


	Remember me on this computer
	Forgot your password?
	Register

MT news

The Moscow Times Moscow Guide – Winter 2008

Since the middle of autumn one of the most important topics of discussion, could only be … no, not the financial crisis… New Year! The winter issue of The Moscow Times Moscow Guide is entirely devoted to New Years celebrations. Seven great ideas for celebrating the “Night of Nights” will help readers finalise their plans and choose how and where to party, give fresh ideas and lots of practical advice.

And don’t forget – problems will come by themselves, but happiness and luck need an invitation. That why the more cheerful and light-hearted your celebration of the coming holiday is, the happier and more successful 2009 will be for you.

The Crisis: Signs of a Kremlin Fearful Of Unrest
Sociologist Yevgeny Gontmakher has painted a disturbing picture of what might emerge from the financial crisis, forecasting continued unemployment, huge protests and spreading violence.

Market Matters: Huge Grain Harvest No Boon for Farmers
This year Russia is enjoying the biggest grain harvest it has ever seen -- and farmers couldn't be more worried.



Thursday, January 08, 2009 Updated at 31 December 2008 22:36 Moscow Time.

The Moscow Times » Issue 3892 » Career

Pravoslavie.ru

An icon of St. Alexander Nevsky

Likbez: The Other Alexander Nevsky

28 April 2008By Lara McCoy Roslof / Special to The Moscow TimesAlexander Nevsky, the actor and bodybuilder, is far from the only famous Russian to bear the name. The other Alexander Nevsky was a 13th-century prince-soldier widely regarded as one of the most important figures in medieval Russia. Born in Pereslavl-Zalessky, 130 kilometers northeast of present-day Moscow, in either 1219 or 1221, Alexander became the Grand Prince of Novogorod in 1236. He won a decisive battle against Swedish invaders on the banks of the Neva River in 1240, but local boyars forced him from Novgorod shortly after that. He returned from exile in 1241 to fight the Teutonic knights, defeating them at the Battle of the Ice in 1242. He became Grand Prince of Vladimir, the most important position in medieval Russia, in 1252, thanks to the support of the leader of the Golden Horde. Alexander died in 1263. After his death, he was venerated as a saint and canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1547. Part of Alexander's significance for Orthodoxy revolves around his decision to wage war against Catholic invaders from Europe while pandering to the Mongols. According to hagiography, Nevsky made this choice because the Mongols proved less of a threat to Russian religious identity, although scholars have pointed out that this decision may have been simply a recognition of the strength of the Mongol army.

Given his role as the defender of the Neva, it is only natural that Alexander Nevsky is the patron saint of St. Petersburg. In 1710, Peter the Great founded a monastery in Nevsky's honor, which would also serve as a home for his relics. Today, the Alexander Nevsky Lavra is one of the most important monasteries in Russia, and its cemetery is the final resting place of many of Russia's most famous writers, actors and musicians.

The life of Alexander Nevsky provided the material for one of Sergei Eisenstein's most famous films. A new Russian film about Alexander Nevsky and the battle on the Neva will appear in theaters on May 1. It will not, however, star Alexander Nevsky the actor.