Specificity of comprehension of the Orthodox sacred places in Bryansk text

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Abstract: This article analyzes the cultural space of Bryansk from the position of reflection of the Orthodox life ans its impact upon the image and fate of the city, the foundation of which took place three years prior to the Christianization of Rus. The goal of the research consists in determination of specificity of representation of the image of Bryansk as the carrier of Christian values. Despite the variety of Christian themes, motives and images demonstrated in Bryansk text, the role of Orthodoxy in the establishment and development of the urban culture is yet to be understood. The author makes an attempt to read the Bryansk text, the sources of which include the historical myths, cultural landscape, language of the city, and literary texts that preserve the eventful four thousand year history of the topos. Semiotic reading of the Bryansk text considering its evolution, allowed determining the dominant images of the cultural space, which embody the Orthodox sacred places and reflect the fate of Christianity in Russia. Such places are the Pokrovskaya Hill with the temple complex, Svensky Uspensky Monastery, and others. The existence of godonyms formed from the names of the cathedrals testify about the structural and meaning-making role of the churches in urban space.