Ilya (Archbishop of Novgorod)

Ilya of Novgorod, also known as Ioann (John) of Novgorod (Russian: Иоанн Новгородский, his name upon entering the Great Schema and the name by which he is known in Russian Orthodox hagiography), was Archbishop of Novgorod from 1165 to his death in 1186.

The son of a priest, Ilya was himself priest of the Church of St. Blaise, south of the Novgorod Kremlin. The church was destroyed, rebuilt in 1407, destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt again. Ilya was probably his first monastic name, and his baptismal name is not known.

Ilya was appointed bishop of Novgorod by Metropolitan Ioann of Kiev in 1165. He was the first to hold the title of archbishop in Novgorod after the office was elevated to the archiepiscopal dignity a few months later. Niphont held the title as a personal honor.

Ilya carried out a number of construction projects in Novgorod along with his brother, Gavril (also known as Grigorii), who succeeded him as archbishop (1186–1193) and consecrated the Khutyn Monastery, among other things.

Ilya died on September 7, 1186, and was buried in the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in the west gallery, next to the Predtechenskaia Porch. He was originally buried below the floor in the Martirievskii Porch (where Gavril is still buried), but was later moved. His relics were desecrated during the Soviet anti-religious campaigns on April 3, 1919. They are now in a different sarcophagus with a sarcophagial effigy (from the 1990s) covering it.

Ilya was canonized at the Moscow Council of 1547. His feast day is September 7 in the Julian calendar and September 20 in the Gregorian.

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