www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Possible discovery of the relics of St Olga

(News from the Moscow Patriarchate' s Russian-language Sedmitza.ru site, 11/8/07)

Archaeologists carrying excavations at the Church of the Tithe in Kiev, are inclined to believe the remains discovered in 1939 to be those of the sainted princess Olga


KIEV. Archeological excavations ended today at the Church of the Tithe, the first stone church in Kievan Rus. Dedicated to the Theotokos, the church was built by Russian and Byzantine during the years 988-996. Prince Vladimir appropriated a tenth of his income to build it - hence the name. Icons, receptacles, crosses were brought from Korsun (Hersonesos) . The Church of the Tithe was burned during the Mongol-Tatar invasion in 1240. Rebuilt several times later (in 1635, 1758 and 1848), it was finally destroyed in the 30s of the last century.

"In the X century the Church of the Tithe was one of the largest in the Christian world," explains Oleg Ioannisyan, doctor of history, a specialist in ancient Russian architecture. It was 44 meters in length and 30 meters in width. It was not much smaller than, for example, the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Istanbul (Constantinople) which survived. This once again demonstrates that at that time Kiev was Europe's the third largest city in importance and wealth. Only Constantinople, with more than a million residents, was larger and wealthier.

This season's interesting finds, said the scientist, are not only the luxurious ring, which is now being restored, and also rings and coins, but, in addition, two (brick) plinths from the time of the temple's construction with the Russian letters sounding "s" and "N". These plinths have the oldest Slavic handwritten inscriptions ever found on the territory of Kiev.

Regarding the coffin with the body Princess Olga ... Back in 1939, an expedition lead by Leningrad scientist Mikhail Karger discovered some hidden recesses. Within these recesses lay the remains of people, including a female skeleton with golden ornaments.

Today, we are close to confirming that this is the tomb of Princess Olga. "

The Princess' enigmatic figure has been the subject of attention of historians and writers throughout the centuries .... Olga became head of the Druzhinniki (armed escorts) and avenged the death of her murdered husband, Prince Igor, by the Drevlyany tribe. It is she who ruled Rus' while her son Sviatoslav was a minor and during his countless campaigns. Without a strong character and will this would have been impossible.

Alexandr

Wow! This will certainly be an amazing find if it turns out to be true! I do remember being saddened when I find out that the relics of Saint Olga had been lost....

NEAT!

Quote:
"Archeological excavations ended today at the Church of the Tithe, the first stone church in Kievan Rus. Dedicated to the Theotokos, the church was built by Russian and Byzantine during the years 988-996."

Comment:
Russia did not exist back then. The area was called Rus.
Kyiv, for centuries has been Ukraine's capital city. It is older than Russia's Moscow.

This article was posted with the charitable intent of announcing the possible findings of the relics of one of the greatest Saints of the Slavs and all Eastern Christians. Please, let's not turn it into another Russian/Ukrainian political slugfest.
Holy Sts. Vladimir and Olga pray for us sinners!

Alexandr

God be praised !

-- John

Can any one here provide the background of how the relics of St. Olha were lost or even when the relics were lost? Or where the relics resided before being lost?

Or is this another mystery of time because of the frequent battles in Kyivan Rus?

Halia,

Grand Princess Olha of Kyvian-Rus died in around 969 AD, and following her death there was a 200 year period of mixed prosperity and infighting before 'things' started to go 'downhill'.

Kyiv was sacked by Vladymyr principality (1169) in the power struggle between princes and later by Cumans and Mongol raiders in the 12th and 13th centuries, respectively. Subsequently, all principalities of present-day Ukraine acknowledged dependence upon the Mongols (1239-1240). In 1240 the Mongols sacked Kyiv. The Mongol overlordship was very cruel and destructive, and people often fled to other countries.

Five years after the fall of Kyiv, Papal envoy Giovanni di Plano Carpini wrote:

"They destroyed cities and castles and killed men and Kyiv, which is the greatest Rus city they besieged; and when they had besieged it a long while they took it and killed the people of the city. So when we went through that country we found countless human skulls and bones from the dead scattered over the field. Indeed it had been a very great and populous city and now is reduced almost to nothing. In fact there are hardly two hundred houses there now and the people are held in the strictest servitude."[1]

To answer your question; much knowledge regarding the sacred churches and who was buried in them was lost during this period. Whether, the bones currently being excavated are truly those of Grand Princess Olha or of someone else is the question.

I.F.