K is for Kitezh

         (My A-Z Blog Challenge theme this year is Mythical and Imaginary Places.  Be sure to visit the Master List to see what all my fellow A-Z Bloggers are up to this year.)

        Kitezh was a city on the shore of Lake Svetloyar in central Russia.  Why is Kitezh sometimes called “the Russian Atlantis,” and why is that a dumb thing to call it?  Why is it always important to have a wise and virtuous nature maiden on your side?  And what does this city sound like?  To find out all this and more, you can 

read the post about Kitezh here.

        In an interesting historical note, apparently the entire lake is quite geologically recent, forming as the result of some sort of natural cave-ins… right around the same time that the Mongol Golden Horde of Batu Khan was conquering the area.  Coincidence?  Moreover, some evidence was found of artificial structures on the lake 

bottom.  Of course, none of these sorts of expeditions is ever conclusive, and really there would be no mystery about it at all if you could still see the dome of the church as advertised!  Still, I do get a kick out of whatever little clues may be found.

        I have some fun illustrations for you today, the first being an absolutely magnificent lacquer box in the traditional Russian style.  You can see the Russians and Mongols fighting in the foreground, some other scenes from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera around the edges, and the sunken city under the waters of the lake in the middle.  Today’s second illustration is also based on the opera, being another stage-set design.  (It’s another design from the same production as the second picture in the main Kitezh post, I believe.)

        This third picture is a different take on the whole legend.  It’s an in-game shot from the video game “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” featuring Lara Croft having adventures in her search for some sort of magical artifact hidden in Kitezh.  The plot of the game has nothing to do with the traditional legend, but I’m sure they had fun adapting it.

        And finally, a painting clearly inspired by the legend but without specifics from either the opera or the video game.  A single woman in the foreground simply looks out at the waters of the lake, seeing the perfect city preserved below in all its sparkling glory.

        The MORAL of Kitezh: Perfect faith and virtue will protect you.

              OR:  Better to have loved and been lost than never to have loved at all.

        So, which of Kitezh’s variant preservation options would you choose: turn invisible, or sink to the bottom of a cold Russian lake?  Seems like a no-brainer to me, but I do know some crazy cold-water swimming enthusiasts, so let’s hear your take.

[Pictures: The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, painted lacquer box by Ivanovo Oblast Kholuy, 1973 (Image from The Virtual Russian Museum);

The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, watercolor by Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin, 1928 (Image from Sotheby’s/akg-images);

The City of Kitezh, screen shot from “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” 2015 (Image from Steam Community);

The Drowned City, painting by Konstantin Gorbatov, 1933 (Image from Wikimedia Commons).]