Ilya Muromets: From Murom to Kiev

The bylinas begin in the village of Karacharovo, where Ilya, a peasant's son, lies unable to walk until the age of 33. Two wandering pilgrims heal him with a drink of water, and he sets off to serve Prince Vladimir in Kiev. Karacharovo, a village on the southern edge of Murom until it became part of the town in 1960, is where tradition places Ilya's home; a memorial plaque now marks the spot.

Location precision: Karacharovo is Ilya's birthplace in the most common version of the epics only; other places have been proposed.

Visitor guidance: A memorial plaque marks the traditional site of Ilya's hut on Priokskaya street.

On the way, the byliny say, Ilya single-handedly defended Chernigov from nomadic invaders. The local ruler offered him knighthood, but Ilya declined to stay and rode on towards Kiev. The pin marks the Transfiguration Cathedral, begun by Prince Mstislav of Chernigov and one of the oldest churches in Ukraine; it has three naves, three apses and five domes. The bylina never names a building, so this is the city's oldest landmark standing in for the story.

Location precision: The bylina names only the city; the pin marks its Transfiguration Cathedral.

In the forests of Bryansk, Ilya meets Nightingale the Robber, a monster who sits in a tree and kills travellers with his whistle. Ilya shoots him with arrows in the eye and temple. In the tale, recorded 132 times, Ilya then drags him to Vladimir. The pin marks the Bryansky Les reserve, one of the last unbroken forests at the southern end of the European broadleaf forest. The bylina names no clearing, so the exact spot is unknown.

Location precision: The epic names only the Bryansk forests; the pin marks a surviving forest reserve in the same region.

Ilya reaches Kiev and Vladimir makes him chief bogatyr. The tale has Nightingale whistle at the prince's court and wreck the palaces before Ilya takes the monster away. In another bylina Ilya, angry at not being invited to a feast, knocks down the church steeples. History and legend part ways here: Vladimir reigned 980–1015, but the Golden Gate, which the pin marks, was built in 1017–1024 under Yaroslav the Wise and damaged by Batu Khan's army in 1240.

Location precision: The bylinas never name a building of Vladimir's court; the pin marks the Golden Gate of old Kyiv, built after his death.

The historical candidate behind the hero is Ilya Pechersky, a 12th-century monk of the Lavra, said to have been born near Murom and canonized in 1643. His life says he was a famous strong warrior before taking vows, though Russian chronicles do not mention him. His relics lie in the Near Caves. A study of the relics showed a tall man whose bones carry signs of spinal disease from an early age and marks of many wounds. Whether he is the bylina hero is unproven.

Location precision: Scholars only suggest that the monk is the hero's prototype; the pin marks the Lavra, whose caves hold his relics.