Belyaev L. A., Kapitonova M. A.

Key words: patriarch Nikon, burial, crypt, epitaph, restoration and history of New Jerusalem monastery, necropolis of Early modern period.
The data on Patriarch Nikon’s burial is published in the article. This legendary character of the middle of the 17th c. is known for the try to correct formularies. This try led to Schism. Besides the quarrel with Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov was the reason to Patriarch Nikon’s long lasting exile and made him a martyr in the eyes of many Russian people. Nikon engineered and built a lot of monasteries the famous one is the Resurrection monastery on the river Istra to the south west of Moscow. The monastery was named New Jerusalem. It was planned as a precise topographic replica of the Holy Land and its Cathedral as a precise replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Nikon was buried in a special tomb topographically matched the one where Melchizedek was buried in Jerusalem. In Orthodoxy the possibility of finding the relics plays one of the significant roles. That is why the opening of Nikon’s tomb (caused by the technical necessity of restoration which is taking place in the monastery) was of great interest not only for historians but also for all believers.
Unfortunately the burial was completely destroyed in 1930-s by the atheists. However the archaeological studies gave the opportunity to solve a lot of disputable questions of the tomb’s structure. Thus it was proven that the construction despite of the range of serious damages is of 1685 so to say is the original. Also its view so as a lot of details of Nikon’s burial in 1682 was the genuine one and did not match many traditional forms of burial and monument building. Important data was also received for the restoration of the general view of the tomb. The sarcophagus earlier inaccessible to anyone was examined. The sort of stone it was made of was identified (the analyses are given in next specific article in the same issue). The data about the placing of two epitaphs which were written at the order of Tsar Fyodor Alexeevich especially for the occasion of Nikon’s burial was received (they are one of the first examples of early Russian syllabic poetry).