Arkona is the legendary ancestral home of Rurik. Slavic fortress Arkona

The West Slavic Baltic tribes (Wends-Wends), settled between the Elbe (Laba), Oder (Odra) and the Vistula, reached high development by the 9th-10th centuries AD, having built on the island of Ruyan (Rügen) the sacred city of Arkona temples, which served for everyone Baltic Slavs the role of the Slavic Vedic capital. There are many names left here indicating this: Rostock, Lübeck, Schwerin (Zwerin), Dresden (Drozdyany), Leipzig (Lipsk) and this is not all of them. On the south coast Baltic Sea, on the territory of the former GDR, lived the Slavs - the Ruyans or Rugs. The island of Ruyan (Rügen), in the Baltic Sea, in the northeast of Germany, is known, without a doubt, to everyone who is interested in the Slavic Chronicle and the Faith of the Slavs. The place is legendary, mystical.

Map of the island of Rugia /Rügen/ Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594)

After all, it was here, at the northernmost point of the island, that the legendary fortress was located Arkona. High on a chalk cliff, on a steep cliff, protected on three sides by the sea, and on the fourth, by a huge rampart, impregnable to the enemy, the capital of the most powerful tribe of the Western Slavs.

The ancient Slavs always used the features of natural landscapes to defend their cities, but the location of Arkona is so magnificent, ingenious and incredible that it allowed this small Slavic principality to maintain its will, independence and Faith, while being in a constant state of war with the Judeo-Christian ones, which were largely superior in numbers and military power neighbors - the Catholic Polish state, Imperial Germany and Denmark. And not only to defend against numerous enemies. Possessing a powerful fleet, the Ruyans controlled most of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea for a long time.
Enormous wealth accumulated in the Arkona fortress, partly being conquered in military campaigns, partly being presented as tribute and sacrifice to the god Svyatovit (Sventovit) by all other Slavic tribes. Priests with gifts to God Svyatovit came not only from the entire Baltic coast, modern eastern Germany and Poland, but also from Moravia and Rus'. The memory of this place is also preserved in Russian legends.
In ancient Russian legends, this is Buyan Island in the Okiyan Sea, where the white-flammable Stone-Alatyr lies, the ancient Pradub is vast and mighty, it pierces the seven heavens and supports the center of the universe. Arkona - Yarkon - ardent - fiery white horse - a symbol of the grace of the God of light - Svetovit. The white horse is a symbol of the Russian heritage of the traditions of their ancestors, the legendary Aryans.

Ilya Glazunov "The Island of Rügen. The priest and the sacred horse of Svyatovit"

The Temple of Arkona on the island of Ruyan was the main shrine of the Western Slavs, it was the largest cult center and the last bastion of Western Slavic paganism, resisting the influence of Judeo-Christianity. According to the general belief of the Baltic Slavs, the god Svyatovit gave the most famous victories, the most accurate prophecies. Therefore, Slavs from all sides of Pomerania flocked here for sacrifices and fortune telling.

The sacred white horse lived in Arkon at the Svetovit (Sventovita) temple. His mane and tail were left uncut. Only the first priest could saddle the horse. This horse also participated in fortune-telling; they used it to tell fortunes before the start of a military campaign. In the most important battles, the white horse stood on the prince's boat.
In especially important cases, the sacred horse “gave answers” ​​to difficult questions of national importance - the white horse carried the will of Svetovit, walking through the thorns of the ritual - the Russians always consulted the Ancestor Gods at the crossroads of life.
There were several ways for the servants of Svetovit to tell fortunes about the future. Some of them are done with the help of the sacred white horse of God.
The servants stuck three pairs of spears in front of the temple at a certain distance from each other, and a third spear was tied across each pair. The priest solemnly said a prayer, then led the horse by the bridle from the vestibule of the temple and led it to the crossed spears. If a horse, walking through all the spears, stepped first with its right foot and then with its left, this was considered a happy omen, but if the horse stepped with its left foot first, then the military campaign in this case was canceled.
And there is still a belief that getting up on your left foot in the morning is a bad omen, so they say: “I got off on the wrong foot”.
Three pairs of copies may have symbolically reflected the will of the heavenly, earthly and underground gods (the 3 kingdoms according to Russian fairy tales) during fortune telling.
They also guessed as follows: in the evening the horse was left cleaned, and in the morning it was found foaming and dirty (Svetovit fights with the enemy on his horse all night). The condition of the horse was used to determine whether it was worth starting a war or not - the planned campaign was blessed only if the heroic war horse Svetovit was in excellent physical shape.

At the temple there was a permanent squad of 300 knights on white war horses, each of whom voluntarily went to serve from his tribe; this was the lot of the chosen ones, equipped with heavy weapons. This squad took part in campaigns, confiscating a third of the spoils for the benefit of the temple.

Arkona was described by the Danish medieval author Saxo Grammaticus (“Gesta Danorum”): “The city of Arkona lies on top high cliff; on the north, east and south it is surrounded by natural protection... on the western side it is protected by a high embankment of fifty cubits... In the middle of the city lies open area, on which stands a beautiful wooden temple, revered not only because of the splendor of its architecture, but also because of the greatness of the god to whom the idol was erected here.”
His data were confirmed in the 1920s. excavations by the German archaeologist K. Schuchhardt and others.

Vsevolod Ivanov "Svyatovit Temple in Arkon"

Vsevolod Ivanov "Rainbow over Arkona"

Inside the sanctuary stood an idol of Svyatovit. The temple itself was a wooden structure and rose on the plain.
The walls of the temple were decorated with paintings, and there was only one entrance. The building had two rooms, in one of which, consisting of several pillars and wonderful curtains, there was the idol of Svetovid and his full military equipment: a sword, as well as the bridle and saddle of his horse, which was kept here in the temple.
Once upon a time this temple of Svetovit was one of the brightest, brightest (holy) places in Venea (Europe), a wonder of the world, no less than the temple of Zeus in Olympia. And therefore he aroused envy and hatred among his Judeo-Christian neighbors.

Idol of Svyatovit installed in Arkona by Polish Rodnovers in the 90s of the twentieth century

The idol of Svetovit had four faces, looking in different directions of the world and, perhaps, symbolizing the power of God over the four cardinal directions (like the four winds) and the four seasons of time. According to one version, he had a bow in his left hand, according to another it rested on his side. The shirt was made to the elbows; the lower parts of the arms were made of different types of wood and were so intricately connected to the knees that at first glance it was difficult to recognize the place of their connection. The legs seemed to rest on the floor and went into the ground.” In his right hand, the deity held a horn lined with different metals, striking in its size - the priest annually filled it with liquid, so that later, by its qualities, he could predict the future harvest (the idol itself was much larger than human height), and a sword in a silver sheath hung at his hip.

In addition to everything listed in the temple there was the sacred banner of Svetovid ( Stanitsa), it was carried in front of the troops before the battle. Like other military attributes, the banner tells us that Svetovid was revered as the god of war.
The horn of Svetovid meant patronage of fertility.
The Slavs celebrated the holiday in honor of God Svyatovit by baking a huge public pie, the production of which would require a large number of grain graters.

The 12th century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus describes in detail how the Baltic Slavs on the island. Ruyan, in the sanctuary of Svyatovit a ritual was performed in honor of the deity.

The first day was spent putting the wooden temple in order.
The next day, people gathered in front of the entrance to the temple, and the priest sacrificed a horn with wine (it is assumed that it is more correct to count with honey) and asked for an increase in wealth and new victories.
He placed the horn in the right hand of the idol of Svyatovit, "then they sacrificed a round honey pie, almost the height of a man. The priest put the pie between himself and the people and asked the Ruyans if he could be seen behind the pie. If they answered that he was visible, then the priest expressed the wish that next year the same people would not be able to see him (over the pie). However, this did not mean that he wanted death for himself or his fellow countrymen, but was only a wish for an even more abundant harvest for the next year."

The temple had extensive estates that provided it with income; duties were collected in its favor from merchants trading in Arkona and from industrialists who caught herring off the island of Ruyan. A third of the spoils of war were brought to him, all the jewelry, gold, silver and pearls obtained in the war. Therefore, there were chests filled with jewelry in the temple. And Arkona itself was surrounded by several more villages. Holy City Arkona, in those distant times, was the forge of martial arts of the European North. Ancient history The Polabian Slavs bring to us the memory that there was a special type of military service at the temples. These temple warriors were originally called knights.

When, after an incessant centuries-long struggle with the Frankish, Germanic, Danish Judeo-Christian baptizers, the peoples of the Baltic Slavs, one after another, were enslaved, Arkona became the last free Slavic city that honored the native Gods. And it remained so until its destruction in 1168.
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Death of Arkona

For almost a month and a half there was a war in the possessions of the Rugians on the shores of the Baltic Sea. And only then, when the remnants of the troops retreated to the island, the Danish king and German troops began an assault on the fortress city of Arkona itself.
In total, the invaders had up to 20,000 warriors - professional warriors, and not peasants recruited from the villages...
Already at the very beginning, on the very first day, the main army of Arkona (about 2,500 people) died, repelling the landing of Judeo-Christian aliens.
Then for a whole week the Danes and Germans stormed the city walls, where ordinary people stood and fought heroically. When the Christian army was unable to take the city by storm, it was set on fire from all sides at once. The Slavs threw themselves into the fire and preferred death to captivity and baptism.

All this time, side by side, the professional squad of the temple knights fought with the remnants of the Arkonian army - by the time the city fell, there were less than 200 of them left. And when the city was taken after the fire, only the Svetovit temple remained.
For almost a week, 200-odd soldiers defended it from 15,000 troops (that’s what remained of the 30,000 Christian troops - about 10,000 died on the coast and 5,000 during the assault).

The temple was fortified and located on the top of a cliff, 2 roads led to it, on which the Arkon warriors fought to the death.
In 2 weeks of fighting (in the German chronicles they write 6 days and the losses are underestimated...) the knights-warriors of the Svetovit temple, of whom only 9 remained by that time!!! people - almost 4,500 thousand professional Judeo-Christian soldiers were disabled. The entire ditch in front of the temple was filled with corpses; swords were taken from dead comrades.
The Normans and Dacians were simply afraid to go on another assault; 2 of the king’s brothers and 7 barons were killed, and horsemen and horses were cut down with swords. After all, these were the best warriors of the Slavs - the best of the best!

On the last day, when only 9 warriors of the temple remained, detachment after detachment of German and Danish detachments went to storm the temple, using the shift method for the first time, the Danes fought at night, and the Germans fought during the day.
Exhausted and having not slept for several nights, the Slavs did not give up, and on the last day the Germans were unable to kill any of the 9 Slavic temple warriors-knights (one of them was the high priest)

Then the Danes collected all the barrels of resin (it had already been transported on ships by this time) and threw the temple from the catapults of the ships, and then set it on fire.
The burning, deified Slavic warriors ran out of the temple and rushed into the thick of the troops, killing everyone until they died themselves...
This is how the last Vedic Power of the Slavs in Venea (Europe) perished.

The official Christian date for the fall of Arkona is June 15, 1168, but these 2 weeks were erased from many chronicles; no one wanted to know about the heroes.
In fact, the fall has come 1 July 1168, it was then that the temple burned down with its last defenders.
According to legend, the revival of the Rus nation and Rodnovery will begin when the desecrated idol of Svetovit (Sventovit) is returned to Arkona. 1168 Militant Christians led by Bishop Absalon destroy the statue of the god Svyatovit in Arkon.
After the capture of the island of Ruyan by the Danish king Valdemar I, the temple of Svetovit was desecrated and plundered, the idol of Svetovit, along with other images of pagan idols, was destroyed by Bishop Absalon(Helmgold "Slavic Chronicle". Before 1177).

On July 1, 1168, Arkona, a sanctuary on the island of Ruyan, which was once a single pan-Slavic sanctuary, was destroyed to the ground. The temple of Svetovit, the solar temple of all Slavic tribes, collapsed in fire. It was burned by the Christian Danish king Valdemar 1, again nicknamed “The Great”. So, the last, northernmost stronghold of the Slavs was wiped off the face of the earth. The insatiable Jehovah drank from the sacrificial blood of the Baltic Slavs. But there were also Eastern Slavs. There was a mighty people of Rus. And there was Holy Rus'. Yes, Rus' was Holy precisely before its bloody “conversion” to Christianity. Saints means Light (sunny), the meaning here merges consonantly.

After the fall of Arkona, an unprecedented and largest genocide of the Slavs on earth began (it was not a fake Jewish Holocaust) - in 50 years, out of 8 million Slavs remained alive, i.e. less than 0.5 million people seem to have been assimilated.
But there is not a line about this in Europe - it is taboo...
The entire GDR is all Slavic lands, it was not for nothing that Stalin divided Germany along the border of the settlement of the Slavs during the time of Arkona.
The Eastern and Western (Baltic) Slavs are related groups, they are closer to us than the Southern Slavs or Poles or Czechs. There were no differences between us Russians and them. It was a huge non-Jewish-Christian Civilization that did not submit to the Judeo-Christian cross and perished, but we will always remember them.

Here is the entire previous Chronology of those times:

Summer 6636 from S.M.Z.H.
1128 AD Despite military assistance from Rugia, Szczecin was Christianized.

Summer 6644 from S.M.Z.H.
1136 AD King Eric performed in crusade against the Slavs, unleashing a big war. Rugia was completely ruined. Eric captured Arkona, cutting off the defenders' access to drinking water. The Ruyans hid the holy statue of Svetovit when hope for help faded, and the besieging crusader troops cut off the fortified access to water from the city. Seeking salvation for their people, they feignedly succumbed to the king’s demands to convert to Christianity and accepted “voluntary-forced” baptism - they washed their bodies and quenched their thirst in a nearby pond. When the Danes left, they left a priest in the fortress to supervise the inculcation of the new Judeo-Christian religion.
But as soon as Eric’s soldiers boarded the ships and sailed to Denmark, the priest was thrown out of the gates of Arkona... The Ruyans could again freely honor their native God Svetovit.

Summer 6655 from S.M.Z.H.
1147 AD The Ruyans saved the pagan prince of the encouragers, Niklot, by sending their fleet to help him during the next crusade against the Slavs. But the strength was no longer the same. Small island The Baltic Sea was surrounded not only by stormy waves, but also by hostile states, dominated by a Judeo-Christian ideology alien to the Slavs.

Summer 6668 from S.M.Z.H.
In 1160 AD. Prince of Rugia Tetyslav began negotiations with Waldemar I the Great, the ruler of Denmark, as well as with Absalon, the bishop of Roskilde. As a result, a peace treaty was concluded with Denmark, and in 1162 the Ruyans even supported the Danes during the siege of Vologoscha. Bishop Absalon soon took part in the council of the Ruyans, where he expressed the idea of ​​​​adopting Christianity by the inhabitants of Rugia. The prince of Rugia supported this proposal, since it was in his own interests, because the power of the prince was severely limited by the priests of Svetovit, and Christianization would forever eliminate the priestly class from the political game (similar “wise” thoughts came to the princes of the Eastern Slavs during the Christianization of X- XII centuries, and even now some modern “Slavic warriors” are not far from Tetyslav’s way of thinking...). The prince of Ruyan betrayed the priests and people, who in 1166 remained the only Slavic tribe in the Baltic that freely adhered to the Native Faith.

Summer 6676 from S.M.Z.H.
On May 19, 1168, the Danes, led by King Valdemar I and Bishop Absalon, landed on Rugia. Together with them, the troops of the Saxon Duke Henry the Lion landed, led by the princes Casimir and Boguslav, the Obodrite prince Pribyslav and Berno, the bishop of Mecklenburg.

So the king attacked Rugia with big amount warriors and besieged the city of Arkona, flooding the suburbs with rivers of blood. It was not easy to take the city: the height of the walls with a rampart reached 27.15 meters and stone machines could not overcome them. There was still hope for a long siege and that the defenders would not have enough drinking water. The besieged, confident in their strength, covered the tower above the gate with banners and eagles. Between them was the Stanitsa - the military banner of the Ruyans, which the latter revered as the banner of all Gods.

On June 12, 1168, during another attack, the tower and gates were set on fire, and the small amount of water did not allow the fire to be extinguished. Residents, being in a hopeless situation, threw themselves into the flames, not wanting to be slaves. And the king ordered the chair to be taken out to the viewing area and sat down in it to watch what was happening. The city fell to Veileth on the 23rd, Summer 6676 from the Creation of the World in the Star Temple. But the Svetovit Temple continued to defend itself until the last howl... and was conquered only on July 1, 1168
The invaders plundered, desecrated and then burned and destroyed the temple of God Svetovit on Arkon. By the will of the Danish king Valdemar, a Jewish-Christian temple was erected on the site of the Svyatovit temple. Church in Altenkirchen, oldest church Rügen (built around 1200)
Its decoration uses individual elements of Slavic pagan temples destroyed by the baptists:

Bowl from the Temple of Svyatovit, now it is a baptismal bowl in Altenkirchen

Cult Slavic “Svetovit stone”, built into the wall inside the Altenkirchen church

Part of the apse of the church / Krina (symbol of fertility) embedded in the masonry of the wall

Currently, instead of ancient fortress there are two lighthouses. The first one was built in 1826, and the second, younger one, in 1902.

Poems dedicated to the heroic defenders of Arkona

Vision

I dream of ancient Arkona,
Slavic temple,
The horizons are burning,
There is an hour for thunder.

I see the ghost of Svetovit
Between the clouds
Around him is a holy retinue
Native gods.

He's on a horse - and he knows too much
The delight of the chase,
Oh, whirlwinds of lightning are catching up
That white horse.

He threw the scarlet Arkona,
The fog of veils,
And clings to the untouched womb,
To the steppes of heaven.

He forgot the sacredness of the reds
The cursed walls
For the fresh joy of the obscure
Treason, betrayal.

And the horn of wine was thrown to them in the temple,
And the bow is thrown,
And with him the skies rush
Thunderous sound.

The Slavic world is on fire,
The soul is burning.
To what enchantment are you leading us?
God shines?

The white horse stumbled for the last time
When he walked through our spears
And the wise men said: “Now your hour has come
Confirm your faith with blood!"

And the smell of fire smoke filled the air
Smells like fumes
The enemy has come to destroy the home
To sweep away the glorious city from the earth.

Four bright faces a silent reproach
Heavenly light at the head
And everywhere I look
The purple of the temple is mixed with blood

There are only a few of us left, there is no hope
Survive in the haze of the terrible battle
Well, we will die as one in the battle with darkness for the Light
In the battle of Truth, eternal lies!

Heaven will accept the souls of people into its palace
Those who fell for the Holy Laws
Sventovit! See, here I am coming to you!
I am the last warrior of Arkona!

Rusich

Let's think about it
Along with the clouds
Trusting sensitively
To the four winds.
The sky spilled
Unsteady waves
The sun was shining through
Svetovitov Temple
It rises from the ashes
Powerful Arkona,
To remind the world
About other years
Where is above the Truth
There was no law
Where are the Slavic hearts
Fear was unknown.
Things birds scream
Will float above us
The ancient one will rise
Stone-Alatyr,
And standing up proudly
Level with the clouds
Will straighten his shoulders again
Russian hero.
Turn around, vision,
Leisya, heavenly heat,
Don't be silent, winds,
So that the heart suddenly
Illuminated clean
And a high song,
So that every Russian
I remembered
Whose grandson is he?

Lament for Arkona

My soul cries: sad moans
And the pure tears of the Slavs
And the ashes of the burnt Arkona.
And Buyan, washed in blood...

But memory is like a book:
The heavy tread of steps was imprinted in my heart.
Intrigue brings legates to the crusaders
Only death, not new slaves.

Ritual bonfires light coals
A merciless fire will swallow it.
A feast is being prepared on Slavic ashes
The cannibal king Valdemar.

Over the broken Oak he listens to slander,
Under the shadow of the spider cross,
In snow-white cloaks, spattered with blood,
The arrogant servants of Christ.

The treacherous Danes, urging them on with a cross
The pot-bellied monk mocks
Throwing unbaptized children into the fireplace,
Others who are disobedient are afraid.

Monks and dirty robes feast
The Baltic winds are blowing.
An ugly shadow of their vile dances
Lie down in the glow of the fire.

Not a cry, not a groan, not a word for mercy.
Only enemies are drunken revelry.
Arkona destroyed - in white outfits
The people fell asleep for the last time...

But the invisible Arkona gives us its light,
And Buyan gives us strength,
And in the last battle he will defeat the Dragon
Holy Faith of the Slavs
===============================
The sword rings
Arrows are flying like hail all around,
The fleet is burning
And the Danes' ships are burning

Death and groan
In front of the temple there is a mountain of bodies:
Dan is amazed, -
He was powerful and brave in body,

Near fell
On his knees impaled goth
Sharp metal,
Together with the Goth the Saxon will die.

Given again
Again the Saxon and the bloody Briton...
How many wounds!
So my friend fell - killed!

The steel is strong
But the shield fell into pieces,
And the hand that held him is bleeding.
Trembling and pain...
The iron dan fell backwards.

Well, king
Did you want to conquer Ruyan?
I thought - at once,
And the Slavs at your feet?
And now
You lie in a pile of corpses, quiet.

The assault is underway
Without you, gray-haired Voldemar,
The horn sings
Collecting the chopped formation.

A pack of dogs
You came with a sword, fire
To the land of the fathers...
And we are now going to Iriy.

The fleet did not save
Rus' did not come to our aid.
There are few of us
Because of this, there is sadness in my heart.

Chernobog,
You crucified Svyatoslavy;
The prince helped
And hot, cruel metal.

The cross is doomed
Rus' for a long and difficult captivity,
But Svarog
He will help her, lift her off her knees!

Hundreds of years
God will wait his time -
Eternal Light!
It’s a pity that Svyatovit didn’t save us.

We'll leave
Let's dissolve in gray centuries,
And we will find Eternal peace and tranquility in the clouds.
Gods of us
Will be received joyfully for centuries,

And now
The sword made my hand go numb.
The temple stands
Rebellious stands like a rock.

Svyatovit,
Give us strength and open the way
To the world of love,
Into the world of peace, there is Rod and light.

We're in the blood
We are dying and there is no help.
We are your temple
We protect, blessed God,
And peace
Father Svarog will give it to us.

The sword rings
Arrows are flying like hail all around.
The temple is burning
And the defenders in it are burning...

The section is very easy to use. Just enter the desired word in the field provided, and we will give you a list of its meanings. I would like to note that our site provides data from various sources - encyclopedic, explanatory, word-formation dictionaries. Here you can also see examples of the use of the word you entered.

Meaning of the word arcona

arcona in the crossword dictionary

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

arcona

ARKONA (Arkona) city and religious center of the Baltic Slavs of the 10th-12th centuries. on o. Rügen (Germany). Destroyed by the Danes in 1169. Remains of the Svyatovit sanctuary, public and residential buildings.

Arkona

(Arkona), city of the Baltic Slavs 10th-12th centuries. on o. Rügen (f. Ruyana) in the southern part of the Baltic Sea, part of the GDR. From the west the city is surrounded by a high rampart. in 10–13 years A. was a religious center that united a number of Slavic tribes. The island was ruled by the high priest of the god Svyatovit. The temple of this god in A. was described by the Danish medieval author Saxo Grammaticus. His data were confirmed in the 1920s. excavations by the German archaeologist K. Schuchhardt and others. Near the temple, a public assembly area was discovered, and in the western part there were dwellings. In 1169, the Danish king Valdemar I destroyed the city and the temple. The statue of Svyatovit was burned, and the temple treasures were taken to Denmark.

Lit.: Schuchhardt S., Arkona Rethra/Vineta, V., 1926; Lyubavsky M.K., History of the Western Slavs, 2nd ed., M., 1918.

Wikipedia

Arkona (group)

Arkona- Russian pagan / folk metal band.

The group combines both screaming with growling and regular female vocals in its compositions. The main poet and composer is Masha "Scream" Arkhipova.

Arkona (cape)

Cape Arkona- high coast (45 m) of chalk and marl on the Wittow Peninsula in the north of the island of Rügen, location ancient sanctuary Polabian Slavs - Ruyans.

Natural monument Cape Arkona next to the fishermen's village, Witt belongs to the municipality of Putgarten and is one of the most popular tourist sites in Rügen (about 800,000 visitors annually).

The cape has two lighthouses, two military bunkers, a Slavic fortress and several tourist buildings. On the western side of the cape there is a ring-shaped shaft in which the temple of the Vendian god Svyatovit was located. The Danish king Valdemar I the Great took this fortified point on June 15, 1168, burned the temple along with the idol and took the temple treasures to Denmark. In 1827 a lighthouse was built over the rampart.

The smaller of the two lighthouses was built in 1826 - 1827 according to Schinkel's design. Commissioned in 1828. Its height is 19.3 m. The height of the fire in it is 60 m above sea level.

Cape Arkona is often incorrectly called the most northern point islands of Rügen. Approximately 1 km in a northwest direction there is a place called Gellort, which is the northernmost point.

Built in 1927, the Cap Arcona was named after the cape.

Arkona

Arkona:

• Arkona is a city and religious center of Ruyan.
• Arkona is a Russian metal band.
• Arkona is a cape on the coast of Germany.
• Cap Arcona - steamship.
• Arkona (1902-1945) - ship of the German fleet.

Examples of the use of the word arcona in literature.

I battened down the hatch, sat down in a chair and thought about the hints for several minutes arcona about my loneliness.

Geoffrey with attention, but at times the meaning of speeches arcona as if it was slipping away from me, replaced by an intuitive feeling of emptiness opening up under my feet.

Buying certain things is the most ordinary thing in the world, but on arcona, when he found out what I wanted, it was worth a look!

He dreams of power and might, and fasting arcona is dear to him as long as it brings him power and authority.

Of course, she was no longer that stubborn, intractable, bitter creature that I bought from arcona Geoffrey.

How I needed something cool right now - sermons arcona Geoffrey or in a bucket of cold water!

Almis reluctantly began to pick at the incomprehensible mess in her plate - this is not Arkona, no one knows how to make stew from sysop.

Currently, you are, in a sense, truly the heir to the king Arkona, however, we cannot agree that the author of these lines had you in mind.

Even if your sword is the same blade Arkona, - and we have no evidence of this, although to some extent I can admit it - and you are exactly the person for whom it was intended, there may well be other interpretations of all this.

According to rumors, their leader Arkona beer alcoholism - Ariss knew for sure that he did not enter the arena without a bottle of dark Gorgan.

ARKONA - northern cape Rügen Islands. The name is ancient Slavic from the word “urkan”, which meant “at the end”.
Here was one of the last known pagan pantheons of the gods of the Slavs.

In 1168, it was burned by the Danish king Waldemar I along with Bishop Absalon.
The West Slavic Baltic tribes (Vendas), settled between the Elbe (Laba), Oder (Odra) and the Vistula, reached high development by the 9th-10th centuries AD, having built on the island of Rahne (Rügen) the sacred city of Arkona temples, which served for all the Baltic Slavs the role of the Slavic Mecca and the Delphic Oracle. The Slavic tribe of the Rans formed a priestly caste in their midst (like the Indian Brahmins or Babylonian Chaldeans) and not a single serious military-political issue was resolved by other Slavic tribes without consulting the Rans.

Wounds (ruans) owned the runic writing of the Vendian tradition, the graphics of which were noticeably different from the known older and younger runes (probably the term wound itself came from the Slavic wound, that is, to cut runes on wooden tablets).

The construction of the city of temples and the rise of the pagan culture of the Vendian ethnic group was a response measure of the Slavic priestly elite for the ideological unity of the Baltic Slavs against the intensified expansion of first the Frankish, and then the German and Danish aggressors, who, under the banner of Christianization, carried out a systematic genocide of the Slavic population and their expulsion from the occupied territories. By the 13th-14th centuries, under the intense onslaught of Danish and German crusaders, the Slavic principalities of Ran, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and others fell, and the Baltic Slavic Vendian ethnic group ceased to exist.

Let us present information from Western chroniclers (Adam of Bremen, Otgon of Bamberg, Thietmar of Merseburg) about the paganism of the Baltic Slavs.

Arkona was built on the high rocky shore of the island of Rügen and was inaccessible from the Baltic Sea. The city contained many temples of all tribal Slavic gods.

The main god of Arkona was Svyatovit, whose idol was installed in a special temple. The idol was huge, taller than a man, with four heads on four separate necks with cropped hair and shaved beards. The four heads apparently symbolized the god's power over the four cardinal directions (as in the four winds) and the four seasons of time, that is, the cosmic god of space-time (similar to the Roman Janus). In his right hand, the idol held a horn lined with various metals and annually filled with wine; his left hand was bent in an arc and rested on his side. The horn symbolized the god's power over productivity and fertility, that is, as the god of vital and plant power.
Near the idol there were a bridle, a saddle and a huge battle sword and shield (symbols of the god of war).

In the temple stood the sacred banner of Svyatovit, called the village. This wound village was revered as Svyatovit himself and, carrying it in front of them on a campaign or battle, they considered themselves under the protection of their god (the battle banner can also be attributed as a symbol of the god of war).

After the grain harvest, many people flocked to Arkona and brought a lot of wine for sacrifices and feasts. Apparently this happened in September, in Slavic - Ruen, hence the second name of the island - Ruyan. Ruyan Island is mentioned in many Russian fairy tales, in which, due to the peculiarities of children's pronunciation, its name turned into “Buyan Island”.

On the eve of the holiday, the priest of Svyatovit, with a broom in his hands, entered the inner sanctuary and, holding his breath so as not to desecrate the deity, swept the floor clean. The broom and sweeping symbolically signify the end of a time cycle, in this case an annual one, for the next day fortune-telling is carried out by pie, similar to the East Slavic Christmas carol. This means that the Ran priests used the September style of calculating time (the year began with the autumn equinox).

The next day, in the presence of all the people, the priest took the horn of wine from the hands of the idol Svyatovit and, having carefully examined it, predicted whether or not there would be a harvest for the next year. Having poured the old wine at the feet of the idol, the priest filled the horn with new wine and drained it with one spirit, asking for all sorts of benefits for himself and the people. Then he again filled the horn with new wine and put it into the hand of the idol. After this, they brought the idol a pie made of sweet dough taller than a man. The priest hid behind the pie and asked the people if he was visible. When they answered that only a pie was visible, the priest asked God that they could make the same pie the next year. In conclusion, in the name of Svyatovit, the priest blessed the people, ordered them to continue to honor the Arkonian god, promising as a reward an abundance of fruits, victory at sea and on land. Then everyone drank and ate to their fullest, for abstinence was taken as an offense to the deity.

Arkona was also visited for fortune telling. At the temple there was kept the sacred horse Svyatovit, white in color with a long, never trimmed mane and tail.

Only the priest of Svyatovit could feed and mount this horse, on which, according to the beliefs of the wounds, Svyatovit himself fought against his enemies. They used this horse to tell fortunes before the start of the war. The servants stuck three pairs of spears in front of the temple at a certain distance from each other, and a third spear was tied across each pair. The priest, having said a solemn prayer, led the horse by the bridle from the vestibule of the temple and led it to the crossed spears. If a horse stepped through all the spears first with its right foot and then with its left, this was considered a happy omen. If the horse stepped with its left foot first, then the trip was canceled. Three pairs of copies possibly symbolically reflected the will of the heavenly, earthly and underground gods (the 3 kingdoms according to Russian fairy tales) during fortune telling.

Thus, the main symbol-oracle of the Arkona cult was the heroic war horse Svyatovit of the white color - “Yar Horse”, which is where the name of the sacred city “Arkona” possibly came from, that is, the Ardent Horse or the city of the Ardent Horse.

In addition to the functions of an oracle-soothsayer, Svyatovit’s horse also served as a biological indicator of the state of the vital force phase on this moment time. If the horse was lathered, with tangled and disheveled hair, then the phase of vitality was considered negative (depressive) and the planned trip was cancelled. If the horse was in excellent physical condition (passionary), then the planned campaign was blessed.

Unfortunately, literary sources do not give an unambiguous answer to the method of this fortune-telling: according to some, the horse is in the temple all night before fortune-telling, according to others, the priest (or Svyatovit himself) rides on it all night.

The Arkon temple became the main sanctuary of Slavic Pomerania, the center of Slavic paganism. According to the general belief of the Baltic Slavs, the Arkonian god gave the most famous victories, the most accurate prophecies. Therefore, Slavs from all sides of Pomerania flocked here for sacrifices and fortune telling. From everywhere gifts were delivered to him according to vows, not only from individuals, but also from entire tribes. Each tribe sent him an annual tribute for sacrifices.

The temple had extensive estates that provided it with income; duties were collected in its favor from merchants trading in Arkona and from industrialists fishing for herring off the island of Rügen. A third of the spoils of war were brought to him, all the jewelry, gold, silver and pearls obtained in the war. Therefore, there were chests filled with jewelry in the temple.

At the temple there was a permanent squad of 300 knights on white war horses, equipped with heavy knightly weapons. This squad took part in campaigns, confiscating a third of the spoils for the benefit of the temple.

The phenomenon of the Arkona temple is reminiscent of the Delphic oracle among the Greeks. The analogy goes further: just as foreigners sent gifts to Delphi and turned for predictions, so the rulers of neighboring peoples sent gifts to the Arkonian temple. For example, the Danish king Sven donated a golden cup to the temple.

The reverence that the tribes of the Baltic Slavs had for the Arkona shrine was involuntarily transferred to the wounds who stood so close to this shrine.

Adam of Bremen wrote that the Baltic Slavs had a law: in common affairs, do not decide anything or undertake anything contrary to the opinion of the Ran people, to such an extent they were afraid of the Rans for their connection with the gods.

Sanctuaries similar to Arkonsky also existed in Shchetin, where the idol of Triglav stood, in Volegoshch, where the idol of Yarovit stood, and in other cities. The sanctuary of Triglav was located on the highest of the three hills on which the city of Shchetin was located. The walls of the sanctuary, inside and out, were covered with colorful carvings depicting people and animals. The three-headed statue of the god was decorated with gold. The priests claimed that the three heads were a symbol of God's power over the three kingdoms - heaven, earth and hell. In the temple were stored weapons obtained in wars, and the tenth of the spoils taken in battles at sea and on land prescribed by law. Gold and silver bowls were also kept there, which were taken out only on holidays, from which nobles and noble people drank and told fortunes, gilded and decorated expensive stones horns, swords, knives and various religious objects.

No other Slavic shrine was at one time as famous as the one in Rugia (Ruyan). Thanks to her holiness and power, she brought European monarchs to their knees and conquered peoples...

Here was the focus of all faith, all the hope of the pagan Slavs. And not only the Slavs - the Danish king Svein and many others donated loot to the temple of Arkona, and in the temples, idols and rituals themselves, scientists see much in common with the religion of the Celts. Hoary antiquity sleeps on the banks of Rugen - it remembers the Druids destroyed by Caesar! Back in the 11th century, pilgrims from the distant, seemingly Christian Czech Republic, came to bow to its main shrine, the four-headed idol of Svyatovit. The Arkon temple became the main religious center of Slavic Pomerania. The temple had extensive estates that provided it with income; duties were collected in its favor from merchants trading in Arkona and from industrialists who caught herring off the island of Ruyan. A third of the spoils of war were brought to him, all the jewelry, gold, silver and pearls obtained in the war. Therefore, there were chests filled with jewelry in the temple.

For more than 350 years, Arkona was the center of Slavic resistance against the aggression of Judeo-Christian Germany-Denmark-Poland. It was thanks to her that the 4th Crusade, the largest in the history of the Middle Ages (three armies totaling 200,000) against the Slavs, was completely defeated (AND IT WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!). There are many descriptions of how the 4th Crusade was defeated. The German knights were divided into 3 columns, which were joined by the Danish king, the pope's troops, French units from Brittany and others (well, as usual - all of Europe). I will not describe the entire company, but the fact is that the Temporarily elected military prince of all Slavic associations of Lyutichs, Obodritovs and others, one by one, defeated all 3 columns with very cunning maneuvers, and at that time the Arkona fleet defeated the Danish fleet supporting the invasion from the sea. There is literature on this topic, so it's worth searching.

Everyone remembers about the 300 Spartans, but few people don’t know that we had our own 300 Slavic “Spartans”...

The sacred city of Arkona was in those distant times the forge of martial arts of the European North. The ancient history of the Polabian Slavs brings to us the memory that there was a special type of military service at temples. These temple warriors were originally called “knights”.

The phenomenon was unique, since there were no special troops at the temples of other peoples in Europe. The temple army was considered sacred by the Polabian Slavs. It consisted of young envoys from noble Slavic families. Moreover, these young men remained professional warriors for the rest of their lives.

Three hundred (!) knights - golden belts (dvij, twice-born), temple warriors of Arkona, kept all the surrounding tribes and peoples of the Baltic under their control. From some they took tribute with peace, and from others they collected it with the sword.

As in Arkon, under the continuations of other gods, in other tribal centers, there were also 300 knights, “recruited” from best families Polabian tribes - after all, these were, in essence, the necessary guard troops of the sacred fortress cities. Therefore, in battles, for example, against the Germans, 300 knights on horses of the same color as the deity’s horse rode ahead of the Polabian troops against the Germans: for example, 300 knights of Svyatovit on white horses, 300 knights of Triglav on black horses.

On the origin of the word “knight”:

The word “knight” consists of the root “vit”, the pronoun “yaz” and the ending “b” (er), which could be pronounced with the sound “e” (esi). The word as a whole stands for “vit I am.”
The lands of the Polabian Slavs were famous for the temples of pagan gods, which were located (in addition to Arkona) in Radigoshche, Retra, Korbel and other cities. The gods were called by names ending in “vit” (“viti” in Sanskrit – light, the entire inhabited world). Moreover, their huge idols carved from wood were multi-headed: Svyatovit had 4 heads, Perevit - 5, Korevit - 5 faces (four under one skull, the fifth on the chest), Yarovit - 7. In German chronicles, the names of the gods are distorted in every possible way, but the Slavic ending “vit” was written everywhere correctly: the German wiht, wicht meant a certain person, person and referred to supernatural forces: spirits, demons.

The word “knight” came from the Polabian gods - “Vits” - and nowhere else. The word was used by the Czechs, who were ethnically closest to the Polabian Slavs, and “vitezky” meant “victorious” to them. That is, “knight” means “I am God” (in the sense of being a guide). I will add that it is similarly believed that the Cossacks-characterniks communicate directly with the Rod itself during battle.

And by the way, if we remember the Cossacks, their custom of wearing a mustache and forelock, earlier we will see Svyatoslav the Brave (the Varangians of Rus', before baptism, shaved their heads and beards almost without exception, as reported by the Arabs and Byzantines. Their God Perun was depicted with a “silver mustache”, and in the miniatures of the Radziwill Chronicle - with a military forelock on his head.), and even earlier...

“The Slavs themselves, contrary to our usual image of the “ancient Slav” with shoulder-length hair and a spade-shaped beard, cut their hair and beards short, or even shaved. Noble warriors - Lyutichs!!! (according to Thietmar) - could, as a sign of high family and military dare to leave a tuft of unshaven hair on the top of the head, or on the front of the skull. The Arkonian idol of Svyatovit had shaved heads and beards “in accordance with popular custom,” according to Saxo Grammar, only the priests wore long hair and beards “contrary to custom.”

So, most likely, the legendary Cossacks-characterniks are bearers of the traditions and knowledge of the temple knights of Arkona...

The island of Rügen is located on the southern coast of the Baltic (Varangian) Sea. Rügen has been inhabited since approximately 4000 BC. In the 7th century, a powerful Slavic tribe - Ruyans (Rugieris) or Rugi (Rugii), having founded here on the coast of Pomerania, Slavic principality, which became political and shopping center(Ralwick harbor) Varangian Sea on the trade route from Gotland, and a well-fortified religious center on Cape Arkona.

Slavic coastal settlements, located in large numbers on all river trade routes, were of great importance in trade on the Baltic (Varangian) Sea. Many Scandinavian merchants lived permanently in some of the large market centers of the Western Slavs.

Nowadays, large areas of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea belong to Germany, and it stores many Slavic place names - Rostock, Lubeck, Schwerin (Zwerin), Leipzig (Lipsk), Berlin - (“den” - lair of the bear). .

“An island lies on the sea,
There is a city on the island..."
A.S. Pushkin.

An ancient Russian legend about the wondrous island has been preserved: “There on the sea-Okiyan, on the island of Buyan, the white-key stone Alatyr lies... The ancient ancestral tree, vast and powerful, stands, pierces the seven heavens, Iriy props up.”“Iriy is Paradise in the seventh heaven, and alatyr is amber!

On the island of Ruyan, on a high 40-meter cape facing east, archaeologists discovered the temple city-state of the Russians - Arkona - Yarkon - an ardent horse - the sunny white horse of Svyatovit.

Arkona - lies on the top of the high white coast of the island of Rügen, and is washed on three sides by the waters of the Baltic Sea. The ancient settlement-sanctuary of Arkona now occupies an area of ​​90 meters from east to west, and 160 meters from north to south, although archaeologists suggest that the size of the sanctuary was three times larger.

U northern slope mountains in the sanctuary of Arkona is located Holy spring and there is a path leading to it.

"The other island is located opposite Viltsev (Lyutich). They own it wound, the bravest Slavic tribe. ...Rane, others call ruans, are cruel tribes that live in the heart of the sea and are beyond measure devoted to idolatry. They take precedence among all Slavic peoples, have a king and a famous sanctuary. Therefore, thanks to the special veneration of this sanctuary, they enjoy the greatest respect and, putting a yoke on many, they themselves do not experience anyone’s yoke, being inaccessible, because their places are difficult to get to.”- Adam of Bremen, “Acts of the Bishops of the Hamburg Church” (“Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum”)

Archaeological excavations of the Arkona sanctuary were carried out in 1921, 1930, 1969 -1971. In the vicinity of the Arkona settlement there are 14 settlements and a large burial mound resembling burial mounds of northwestern Rus'.

According to archeology, the Rans (Ruyans) had extensive trade ties with Scandinavia and the Baltic states, and also waged wars with their neighbors, defending their territory. Trade in Arkona was carried out from the 8th century to the 10th century.

Archaeologists have discovered two main settlements on the island of Rügen:
(1) The harbor at Ralswick on the island of Rügen was a trading center from the 8th to the 10th centuries. Archaeologists found in the harbor twenty (20) houses, with adjacent sections of the Baltic Sea coast, and convenient marinas for merchant ships. The inhabitants, Scandinavians and Slavs, were engaged in various crafts and traded with foreign merchants. Outside the city limits on a hill, more than 400 mounds were found, the burials of the Scandinavians and Slavs were similar.

(2) The Arkona Sanctuary is a pagan temple and fortress of Rugov (Rugieris). The Arkon sanctuary was located on the top of a cape, protected from the sea by a steep cliff, and from the land by a double semi-ring of embankments and ditches with water. The sanctuary was guarded by 300 Rug warriors. In the center of the Arkon sanctuary there was an ancient temple, surrounded by a log palisade with a large gate. Only the high priest of the god Svyatovit could enter the temple. .

Encyclopedic Dictionary of F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron, St. Petersburg, Brockhaus-Efron, 1890-1907. “Rugii are a numerous and powerful people, lived in northern Germany, along the seashore, between Oder and Vistula. During the Migration of Nations The Rugians joined the Goths and moved to the region along the middle Danube.

In 1325 The last prince of Rujan, Wislaw III, died, and the island of Rügen was conquered by the Duke of Pomerania. In 1405, the last inhabitant of the island of Rügen died. spoke Slavic — .