Alexander Nevsky: From the Neva to Vladimir

Alexander was born in Pereslavl-Zalessky on 13 May 1221 and spent most of his youth here. Little is known about the activities of Yaroslav's children before 1238. Years later, in late 1240 or early 1241, the Novgorodians banished him back to this town, fearing his influence over their assembly. Pereslavl-Zalessky belongs to the Golden Ring of Russia, and its white stone Savior's Cathedral, built in 1152–1157, is among the sights of the town.

Precisión del lugar: The Pereslavl-Zalessky pin marks the town, not a single building.

Para el visitante: Pereslavl-Zalessky is a Golden Ring town; the white stone Savior's Cathedral (1152–1157) is among its main sights.

In 1236 the Novgorod Republic appointed Alexander as prince of Novgorod. His father chose him, but the decision was approved by the veche, which needed his armies. When his father was called away in 1238, Alexander began to rule on his own. The compound now called the Novgorod Kremlin was the city's ecclesiastical heart; its first bishop, Ioakim Korsunianin, built the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom there around 989.

Precisión del lugar: The sources name Novgorod, not a specific building; the pin marks the Kremlin as the city's historic centre.

Para el visitante: The Kremlin grounds are open to walk; the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom stands inside.

According to Russian sources, a Swedish army landed at the confluence of the Izhora and Neva in 1240, and Alexander attacked suddenly on 15 July. The chronicles tell of a great battle in which his men sank three Swedish ships and Alexander himself wounded the commander, Birger. No Swedish source mentions it. The title Nevsky, "of the Neva", was given to him only in the 15th century. Today Ust-Izhora is a settlement of St Petersburg, with a church built on the Neva bank in 1799 to commemorate the battle.

Precisión del lugar: Russian chronicles give the confluence of the Izhora and Neva, and the settlement is only believed to mark the spot.

Para el visitante: A church of 1799 stands on the Neva bank, with two monuments to Alexander Nevsky close by.

In September 1240 troops of the Bishopric of Dorpat, the Livonian Order and the exiled Prince Yaroslav of Pskov overthrew the pro-Suzdal faction in Pskov. After Novgorod recalled him from exile, Alexander assembled an army and conquered Pskov and Koporye from the crusaders. The Krom was the administrative and spiritual centre of the Pskov Republic in the 15th century, and it is on Russia's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage under the "Great Pskov" nomination.

Precisión del lugar: The sources say Alexander took the town of Pskov, not the Krom specifically; the pin marks its historic fortress.

Para el visitante: The Krom fortress in Pskov can be visited from outside and walked around.

On 5 April 1242 Alexander faced the Livonian heavy cavalry on the frozen Lake Peipus, and the Battle on the Ice took its name. A chronicle places the Novgorodians at Uzmen, by the Raven's Rock. The victory halted the eastward expansion of the Teutonic Order. The famous image of knights drowning through broken ice is a later embellishment: none of the primary sources mention ice breaking, and underwater searches in 1958–1959 found no artefacts of the battle.

Precisión del lugar: The exact battle site on the lake is not known; the pin marks the lake itself, and the Raven's Rock named in the chronicle is not located here.

In 1263 Alexander visited Berke, leader of the Golden Horde, on a diplomatic mission. The Second Pskovian Chronicle says that on the way home, when he reached the city of Gorodets, he fell ill. He died there, and his son Andrey later made the town his chief residence. Gorodets, on the Volga in today's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, is said to have been founded in 1152 by Prince Yury Dolgoruky.

Precisión del lugar: The chronicle names the town of Gorodets, not a building; the pin marks the town.

On 23 November 1263 Alexander was buried in the church of the Monastery of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God in Vladimir. Metropolitan Cyril told the mourners: "the sun of the Suzdalian land has set." His remains were kept in the Nativity Abbey until 1703, when Peter the Great had them transferred to the Monastery, now Lavra, of Alexander Nevsky in St Petersburg.

Precisión del lugar: Alexander was buried in the Nativity monastery in Vladimir; the pin marks the city centre, not the monastery.