View source for Joachim Korsunianin of Novgorod

Our father among the [[saint]]s '''Joachim Korsunianin''' was the first Bishop of Novgorod the Great. He occupied the [[see]] from about 989 to 1030. He is commemorated on [[February 10]] with the [[synaxis]] of the Hierarchs of Novgorod.

==Life==
Bp. Joachim probably came from Cherson (Korsun) on the Crimean Peninsula, as his surname suggests. While sources differ on the precise year of his arrival in Kiev or later in Novgorod, 989 is given as the probable date. <ref>D. S. Likhachev, ed., ''Slovar Knizhnikov i knizhnostei drevnei Rusi'', vol. 1, pp. 204-206.</ref> 

Once he arrived in [[Novgorod]], Bp. Joachim immediately established a Christian presence. He cast the idol of the god Perun into the Volkhov River and built the Perunskii [[Monastery]] on the site where it once stood. He then built the first [[St. Sophia Cathedral (Novgorod)|Cathedral of Holy Wisdom]], a wooden building, on the site of a pagan cemetery. This was not discovered until archaeological excavations in the twentieth century. Some artifacts that were held in St. Sophia Cathedral may have originated from the time of Bp. Joachim arrival. Bp. Joachim also built the Church of Joachim and Anne that was dedicated to his patron saints. The church stood near the present site of the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom. He was buried there on his death in 1030, but his [[relics]] were transferred into the current cathedral in 1598.  

Little is known of his episcopate. Although the ''Ioakimovskaia Letopis'' (Ioachim Chronicle) is traditionally attributed to him, this is now considered to be highly questionable. The chronicle is more likely a seventeenth century compilation that now often is attributed to [[Patriarch]] Joachim of Moscow  rather than Joachim Korsunianin.<ref>S. K. (Sergei Konstantinovich)Shambinago, “Ioakimovskaia letopis’.” Istoricheskie Zapiski (1947): 254-70.</ref> Upon his death in 1030, his disciple, Efrem, administered the eparchy for five years, from 1030 to 1035, until the arrival of Luka Zhidiata.

Joachim is venerated as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church. His [[feast day]] is February 10 (the feast of the Novgorodian Saints, in which ten other bishops, archbishops, and others are commemorated).

==References==
<references/>

{{start box}}
{{succession|
before=&mdash;|
title=[[List of bishops of the Diocese of Novgorod|Bishop of Novgorod]]|
years= 989-1030|
after=[[Luka Zhidiata of Novgorod|Luka Zhidiata]]}}
{{end box}} 

==Sources==
*[[Wikipedia:/Ioakim_Korsunianin]]
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=100480  OCA: St Joachim, First Bishop of Novgorod]

==External link==
*[http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Chersonesos  Chersonesos]

[[Category: Saints]]
[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category:10th-11th-century bishops]]
[[Category: Bishops of Novgorod]]
[[Category:11th-century saints]]