Clergy
Nestor the Chronicler
бл. 1056 – бл. 1114
- Monk and chronicler
A monk of the Kyiv Caves Monastery, traditionally credited with the Primary Chronicle — the main source for the history of Kyivan Rus’. He rests in the Lavra’s Near Caves.
These are the tales of bygone years: whence came the land of Rus’, who first began to rule in Kyiv, and how the land of Rus’ came to be.
Biography
Almost everything we know about Nestor comes from his own writings. He came to the Kyiv Caves Monastery as a young man soon after the death of Feodosiy and was tonsured by Abbot Stefan, later becoming a deacon. At the monastery he wrote the Lesson on Borys and Hlib and the Life of Feodosiy of the Caves, drawing on the memories of elders who had known the abbot.
The main work tradition links with his name is the Tale of Bygone Years (the Primary Chronicle), completed around 1113. It opens by asking “where the land of Rus’ came from and who first began to rule in Kyiv”, and tells of the Polianians and the founding of Kyiv by Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and their sister Lybid, of Askold and Dir, Oleh, Ihor, Olha, the baptism of Rus’ and the deeds of Yaroslav. In 1116 the text was revised by Sylvester, abbot of the Vydubychi Monastery, and it is his version that survives in later copies.
Nestor died around 1114; his relics rest in the Lavra’s Near Caves (Caves of St Antoniy). The Church commemorates him on 9 November (27 October Old Style), and since 1997 Ukraine has marked that day as the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language. Nestorivskyi Lane in Kyiv bears his name.
Life timeline
- 1070-ті Tonsure Joins the Caves Monastery under Abbot Stefan.
- бл. 1113 Primary Chronicle The chronicle attributed to Nestor is completed.
- бл. 1114 Death Buried in the Near Caves.
- 1997 Day of Writing 9 November becomes the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language.
Kyiv in their life
- Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (15 Lavrska St) — where Nestor lived and wrote. A walk around the Lavra
- Near Caves — where his relics rest.
- Nestorivskyi Lane — named after the chronicler.
