Eschatological components of the Kitezh Legend

Abstract

The article deals with the eschatological concepts of the legend about the invisible city of Kitezh. The author compares the Old Believers’ eschatology contained in the legend with similar concepts in the pre-Mongol period, having studied certain historical, archeological, ethnographic sources and information on global climate change. One can trace the direct influence of medieval religious beliefs on the formation of the eschatological component of the Kitezh legend. The author comes to the conclusion that the revealed connection between the two groups of these concepts can serve as an additional argument in favor of the existence of a medieval historical basis for the Kitezh legend.