On 8 April 2007 Easter festivities in the Armorial Hall of the State Hermitage were dedicated to the 950th anniversary of the creation of the Ostromirov Gospel, the oldest dated Ancient Russian manuscript book extant. A fragment of the manuscript contained in a specially created case was returned to the Winter Palace and made available for public viewing for a few hours, the first time this has been done since 1806.

The following persons spoke to those who gathered at the ceremony: Deputy Director of the State Hermitage for Exhibitions and Development Vladimir Matveev; Nobel Prize laureate, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Zhores Alferov; and Dean of the St Petersburg Spiritual Academy, Archbishop Konstantin of Tikhvin. Ancient Russian liturgical singing as well as church music written by Russian composers was heard in the Armorial Hall.

The Ostromirov Gospel was written in 1057 at the behest of the Novgorod Posadnik (Stadtholder) Ostromirov, who was a retainer of Kiev Prince Izyaslav, son of Yaroslav the Wise. In 1701 the manuscript was mentioned in an inventory of the property of one of the churches of the Moscow Kremlin. In 1720 the Ostromirov Gospel was sent to Petersburg in keeping with a decree issued by Peter the Great calling for the collection of information about ancient documents and manuscripts. Then the work was lost for 85 years and only after the death of Catherine the Great was it discovered among the Empress's things. At the order of Alexander I, the relocated manuscript was transferred to the Imperial Public Library for storage, and it remains there to this very day.

On the eve of the Hermitage event, a festive ceremony was held in the Russian National Library marking the completion of work by the Central Design Bureau Rubin that produced a display case to protect a portion of the Ostromirov manuscript and marking its transfer it to the Manuscript Division of the Russian National Library. The case is a unique work of engineering which makes it possible, under conditions of maximum security, to store, transport and display this rare text of the Easter service in museums and churches without danger of damage or loss to the sacred object. It was precisely the creation of the Case for the Ostromirov Gospel that made it possible to hold the aforementioned solemn events honoring Easter during these days in the Hermitage and in St Isaac's Cathedral.

The Ostromirov Gospel in the Hermitage

Dean of the St Petersburg Spiritual Academy, Archbishop Konstantin of Tikhvin

Nobel Prize laureate, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Zhores Alferov

Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Central Design Bureau Rubin,
Igor Spassky

Sacred motets are heard in the Armorial Hall