The present article considers the issue of the genesis of the idea of «Holly Russia» and some most wide spread viewpoints on this topic. The author makes an attempt to define the time the idea of «Holly Russia» originated, prerequisites of its appearing and its content. The author contests the opinion of the researchers who regard the origination of the concept of «Holly Russia» be of the same period when this phrase was mentioned for the first time. Drawing distinctions between the verbal expression of the idea of «Holly Russia» and its meaning, the author suggests that the idea might appear in the 11 - 13 cc. In the author’s opinion to study the idea of «Holly Russia» is it necessary to explore both written sources and other compounds of culture: templar architecture, iconography, folklore, miniature pictorial art and others. The author treats «Holly Russia”» as a semantic field - a certain reality that ensures the stability of the Russian medieval culture and as a form of Russian cultural identity. Among the prerequisites of this idea the author places the entelechia-eidetic compound of the mentality of the Russian people, which arises from the times of the pagan Rus. The article presents a number of aspects displaying the complexity and disambiguate of the idea. The following aspects comprise the idea of «Holly Russia»: contraposition of Russia to other peoples, purification suffering within panentheism, contempt to everything material and preference of spiritual, akribeia, «Russiannes» as orthoxiness, Rus as the last outpost of Orthodox, who prevents the world from the Judgment day by its sanctity.
