Virtual trip "Monuments of Russian writing" held at the Birobidzhan regional center of the Presidential Library

May 18, 2021 the Birobidzhan regional center of the Presidential Library based on the Sholem Aleichem Birobidzhan Regional Universal Scientific Library hosted a virtual trip “Monuments of Russian writing”.

Pupils of the basic secondary school of the village of Zhelty Yar, Birobidzhan district of Jewish Autonomous Region, were invited to the event dedicated to the upcoming celebration of the Slavic Written Language and Culture Day, annually celebrated on May 24 in Slavic countries.

The center specialists told about the creators of the Slavic alphabet - the educators Cyril and Methodius, about the history of the emergence of Russian writing. The children learned about the electronic copies of the monuments of Russian writing from the collections of the Presidential Library - the Ostromir Gospel and the Laurentian Chronicle.

On the example of the ancient source Ostromir Gospel, dated 1056-1057, the attendees learned how handwritten books were made in Ancient Rus’. The design of this unique rarity is striking in its beauty and brightness of color, which testifies to the high level of book business, to the extraordinary skill of book writers and designers of those times.

The event ended with a master class on writing drop caps - large, different from others, the first letters of a chapter, section or a whole book. The guys were asked to create their own unique initial letter.

The Presidential Library's portal presents the collection Cyril and Methodius - Slavic Enlighteners, spotlighting research, essays, speeches about the life and work of the creators of the Church Slavonic language, Orthodox preachers revered as equal to the apostles saints. It also includes a photo depicting the monument to Cyril and Methodius in Kiev and the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on the celebration of Slavic Written Language and Culture Day.