What is Arkona? Arkona is an ancient Slavic shrine. Meaning of the word arcona

Arkona- Arkona Gründung 2002 Genre Pagan Metal, Folk Metal Website http://www.arkona russia.com Gründungsmitglieder Gesang Maria Mascha „Scream“ Arichipowa … Deutsch Wikipedia

Arkona- (Arkona), city and religious center of the Baltic Slavs (X-XII centuries), on the island. Rügen (Germany). Destroyed by the Danes in 1169. Remains of the Svyatovit sanctuary, public and residential buildings. * * * ARKONA ARKONA, city and religious center of the Baltic... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Arkona- (Arkona) city of the Baltic Slavs 10-12 centuries. on o. Rügen (f. Ruyana) in the southern part of the Baltic Sea, part of the GDR. From the west the city is surrounded by a high rampart. at 10 13 m. A. was religious center, which united a number of Slavic tribes. Island... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

ARKONA- (Arkona) Baltic city. Slavs 10-12 centuries. at the very north cape (height 45 m) o. Rügen (slav. Ruyana) in the GDR. With zap. on the sides the city is surrounded by a high rampart. at 10 13 m. A. was religious. a center that united a number of glories. tribes The island was ruled by the high priest of the god... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

Arkona (disambiguation)- Arkona is a city and religious center of Ruyan. Arkona is a Russian metal band. Cape Arkona Cap Arkona steamship. ... Wikipedia

ARKONA- city and religious center of the Baltic Slavs 10-12 centuries. on o. Rügen (Germany). Destroyed by the Danes in 1169. Remains of the Svyatovit sanctuary, public and residential buildings... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Arkona (cape)- Cape Arkona is silent. Kap Arkona Coordinates: Coordinates ... Wikipedia

Arkona (group)- This term has other meanings, see Arkona. Arkona ... Wikipedia

Arkona (Jaromarsburg)- This term has other meanings, see Arkona. This article needs to be completely rewritten. There may be explanations on the talk page... Wikipedia

Arkona or Arkona- (Arkona) the most northern cape Rügen Island, on the Vitov Peninsula (54° 39 N, 31° 51 E from Ferro), protruding 48 m from the Baltic Sea. Its steep slopes consist of a mixture of chalk or clay with horizontal flint... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Books

World of Arkon. Seventeenth update. Damned Principality, Smorodinsky Georgy Georgievich. The self-aware artificial intelligence RP17 carried out the 17th update in the World of Arkon, the most popular virtual game of our time, which led to the mass death of those online... Buy for 496 rubles
World of Arkon Seventeenth update Damned Principality, Smorodinsky G.. The self-aware artificial intelligence RP17 carried out the 17th update in the “World of Arkon”, the most popular virtual game of our time, which resulted in the mass death of those online...

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No other Slavic shrine was at one time as famous as the one in Rugia (Ruyan). Thanks to her holiness and power, she brought European monarchs to their knees and conquered peoples...

Here was the focus of all faith, all the hope of the pagan Slavs. And not only the Slavs - the Danish king Svein and many others donated loot to the temple of Arkona, and in the temples, idols and rituals themselves, scientists see much in common with the religion of the Celts. Hoary antiquity sleeps on the banks of Rugen - it remembers the Druids destroyed by Caesar! Back in the 11th century, pilgrims from the distant, seemingly Christian Czech Republic, came to bow to its main shrine, the four-headed idol of Svyatovit. The Arkon temple became the main religious center of Slavic Pomerania. The temple had extensive estates that provided it with income; duties were collected in its favor from merchants trading in Arkona and from industrialists who caught herring off the island of Ruyan. A third of the spoils of war were brought to him, all the jewelry, gold, silver and pearls obtained in the war. Therefore, there were chests filled with jewelry in the temple.

For more than 350 years, Arkona was the center of Slavic resistance against the aggression of Judeo-Christian Germany-Denmark-Poland. It was thanks to her that the 4th Crusade, the largest in the history of the Middle Ages (three armies totaling 200,000) against the Slavs, was completely defeated (AND IT WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!). There are many descriptions of how the 4th Crusade was defeated. The German knights were divided into 3 columns, which were joined by the Danish king, the pope's troops, French units from Brittany and others (well, as usual - all of Europe). I will not describe the entire company, but the fact is that the Temporarily elected military prince of all Slavic associations of Lyutichs, Obodritovs and others, one by one, defeated all 3 columns with very cunning maneuvers, and at that time the Arkona fleet defeated the Danish fleet supporting the invasion from the sea. There is literature on this topic, so it's worth searching.

Everyone remembers about the 300 Spartans, but few people don’t know that we had our own 300 Slavic “Spartans”...

Holy City Arkona, was in those distant times the forge of martial arts of the European North. Ancient history The Polabian Slavs bring to us the memory that there was a special type of military service at the temples. These temple warriors were originally called “knights”.

The phenomenon was unique, since there were no special troops at the temples of other peoples in Europe. The temple army was considered sacred by the Polabian Slavs. It consisted of young envoys from noble Slavic families. Moreover, these young men remained professional warriors for the rest of their lives.

Three hundred (!) knights - golden belts (dvij, twice-born), temple warriors of Arkona, kept all the surrounding tribes and peoples of the Baltic under their control. From some they took tribute with peace, and from others they collected it with the sword.

As in Arkon, under the continuations of other gods, in other tribal centers, there were also 300 knights, “recruited” from best families Polabian tribes - after all, these were, in essence, the necessary guard troops of the sacred fortress cities. Therefore, in battles, for example, against the Germans, 300 knights on horses of the same color as the deity’s horse rode ahead of the Polabian troops against the Germans: for example, 300 knights of Svyatovit on white horses, 300 knights of Triglav on black horses.

On the origin of the word “knight”:

The word “knight” consists of the root “vit”, the pronoun “yaz” and the ending “b” (er), which could be pronounced with the sound “e” (esi). The word as a whole stands for “vit I am.”
The lands of the Polabian Slavs were famous for the temples of pagan gods, which were located (in addition to Arkona) in Radigoshche, Retra, Korbel and other cities. The gods were called by names ending in “vit” (“viti” in Sanskrit – light, the entire inhabited world). Moreover, their huge idols carved from wood were multi-headed: Svyatovit had 4 heads, Perevit - 5, Korevit - 5 faces (four under one skull, the fifth on the chest), Yarovit - 7. In German chronicles, the names of the gods are distorted in every possible way, but the Slavic ending “vit” was written everywhere correctly: the German wiht, wicht meant a certain person, a person and referred to supernatural forces: spirits, demons.

The word “knight” came from the Polabian gods - “Vits” - and nowhere else. The word was used by the Czechs, who were ethnically closest to the Polabian Slavs, and “vitezky” meant “victorious” to them. That is, “knight” means “I am God” (in the sense of being a guide). I will add that it is similarly believed that the Cossacks-characterniks communicate directly with the Rod itself during battle.

And by the way, if we remember the Cossacks, their custom of wearing a mustache and forelock, earlier we will see Svyatoslav the Brave (the Varangians of Rus', before baptism, shaved their heads and beards almost without exception, as reported by the Arabs and Byzantines. Their God Perun was depicted with a “silver mustache”, and in the miniatures of the Radziwill Chronicle - with a military forelock on his head.), and even earlier...

“The Slavs themselves, contrary to our usual image of the “ancient Slav” with shoulder-length hair and a spade-shaped beard, cut their hair and beards short, or even shaved. Noble warriors - Lyutichs!!! (according to Thietmar) - could, as a sign of high family and military dare to leave a tuft of unshaven hair on the top of the head, or on the front of the skull. The Arkonian idol of Svyatovit had shaved heads and beards “in accordance with popular custom,” according to Saxo Grammar, only the priests wore long hair and beards “contrary to custom.”

So, most likely, the legendary Cossacks-characterniks are bearers of the traditions and knowledge of the temple knights of Arkona...

Vladimir Titov

ARKONA - THE HOLY CITY OF THE SLAVS

The West Slavic Baltic tribes (Vendas), settled between the Elbe (Laba), Oder (Odra) and the Vistula, reached high development by the 9th-10th centuries AD, having built on the island of Rahne (Rügen) the sacred city of Arkona temples, which served for all the Baltic Slavs the role of the Slavic Mecca and the Delphic Oracle. The Slavic tribe of the Rans formed a priestly caste in their midst (like the Indian Brahmins or Babylonian Chaldeans) and not a single serious military-political issue was resolved by other Slavic tribes without consulting the Rans.

The ranas (ruans) owned the runic writing of the Vendian tradition, the graphics of which were noticeably different from the known older and younger runes (probably the term itself wounds came from Slavic injure that is, carving runes on wooden planks). The construction of the city of temples and the rise of the pagan culture of the Vendian ethnic group was a response measure of the Slavic priestly elite for the ideological unity of the Baltic Slavs against the intensified expansion of first the Frankish, and then the German and Danish aggressors, who, under the banner of Christianization, carried out a systematic genocide of the Slavic population and their expulsion from their occupied territories. territories. By the 13th-14th centuries, under the intense onslaught of Danish and German crusaders, the Slavic principalities of Ran, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and others fell, and the Baltic Slavic Vendian ethnic group ceased to exist.

Let us present information from Western chroniclers (Adam of Bremen, Otgon of Bamberg, Thietmar of Merseburg) about the paganism of the Baltic Slavs.

Arkona was built on the high rocky shore of the island of Rügen and was inaccessible from the Baltic Sea. The city contained many temples of all tribal Slavic gods. The main god of Arkona was Svyatovit, whose idol was installed in a special temple. The idol was huge, taller than a man, with four heads on four separate necks with cropped hair and shaved beards. The four heads apparently symbolized the god's power over the four cardinal directions (as in the four winds) and the four seasons of time, that is, the cosmic god of space-time (similar to the Roman Janus). In his right hand, the idol held a horn lined with various metals and annually filled with wine; his left hand was bent in an arc and rested on his side. The horn symbolized the god's power over productivity and fertility, that is, as the god of vital and plant power. Near the idol there were a bridle, a saddle and a huge battle sword and shield (symbols of the god of war). In the temple stood the sacred banner of Svyatovit, called village. This wound village was revered as Svyatovit himself and, carrying it in front of him on a campaign or battle, they considered themselves under the protection of their god (the battle banner can also be attributed as a symbol of the god of war).

After the grain harvest, many people flocked to Arkona and brought a lot of wine for sacrifices and feasts. Apparently this happened in September, in Slavic - Ryuen, hence the second name of the island Ruyan. On the eve of the holiday, the priest of Svyatovit with a broom in his hands he entered the inner sanctuary and, holding his breath so as not to desecrate the deity, swept the floor clean. The broom and sweeping symbolically signify the end of a time cycle, in this case an annual one, for the next day fortune-telling is carried out by pie, similar to the East Slavic Christmas carol. This means that the Ran priests used the September style of calculating time (the year began with the autumn equinox). The next day, in the presence of all the people, the priest took the horn of wine from the hands of the idol Svyatovit and, having carefully examined it, predicted whether or not there would be a harvest for the next year. Having poured the old wine at the feet of the idol, the priest filled the horn with new wine and drained it with one spirit, asking for all sorts of benefits for himself and the people. Then he again filled the horn with new wine and put it into the hand of the idol. After this, they brought the idol a pie made of sweet dough taller than a man. The priest hid behind the pie and asked the people if he was visible. When they answered that only a pie was visible, the priest asked God that they could make the same pie the next year. In conclusion, in the name of Svyatovit, the priest blessed the people, ordered them to continue to honor the Arkonian god, promising as a reward an abundance of fruits, victory at sea and on land. Then everyone drank and ate to their fullest, for abstinence was taken as an offense to the deity.

Arkona was also visited for fortune telling. The sacred horse Svyatovit was kept at the temple, white in color with a long mane and tail that were never trimmed.

Only the priest of Svyatovit could feed and mount this horse, on which, according to the beliefs of the wounds, Svyatovit himself fought against his enemies. They used this horse to tell fortunes before the start of the war. The servants stuck three pairs of spears in front of the temple at a certain distance from each other, and a third spear was tied across each pair. The priest, having said a solemn prayer, led the horse by the bridle from the vestibule of the temple and led it to the crossed spears. If a horse stepped through all the spears first with its right foot and then with its left, this was considered a happy omen. If the horse stepped with its left foot first, then the trip was canceled. Three pairs of copies possibly symbolically reflected the will of the heavenly, earthly and underground gods (the 3 kingdoms according to Russian fairy tales) during fortune telling.

Thus, the main symbol-oracle of the Arkona cult was the heroic war horse Svyatovit of the white color - “yar horse”, from which the name of the holy city “Arkona” possibly came, that is ardent horse orcity of the Ardent Horse.

In addition to the functions of an oracle-soothsayer, Svyatovit’s horse also served as a biological indicator of the state of the vital force phase on this moment time. If the horse was lathered, with tangled and disheveled hair, then the phase of vitality was considered negative (depressive) and the planned trip was cancelled. If the horse was in excellent physical condition (passionary), then the planned campaign was blessed.

Unfortunately, literary sources do not give an unambiguous answer to the method of this fortune-telling: according to some, the horse is in the temple all night before fortune-telling, according to others, the priest (or Svyatovit himself) rides on it all night.

The Arkon temple became the main sanctuary of Slavic Pomerania, the center of Slavic paganism. According to the general belief of the Baltic Slavs, the Arkonian god gave the most famous victories, the most accurate prophecies. Therefore, Slavs from all sides of Pomerania flocked here for sacrifices and fortune telling. From everywhere gifts were delivered to him according to vows, not only from individuals, but also from entire tribes. Each tribe sent him an annual tribute for sacrifices. The temple had extensive estates that gave it income; duties were collected in its favor from merchants who traded in Arkona and from industrialists who caught herring

off the island of Rügen. A third of the spoils of war were brought to him, all the jewelry, gold, silver and pearls obtained in the war. Therefore, there were chests filled with jewelry in the temple. At the temple there was a permanent squad of 300 knights on white war horses, equipped with heavy knightly weapons. This squad took part in campaigns, confiscating a third of the spoils for the benefit of the temple.

The phenomenon of the Arkon temple is reminiscent of the Delphic oracle among the Greeks. The analogy goes further: just as foreigners sent gifts to Delphi and turned for predictions, so the rulers of neighboring peoples sent gifts to the Arkon temple. For example, the Danish king Sven donated a golden cup to the temple.

The reverence that the tribes of the Baltic Slavs had for the Arkona shrine was involuntarily transferred to the wounds who stood so close to this shrine.

Adam of Bremen wrote that the Baltic Slavs had a law: in common affairs, do not decide anything or undertake anything contrary to the opinion of the Ran people, to such an extent they were afraid of the Rans for their connection with the gods.

Sanctuaries similar to Arkonsky also existed in Shchetin, where the idol of Triglav stood, in Volegoshch, where the idol of Yarovit stood, and in other cities. The sanctuary of Triglav was located on the highest of the three hills on which the city of Shchetin was located. The walls of the sanctuary, inside and out, were covered with colorful carvings depicting people and animals. The three-headed statue of the god was decorated with gold. The priests claimed that the three heads were a symbol of God's power over the three kingdoms - heaven, earth and hell. In the temple were stored weapons obtained in wars, and the tenth of the spoils taken in battles at sea and on land prescribed by law. Gold and silver bowls were also kept there, which were taken out only in holidays, from which nobles and noble people drank and told fortunes, gilded horns, swords, knives and various religious objects decorated with expensive stones.

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The Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus (1140-1208) wrote the 16-volume chronicle “The Acts of the Danes” (Gesta Danorum), which describes the history of Denmark from ancient times to the 12th century, as well as the history of some other northern countries, including Western -Slavic. In particular, this book describes Arkona (or as the Germans now call it - Jaromarsburg), the capital of the Slavic tribe Ruyan (Rans) on the island of Ruyan (now Rügen), the size of the Slavic population of which at the time of its conquest in the 12th century, according to According to Western sources, it was at least 70,000 people.

Arkona is a temple city, the center of the faith of the Western Slavs. And not only them. The Danish king Svein (960-1014) donated booty to the temple of Arkona. Back in the 11th century, pilgrims from the already two centuries-old Christian Czech Republic came to venerate its main shrine, the four-headed idol of Svyatovit. The Arkona Temple became the main religious center of Slavic Pomerania in the 9th-12th centuries. He had vast lands that gave him income; duties were collected in his favor from merchants who traded in Arkona and from industrialists who caught herring off the island of Ruyan. A third of the spoils of war were brought to him, all the jewelry, gold, silver and pearls obtained in the war. Therefore, there were chests filled with jewelry in the temple.

Here is what Sakon Grammatik writes: "The city of Arkona lies on top high cliff; from the north, east and south it is protected by natural protection... on the western side it is protected by a high embankment of 50 cubits... In the middle of the city lies an open square on which rises a wooden temple, beautifully crafted, but revered not so much for the splendor of its architecture as for the greatness of the god to whom erected here. All outer side The building shone with skillfully made bas-reliefs of various figures, but ugly and crudely painted.

There was only one entrance to the interior of the temple, surrounded by a double fence... In the temple itself there was a large idol, exceeding human height, (Sventovita) with four heads, on the same number of necks, of which two came out of the chest and two - to the ridge, but so , that of both front and both rear heads, one looked to the right and the other to the left. The hair and beard were cut short, and in this, it seemed, the artist was in accordance with the custom of the Ruyans.

In his right hand, the idol held a horn made of various metals, which was usually filled with wine every year from the hands of the priest to tell fortunes about the fertility of the next year; the left hand was likened to a bow. The upper one went down to the ankles, which were made of various types of trees and were so skillfully connected to the knees that only upon careful examination could the fugues be distinguished. The legs stood level with the ground, their foundation was made under the floor.

In a short distance the bridle and saddle of the idol with other accessories were visible. What struck the observer most of all was the huge sword, the scabbard, the black of which, in addition to its beautiful carved shapes, was distinguished by silver trim... In addition, this god also had temples in many other places, controlled by priests of lesser importance. In addition, he had with him a horse, completely white, from which it was considered impiety to pull out a hair from its mane or tail...

Only the priest had the right to feed and saddle this horse: the divine animal could not be insulted by frequent use. The Ruyans believed that Svantevit rode out on this horse to battle the enemies of his sanctuary and his land. And proof of this was allegedly the fact that he was often found the next morning in his stall covered with sweat and dirt, as if he had traveled a long way.

Predictions were also taken from the horse. When a military campaign was about to take place, the servants of the Sventavit temple stuck six spears crosswise into the ground in front of the sanctuary, after which they brought the sacred horse to them. If he stepped over the spears with his right hoof, this was considered a good omen for the outcome of military operations. If at least once he raised his left hoof first, then the trip to foreign lands was canceled. In the same way, a sea voyage was canceled if Sventovit’s white horse did not go with the right foot through the spears, and even decisions on trade transactions depended on the predictions of the oracle... Sventovit was symbolized by various signs, in particular, carved eagles and banners, the main one of which was called Stanitsa... Power this small piece of canvas was stronger than the princely power..."

Every year, sacrifices were made in the sanctuary city. They took place in late summer, after the harvest. To find out how this important festival for the Western Slavs took place, let us again turn to the testimony of Saxo Grammar:

“Every year after the harvest, a mixed crowd from all over the island in front of the temple of the god, sacrificing cattle, celebrated a solemn feast, called sacred. Its priest, contrary to paternal custom, was distinguished by a long beard and hair, on the eve of the day when the sacred ceremony was to take place, the small sanctuary - wherever he was allowed to enter - usually carefully cleaned it with a broom, making sure that there was no human breath in the room. Whenever it was necessary to inhale or exhale, he went to the exit, so that the presence of God would not be defiled by the breath of a mortal.

The next day, when the people stood at the entrance, he, taking a vessel from the statue, carefully observed whether the level of the poured liquid had dropped, and then expected a crop failure next year. Noticing this, he ordered those present to store the fruits for the future. If he did not foresee any decrease in normal fertility, he predicted the coming time of abundance of fields. After such a prophecy, he ordered that this year’s harvest be either more thrifty or more generously spent. Having poured the old wine at the feet of the idol, like a libation, he poured the empty vessel again: as if drinking to his health, he revered the statue, both himself and the fatherland, good luck to the townspeople in multiplying victories with solemn words. Having finished this, he brought the horn to his lips, drank it extremely quickly in one gulp and, filled with wine again, inserted it again into the right hand of the statue.

Making a pie with honey wine round shape, such a size that it was almost equal to human growth, proceeded to sacrifice. Having placed him between himself and the people, the priest, according to custom, asked if the Ruyans could see him. When they answered that they saw it, they wished that in a year they would not be able to see it. With this kind of prayer he asked not for his own or the people’s fate, but for an increase in the future harvest...

Every year a coin is due to the idol from each husband and each woman as a fee for veneration. He is also given a third of the spoils of war, since they were acquired with his help. This god also has in his service 300 selected horses and the same number of horsemen, all the booty of which, acquired by war or robbery, is under the supervision of a priest, who, with the proceeds for these things, orders the casting of various sacred objects and temple decorations, which he keeps in locked rooms, where, in addition to a lot of money, there were also collected a lot of purple clothes that had worn out from time to time ... "

Arkona was guarded by specially trained temple warriors, recruited from young men of noble Slavic families, who remained professional warriors throughout their lives. There were 300 of them for each temple city, so in battles ahead of the Polabian troops were 300 knights on horses of the same color as the deity’s horse: for example, 300 Svyatovit warriors on white horses, 300 Triglav warriors on black horses. In addition to protecting the sacred cities, their duties also included collecting tribute from the surrounding Baltic tribes and peoples.

In addition to Arkona, there was another one on Ruyan Big City cult purpose. It was called Korenitsa. In the 12th century, the residence of the ruler of Ruyan was located there. It was a huge fortress city, surrounded by impenetrable bogs and swamps, built up with three-story wooden buildings.

However, it is reliably known that with the exception of the residence of the ruler, Korenitsa was not a residential town, like Arkona. People came there either for worship or during times of war, using the city as a refuge. This was the tradition among the Ruyans. We will also find information about the city in Saxo Grammaticus, when he describes the actions of the Danish invaders who stormed Korenica in 1168:

“The distinguishing feature of this city were three buildings of outstanding temples, noticeable by the brilliance of excellent craftsmanship. The dignity of the local gods enjoyed almost the same reverence as among the Arconians the authority of a public deity...

The largest temple stood inside the courtyard, but instead of walls it had purple curtains, and the roof rested only on columns. The servants [of the church], having broken the fence of the courtyard, took hold of the inner curtains of the temple. When they too were removed, the statue carved from oak, called Rugevit, became visible in its ugliness from all sides. The swallows, which had built nests under his lips, covered his chest with droppings. Worthy god, whose image is so ugly defaced by birds! Additionally, his head had seven humanoid faces, all of which were covered by a single skull.

The master depicted the same number of swords in sheaths hanging from his side. The eighth, naked [sword], [god] held in his hand; inserted into the fist, it was nailed very tightly with an iron nail, so that it could not be removed without cutting it, as its cut showed. Its width was greater than human height, and its height was such that [Bishop] Absalon, standing on his tiptoes, could barely reach his chin with his hatchet...

This god was revered, just like Mars, at the head of the forces of war. There was nothing funny in this statue, which caused disgust with the rough features of the ugly carving... Having completed its destruction, a detachment of [the bishop’s] companions zealously moved towards the statue of Porevit, which was revered in the nearest temple. He was depicted with five heads, but unarmed. Having cut it down, they entered the temple of Porenut. This statue represented four faces, and had a fifth on his chest and touched his forehead with his left hand and his chin with his right hand. With the help of his servants, [the bishop] struck her down with blows from an axe...”

Let us note a few words about the “ugliness of the statue.” It is clear that Saxo Grammaticus was a Christian and therefore everything that was not Christian was ugly for him. However, there were other Christian authors who spoke of the faith of the Slavs with none of the arrogant disgust that plagues most servants of the “all-good” Jehovah. Bishop Otgon of Bamberg, who twice visited the country of the Slavic Pomeranians (in 1124 and 1127) with the aim of converting them to Christianity, was amazed at the splendor of the Slavic churches.

Thus, he describes a building in the city of Szczecin (Szczecin), which “... being the most important, she stood out for her decorations and amazing skill; it had sculptural decorations both outside and inside. The images of people, birds and animals were done so naturally that they seemed to live and breathe. And what should be noted as the most rare: the colors of these images, located outside the building, did not darken and were not washed away by either rain or snow - the skill of the artists made them that way. Here they bring, according to the long-standing custom of their ancestors, a tenth of the stolen wealth, determined by law... Gold and silver vessels and bowls were also kept there... they also kept huge horns of wild bulls, framed in gold and precious stones, in honor of the gods and for the sake of their decoration. suitable for drinking, as well as horns, which were blown, daggers, knives, various precious utensils, rare and beautiful in appearance ... "

Like the temple in Korenitsa, the temple of Sventovid in Arkona was destroyed and robbed. This happened on June 15, 1169 according to Christian chronology, when Waldemar I, king of Denmark, captured Arkona. The statue of Sventovid himself, along with other shrines, was torn, cut and burned with the direct participation of Bishop Abesalon, as reported by Saxo Grammaticus.

By the way, Saxo Grammaticus was in the service of King Valdemar II of Denmark, whose father, Valdemar I, was the great-grandson of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Monomakh, after whom he was named. The mother of the latter was the Kyiv princess Ingeborga Mstislavna. Unfortunately, the Slavic blood flowing in the veins of both Valdemars did not prevent them, poisoned by Christianity, from exterminating and conquering the Slavs, destroying their cities and temples. Unfortunately, the Slavic Christian princes Casimir and Boguslav and the Obodrite prince Pribyslav also came out against Arkona, on the side of the Danes.

It was not easy to take the city: the height of the walls with a rampart reached 27 meters, and stone-throwing machines could not overcome them. There was still hope for a long siege and that the defenders would not have enough drinking water. The besieged, confident in their strength, covered the tower above the gate with banners and eagles. Between them was the “Stanitsa” - the military banner of the Ruyans, which the latter revered as the banner of all gods. On June 12, 1168, during another attack, the tower and gates were set on fire; the small amount of water did not allow the fire to be extinguished. Arkona was doomed... Some residents, seeing their doom, threw themselves into the flames, not wanting to be slaves. The king ordered the chair to be taken out and sat down in it to watch what was happening. Holy City - last stronghold Slavs in the Baltic - fell.

Now nothing prevented the ousting of the Slavs from their ancestral lands and the gradual erasure of the very memory of them. The last woman on Ruyan who spoke Slavic, or rather Wendish, died in 1402. Her last name was Gulitsyna.

As the conqueror and overthrower of pagan idols, Christian church, used cult objects sacred to the Slavs, embedding them in their buildings. Thus, a stone is built into one of the walls of the church in the village of Altenkirchen on the Wittow Peninsula, which the locals call the Svantevitbild Stone.

On a rectangular stone 1.15 m high, there is an image of a bearded man, dressed in long clothes and holding a vessel in the form of a horn. This gave archaeologists reason to see in the image on the stone the idol of Sventavit or his priest, who was the only one who could touch the horn of Sventavit and predict the future from its contents.

In the village of Alt Jabel in Jabelheide there is also a stone famous local residents as "Slavic sacrificial bowl". This small cup-shaped stone is embedded in the wall old church Michaeliskirche is to the right of the entrance. Associated with him ancient legend, which is told in Alt Yabel to this day:

“Once upon a time, when Christians were building the first shrines in the land of Jabelheide, a sacrificial bowl fell into the Eldena monastery. The blood of sacrificed people and animals was collected in this cup. It was during these years that the first church was built in the heart of Jabelheide, and on the occasion of its consecration in 1256, the entire Slavic population of the area was convened. In order to prove the power of the Christian religion and overthrow the old gods, the priest, Brother Lienhard, split the cup with a heavy hammer right on the altar, in front of those present. In memory of the event, half of the sacrificial cup was immediately embedded in the ring wall of the church. With this symbolic action, Brother Lienhard hoped to break the reluctance of the Slavs to accept Christianity. The other half was sent to the Eldena monastery in memory of this day and placed on a prayer chair...

That night the priest could not fall asleep for a long time because of some rustling sound. It was midnight when he heard someone's footsteps and angry speech. Illuminated by the moon, a man with a beard in ancient attire entered his chambers. He raised his hand and asked: “Why did you disturb the peace of my tomb and disturb my eternal sleep? You plundered my tomb, took what was donated to me and ordered it to be transferred to your home. Therefore, from now on your house has become my home. For I am older than you and owned this land before you. You Saxons came to the land of my fathers as barbarians and robbers... Are you saying that you are a servant? And I - free man. My name is Boleslav. My coat of arms is the golden crown of the Slavs on a blue field. All my life, we Slavs have been the masters here.”

Thus spoke the spirit of the Slav, and then quietly disappeared. The priest left the parish back to Saxony and took with him a fragment of the sacrificial cup. (From the book by Yu.V. Ivanova-Buchatskaya “Symbols of Northern Germany. Slavic-Germanic synthesis between the Elbe and Oder rivers”).

Currently, on the island of Rügen there is the Museum of the Slavic Arkona, in which practically nothing remains of its former splendor and power - only the four-faced wooden Sventovid, which was carved by Polish pagans in the 90s of the last century and brought to the island, sadly looks at the empty green spaces...

Elena Lyubimova and Dmitry Baida

The island of Rügen is located on the southern coast of the Baltic (Varangian) Sea. Rügen has been inhabited since approximately 4000 BC. In the 7th century, a powerful Slavic tribe - Ruyans (Rugieris) or Rugi (Rugii), having founded here on the coast of Pomerania, Slavic principality, which became political and shopping center(Ralwick harbor) Varangian Sea on the trade route from Gotland, and a well-fortified religious center on Cape Arkona.

Slavic coastal settlements, located in large numbers on all river trade routes, were of great importance in trade on the Baltic (Varangian) Sea. Many Scandinavian merchants lived permanently in some of the large market centers of the Western Slavs.

Nowadays large territories south coast The Baltic Sea belongs to Germany, and it stores many Slavic place names - Rostock, Lübeck, Schwerin (Zwerin), Leipzig (Lipsk), Berlin - (“den” - lair of the bear). .

“An island lies on the sea,
There is a city on the island..."
A.S. Pushkin.

An ancient Russian legend about the wondrous island has been preserved: “There on the sea-Okiyan, on the island of Buyan, the white-key stone Alatyr lies... The ancient ancestral tree, vast and powerful, stands, pierces the seven heavens, Iriy props up.”“Iriy is Paradise in the seventh heaven, and alatyr is amber!

On the island of Ruyan, on a high 40-meter cape facing east, archaeologists discovered the temple city-state of the Russians - Arkona - Yarkon - an ardent horse - the sunny white horse of Svyatovit.

Arkona - lies at the top of the high white coast the island of Rügen, and is washed on three sides by the waters of the Baltic Sea. The ancient settlement-sanctuary of Arkona now occupies an area of 90 meters from east to west, and 160 meters from north to south, although archaeologists suggest that the size of the sanctuary was three times larger.

On the northern slope of the mountain in the Arkona sanctuary there is Holy spring and there is a path leading to it.

"The other island is located opposite Viltsev (Lyutich). They own it wound, the bravest Slavic tribe. ...Rane, others call ruans, are cruel tribes that live in the heart of the sea and are beyond measure devoted to idolatry. They take precedence among all Slavic peoples, have a king and a famous sanctuary. Therefore, thanks to the special veneration of this sanctuary, they enjoy the greatest respect and, putting a yoke on many, they themselves do not experience anyone’s yoke, being inaccessible, because their places are difficult to get to.”- Adam of Bremen, “Acts of the Bishops of the Hamburg Church” (“Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum”)

Archaeological excavations of the Arkona sanctuary were carried out in 1921, 1930, 1969 -1971. In the vicinity of the Arkona settlement there are 14 settlements and a large burial mound resembling burial mounds of northwestern Rus'.

According to archeology, the Rans (Ruyans) had extensive trade ties with Scandinavia and the Baltic states, and also waged wars with their neighbors, defending their territory. Trade in Arkona was carried out from the 8th century to the 10th century.

Archaeologists have discovered two main settlements on the island of Rügen:
(1) The harbor at Ralswick on the island of Rügen was a trading center from the 8th to the 10th centuries. Archaeologists found in the harbor twenty (20) houses, with adjacent sections of the Baltic Sea coast, and convenient piers for merchant ships. The inhabitants, Scandinavians and Slavs, were engaged in various crafts and traded with foreign merchants. Outside the city limits on a hill, more than 400 mounds were found, the burial places of the Scandinavians and Slavs were similar.

(2) The Arkona Sanctuary is a pagan temple and fortress of Rugov (Rugieris). The Arkon sanctuary was located on the top of a cape, protected from the sea by a steep cliff, and from the land by a double semi-ring of embankments and ditches with water. The sanctuary was guarded by 300 Rug warriors. In the center of the Arkon sanctuary there was an ancient temple, surrounded by a log palisade with a large gate. Only the high priest of the god Svyatovit could enter the temple. .

Encyclopedic Dictionary of F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron, S.-Pb., Brockhaus-Efron, 1890-1907. “Rugii are a numerous and powerful people, lived in northern Germany, along the seashore, between Oder and Vistula. During the Migration of Nations The Rugians joined the Goths and moved to the region along the middle Danube.

In 1325 The last prince of Rujan, Wislaw III, died, and the island of Rügen was conquered by the Duke of Pomerania. In 1405, the last inhabitant of the island of Rügen died. spoke Slavic — .

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