Kostroma Chrononyms Related to the Memory of Saints Significant for the Region

Abstract

The article focuses on the corpus of Kostroma chrononyms associated with the memory of saints of the Russian Orthodox Church who are significant for the Kostroma region. The article is based on field materials collected by the Toponymic Expedition of the Ural University throughout more than 20 years of work in the Kostroma region (from the 2000s to the present). Our materials show the presence of obvious traces of the veneration of the 14^th century saints like Abraham of Chukhloma (Galich), Pakhomy of Nerekhta, the 15^th century saints like Barnabas of Vetluga, Macarius of Unzha and Tikhon of Lukh. This article focuses on the tradition of honoring the memory of Abraham, Pachomius and Tikhon. It becomes clear that not all the saints of the Kostroma Saints Synaxes leave a mark in the folk chronology, but only a certain type of saint: these are the first Christian ascetics who came to Kostroma land, the founders of the first Orthodox monasteries on this territory, many of which are preserved today. As a rule, a short time after their death, their local veneration develops, eventually developing into a church-wide one. It has stable traces in the traditional calendar, as well as in folk (non-ecclesiastical) ritual practices and folklore, and its rootedness in the calendar partly ensures the preservation of cults. Despite the often formal ecclesiastical veneration of these saints, many of the chrononyms discussed are rare – that is, they are not recorded in a wide area (Pakhomiev den’); a number of them, according to our data, are unique Kostroma linguistic facts (Abramiev den’).

Received 16 October 2025

Revised 20 November 2025

Accepted 24 November 2025

For citation: Kuchko, V. S., 2025. Kostroma Chrononyms Related to the Memory of Saints Significant for the Region. Slavic World in the Third Millennium, 20 (3–4), pp. 287–304. https://doi.org/10.31168/2412-6446.2025.20.3-4.14