Old Believers of the Nizhny Novgorod land — a religious movement that emerged from the church schism of the second half of the 17th century and possessing special historical roots in the Nizhny Novgorod land: it was here that Archpriest Avvakum was born — one of the schism's principal ideologues. Over several centuries the Nizhny Novgorod Old Believers formed independent communities and exerted notable influence on trade and public life in the region.
Avvakum and the Nizhny Novgorod origins of the schism
Archpriest Avvakum, born in the village of Grigorovo, became a spiritual symbol of the Old Belief. In 2020 the Old Believer church planned large-scale celebrations for the four-hundredth anniversary of his birth, with the main events envisaged in Grigorovo and in Moscow. Nizhny Novgorod merchants, in acute need of an ethical and intellectual platform independent of the official system of views, found such support in the Old Belief.
Trading posts and communities
Merchants from the Volga Region had already formed an influential Old Believer community in Moscow back in the 19th century, where their trading posts were located. Dmitry Vasilyevich Sirotkin — Mayor from 1913 to 1917 — was a prominent figure of the Old Belief: he headed the council of the All-Russian Congresses of Old Believers of the Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy and the council of the Nizhny Novgorod Old Believer community.
Study of the history of the Old Belief
Among researchers of Nizhny Novgorod Old Belief, Andrei Pavlovich Melnikov stands out — an official for special assignments under the Nizhny Novgorod governors from 1888 to 1917, Pavel Melnikov-Pechersky. He is known for works on the history and ethnography of the Nizhny Novgorod land, the history of the Old Belief, and the Nizhny Novgorod Fair.
Sources
Materials from articles used (3)
Archpriest Avvakum, Sirotkin Dmitry Vasilyevich, Andrei Pavlovich Melnikov