Who in 863 invented the Slavic alphabet. Start in science

Cyril (had the nickname Philosopher) 827 - 869 and Methodius 815 - 885 - Christian preachers, originally from Byzantium, who created the Old Slavonic alphabet and the Church Slavonic language.

After their death, both were canonized and have since been revered as Saints. The veneration was deserved by the creation of Slavic writing by Cyril and Methodius.

Biography of the enlighteners

The biography of Cyril and Methodius, the creators of the Slavic alphabet, begins with their birth in the city of Thessalonica (Byzantium). Their father, named Leo, was a military man, had the rank of an officer, and their mother's name was Maria. In total, there were 7 boys in the family, while Methodius was the eldest, and Cyril (the first famous founder of Slavic writing) was the youngest.

It is assumed that the father was Greek by nationality, and the mother was Slavic. This information is not confirmed, so scientists are still arguing about what nationality Cyril and Methodius belonged to.

Parents take care of the good education of their children. So, the eldest son initially followed in the footsteps of his father, choosing a military career for himself. But later he became a monk. The younger Cyril chose the spiritual and scientific path. It is possible that this decision was influenced by one case: the young man was hunting and lost a hawk.

This made such an impression on him that on his return he painted a cross on the wall in his room, and from then on he took up the study of religions. From early childhood, he had an excellent memory and good mental abilities.

Creation of writing

In Moravia, the educator Cyril, with the support of his brother, compiled the alphabet, and also translated liturgical books from Greek into Bulgarian. In this case, the brothers were helped by their students:

  • Gorazd Ohrid;
  • Clement of Ohrid;
  • Konstantin Preslavsky;
  • Lavrenty and some others.

The creation of the Slavic alphabet by Cyril and Methodius dates back to 863 according to the Alexandrian chronology. Scientists are still arguing about which alphabet (Glagolitic or Cyrillic) the brothers were the authors of.

In Moravia, the brothers continued their activities to promote the Slavic language. This mission continued for over 3 years. And also during this period the project Baptism of Bulgaria (864) was prepared.

Death of brothers

In 867 the brothers left for Rome. There Cyril fell ill and died on February 14, 869. He lived a short life (42 years), but at the same time he did a great job.

In 870, Methodius, surrounded by his disciples, went to Pannonia, from where he then went to Moravia.

There, spiritual activity proceeded quite difficult due to the change of power. After 3 years, Methodius was imprisoned in the Reichenau monastery, since the current government did not share his views on the Slavic language.

In 874 he was released, but already in 879 a new trial was organized against him. But, despite this, Methodius justified himself in Rome and received permission to perform divine services in the Slavic language.

In 881, Methodius was invited to Constantinople. There he continued his activities and after 3 years returned to Moravia, where he also translated church books from Greek. In 885 he fell seriously ill.

Anticipating his imminent death, he asked to be taken to the temple, where he performed divine service on Palm Sunday on April 4. He finished his earthly journey on the same day. It was buried in three languages: Latin, Greek and Slavonic. A few days before his death, he appointed one of his students as his successor - Gorazda Ohrid.

Veneration of saints

In Russian Orthodoxy, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril is venerated on February 27 (February 14, according to the old style), and Methodius on February 19 (April 6). In Catholicism, February 14th is celebrated as Saints Day. Throughout history, many portraits, icons and monuments of these Saints have been created. Feature films were made about the brothers:

  • Constantine the Philosopher (1983);
  • Thessalonica Brothers (1989);
  • Cyril and Methodius - Apostles of the Slavs (2013).

Cyril and Methodius never married, both took monasticism and dedicated their lives to worship, and also created the Slavic alphabet. Their memory has survived to this day. The brothers were awarded a high award by the Church - they were equated with the Saints.

The emergence of Slavic writing originates in IXcentury ad. In the 50s or early 60s of this century, the Moravian prince Rostislav decided that an alphabet specially developed for the Slavs would contribute to a more convenient conduct of Christian ceremonies. In Moravia (eastern part of the Czech Republic), Christianity was new at that time, and therefore it had to be spread quickly, until the small centers of the Christian faith went out under the onslaught of paganism.
With this thought, the prince Rostislav asked the emperor Byzantium of Michael III equip someone to compile such an alphabet, and then translate some church books into this new language.
Michael III agreed. If the Slavs had their own written language, the spread of Christianity among the Slavic peoples would have happened faster. Thus, not only Moravia would join the Christian camp, but also the rest of the Slavs (at that time the languages ​​of the Slavs were still quite similar). At the same time, the Slavs would have adopted the eastern, Orthodox form of this religion, which would only strengthen the position of Byzantium, which was the center of Eastern Christianity until the 15th century. Therefore, he agreed to fulfill the request of Rostislav.
The emperor received the task of compiling such writing to two monks from Greece - brothers Cyril and Methodius. IN 863 brothers formed the Slavic alphabet based on the Greek alphabet. The Cyrillic alphabet, familiar to us and still used today, appeared a little later. The first version of the Old Slavonic language was called Glagolitic. It differed from the Cyrillic alphabet in writing letters (often they were very different from their Greek counterparts).
The Greeks tried to instill the Glagolitic alphabet into the Moravian Slavs in their missions, but they did not succeed there. It happened because of the Catholic protest. It is known that Catholicism strictly obliges parishioners to conduct services in Latin. Therefore, in Catholic Germany, which was close to Moravia, the practice of worship in the local language was immediately condemned. The King of Germany invaded Moravia and began radically inculcating Catholic rites. The Catholic tradition is still strong in the Czech Republic thanks to this pivotal event.
But the case of Cyril and Methodius did not perish. Immediately after the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria decided to found the world's first Slavic book school - Book school in Preslav. This institution was engaged in translating Christian letters from Greek into Slavonic.
Being a Christian, Boris wished, by all means, to spread his faith to all pagan Bulgaria, in order to find an ally in the person of Byzantium. He managed to do it soon. Bulgaria became the center of Slavic writing, from here the Old Slavonic language spread to Rus', to Serbia, and then to many other Slavic countries. In, for example, Poland and the Czech Republic, the Latin alphabet is used, which has become entrenched in everyday life thanks to the deep Catholic tradition of these countries.
Church Slavonic(the Russian version of the Cyrillic alphabet, which did not change at all for a long time) was fully used in Rus' until the 18th century, when Peter I introduced a new standardized script to replace the outdated church script. He extracted several letters from the alphabet, redrawn the spelling and introduced many other rules. Peter the Great actually founded the Russian language, which we still use in a very shabby form of time. Church Slavonic, however, is still used in churches today. You can watch and listen to how people used to talk in Ancient Rus' in any church during the service.
Cyril and Methodius for their mission were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a saint. They are still one of the most popular saints in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, even today's youth knows these historical figures.

On May 24, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The name of these saints is known to everyone from school, and it is to them that all of us, native speakers of the Russian language, owe our language, culture, and writing.

Incredibly, all European science and culture was born within the walls of the monastery: it was at the monasteries that the first schools were opened, children were taught to read and write, and vast libraries were collected. It was for the enlightenment of peoples, for the translation of the Gospel, that many writing systems were created. This happened with the Slavic language.

The holy brothers Cyril and Methodius came from a noble and pious family that lived in the Greek city of Thessalonica. Methodius was a warrior and ruled the Bulgarian principality of the Byzantine Empire. This gave him the opportunity to learn the Slavic language.

Soon, however, he decided to leave the secular way of life and became a monk in a monastery on Mount Olympus. Constantine from childhood expressed amazing abilities and received an excellent education together with the young emperor Michael III at the royal court

Then he took monastic vows in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor.

His brother Konstantin, who took the name Cyril in monasticism, from an early age was distinguished by great abilities and perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages.

Soon the emperor sent both brothers to the Khazars for the gospel sermon. According to legend, on the way they stopped in Korsun, where Konstantin found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in "Russian letters", and a man who spoke Russian, and began to learn to read and speak this language.

When the brothers returned to Constantinople, the emperor again sent them on an educational mission - this time to Moravia. The Moravian prince Rostislav was oppressed by the German bishops, and he asked the emperor to send teachers who could preach in their native language for the Slavs.

The first of the Slavic peoples who converted to Christianity were the Bulgarians. In Constantinople, the sister of the Bulgarian prince Bogoris (Boris) was held as a hostage. She was baptized with the name Theodora and was brought up in the spirit of holy faith. Around the year 860, she returned to Bulgaria and began to persuade her brother to accept Christianity. Boris was baptized, taking the name Michael. Saints Cyril and Methodius were in this country and by their preaching they greatly contributed to the establishment of Christianity in it. From Bulgaria, the Christian faith spread to neighboring Serbia.

To fulfill the new mission, Constantine and Methodius compiled the Slavonic alphabet and translated the main liturgical books (Gospel, Apostle, Psalter) into Slavonic. This happened in 863.

In Moravia, the brothers were received with great honor and began to teach Divine Liturgy in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who celebrated divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they filed a complaint with Rome.

Taking with them the relics of St. Clement (the Pope), discovered by them back in Korsun, Constantine and Methodius set off for Rome.
Upon learning that the brothers were carrying holy relics, Pope Adrian met them with honor and approved worship in the Slavic language. He ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and to celebrate the liturgy in the Slavic language.

Saint Methodius fulfilled his brother's will: having returned to Moravia already in the rank of archbishop, he worked here for 15 years. From Moravia Christianity penetrated into Bohemia during the life of Saint Methodius. The Bohemian prince Borivoj received holy baptism from him. His example was followed by his wife Lyudmila (who later became a martyr) and many others. In the middle of the 10th century, the Polish prince Mieczyslaw married the Bohemian princess Dąbrowka, after which he and his subjects adopted the Christian faith.

Subsequently, these Slavic peoples, through the efforts of Latin preachers and German emperors, were cut off from the Greek Church under the rule of the Pope, with the exception of the Serbs and Bulgarians. But among all the Slavs, despite the past centuries, the memory of the great Equal-to-the-Apostles Enlighteners and the Orthodox faith that they tried to plant among them is still alive. The sacred memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius serves as a connecting link for all Slavic peoples.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

Kostin Pavel 3 class

May 24 is the day of Slavic culture and writing. Cyril and Methodius are considered the founders of Slavic writing. The work of a 3rd grade student, dedicated to the founders of Slavic writing.

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Kostin Pavel, 3rd grade

Cyril and Methodius - the founders of Slavic writing

Celebrated Slavic writing and culture. The year of birth (creation) of the Slavic

brothers Cyril (before becoming a monk Constantine) and Methodius.

Cyril (years of life - about 827-869) and his older brother Methodius (about 825-885)

were born in the Greek city of Thessalonica (now Thessaloniki). Father named Leo

famous Greek official. About the mother in one of the later sources it is said,

that she was originally a Slav named Maria. And although, presumably, the family spoke

Greek, Slavic words, the music of the language, the brothers listened to in the house from childhood. Yes and no

only in the house. There were many Slavic merchants in the shopping districts of Thessalonica. Many

Slavs settled in Greece several centuries before the birth of the brothers. Not without reason for many years

later, sending the brothers to Moravia at the request of the Slavic prince to send teachers,

who will teach church reading, singing and writing in their native Slavic language,

Emperor Michael said: "No one can do it better than you. Go

together with Abbot Methodius, since you are Thessalonians, and the Thessalonians all speak

pure Slavic" (beginning of 863).

Having been educated in his native city, Methodius served for ten years as a military leader in

one of the Slavic provinces of Byzantium. Constantine studied in the capital of the empire

Constantinople and showed a brilliant philological talent. He has mastered

several languages, including Latin, Syriac and Hebrew. When Constantine

graduated from college, he was offered a very honorary position as a librarian at

patriarchal bookstore. At the same time he became the secretary of the patriarch. working

in the library (the best library in the world), he constantly replenished his knowledge by comparing

one language with another, Yuri Loshchits wrote in one of the magazines in the article "Prophetic Rumor".

Only having an ear for music, developing it, you can hear in an unfamiliar

Greek of someone else's speech separate sounds and sound combinations. Konstantin was not shy

is called looking into the mouth of the speaker in order to figure out exactly what position

lips, teeth and tongue of the interlocutor, a sound escapes from his mouth, outlandish for

Greek hearing. Such outlandish unusual seemed to the Greeks the sounds "z", "zh","sh",

"u" and others. We, the Russian people, and those for whom the Russian language is native, it seems funny,

when these and other sounds are hardly pronounced by foreigners. Sounds in Slavic speech

turned out to be much more than in Greek (later the brothers had to

create 14 more letters than in the Greek alphabet). Cyril was able to hear

sounds of Slavic speech, isolate them from a smooth, coherent flow and create them for these

sounds signs-letters.

When we talk about the creation of the Slavic alphabet by the brothers Cyril and Metholius, then

name the youngest first. So it was during the life of both. Methodius himself said:

"He served, like a slave, his younger brother, obeying him." The younger brother was brilliant

a philologist, as we would say now, a brilliant polyglot. He had many times

engage in scientific disputes, and not only scientific ones. At the new business of creating writing

numerous Slavic people found many enemies (in Moravia and Pannonia -

on the lands of modern Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, Austria). After the death of the brothers

about 200 of their students were sold into slavery, and their closest and most capable

associates are thrown into prison.

The tragic personal fates of the disciples of Cyril and Methodius did not stop

the spread of Slavic writing from one Slavic people to another. From

Moravia and Pannonia, she moved to Bulgaria, and in the X century, after the adoption

Christianity, and in ancient Rus'.

What was the Slavic alphabet? This needs to be told in more detail.

since this writing was used in Rus' until the 18th century. Under Peter I and

then a few more times in the 18th century. the alphabetical composition changed, i.e. number of letters and

graphics (writing). The last reform of the Cyrillic alphabet took place in 1917-1918. Total was

12 letters were excluded, and two new ones were introduced - "i" and "ё". Looking at the letter names

Cyrillic alphabet, the origin of the word "alphabet" itself will become clear: a - az, b - beeches. Like

the name of the alphabet, the name "alphabet" also occurred - from the first two letters of the Greek

Alpha and Vita languages.

All the Slavs from the Baltic spoke, wrote, created literature in the "Slovenian language"

to the Aegean Sea, from the Alps to the Volga. For six long centuries, until the 15th century,

only three ancient languages ​​(Slavic, Greek, Latin) were accepted in the world

as the main languages ​​of international communication. And now it's a matter of honor for millions of people

Speakers of the Slavic languages ​​- to protect, preserve and develop it.

How did distant ancestors learn to read and write?

Education at the school was individual, and each teacher had no more than 6-8

students. The teaching methods were very imperfect. Folk proverbs

retained the memory of the difficulty of learning the alphabet: "Az, beeches, lead them to scare how

bears", "They teach the alphabet, they shout at the whole hut."

Learning the Old Slavonic alphabet was not an easy task. No sounds were made, but

the names of the letters are complex in themselves. Having memorized the alphabet, they proceeded to syllables, or

warehouses, first of two letters: "beeches", "az" - the student called the names of the letters, and

then pronounced the syllable "ba"; for the syllable "in" it was necessary to name "lead", "he". Then

they taught syllables of three letters: "beeches", "rtsy", "az" - "bra", etc.

The complex names of the letters were not taken, as they say, "from the ceiling." Every title

carried great meaning and moral content. The literate person absorbed

moral concepts of great depth, worked out for himself a line of conduct in

life, received concepts of goodness and morality. I can’t even believe it: well, letters and letters.

But no. When a person who was learning to read and write repeated after the teacher "az, beeches, lead," he

said a whole phrase: "I know the letters." Then followed d, d, e - "Verb good

is ". In the enumeration of these letters in a row, there is a commandment to man, so that in vain

I didn’t throw words, I didn’t fornicate, because “the Word is good.”

Let's see what letters like r meant, s, t. They were called "Rtsy the word is firm", i.e.

e. "Speak the word clearly", "be responsible for your words." It would be good for many of us

learn both in pronunciation and in responsibility for the spoken word.

After memorizing syllables, reading began. The second proverb reminds of order

work: the teacher pronounced the letters, and the students in chorus, in a singsong voice, repeated them until

until you remember.

Literature:

Big Encyclopedia of Primary School

Excerpts from the historical sources "The Tale of Bygone Years" and "The Life of Constantine-Cyril

Can you imagine life without electricity? Of course it's difficult! But it is known that earlier people read and wrote by candlelight and splinter. Imagine life without writing. Some of you will now think to yourself, well, well, that would be great: you don’t have to write dictations and essays. But then there will be no libraries, books, posters, letters, and even e-mail and text messages. Language, like a mirror, reflects the whole world, our whole life. And when reading written or printed texts, we seem to sit in a time machine and can be transported both to recent times and to the distant past.

But people have not always mastered the art of writing. This art has been developing for a long time, over many millennia. And do you know to whom we should be grateful for our written word, on which our favorite books are written? For our diploma, which we study at school? For our great Russian literature, which you get acquainted with and will continue to study in high school.

Cyril and Methodius lived in the world,

Two Byzantine monks and suddenly

(No, not a legend, not a myth, not a parody)

Some of them thought: “Friend!

How many Slavs without Christ are speechless!

It is necessary to create an alphabet for the Slavs ...

It was thanks to the work of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius that the Slavic alphabet was created.

The brothers were born in the Byzantine city of Thessalonica in the family of a military leader. Methodius was the eldest son, and, having chosen the path of a military man, he went to serve in one of the Slavic regions. His brother, Cyril, was born 7-10 years later than Methodius, and already in childhood, having passionately fallen in love with science, amazed teachers with his brilliant abilities. At the age of 14, his parents sent him to Constantinople, where in a short time he studied grammar and geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and medicine, ancient art, mastered the Slavic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Arabic languages ​​well. Rejecting the high administrative position offered to him, Cyril took the modest position of a librarian in the Patriarchal Library and at the same time taught philosophy at the university, for which he received the nickname "philosopher". His older brother Methodius entered the military early. For 10 years he was the ruler of one of the regions inhabited by Slavs. Being an honest and straightforward man, intolerant of injustice, he retired from military service and retired to a monastery.

In 863, ambassadors from Moravia arrived in Constantinople to ask them to send preachers to their country and tell the population about Christianity. The emperor decided to send Cyril and Methodius to Moravia. Kirill, before setting off on his journey, asked if the Moravians had an alphabet for their language - “for the enlightenment of the people without the writings of their language is like trying to write on water,” Kirill explained. To which he received a negative answer. The Moravians did not have the alphabet, so the brothers began work. At their disposal were not years, but months. They worked from early morning, barely blossoming, and until late evening, when their eyes were already rippling from fatigue. In a short time, an alphabet for the Moravians was created. It was named after one of its creators - Cyril - Cyrillic.

With the help of the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius very quickly translated the main liturgical books from Greek into Slavonic. The first book written in Cyrillic was the “Ostromir Gospel”, the first words written using the Slavic alphabet were the phrase “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And now, for more than a thousand years, the Church Slavonic language has been used in the Russian Orthodox Church during worship.

The Slavic alphabet existed in Rus' unchanged for more than seven centuries. Its creators tried to make each letter of the first Russian alphabet simple and clear, easy to write. They remembered that the letters should also be beautiful, so that a person who barely saw them would immediately want to master the letter.

Each letter had its own name - "az" - A; "beeches" - B; "lead" - B; "verb" - G; "good" D.

This is where the catchphrases "Az and beeches - that's all the sciences", "" Who knows "Az" and "Beeches" book in hand." In addition, letters could also denote numbers. In total, there were 43 letters in the Cyrillic alphabet.

The Cyrillic alphabet existed in the Russian language without changes until Peter I, who removed the obsolete letters without which it was quite possible to do - “yus big”, “yus small”, “omega”, “uk”. In 1918, 5 more letters left the Russian alphabet - “yat”, “fita”, “izhitsa”, “er”, “er”. For a thousand years, many letters have disappeared from our alphabet, and only two have appeared - “y” and “ё”. They were invented in the 17th century by the Russian writer and historian Karamzin. And finally, 33 letters remained in the modern alphabet.

And what do you think, where did the word "AZBUKA" come from - by the name of the first letters of the alphabet, "az" and "beeches"; in Rus', there were several more names for the alphabet - "abevega" and "letter letter".

Why is the alphabet called alphabet? The history of this word is interesting. Alphabet. It was born in ancient Greece and consists of the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: "alpha" and "beta". Native speakers of Western languages ​​call it “alphabete”. We pronounce it like the alphabet.

The Slavs were very happy: other peoples of Europe (Germans, Franks, Britons) did not have their own written language. The Slavs now had their own alphabet, and everyone could learn to read a book! “It was a wonderful moment!.. The deaf began to hear, and the dumb began to speak, for until that time the Slavs were like deaf and dumb,” is written in the annals of those times.

Not only children, but also adults began to learn. They wrote with sharp sticks on wooden boards coated with wax. The children fell in love with their teachers Cyril and Methodius. Little Slavs went to classes with joy, because the journey along the roads of Truth was so interesting!

With the advent of the Slavic alphabet, written culture began to develop rapidly. Books appeared in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Rus'. And how they were designed! The first letter - the initial letter - began each new chapter. The initial letter is unusually beautiful: in the form of a beautiful bird or flower, it was painted with bright, often red flowers. That is why the term “red line” exists today. A Slavic handwritten book could be created within six or seven years and was very expensive. In a precious salary, with illustrations, today it is a real monument of art.

A long time ago, when the history of the great Russian state was just beginning, "she" was expensive. Her one could be exchanged for a herd of horses or a herd of cows, for sable fur coats. And the point here is not in the decorations in which the beautiful and clever girl was dressed up. And she walked only in expensive embossed leather, in pearls and precious stones! Gold and silver clasps adorned her outfit! Admiring her, people said: “Light, you are ours!” They worked on its creation for a long time, but its fate could have been very sad. During the invasion of enemies, she was taken prisoner along with people. She could have died in a fire or a flood. She was greatly valued: she inspired hope, returned strength of mind. What kind of curiosity is this. Yes, folks, this is Her Majesty the Book. She has preserved to us the Word of God and the traditions of distant years. The first books were handwritten. It took months and sometimes years to rewrite one book. The centers of book learning in Rus' have always been monasteries. There, in fasting and prayer, industrious monks copied and decorated books. A collection of books in 500-1000 manuscripts was considered a rarity.

Life goes on, and in the middle of the XVI century book printing appeared in Rus'. The printing house in Moscow appeared under Ivan the Terrible. It was led by Ivan Fedorov, who is called the first book printer. Being a deacon and serving in the temple, he tried to realize his dream - to rewrite sacred books without scribes. And so, in 1563, he set about typesetting the first page of the first printed book, The Apostle. In total, he published 12 books in his life, among them was the complete Slavic Bible.

The Slavic alphabet is amazing and is still considered one of the most convenient writing systems. And the names of Cyril and Methodius, "the first teachers of Slovenia", became a symbol of spiritual achievement. And every person who studies the Russian language should know and keep in his memory the holy names of the first Slavic enlighteners - the brothers Cyril and Methodius.

Across wide Rus' - our mother

The bell ringing is spreading.

Now brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius

They are glorified for their work.

“Learning is light, and ignorance is darkness,” says a Russian proverb. Cyril and Methodius, brothers from Thessalonica, are Slovenian enlighteners, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity. They are called holy teachers. Enlighteners are those who bring light and illuminate everyone with it. Without the alphabet, there is no writing, and without it there is no book that enlightens people, and therefore moves life forward. Monuments to the great enlighteners around the world remind us of the spiritual feat of Cyril and Methodius, who gave the world the Slavic alphabet.

In memory of the great feat of Cyril and Methodius, on May 24, the Day of Slavic Literature is celebrated all over the world. In the year of the millennium from the date of the creation of the Slavic script in Russia, the Holy Synod adopted a resolution that established "every year, starting from this year 1863, on May 11 (24), the church celebration of St. Cyril and Methodius." Until 1917, a church holiday was celebrated in Russia, the Day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers Cyril and Methodius. With the advent of Soviet power, this great holiday was forgotten. In 1986 it was revived. This holiday began to be called the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture.

Quiz

1. Who created the Slavic alphabet? (Cyril and Methodius)

2. What year is considered the year of the emergence of Slavic writing and book business? (863)

3. Why are Cyril and Methodius called "Thessalonica brothers"? (Birthplace of the brothers-enlighteners the city of Thessalonica in Macedonia)

4. Who was the elder brother: Cyril or Methodius? (Methodius)

5. What was the name of the first book written in Cyrillic? (Ostromir Gospel)

6. Which of the brothers was a librarian, and who was a warrior? (Cyril is a librarian, Methodius is a military leader,)

7. What was Cyril called for his mind and diligence? (Philosopher)

8. In whose reign the Slavic alphabet was changed - simplified. (Peter 1)

9. How many letters were there in Cyrillic before Peter the Great? (43 letters)

10. How many letters have become in the modern alphabet? (33 letters)

11. Who was the first printer in Rus'? (Ivan Fedorov)

12. What was the name of the first printed book? ("Apostle")

13. What words were first written in the Slavic language? (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God)