The legitimation of the image of the Saint: on the issue of the authenticity of the relics of Alexander Nevsky

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of the relics of Alexander Nevsky. The author assumes that the description of the «invention» of the relics in 1481 didn’t reflect the reality. In the actual fact, the relics had been kept on the surface of the ground in a stone tomb since the funeral until 1697, when they were solemnly put in a special reliquary. The stone sarcophagus protected the relics of Alexander Nevsky against numerous fires. The article cites and publishes the note put in the coffin of Alexander Nevsky in 1681, which told that after a fire the fragments of the relics had been collected together. Therefore, the relics of Alexander Nevsky should be deemed authentic.