Old Belief in the Nizhny Novgorod Region — a religious movement that emerged as a result of the church schism of the second half of the 17th century and has particularly deep historical roots in the Nizhny Novgorod land: it was here that Archpriest Avvakum was born, one of the principal ideologists of the schism. Over the course of several centuries, the Old Believers of Nizhny Novgorod formed independent communities and exerted a notable influence on the trade and public life of the region.
Avvakum and the Nizhny Novgorod Origins of the Schism
Archpriest Avvakum, born in the selo of Grigorovo, became the spiritual symbol of Old Belief. In 2020, the Old Believer Church planned to organize large-scale celebrations marking the four-hundredth anniversary of his birth; the main events were scheduled to take place in Grigorovo and in Moscow. Nizhny Novgorod merchants, who had a pressing need for an ethical and intellectual platform independent of the official worldview, found in Old Belief exactly such a foundation.
Trading Posts and Communities
Merchants from the Nizhny Novgorod Volga Region had already by the 19th century formed an influential Old Believer community in Moscow, where their trading posts were located. Dmitry Vasilyevich Sirotkin — Nizhny Novgorod city mayor from 1913 to 1917 — was a prominent figure in Old Belief: he headed the council of the All-Russian Congresses of Old Believers of the Belokrinitsa Concord and the council of the Nizhny Novgorod Old Believer Community.
Study of the History of Old Belief
Among the researchers of Nizhny Novgorod Old Belief, Andrey Pavlovich Melnikov stands out — a special-assignments official serving under the Nizhny Novgorod governors from 1888 to 1917, and the son of the writer Pavel Ivanovich Melnikov-Pechersky. He is known for his works on the history and ethnography of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the history of Old Belief, and the Nizhny Novgorod Yarmarka.
Sketes
| Name | Years | Description |
|---|
| Komarovsky Skit | late 17th century – 1927 | 35 hermitages in the early 19th century, three mothers of Manefa, graves of Iona Kurnosy and Manefa the Last; the principal setting of In the Forests |
| Olenevsky Skit | traditionally from the 15th century – 1850s | A Beglopopovsky skit 24 kilometres from Semyonov, now the village of Bolshoye Olenevo; the abbess of Anfisa's hermitage, Mother Margarita, was the prototype for Mother Manefa in Melnikov's novels |
| Sharpanskiy Skit | 1657 – 1928 | Old (Empty) and New Sharpan: the legend of the monk Arseniy and the Kazan Icon, the "tsaritsa's grave" of the schema-nun Praskovya, the stone chapel built by Bugrov in 1911 |
| Ulangersky Skit | 1780s – 28 February 1858 | The "boyar" skit on the Kozlenets River, up to twenty hermitages, ties with the Rogozhskoye Cemetery in Moscow; the last to be destroyed |
| Skit Smolyany | 1656 – 1694 | A skit of monks from the Bizyukov Monastery in Smolensk; destroyed before Pitirim's time — the priest Feodosiy was seized and burned. Prayer gatherings on 26 June and during Easter Week |
| Skit "Seven Maidens" | 17th century – 1720s | A skit near the village of Larionovo, destroyed during Pitirim's time; pilgrimage on 30 May, the feast day of the Seven Holy Maidens |
| Gordeevsky Skit | 18th century – 1853 | A skit in the Koverninsky District, closed in the first round of closures in 1853; an extensive cemetery has survived, and locals call the area "the cells" |
| Chernukhinsky Skit | – late 1920s | One of four women's skits that survived into the 20th century; stood five versts from Semyonov |
| Malinovsky Skit | 1788 – 1936, from 1993 | The only active skit in the Region: a women's monastery of the Russian Old-Orthodox Church in the selo of Filippovskoye in the Bor district, with a church built in 1911 using Bugrov's funds |
Concords and Sects
| Name | Years | Description |
|---|
| Saviour Accord | from the late 17th century | A Netovshchina movement that took shape in the middle Volga region; its founders are said to be Kerzhenets residents Kozma Andreyev and Kozma Panfilov. Subgroups: the Greater-Authority, the Lesser-Authority, and the Silent Netovshchina |
| Fugitive-Priest Followers of the Nizhny Novgorod Region | 18th–21st centuries | The "Bugrov faith": around 14,000 followers in 1912, centers in Semyonov and Gorodets, patron N. A. Bugrov; now part of the Russian Old-Orthodox Church |
| The Belokrinitsa Accord in the Nizhny Novgorod Region | from the mid-19th century | 30,000 followers and more than thirty churches by 1912; councils chaired by D. V. Sirotkin; now the Nizhny Novgorod–Vladimir Diocese of the ROCA (Old Believers) |
| The Pomorian Accord in the Nizhny Novgorod Region | 18th–21st centuries | Around 25,000 followers and more than sixty prayer houses by 1912; centers in Gorodets and "Korela"; now around fifty congregations |
| Fedoseyevtsy in the Nizhny Novgorod Region | 18th–21st centuries | Old Pomorian followers of the northern and western parts of the Region, over twenty thousand followers by 1912; now around forty congregations, predominantly in Tonkinsky District |
| Self-Baptizers | 19th–20th centuries | The "Fyoklina faith": an accord centered in the selo of Tolba in Sergachsky District, led by mentor Aleksandr Mikheyevich Zapyantsev |
Monasteries and Edinoverie
Churches and Prayer Houses
| Name | Years | Description |
|---|
| Uspensky Cathedral (Nizhny Novgorod) | 1914–1916, Old Believer since 1964 | A church at Pushkina Street, 34, designed by V. A. Pokrovsky, transferred to the Old Believers after the demolition of the church on Suetinska Street; the first service according to the old rite was held on 10 January 1965 |
| Uspensky Old Believer Church on Suetinska Street | 1912–1965 | A church of the Belokrinitsa community, built at the expense of D. V. Sirotkin to a design by N. M. Veshnyakov; blown up in 1965, the salvaged iconostasis now stands at Pushkina Street, 34 |
| Uspensky Old Believer Chapel (Gorodets) | 1786, stone-built from 1893 | A chapel on Chasovennaya Hill, rebuilt in stone at the expense of N. A. Bugrov; it had almshouses accommodating 122 and a school for 300 pupils. Closed in 1935 |
| Uspensky Church of the Russian Ancient Orthodox Church (Gorodets) | after 1905, returned in the 1990s | The largest Old Believer parish in Gorodets, Shchorsa Street, 28 |
| Nikolsky Old Believer Church (Semyonov) | early 20th century | An active Old Believer church in the district capital of Zavolzhye |
Events
| Name | Years | Description |
|---|
| Pitirimovoye Razoreniye | 1719–1720s | Destruction of the Kerzhenets sketes: 130 questions and the "Dyakonovy Otvety," the disputation at Pafnutovo, the execution of Deacon Alexander, the double tax rate |
| Destruction of the Kerzhenets Sketes of 1853 | 1853–1858 | The second campaign: the decree of 1 March and the edict of 1 May 1853, confiscation of icons, registration of skete dwellers as state peasants, destruction of Ulangerye on 28 February 1858 |
| Avvakumovskiye Chteniya | from 2002 | Academic conference of the Bolshemurashkinskiy District Historical and Art Museum in Grigorovo and Bolshoe Murashkino |
People
| Name | Years | Description |
|---|
| Archpriest Avvakum | 1620–1682 | Born in Grigorovo; the principal writer and martyr of early Old Belief |
| Nun-schemanun Photinia | early 18th century | The "Founding Elder," buried between the Komarovsky and Ulangersky sketes; pilgrimages are made at Easter and on 29 June |
| Mother Manefa of Komarovo | — 1816 | Founder of the Manefa Convent in the Komarovsky skete, venerated as a saint; her tomb dates from 1818, built with funds from the Moscow merchant F. Ya. Kasatkin |
| Sofontiy (Kerzhenets monk) | — late 17th century | A fugitive Solovki monk who founded a skete dedicated to the Holy Spirit in 1677; the Sofontiyevsky concord was named after him, and his grave is under state protection |
| Pitirim of Nizhny Novgorod | around 1665 — 8 May 1738 | Bishop (from 1724 archbishop) of Nizhny Novgorod and Alatyr; himself a former Old Believer from Vetka, author of the 1721 "Spiritual Sling" |
| Deacon Alexander (of Kerzhenets) | — 21 March 1720 | Leader of the Trans-Volga Dyakonovites, co-author of the "Deacon's Answers"; publicly executed in Nizhny Novgorod after petitioning Peter I |
| Melnikov-Pechersky Pavel Ivanovich | 1818–1883 | An official for special assignments who closed down the sketes, and the author of the two-novel cycle that made them famous |
| Melnikov Andrey Pavlovich | 1855–1930 | Son of the writer, an official for special assignments and a historian of Old Belief and the Yarmarka |
| Blinov Ivan Gavrilovich | 1872–1944 | A Gorodets scribe and icon painter of peasant Beglopopovtsy origin: over a hundred illuminated manuscript books, and a collaborator of the Gorodets Museum |
| Ovchinnikov Pyotr Alekseevich | 1843–1912 | A Balakhna merchant of the Beglopopovtsy who assembled over eight hundred manuscript books; the collection is Fund No. 209 of the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library |
| Pryanishnikov Grigory Matveevich | 1845–1915 | A Gorodets grain merchant who maintained a workshop of calligraphers and icon painters; his collection of 203 manuscripts and 300 early printed books was bought by the Rumyantsev Museum in 1918 |
| Bugrov Nikolay Aleksandrovich | 1837–1911 | Flour miller and patron of the Nizhny Novgorod Beglopopovtsy: chairman of the All-Russian congresses of the concord in 1908–1910, builder of churches and almshouses |
| Bugrov Pyotr Egorovich | 1785–1859 | Founder of the family business: an appanage peasant, felt-boot maker and contractor, owner of the first flour mills in the governorate, on the Linda; the hero of V. I. Dal's story "Grandfather Bugrov" |
| Bugrov Aleksandr Petrovich | 1809–1883 | Second generation: expanded the milling and timber-processing business, commissioned a night shelter; the prototype of Patap Chapurin in Melnikov-Pechersky |
| Sirotkin Dmitry Vasilevich | 1865–1953 | Steamship owner of the Belokrinitsa concord, city mayor in 1913–1917, chairman of the All-Russian congresses of Old Believers; died in Belgrade |
| Blinov Fyodor Andreevich | 19th century | The eldest of the Blinov brothers, the first to replace barge-hauling with steam power on the Volga |
| Ustin Savvich Kurbatov | 19th century | An Old Believer, heir to the Kolchin shipyard and steamship company, member of the city duma in 1870–1885 |
| Kostromin Mikhail Andreevich | 18th century | An Old Believer merchant whose money paid for Ivan Kulibin's "egg" clock, presented to Catherine II in 1767 |
| Irinarkh (Lapshin) | 1832–1902 | Bishop of Yaroslavl and Kostroma of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy; spent the last months of his life in Nizhny Novgorod under police supervision and died here |
| Aleksey Groza | | Director of the "Kitezh-Grad" museum-reserve, from an Old Believer family of the Novozybkov concord; has held cathedral vigils at Svetloyar since 2004 |
Merchant Dynasties
| Name | Years | Description |
|---|
| Bugrovs | 19th – early 20th century | Three generations of flour millers and Beglopopovtsy Old Believers: Pyotr Yegorovich, Aleksandr Petrovich, Nikolay Aleksandrovich |
| Blinovs | 19th – early 20th century | An Old Believer family of serfs from Balakhninsky District: salt, grain, fine flour, the Blinov Passage, and the city's first honorary citizens |
| Lapshins (Gorodets merchants) | 19th – early 20th century | Barge-building and steamship operations: M. P. Lapshin, chairman of the Khiva company; the Rus partnership with Sirotkin; an estate on Kupecheskaya Street |
| Oblayevs (Gorodets merchants) | 19th – early 20th century | Grain trade and mills in Gorodets, Tetyushi, and Tashkent; I. P. Oblayev's mansion has housed a local history museum since 1918 |
| Sotins (Gorodets merchants) | 19th century | Thirty wharves on the Volga; the estate of Osip Kornilievich Sotin — 1.2 million rubles |
Places
| Name | Years | Description |
|---|
| Kerzhenets River | | Left tributary of the Volga along which the sketes were established; gave rise to the terms "kerzhentsy" and "kerzhaki" far beyond the boundaries of the governorate |
| Chernoramensky forests | | Forested area to the west of the Kerzhenets: the second half of the skete cluster, where Sharpan and Ulanger were located |
| Semyonovsky Uyezd | 1779–1929 | The uyezd within whose boundaries most of the sketes fell after the gubernatorial reform |
| Town of Semyonov | | The uyezd town, the spoon-making and Old Believer capital of the Trans-Volga region; now the center of the Russian Old-Orthodox Church in the oblast |
| Gorodets | | The second center of the region: seven congregations, a chapel on Chapel Hill, scribes and Old Believer merchants |
| Grigorovo Village | | Birthplace of Archpriest Avvakum in Bolshemurashkinsky District: a monument by Klykov from 1991, the Church of Kazan dating from 1698–1700, and an annual religious procession |
| Bolshoe Murashkino | | A village 12 kilometers from Grigorovo: a functioning church of the Holy Martyr Avvakum and a congregation of the RPSTS, a museum, and the Avvakum Readings |
| Kerzhensky Nature Reserve | from 1993 | A nature reserve in the middle reaches of the Kerzhenets — on the lands where the sketes once stood |
| Bugrovskoe Cemetery | from 1916 | A municipal cemetery that took its name from the adjacent Old Believer cemetery maintained by N. A. Bugrov |
| Old Believer Cemetery (Nizhny Novgorod) | 1843 — 1930s | A begulopop cemetery with a skete, a prayer house, and the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker built by Bugrov over the graves of his relatives; destroyed during the Soviet era |
| Svetloyar | | A lake to which Old Believer bespopovtsy came for prayers alongside Orthodox Christians; the two groups prayed separately |
| Kitezh | | The legend of the invisible city, which entered the Old Believer literary tradition of the Trans-Volga region |
Buildings
Books and Crafts
| Name | Years | Description |
|---|
| Gorodets gingerbread | since the 19th century | Gorodets printed gingerbread: around fifty workshops in 1838, most gingerbread-makers Old Believers (the Lemekhov, Shcherbakov, Gunyakov, and Bakharev families) |
| Khokhloma | | The "gold-style" painting tradition that developed in the Zavolzhye villages around the monastic Kerzhenets |
Books
| Name | Years | Description |
|---|
| In the Forests and On the Hills | 1871–1881 | A two-part novel about the Kerzhenets Zavolzhye: hermitages, Old Believer merchant life, and forest trades |
Collections
Museums
| Name | Years | Description |
|---|
| Gorodetsky Local History Museum | from 1918 | Museum in the mansion of Gorodets merchant I. P. Oblaev: a section on the Old Believers, 18 Blinov manuscripts, part of the Pryanishnikov collection |
| Semyonovsky History and Art Museum | | Exhibition on Kerzhenets Old Believer history: a commemorative plaque from 1861 about a dispute, an 18th-century map showing sketes, chains of mortification, and manuscripts |
Institutions
Compilations and Reviews
| Title | Years | Description |
|---|
| Old Belief in the Nizhny Novgorod Region | from the 1650s | General overview: the Schism, Kerzhenets roots, concordances, merchantry, and present-day communities |
| Kerzhenets Sketes | 1660s — 1930s | Network of forest hermitages: 94 sketes by the early 18th century according to archival estimates, 77 according to Melnikov-Pechersky |
| Old Believer Concordances of Nizhny Novgorod Region | | Nine concordances: Belokrinitsy, Beglopoovtsy, Pomortsy, Fedoseyevtsy, Filippovtsy, Spasovtsy, Arsenyevtsy, Samokreshchentsy, Stranniki — with 1912 figures and current numbers |
| Edinoverie in Nizhny Novgorod Governorate | 1798–1917 | Metropolitan Platon's Rules of 1800, edinoverie monasteries of the region, growth from 19 churches in 1888 to 35 in 1917 |
Sources
Based on materials from articles (3)
Archpriest Avvakum, Sirotkin Dmitry Vasilyevich, Melnikov Andrey Pavlovich
