The Crimean War (1853−1856) was a contradictory event in the eyes of its participants, contemporaries and eyewitnesses. However, in the Russian cultural memory the events of this war became the national Myths, the heroic triumph, the holy war for the faith. Sevastopol became the element of the national pride and glory, the symbol of the sanctity. The fallen soldiers and officers became the saints, the men of the God. This article shows the influence of the Christianity images on the heroic discourse of the Crimean war and Sevastopol siege. Author focuses attention on the evangelical stories and Easter subjects, and images of a soldier, a seaman, a mother, a commander.

Despite the frustration the Crimean War caused its contemporaries, it did not become a forgotten war. On the contrary it inspired the creation of some of the Russian people’s most important patriotic symbols. From feelings of euphoria and expectations for victory after the Russian forces' initial success, the patriotic sentiments of early days of the war developed into a sense of mournful pride at the beginning of the twentieth century. It became increasingly important to remember the military and physical defeat, but not the moral one. This article shows the influence of the heroic tradition of past wars, in particular, the campaign of 1812 against Napoleon I, on the evolution of the memory of the Crimean War. This tradition gave the memory of the Crimean War its peculiar form; it also softened the image of the traumatic past by minimalizing the tragic nature of the war and increasingly emphasizing the heroic deeds of Russian soldiers. This article discusses the images of characters «from the people» formed in the narrative and included in the original pantheon of the war’s heroes in Crimea. The images were supposed to emphasize the popular character of the war, with much space being devoted to heroism, sacrifice, and moral superiority over the enemy. These characters change into the symbols that form part of the Sevastopol myth.