Ilya of Novgorod, also known as Ioann (John) of Novgorod (russian: Иоанн Новгородский, his name upon entering the

Great Schema The degrees of Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic monasticism are the stages an Eastern Orthodox monk or nun passes through in their religious vocation. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the process of becoming a monk or nun is intentionally slo ...

and the name by which he is known in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n Orthodox hagiography), was

Archbishop of Novgorod The Diocese of Novgorod (russian: Новгородская епархия) is one of the oldest offices in the Russian Orthodox Church. The medieval archbishops of Novgorod were among the most important figures in medieval Russian history and cul ...

from 1165 to his death in 1186.

Life

The son of a priest, Ilya was himself priest of the Church of St. Blaise, south of the Novgorod Kremlin. The church was destroyed, rebuilt in 1407, destroyed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and rebuilt again. Ilya was probably his first monastic name, and his baptismal name is not known. Ilya was appointed

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Ioann of

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

in 1165. He was the first to hold the title of

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

in Novgorod after the office was elevated to the archiepiscopal dignity a few months later. Niphont held the title as a personal honor. Ilya carried out a number of construction projects in Novgorod along with his brother, Gavril (also known as Grigorii), who succeeded him as archbishop (1186–1193) and consecrated the Khutyn Monastery, among other things. Ilya died on September 7, 1186, and was buried in the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in the west gallery, next to the Predtechenskaia Porch. He was originally buried below the floor in the Martirievskii Porch (where Gavril is still buried), but was later moved. His

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s were desecrated during the Soviet anti-religious campaigns on April 3, 1919. They are now in a different sarcophagus with a sarcophagial effigy (from the 1990s) covering it. Ilya was canonized at the Moscow Council of 1547. His feast day is September 7 in the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

and September 20 in the Gregorian.

Ilya in literature and art

Ilya appears in a number of medieval tales (some of them set centuries after his death) as the quintessential archbishop of Novgorod. (He is almost always referred to as Ioann in them). The most famous tale depicts him conquering a devil and forcing it to transform itself into a horse and fly him to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and back in a single night. In Jerusalem, he took the measurements of the

Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...

. This tale was developed to explain how a chapel matching the exact measurements of the Holy Sepulchre was established in the Cathedral. Ilya's monastic cell was kept in the archiepiscopal palace and transformed into a church several centuries after his death. The copper washing basin in which he is said to have captured the devil was shown to visitors at least into the early twentieth century. Ilya is also depicted in the two fifteenth and sixteenth century Icons of the

Battle of the Novgorodians with the Suzdalians The Battle of the Novogorodians with the Suzdalians (битва новгородцев с суздальцами) is a twelfth-century episode in which the city of Novgorod the Great was said to have been miraculously delivered from a besieging arm ...

housed in the Novgorod Museum and the

Russian Museum The State Russian Museum (russian: Государственный Русский музей), formerly the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (russian: Русский Музей Императора Александра III), on ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. He is shown bringing the Icon of Our Lady of the Sign from the

Church of the Transfiguration on Ilin Street The Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior (russian: Церковь Спаса Преображения на Ильине улице) is a former Russian Orthodox Church that stands on Ilyina (Elijah) Street in Veliky Novgorod just east of the ...

to the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom during the Suzdalian siege of the city in 1169. The

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

is said to have saved the city at that time. He is also featured prominently in the tale that surrounds the event and the chronicle accounts of the siege.The story is available online at http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=4994 Ilya is also depicted in a 19th-century wall

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

in the Pretechenskaia Porch of the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilya of Novgorod 1186 deaths 12th-century Christian saints Archbishops and Metropolitans of Novgorod Burials at the Cathedral of St. Sophia, Novgorod Russian saints Miracle workers Year of birth unknown