The theme of the new anastasis.me issue is “North”, which is meant to be the Russian North in this issue.
We are glad to announce the call for action for the new issue of archmag magazine, which we are going to release this Fall.
You are very welcome to take part in our project, if you are interested in this theme!
You can mail us your proposiotions and/or texts, articles at anastasis.me[at]gmail.com.
The deadline for call for papers is August 31st 2015.
anastasis.me «North»
The space of Rus — between north and south. Through Kyiv Rus was baptized into the Orthodox faith, which stretched toward north, to Novgorod, linking space.
Different tribes living in these areas have become a single nation, were tied with a single spiritual connection.
The space is defined the spiritual centers: Valaam, Solovki, Ferapontovo, Kirillov…
The Russian North — is northern regions of European Russia. The concept of the Russian North has no settled definition. It is rather a historical and cultural concept than a geographical or administrative division.
Within the framework of the magazine we take this concept at a wider boundaries — including Leningrad oblast, Pskov oblast, Novgorod oblast, Vologda oblast, Arkhangelsk oblast — the former territories of Pskov Veche Republic, Novgorod Republic, with conventional boundaries east of the Volkhov river and and north of the Volkhovstroy — Vologda railway line, including Vologda, Tikhvin, — i. e., territory, which preserve a certain cultural field, applicable to the concept of the Russian North.
Veliky Novgorod — is the father of Russian cities, from here, from the Russian North, occur the words “Russia”, “Rus”, “Russian”. In those days there were no Belarusians or Ukrainians or nowadays Russians, it was a space of ancient Russia, speaking a common language. In 862 the Scandinavian prince Rurik and his warriors was called here. From here the ruling dynasty of great princes Rurik started to reign in all the cities of ancient Russia and reigned for more than 700 years, until 1598, when the last of them died — the childless king Fyodor Ivanovich, son of Ivan the Terrible.
The Russian North — is a harsh land, to which the ascetics went, trying to get closer to the Lord, leading the people by their example.
Until now, our North seems to be terra incognita in many ways. However, despite the seeming isolation, north has always been connected with the rest of the world with cultural and economic links. The great trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” began under Novgorod. Novgorod was the largest international trade city connected with the Byzantine Empire and the Hanseatic League. The Russian North is the center of Russian culture, which was not affected by the Mongol invasion.
«… a trade-route connected the Varangians with the Greeks. Starting from Greece, this route proceeds along the Dnieper, above which a portage leads to the Lovat’. By following the Lovat’, the great lake Il’men’ is reached. The river Volkhov flows out of this lake and enters the great
lake Nevo. The mouth of this lake opens into the Varangian Sea. Over this sea goes the route to Rome, and on from Rome overseas
to Tsar’grad.5 The Pontus, into which flows the river Dnieper, may be reached from that point.».— The Russian Primary Chronicle, Laurentian Text.
The North is extremely diverse: Karelia, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Novgorod, Pskov. In spite of the geographical situation, despite the apparent isolation, the impassable terrain, the North has always been connected with the rest of the world with cultural and economic links, it is not isolated from the outside world — it is connected with other nations with cultural ties .
The proposed themes are:
- What is the Russian North for you, how do you see it, what do you think about when you hear the name “Russian North”?
- Please, name one (or more) spiritual center on the map of the Russian North.
- How does the North live?
- What social and economic problems are there in this region?
- How can an architect, an urbanist, a town-planner, anyone else, help to solve these problems? (Eg., migration processes, jobs, infrastructure — roads, schools, etc. Economic and social problems.)
- Contemporary and traditional architecture of the North. What is the place of the traditional civil russian architecture in the nowadays world?
- Any other question/problem/thought on the given topic.
