ИЗВЕСТИЯ СОИГСИ

DOI  10.23671/VNC.2018.66.11465

The article is devoted to the history of the late Medieval Christian church (dzwar) Mady Majrӕm (Wӕlӕmӕsyg) in the Kurtat gorge of North Ossetia-Alania, traditionally considered as a place where the venerated icon of the Theotokos (later known as Mozdok icon) had been kept for centuries. Analysis of the existing sources indicates that the construction of the temple was undertaken during the Orthodox period of the Alanian Christian Church, and the feast days connected with the church (dzwary bon) – Sunday of the Prodigal Son and Pentecost / the Day of the Holy Spirit — reflect the liturgical practice of Medieval Alanian Orthodox Christian Church. These days marking the beginning and the end of the Easter cycle must have been of special importance for this church, which proves that liturgical life once flourished here, rather unexpectedly for such a remote place, far from the residential areas. Probably the building which could have hardly been a parish church, was the center of a small monastery. The records of several researchers contain information from folk legends about the existence of monasteries in the Alagir and Kurtatin gorges. Originally it could have been dedicated to the Holy Trinity, with Pentecost being Patron feast day, later with the loss of liturgical significance of the temple it was transformed into dzwary bon. The dedication of the church to Mother Mary (Mady Majræm) passed down to us is of relatively late origin and is associated with the venerated icon of the Theotokos.

Keywords: traditional calendar, church calendar, Orthodox Christianity, Alania, traditional culture, feast day.

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