Alexievsky cross
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Алексиевский крест | |
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The Alexievsky Cross is a fourteenth century inlaid stone wayside cross installed on the western wall of the Sophia Cathedral in Weliky Novgorod. It is named for Archbishop Alexei of Novgorod, who originally commissioned it.[1][2][3]
The cross was initially placed in a special niche on the western side of the cathedral, to the right of the Magdeburg Gates. It was carved out of limestone and is 174 centimetres (69 in) high, and has four points with widening ends. The shape of the Alexius cross is traditional for Novgorod crosses of the fourteenth century. The branches are decorated with reliefs depicting Gospel scenes: at the top, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; on the left, The Birth of Christ; on the right, the Descent of Christ into Hell; and at the bottom, the Ascension of the Lord. The outer edge is inscribed with a prayer and the name of the archbishop:
[In the summer...] this cross was painted in Novgorod, in Shchagol, by order of the God-loving Most Reverend Archbishop Oleksiy and placed for veneration by the faithful Christian. Archbishop Oleksiy, may God grant many years, and health, and salvation to his children, and to the whole world."
(This is T. V. Nikolayeva's transcription of the inscription, including the interpretation of "Shchagola" as a modified name of Choglova Ulitsa in Novgorod.[1])