Archaeologists unearth military arsenal from the era of Ivan the Terrible

An archaeological expedition from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, while conducting a rescue excavation dig near Zvenigorod (Moscow Region) involving the new Central Circular Highway, has unearthed the private arsenal of a military commander from the era of Ivan the Terrible.

The location of the find was formerly the 16th-century village of Ignatievskoe, once the homeland of the famous Boyar family of the Dobrynins. A member of this family once figured amongst Ivan the Terrible’s “hand-picked thousand "—the top brass of the notorious Tsar’s army, an elite officer group formed in October 1550. A royal edict ordered that the cities of Dmitrov, Zvenigorod and Ruza should be "brought to heel” by a specially formed unit of “the best officers, sons of Boyars.” The “hand-picked thousand” became the new elite officer corps of the Russian army. Read more.