On September 12, a postal block dedicated to the 800th Birth Anniversary of Prince Alexander Nevsky, statesman and military leader, went into postal circulation.


Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (approx. 1221-1263), was a Prince of Novgorod, Grand Duke of Kiev, Grand Prince of Vladimir, and a Saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Alexander Nevsky's biography is notable for a great number of victories. Thus, in July of 1240, the famous Battle of the Neva took place, when Alexander defeated the Swedes on the Neva. It was after this battle that the Prince received the respected name of Nevsky. When the knights of the Livonian Order conquered Pskov, Tesov, and approached Novgorod, Alexander again defeated his enemies. After that on April 5 of 1242, he attacked the Livonians on the Chudskoye Lake and gained the victory again. That battle is known as the Battle on the Ice.

Alexander Nevsky is assigned an exceptional role in the history of Russia. Throughout his life, the Prince suffered no defeats. He was considered the favorite prince of the clergy and the Patron of the Orthodox Church. Nevsky strived for maintaining reconciliatory relations with the Horde. He was a talented diplomat, a commander who succeeded in protecting Russia from many enemies and preventing some of the Mongol-Tatar raids.
Alexander Nevsky was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in the holy face of a miracle worker in the times of Metropolitan Macarius at the Council of Moscow in 1547. Nowadays, streets and squares are named after him, monuments have been installed and Orthodox churches have been erected in many cities of Russiain in his honor.

The postal block provides images of painting Alexander Nevsky by P.D. Korin (1942, collection of the Tretyakov Gallery), Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, and military paraphernalia.

In addition to the issue of the postal block, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladimir, Penza, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, Tambov, Kursk, Lipetsk, Voronezh, Pskov, Veliky Novgorod and Pereslavl-Zalessky of the Yaroslavl Region, as well as an illustrated envelope with a postal block and a label inside.

Design Artist: A. Moskovets.
Face value: 100 rubles.
Block size: 75×115 mm; stamp size in the block: 32.5×65 mm.
Quantity: 40 thousand blocks.

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