February 15 in Russian history

1045: The construction of the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Novgorod began. This is the oldest church in Russia that survived till now. Russia.com writes about the cathedral:

This five-domed stone cathedral was built by Vladimir of Novgorod, son of Yaroslav the Wise. His father’s last request was that the St. Sophia Cathedral of Novgorod be built as a sign of appreciation to the Novgorodians due to the fact that they had given so much support to him during his struggle for Kiev. Before the St. Sophia Cathedral was built an ancient wooden, 13-domed church established in 989 existed in its place. The cupolas or the dome-shaped roof are thought to have gained their present shape in the 1150’s, after it was rebuilt after being in a fire. The interior rooms were painted in the 11th and 12th centuries but certain parts of the interior had to be repainted in 1860s. The many frescoes, or paintings done directly on partly dry plaster, have faded to the point where not much of the pictures can be seen due to the many fires. In the 15th century the white stone bell tower was added and the clock tower was finished by 1673. The St. Sophia Cathedral was built as a ceremonial and spiritual institution of the Novgorod Republic during the 12th to the 15th century and stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains. The St. Sophia has been seen by the Novgorodians as a monument standing for their independence something they are very proud of. Fortunately, the Cathedral survived the Nazi occupation of Novgorod, even though the Kremlin was damaged so much from the Nazi abuse. When the Spanish infantry came they removed the large cross from the main dome of the church. In fact till November 16, 2004 the cross spent 60 years in the Madrid’s Military Engineering Academy Museum. Then in 2004 the Spanish minister of defense Jose Bono gave it back to the Russian Orthodox Church. The main cathedral gates of the St. Sophia have led to much speculation as to their origination. Customarily they were thought to have been brought by Saint Vladimir from Korsun in Crimea as part of the apparent Korsun Treasures. There are still a few objects left that can be seen but the gates itself have been replaced on many occasions. Year 1335, Archbishop Basil donated a gate, which was later transferred to Ivan III residence in Alexandrov near Moscow on his request and can still be seen there today. The gates that stand at the St. Sophia Cathedral now are bronze doors that are thought to have been taken by Novgorodian pirates from Sigtuna a Swedish town in 1187. These gates are only opened on special occasions twice a year.

Wikipedia also has an interesting article about the temple.

1495: Elena, daughter of Ivan III, marries Alexander, the Great Duke of Lithuania. Both countries hoped that the marriage will increase their influence in this constantly competing couple, but the balance was too stable, Russia did not become catholic and Lithuania did not accept orthodoxy. Elena suffered because of this competition between her father and her husband. After their death, she spent the rest of her life under home arrest in a Lithuanian castle.

1895: Sisters Eugenia, Helen and Maria Gnessin, known in Moscow as outstanding pianists, founded the first musical college in Russia. This college, renamed to the Gnessin State Musical College, is one of the best Russian musical schools.

1919: The Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense adopted the decree on cleaning the railroads from snow. Railroads were very important during the Civil War and the winter was snowy. All men in the age from 18 to 50, living withing 20 kilometres from a railroad, were obliged to participate in the cleaning: "Some committee members from the areas where the works are not done satisfactorily, whould be arrested. In the same areas, a number of peasants must be taken as hostages and executed if the snow is not cleaned."

Russian history 11: Legend of Vladimir's baptising

About 100 years after the baptising of Russia, a chronicler wrote:

In 968, Bulgarians from Volga were the first to come to Vladimir and they praised their Magometan religion. Then came Germans from the Roman Pope, then came Khazarian Jews and, at last, a Greek philosopher with the Orthodox teaching. Vladimir met them all and sent them all away, except for the Greek. He spoke with the Greek for a long time, gave him rich gifts, but did not convert into Christianity. In the next year (987), Vladimir told this story to his advisors and added that the Greek Orthodoxy was the most interesting. The advisors told knyaz to send ambassadors to other countries so that they would see how other peoples served their gods. The ambassadors visited East and West, but when they came to Constantinople, they were astonished by the beauty of the Greek churches. They said to Vladimir that they don't want to stay pagans, but they want to convert to Orthodoxy. When Vladimir asked his advisors: "Where shall we get baptised?" they replied: "Wherever you say." So, in the next year (988) Vladimir sieged the town Korsun (Chersonesos). He swore that he will convert to Christianity if he seizes the town and he seized it. He sent messengers to Constantinople to emperors Basil and Constantine, threatening to attack Constantinople and demanding their sister Anna to become his wife. The emperors replied that their sister will not marry a pagan and Vladimir agreed to convert. Before the baptism, Vladimir suddenly went blind, but his vision returned during the baptism. He signed peace with the Greeks, returned to Russia and baptised the country.

The legend is based on the real Chersonesos campaign of Vladimir. The Byzantium was at that time threatened by the revolt of Bardas Phokas and the emperors were seeking help from Vladimir. According to the terms of the peace treaty, Vladimir agreed to assist Byzantium against the rebels and obliged to adopt Christianity and princess Anna was to marry him. Due to the Russian interference, Bardas Phokas was killed (988), but the Byzantians failed to fulfil their promises and then Vladimir sieged and seized Chersonesos, the main Greek city in Crimea. He was baptised and in 989 he married princess Anna. It is not clear where and when (988 or 989) he was baptised.

Having returned from Chersonesos, Vladimir began to convert the whole country into Christianity. He baptised Kievans on the banks of Dnieper and its tribute Pochaina. The idols were thrown into the river and churches were built on these places. In other towns, his deputies did the same. In most places, Christianity was adopted peacefully, but, for example, in Novgorod, it was done by force. In other areas, paganism survived for centuries and the old beliefs mixed with the new ones.