The relics of Saint Elijah rest in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Popular rumor claims that this is the same Elijah, known under the nickname Muromets, the greatest hero of the Russian land, the hero of epics and legends, who took monastic vows in his declining years and ended his days in the Pechersk Monastery .Is it so? Was Ilya Muromets a real historical figure, distinguished by unprecedented strength and famous for his military exploits, or a hero of legends, endowed by popular rumor with fabulous abilities? A fascinating reconstruction of the fate of the epic hero, based on real literary and historical documents, takes the reader back several centuries - to the time of the formation of the Russian a state drained of blood by raids and strife; times when the Orthodox faith, open to all peoples and accepting everyone equally, bloodlessly and slowly won souls and united the different tribes of Rus' into a single people.