Date by the old style: August 30. On this day, a major Orthodox holiday is celebrated – the transfer of the relics of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, the protector of Russian lands. Two great battles of the prince, in which he achieved victory, will forever remain in the memory of descendants: the Battle of the Neva in 1240 and the Battle on the Ice on Lake Peipus in 1242. The history of the holiday of the transfer of Prince Alexander's relics begins in 1721 when Peter the Great concluded a truce with the Swedes. In honor of this event, the emperor decided to move the relics of Saint Alexander from Vladimir, where they had been kept until then, to the newly built St. Petersburg. Peter believed that the relics would protect the new Russian capital from possible enemy attacks. The relics were brought from Vladimir in 1723 and stored for a year in Shlisselburg before being placed in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The day of Saint Alexander was called Sytnik in Russia because it was customary to prepare lavish feasts, gather guests, and organize banquets on this day. Typically, a hearty dish was prepared—barley porridge with milk. And, of course, fresh bread made from the new harvest grain was served. It was no coincidence that people said, "It is good to live well-fed with bread." On Sytnik day, peasants performed a special ritual for the future harvest. They would weave barley stalks into one braid along with flax and oats. Name days on this day: Alexander, Alexey, Angelina, Apollinary, Arseny, Vasily, Gabriel, Gregory, Daniel, Eugenia, Elizabeth, Ephraim, Ivan, Ignatius, Cornelius, Leonid, Macarius, Maxim, Nicholas, Paul, Peter, Savva, Simeon, Stepan, Theodore