Director of Mikhaylov Historical Museum N.V. Tarasov visited Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve

The meeting was held in the administration of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve. Deputy director I.A. Smirnov greeted the guests from the town of Mikhaylov.  

N.V. Tarasov donated a commemorative tablet to A.I. Vorotynsky and some books about Mikhaylov to the museum. A.I. Vorotynsky*, prince, boyar and monk who was the founder, first voevode and builder of Mikhaylov, was buried in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

In his turn, I.A. Smirnov gave some books telling about the history of the museum and Kirillov to the Mikhaylov Historical Museum and the town administration of Mikhaylov. Besides, at the request of the guests, the deputy director of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve gave them a handful of earth taken near the burial place of the Vorotynskys.

L.V. Terebova, head of the Scientific Department in the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve, member of the initiative council on memorialization of Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky, handed over a photo of the bust of A.I. Vorotynsky to Nikolay Tarasov. It was made on the basis of forensic facial reconstruction developed by M. Gerasimov. The three-dimensional reconstruction of A.I. Vorotynsky’s face is kept in the holdings of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve now. It is planned to use it when the Church of St. Vladimir is turned into a museum.

N.V. Tarasov and the town administration of Mikhaylov intend to make a copy of the bust of A.I. Vorotynsky in the laboratory of Moscow for their town and museum. The 465th anniversary of foundation of Mikhaylov will be celebrated this year.

Besides, L.V. Terebova presented her research about the Vorotynskys and conducted a tour of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve for the guests. First of all, they visited the Assumption (Dormition) Cathedral (15th century). The burial place of the Vorotynskys is the Church of St. Vladimir, the side-church of this cathedral.

The visit of N.V. Tarasov to the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve resulted in the establishment of historical ties and partnership and planning of further joint work.

*The Vorotynskys is an ancient princely family descending from the Chernigov branch of the Rurik Dynasty. They were descendants of Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich or St. Michael of Chernigov. Vorotynsk located 15 kilometres southwest of Kaluga became the domain of one of them, Prince Fyodor Lvovich, in the 15th century. The Vorotynskys were among the Russian court nobility in the 16th-17th centuries. The fate of this family was closely connected with the history of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

Alexander Ivanovich Vorotynsky (? – 1564) was the second voevode of Belyov (1543) and Odoev (1544) and the governor of Ryazan (1550-1552). In late 1550, together with other voevodes, he defeated the detachments of the Nogai Horde during their raid to the Ryazan and Meshchera lands. In summer 1551, he headed the construction of the walled town of Mikhaylov. In 1558, he was appointed first voevode of Kazan. In 1560, he was given the rank of a boyar, but fell in disgrace soon. Alexander Vorotynsky took the monastic vows under the name of Arseny, died in 1564 and was buried in the Church of St. Vladimir in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Tsar Ivan the Terrible donated a large sum of money and many articles to the monastery commemorating him.