirators, led by Peter, Yakim and Anbal Kuchkovichs, broke into the prince's room, stabbed the prince with spears, chopped them with swords and sabers, after which they returned to the cellar to drink. Andrei, however, remained alive and tried to escape, but the killers, having heard the groans of the prince, returned, found him in the wake of blood and finished him off. Andrei's house in Bogolyubovo, where the murder was committed, was looted, and the body was thrown into the garden. The clergy were forbidden to bury him. In 2015, during the restoration of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Pereslavl-Zalessky, an inscription was opened containing the names of 20 conspirators - the killers of the prince (starting with the names of the Kuchkovichi) and a description of the circumstances of the murder.

Having heard about the death of the prince, the people not only did not punish the murderers, but continued what they started. The princely palace in Vladimir was completely plundered. Obviously, Andrei Yuryevich became extremely unpopular by the end of his reign. Only six days after the murder, people came to their senses. The body of the prince was transported from Bogolyubov to Vladimir and carried through the streets of the city with singing. The people of Vladimir remembered that the prince had not only bad deeds, but also good ones, and buried him with honors in the Assumption Cathedral. Around 1751, Andrei Bogolyubsky was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a faithful.

Later Moscow legends well remembered the ancient Moscow owner, the boyar Stefan Ivanovich Kuchka, who owned Moscow before Yuri Dolgoruky, who forcibly took possession of it. There was a time when scientists looked at the legends about Kuchka as a complete fiction of the 17th century. and did not see any grain of authenticity in it. But folk legends have their own basis, often completely non-legendary. Such are the legends about the Kuchka, which we will briefly outline.

The legends about Kuchka have come down to us in two later stories or tales about the beginning of Moscow. S.K. Shambinago called the first of them a chronographic story, the other - a short story by the nature of their content. The first story is called "On the conception of the reigning great city of Moscow, which is first conceived." It begins with reasoning about how ancient Rome and the second Rome - Constantinople arose on blood, and how Moscow, as the third Rome, should have been created. but by the shedding of blood, and by the slaughter of the blood of many.” Thus, even when founded, Moscow was in everything equal to its predecessors - Rome and Constantinople. To prove this idea, the following story is given, which we transmit in translation into modern language.

“In the summer of 1158, Grand Duke Yuri Vladimirovich went from Kyiv to Vladimir city to his son Andrei Yuryevich, and came to the place where the now reigning city of Moscow, red villages on both sides of the Moscow River. These villages were then owned by a boyar named Kuchka, Stefan Ivanov. That Kuchka became very proud and did not honor the Grand Duke with the proper honor that is due to the Grand Dukes, but insulted him besides. The great prince Yuri Vladimirovich, not enduring blasphemy from him, orders that boyar to be seized and put to death; so it was. His sons Peter and Akim, young and very beautiful, and his only daughter, just as good-looking and beautiful, named Julitta, he sent to Vladi-mir to his son, to Prince Andrei Yuryevich. The great prince Yuri Vladimirovich himself ascended the mountain and surveyed from it with his eyes back and forth on both sides of the Moscow River and beyond the Neglinnaya. And he loved those villages and commands in that place to soon make a small wooden city and nicknamed Moscow the city by the name of the river flowing under it. And then the great prince goes to Vladimir to his son, Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky, and combines him with his daughter Kuchkova, with whom Prince Andrey also had sons who died early. And his father, Prince Yuri Vladimirovich, was with him for a long time and commanded his son, Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, to populate and spread the city of Moscow with people. Further it is said that Julitta and her brothers Kuchkovichi plotted and killed Andrey Bogolyubsky. For the death of the prince, his brother Mikhalko Yuryevich avenged. He interrupted his brother's killers, and ordered Julitta. hang on the gates and shoot with many bows. A short chronicler is added to this story, ending with the news of the death of Ivan Kalita.

The most ancient chronicles do not know anything about the boyar or the thousand Kuchka, but his children Kuchkovichi and Peter, “Kuchkov’s son-in-law,” are historical figures. They plotted against Andrei Bogolyubsky and killed him in 1174. The head of the killers was Peter, Kuchkov's son-in-law, Anbal Yasin the keykeeper, Yakim Kuchkovich, according to the Ipatiev Chronicle. The story of the birth of the reigning city of Moscow makes Peter and Akim brothers, and calls Princess Julitta their sister, and their father is the boyar Kuchka. But is it possible to doubt that the boyar Kuchka really existed if we know his son-in-law and son? Apparently, it was a close-knit and strong boyar family, the real Kuchkovich family, which left a lasting memory in folk legends. Long after the murder of Andrei Bogolyubsky, there were legends about the Kuchkovichi, recorded no later than the middle of the 15th century. It was said that Vsevolod the Big Nest avenged his murdered brother: “I caught Kuchkovichi, and planted them in boxes in the lake.”

FOUNDATION OF MOSCOW

The chronicle reports that in 1147 the Suzdal prince Yuri Vladimirovich, nicknamed Dolgoruky, returning after a successful campaign against Novgorod, stopped on the river bank and founded the city, which, like the river, was called Moscow. There are legends about the origin of the city. One of them tells about a certain Prince Danil Ivanovich, who allegedly founded the capital of the principality, the other says that Prince Oleg Prophetic founded Moscow, and the third one says that Prince Andrei Aleksandrovich of Vladimir is named its ancestor. His historical prototype could be the son of Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei Bogolyubsky.

The ancient story about the founding of Moscow says that Prince Yuri Vladimirovich of Rostov-Suzdal, nicknamed Dolgoruky, also known as the Grand Duke of Kyiv, was the son of Prince Vladimir Monomakh. He was born at the end of the 11th century.

According to legend, the prince, along with his retinue, passed through the territory on which modern Moscow is located. It was time to rest, eat and drink. The prince and his people liked the "red villages", a wooded area in which there were many animals and berries, and the river, which was called Moscow, was full of fish. I didn't want to leave this place. But these rich lands had, as the prince was told, a rightful owner, a certain boyar Stepan Ivanovich Kuchka, and he had his own guards. And the place was called Kuchkovo.

Prince Yuri decided to look at all the villages and counted six of them: Vorobyevo, Simonovo, Vysotskoye, Ku-lishki, Kudrino, Sushchevo. Everywhere peasants came out, bowed at his feet and said that their master was Stepan Kuchka, a very rich man, and therefore proud and impregnable. He is the ruler of the Moscow River.

Prince Igor did not like such praises. And I didn’t like it even more that this boyar, Stepan Kuchka, didn’t come out to greet him, the full-fledged prince. He was pointed to the boyar's house, which stood on a hill not far from the Moscow River. The prince's guards knocked at the gate.

Unkindly, Stepan Kuchka received the uninvited guests, but he seated them at the table, ordered them to be fed and watered. The prince saw the daughter of Stepan Kuchka, Julitta, an incomparable beauty, he liked her very much. The prince wanted to buy the lands he liked from the boyar, but Stepan Kuchka spoke proudly, did not want to cede an inch of land to the prince, considering him his equal.

The prince was offended, left for Suzdal and decided to punish the boyar. He went again with his retinue to the places he loved on the banks of the Moskva River, hunted, fished, and in the evening he knocked on the boyar Kuchka's tower. But he did not open, did not want to let the guest in. Here the prince's warriors were indignant. On his orders, they broke open the oak gates, broke into the courtyard, scattered the guards, seized the proud boyar and his entire family, including the beautiful daughter Julitta, and brought them to the prince. He reasoned - to execute the proud and uncompromising boyar, disperse all his relatives, and give his daughter Julitta to the son of the prince, Andrei. Thus, the prince became the owner of all the lands along the banks of the Moscow River.

Then Yuri Dolgoruky ascended one of the hills, which was called Borovitsky, examined the beautiful places, all the six villages lying in the district, and ordered to build a citadel, a fortress, on the hill, and build a city around it, which he called Moscow by the name of the river.

From the boyar Kuchka for a long time there was one name - "Kuchkovo field", in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe current Chistye Prudy and Sretensky Boulevard.

Sources: do.gendocs.ru, poemi.narod.ru, www.twirpx.com, otvet.mail.ru, 100legend.ru

Secrets of the giant Kuyva and Seydozero

stonehenge

Pantheon in Rome

EmDrive rocket engine: flight without a propellant

Chinese Wall

Beautiful places in Vietnam

The sun, the wind, the purest transparent water, yellow-white sand, transparent crabs running along the sand and local residents who, according to legend, came from ...

Barcelona Cathedral

Two octagonal bell towers, each 53 meters high, date back to the end of the 13th century, when the Gothic style began to spread. On one of...

Carthage must be destroyed

In the IV-II centuries BC. The Roman Empire faced a strong adversary who dared to challenge her economically and militarily - ...

North Variant and Anita

Among the victims of the Bermuda Triangle there are ships of various purposes and displacements. A tragic story happened in March 1973 with the dry cargo ship "North...

Madagascar - Mars on Earth

How you want to arrange a summer vacation not somewhere on the sea, but, for example, in Madagascar - an interesting place for any person. ...

Chemical disasters

Having heard the message about the accident, you need to put on respiratory protection, the simplest skin protection, leave the area as quickly as possible ...

Cursed paintings

The mysterious Irish estate of Russborough House is included in many tourist guides. People's attention is riveted not so much by the architectural complex of the 18th century as by its...

How solar panels work

A solar power plant is an engineering structure for converting solar radiation into electrical energy. A solar power plant can have very different capacities depending on their number. If a...

seychelles palm

Lodoicea Maldivian is probably the most famous palm tree. In the world, it is known as the Seychellois palm. The fruits of this amazing plant are associated with ...

First of all, pearl is an incredibly beautiful stone that has been...

Motorcycles with cardan drive

It is not enough to buy a motorcycle and ride it, refueling its time...

Sharks in the Baltic Sea

Somehow it turned out that of the sharks in the Baltic Sea, only ...

How to make bog oak at home

Bog oak is an excellent building material. Its unusual color is very...

The tail of people

It's funny, but a man has a tail. Until a certain period. It is known...

The old nurse didn't say anything like that. At first she assured that she did not remember anything, did not know. But Olga Yuryevna was so affectionately stubbornly persistent ... she did not give the old woman peace. And in the end, she was completely confused about what was and what was not. She believed that everything was exactly as the annoying princess wants to hear. I believe she remembers it! And when Olga Yurievna, as if by chance, brought Julitta to her and forced the nanny to tell a long story, the old woman told her mistress that her father, Julitta, was not the boyar Kuchka at all, but Prince Yuri Vladimirovich.

I repeat: no one knows whether this is true or not. There are only speculations about the birth of Ulita Kuchkovna, they exist to this day ... But Olga Yuryevna in those distant, unimaginable years laid out her speculations to her daughter-in-law with triumph and confidence as evidence.

And Julitta believed ...

I believed - and was horrified! That same night, she went to Klyazma - and she threw herself from a steep bank into the water.

Drowned.

If this had happened to someone else, not to the wife of Prince Bogolyubsky, the noise would have risen to heaven. Suicide was considered a mortal sin! However, the entire bishopric of Vladimir was in the fist of Prince Andrei Yurievich. He used his influence to hush up the scandal.

The princess, who, according to custom, had to be thrown into a pit along the road or buried anywhere, so that no one could find a trace of her grave, was buried in a cemetery, in consecrated ground, but - quietly, furtively, as if ashamed. It was forbidden to pronounce her name on pain of death. And in the mouth of the stern, inexorable Bogolyubsky, this did not at all sound like an empty threat or exaggeration.

He hated his wife, who had so disgraced him. And what is strange - his hatred spread to his son, to Yuri.

Julitta's brothers, not so hardened in piety as their son-in-law, were horrified by such cruelty, but it was pointless to talk to the prince. In response to all exhortations, he threatened to completely throw the prince out of the house, and drive his Shuryas from the lands granted to him, betray the house to the fire - if Akim and Ilya did not calm down.

What was to be done? We settled down. For myself and for my nephew. Again, Akim recently married his young daughter to one of the prince's people. I had to settle down for her sake.

Their plans for revenge were again pushed into the far corner. It turned out that revenge was given to them! How can you not beware?

There was only one person in the house who not only supported Andrei Yuryevich in his bitterness, but also strengthened the destructive feeling in him. It is not difficult to guess who that person was - of course, Princess Galitskaya.

Of course, Olga Yuryevna did not say a word about her terrible, nightmarish role in what happened, that she herself had pushed her daughter-in-law to a fatal cliff. The nanny, intimidated by her, gave her word to be silent until her death. Princess Galitskaya more than anyone else poked at the orphaned prince, reproached him for his mother's suicide, amused to herself that he was named Yuri - in honor of Prince Andrei's father.

No matter how! In honor of the father of both parents!

In the end, Olga Yuryevna, with a pleasant sense of accomplishment, shut herself up in the Vladimir monastery and took the tonsure.

Before we say goodbye to this frightening, bloodthirsty woman, let us recall a very famous work of ancient Russian literature, namely, “The Prayer of Daniel the Sharpener”. It has not yet been established who its author was - either a nobleman, or a combatant, or even a serf or an artisan. Researchers even doubt in what era he lived and worked, that Daniel: either under Yuri Dolgoruky, or in a later era, almost under Vsevolod the Big Nest (1154-1212). Well, Yuri Dolgoruky definitely has nothing to do with it, because the text mentions the village of Bogolyubovo, built by his son Andrei after the death of his father ...

There are a lot of interesting things in Prayer, but the most curious and, I’m not even afraid to say, scandalous are the lines dedicated to the “evil wife”. Daniil Zatochnik develops the topic raised by Solomon in his time - he develops it very creatively! Here are just a few of his passages that many men would love to subscribe to, but women disagree with:

“What is an evil wife? Human turmoil, blinding the mind, gave rise to all malice, in the church a collector of tribute for a demon, a defender of sin, an ambush for salvation.

If any husband looks at the beauty of his wife and at her affectionate and flattering words, but does not check her deeds, then God grant that he has a fever and may he be damned.

A good wife is a crown to her husband and carelessness, but an evil wife is a fierce grief and ruin at home. A worm wears down a tree, but an evil wife exhausts her husband's house. It is better to sail in a holey boat than to tell secrets to an evil wife: a holey boat will soak clothes, and an evil wife will destroy her husband's whole life. It is better to beat a stone than to teach an evil wife; You will melt iron, but you will not teach an evil wife.

For an evil woman does not listen to teaching, she does not honor the church, she is not afraid of God, she is not ashamed of people, but she reproaches everyone and condemns everyone.

What is meaner than a lion among quadrupeds, and what is more cruel than a snake among those crawling on the ground? All those angrier evil wife. There is nothing on earth more fierce than female malice! Because of your wife, your great-grandfather Adam was expelled from paradise; because of his wife, Joseph the Beautiful was imprisoned; Because of the wife of the prophet Daniel, they threw him into the pit, where the lions licked his feet. O evil, sharp instrument of the devil and an arrow flying with poison!

A man's wife has died; after her death, he began to sell children. And the people said to him: “Why are you selling children?” He answered: “If they were born to their mother, then when they grow up, they will sell me myself.”

Here is such an impressive text. Written, of course, with feeling. Obviously about a particular woman! For some reason, it became commonplace among some historians that Ulita Kuchkovna served as the prototype of an evil wife for Daniil Zatochnik - since, together with her brothers, she participated in the murder of the pious Prince Bogolyubsky. And so it is affirmed, despite the fact that it has already been proven: Julitta died earlier! By the time of his death, Andrei Bogolyubsky was remarried.

Another!

It is possible, of course, that the Sharpener's passages refer to the new wife. However, for some reason it seems to me that Daniel was acquainted with Olga Yuryevna, Princess of Galicia. He wrote about her in his “Prayer”, she is the “evil wife”. After all, the exclamation: “There is nothing in the world more fierce than female malice!”

Let us return, however, to Bogolyubovo.

Prince Andrei Yuryevich, wanting to show everyone how severely he condemns his late wife, did not even wait until the sorry (sad) period, that is, mourning, ended. Only six months passed after her death, as he married again.

This time, the Ossetian princess became his chosen one, whose name history has not preserved. She was simply called Yasya, that is, Ossetian.

I must say that Prince Bogolyubsky generally liked to surround himself with foreigners - let's use the terminology of those times. After all, he himself was of mixed blood, not quite Russian: Polovtsian by mother. And if we also remember the origin of Gyurgi himself, whose mother was an Englishwoman Gita ... And so on, looking into the depths of centuries.

A Russian person is not so much an origin as a national identity. So the frantic Prince Bogolyubsky was completely deprived of this prejudice. Therefore, in his time, he defiled Kyiv with robbery. Therefore, in his environment, personalities appeared, to put it mildly, colorful - like the housekeeper Yasin (that is, Ossetian) Anbal.

The key keeper is Yasin, the second wife is Yasya ... It is possible that the marriage did not take place without the participation of Anbal. Still, people of Caucasian nationality, so to speak, did not appear so often in Russia at that time. However, they showed up! And Russians in the Caucasus arose all the time, moreover, they rose to the very top of power. One of these people will be Yuri, the son of Andrei Bogolyubsky ... but more than ten years must pass before this event. In the meantime, the orphaned prince has a stepmother.

They say she was a beauty, that Yasya ... But - do not be born beautiful, but be born happy. The ardent Ossetian very soon became convinced that she had married in order to live in contentment during the day, but to spend the nights alone: ​​her husband's love for God only grew and flourished every year. Every sweet moment spent with his wife, Prince Andrei Yuryevich perceived as a sin and, jumping out of bed, immediately ran to the temple - a sin to atone for. And he tried to sin less and less, less often, less often ... And after the honeymoon, he completely stopped. That is, Yasya experienced everything that the unfortunate Julitta had experienced in her time.

It is not known how the relationship of the spouses would develop further. It is possible that Yasya would have resigned herself to her dull existence, as her predecessor resigned herself to a bleak marital bed. But just then something happened.

The old nanny of the late Ulita Kuchkovna decided to die.

She did not violate the oath given to Olga Yurievna in a word. First of all, because I was afraid. So she was dead silent, silent to death ... but in her last minutes she nevertheless opened her mouth - for confession. She was almost unaware of anything, did not notice that in the bedchamber, besides the priest, there was one more person. He was very fond of the nanny: after all, she nursed him too, before Julitta was handed over to her. No wonder that man was awake near the old lady's deathbed.

Brother of Ulita Kuchkovna, Ilya.

The terrible, incredible story told by the nanny stunned those who heard it. The priest, of course, did not say anything to anyone - out of the fear of God, out of a sense of duty, for the sake of preserving the secrecy of confession. On the lips of the shocked Ilya, love for his sister imprinted. Therefore, he reported the terrible discovery to only one person: his brother. And he experienced a new shock: it turns out that Akim already knew about everything. I found out a long time ago, right after Julitta's suicide. And none other than ... Bogolyubsky himself told him!

Olga Yurievna still decided to open her brother's eyes. This happened on the very day when the terrible truth (or maybe fiction!) became known to Ulita. The woman ran to her husband for consolation, hoping that he would dissuade her, say that nothing like this could happen ... However, the great warrior, the builder of monasteries and cities, could not console his wife with anything. On the contrary, he began to reproach, remember how the brothers brought her to him in the tent ... In his opinion, it turned out that the Kuchkovichi themselves were to blame for what had happened. And Bogolyubsky told his wife that if she did not want to be expelled from home in disgrace, let her immediately, tomorrow, go to the monastery. Let him get his hair cut not here, in Vladimir or in Suzdal, but somewhere far in the north, or better in Kyiv, hated by Bogolyubsky. So that even rumors about her never reached Bogolyubovo and she could never see her son again - "the fruit of her sin."

In a word, Prince Andrei Yurievich put all the blame for what had happened on his wife. And she could not stand that guilt - she drowned herself, for which Bogolyubsky hated her even more. Her and her son, whom he now kept in the house only so that "people would not condemn."

Ilya left his brother not in himself. He was occupied with only one thought - to take revenge on Bogolyubsky! But how?

Not at a good hour, the young princess caught his eye. Ilya disliked her from the very beginning - of course, she took the place of her sister ... But now he understood who would become the instrument of his revenge.

Ilya waited for the night and made his way to Yasa's bedchamber. I was sure that Bogolyubsky, as always, was beating his forehead on the floor in the chapel. However, as they say, a misfire came out. This time the prince decided to spend the night with his wife. And then Ilya broke into the bedchamber, whose rage clouded his brains so much that he even forgot about caution.

And he was captured, as they say, at the crime scene. At the call of Bogolyubsky, faithful servants ran up and, wielding some with their feet, some with their hands, beat the "night lord" to death before they figured out who he was. Only then did they give themselves the trouble to look into his face ... And everyone was horrified, except for the prince, who indifferently said:

According to the dog, dog and death.

Ilya Kuchkovich was dragged from the yard by his feet, thrown on the side of the road, as if some kind of carrion. My brother had to look for his body for a long time in order to bury ...

Times are tough. Akim Kuchkovich understood that the prince would not waste more favors on him - on the contrary, he would try to get out of the world. And not only him - his son-in-law, Peter, will also not be spared, for nothing that he has not been guilty of anything before his master.

He himself was not his own, and Anbal - Bogolyubsky muttered him, suspecting him of pandering. He de indulged the "whore-whore" Yasya, he de brought her together with Ilya Kuchkovich. Yasa had the worst of all - her husband beat her so that she could not get up. She lay in a black closet, and her moans were carried throughout the house.

It is not known who first had the idea - to finally take revenge on the prince. Perhaps, as the "Tale of the Murder of Andrei Bogolyubsky" informs us, Akim Kuchka has.

He killed my brother, you see, we will be next, ”he said to his son-in-law Peter, the keykeeper Anbal Yasin and other conspirators who joined them. (In total, the "Tale" counts them as twenty. Apparently, the pious prince managed to "get" not only the closest people, but also many others.)

By the way, the whole city has gathered “others”. But more on that below.

And at the appointed time, the conspirators burst into the prince's bedroom. The unnamed author of The Tale of a Murder assures that they drank heavily beforehand. Which, as we remember, caused squeamish rejection from cleanly A.K. Tolstoy. But, firstly, the author of "The Tale ..." is an official person, he was clearly called upon in every possible way to exalt the image of the murdered prince, therefore he hangs all conceivable and inconceivable dogs on his killers. And secondly - well, what and when in Russia (and not only in Russia!) was done on a sober head ?! By the way, one can recall the murder in Ropsha, and even in the Mikhailovsky Castle. The participants of those complots were also deeply drunk. It is clear that those people cheered themselves up with wine, preparing to cause bloodshed: after all, they were not professional killers!

So, the conspirators broke down the door and burst into the prince's bedroom. Bogolyubsky jumped up, began to look for the sword of St. Boris, which always hung over his bed. But the sword had been removed by Anbal the day before.

Two conspirators seized the prince.

Woe to you, wicked ones, - said Andrei, - why do you want to be like Goryaser. [Killer St. Gleba.] What evil have I done to you? If you shed my blood, God will take revenge on you in heaven.

Peter cut off the prince's hand.

Lord, in Your hands I commit my spirit, - said Andrew and died.

Of course, killing is not the way to solve problems. But it is amazing how Prince Bogolyubsky behaves. His self-control in the face of death can be envied, admired. However, it is caused not by courage, not courage, but by exorbitant pride. It is as if he is sure in advance that he will fall into the category of celestials who stand at the throne of the Lord, and compares himself with Saint Gleb, at the same time equating his destroyers with his murderers. Yes, even iron confidence: "God will take revenge on you in heaven ..."

People took revenge on the murderers, not God, but not immediately.

In the meantime, the body of Prince Bogolyubsky lay unburied for six days (!) To put it simply, it fell apart. And no one cared about him. Only the servant of the prince, Kuzma, who arrived in Bogolyubovo two days after the death of the master, took care to take his body to the church. However, the priests, who perfectly remembered the prince's arbitrariness in church affairs, did not mourn him at all. They casually said to Kuzma:

Throw him in the porch, what is your sorrow?

Finally, a priest named Arseny buried the dead man. But another four days passed, until the Vladimir clergy woke up after a joyful drinking bout over the death of the autocrat and realized that it was somehow inconvenient ... The prince was magnificently transferred to the Vladimir Assumption Cathedral.

And the people for all six days selflessly plundered the prince's towers, cellars, yards in Vladimir, in Bogolyubovo. At the same time, they beat and robbed everyone who carried out princely orders: posadniks, stewards, horsemen. Bogolyubsky was little to say disliked - he was hated!

On the other hand, they say, by the people and the ruler. The man is lying unburied, and the subjects are marauding. Oh, this is all bad!

In the end, the people either came to their senses, or were afraid of the revenge of the Murom and Ryazan princes.

They also realized it: the prince was killed, which means that it is necessary to inflict reprisals on the perpetrators. They grabbed everyone: Akim, Peter, Anbal, Yasya, and someone else. They waited in prison for the decision of their fate for two years. It was not up to them - there was a fierce fight between the surrounding princes for the possession of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality.

Finally, Vsevolod Yurievich, nicknamed the Big Nest, defeated everyone. He was Andrei's brother - one of those from whom Bogolyubsky once took away the Suzdal lands bequeathed to Gyurgi.

Of course, he did not feel any anger at the murderers of his autocratic brother. But ... but he understood that it was necessary to show a thunderstorm, so that it would be repulsive for others to bring their princes out of the light.

In some places, information has been preserved that Vsevolod the Big Nest ordered the killers of Bogolyubsky to be hanged on the gates and shot with bows. The same fate allegedly befell Yasya. Their corpses were thrown into a lake three versts from Vladimir.

However, there is a legend that Vsevolod Yuryevich ordered to throw the likhodey alive into the water in boxes, and that until now those boxes, overgrown with moss, are shown on the surface of the lake, and groans are heard from them. Who does not know, takes them for floating bumps. According to Tatishchev, the lake was then called Pogany for a long time.

In vain they say that time puts everything in its place. It doesn't put anything anywhere. What happened? The church canonized Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky as a saint. The Kuchkoviches groan in Poganoe Lake. They forgot about Yasya, as if she did not exist, even her real name is unknown. Julitta is considered an accomplice of murderers for nothing and has been branded an evil wife for centuries ... Moreover! In the fictional “Tale of the Murder of Andrei Suzdal and the Beginning of Moscow” (XVI century), she is portrayed as the terrible adulteress Ulita Yuryevna (Yuryevna, mind you!), Who seduces some Kuchkovich brothers and incites lovers to kill her husband. They succeed in what they intended, and the villains “lived with that princess in demonic lust, having become bound by satanic law, depressing their body with prodigal love lust, defiled by adultery.” After some time, Prince Andrei Alexandrovich, Danila's brother (actually, these are the names of the sons of Alexander Nevsky, arbitrarily used by the author of the Tale), avenged the murdered man. “And he took Princess Julitta, and executed him with all sorts of torments, and put her to death with a fierce death, that she, evil, shameless, the Creator was not afraid, people were not put to shame, good she was not ashamed of her wives to reproach and laughter, she betrayed her husband to an evil death and she herself accepted the same evil death.

Have we managed to clear the name of the sufferer, Ulita Kuchkovna, from the dirt that has stuck over time, at least a little? God bless if so.

But only ... Although they say, revenge, they say, is a dish that is best eaten cold, and the Kuchkoviches should not have waited so long ... because it has already cooled excessively!

P.S.

It would be possible to finish the short story, but one more story adjoins it very close, well, just in a related way. I say - "in a related way", because we are talking about the wife of Prince Yuri Andreevich, the son of Andrei Bogolyubsky and Ulita Kuchkovna. The woman's name was Tamara.

And not just Tamara, but queen Tamara!