In the land of the old faith
How the Nizhny Novgorod region is trying to preserve something that has remained unchanged for centuries: Old Believer culture.
It all started with Baba Nastya. I got caught in the net. rollerIn it, a wizened, seemingly weightless old woman asserts: youth lasts until death. She also dances, sings, and smiles. A smile you don't often see. Sincere, a little shy, and very wise. The old woman turned out to be an Old Believer. I wondered: do they still exist? They cross themselves with two fingers, don't watch TV, don't read the news, and, according to persistent rumors, they are generally unsociable, bearded men who don't welcome visits from strangers.
This is not true. NeMoskva confirmed this after visiting the Semenovsky District of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
Holy place
Not far from the village of Osinki, somewhere between the Old Believer cemetery and the holy spring, the "Osinki Well," stand five golbets crosses. These are Old Believer crosses with "roofs." The graves are unmarked. It is known that they are the resting places of five elders who hid in the Nizhny Novgorod taiga to escape persecution after the schism. No legends provide precise information about their identity or where they came from. They possessed holy gifts—myrrh, which could be used to baptize a person, ordain him to the priesthood, or anoint him to the throne. In the 1700s, a large hermitage, "Sofontiev Tolka," was founded on this site. In the 1730s, Peter the Great's soldiers, at the instigation of Bishop Pitirim of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, came to the hermitage and destroyed the elders' cells. According to legend, chunks of lime—the remains of destroyed cells—were found in the Kuvychikha River for a long time. According to the same legend, the elders were either burned to death by soldiers or locked themselves in a barn and burned to death. Before their death, they managed to lower the holy gifts into the spring, over which a log structure was erected much later.
The bridge over the Kuvychikha and the graves of the elders
- This is just a legend, no one has found any confirmation, — says the author of the project “Kerzhak Old Believers”, a tour guide, local historian and anthropologist Margarita Almazova, who agreed to take me on this trip. "We cannot understand the minds of the Old Believers of those years. They believed they were living in the last days, that the Antichrist had already descended to earth and defiled the Tsar. For them, receiving communion from the new church meant perishing—dying spiritually. However, this cannot definitely mean that the elders took their own lives, since suicide is considered a terrible sin by all Orthodox Christians. There is no truth to be found here, only oral traditions."
Not far from the elders' graves is the holy well, reached by a wooden path across the Kuvychikha River. The river water is clear, and the holy spring is icy cold, even on the hottest day. On the wall of the log house hang numerous icons brought by local residents and pilgrims. These include, for example, icons of St. Matrona of Moscow, who has no connection to the Old Believers. They are never removed. The air is sweet with a hint of spruce bitterness, and the sun's rays pierce the trees in sharp lines. The well house seems like a fairytale house on the edge of an equally fairytale forest.
Holy Well
To preserve their faith and traditional way of life, the Old Believers had to flee densely populated cities after the schism, seeking refuge as far away as possible. This, in the Kerzhenets River region, was one such place. The lands were ownerless—not owned by a landowner, cut off from the mainland by the Volga on one side and forests and taiga on the other. There was virtually no population, as the land was infertile—sand and loam. This was a great advantage for the Old Believers. And the arrival of the Old Believers in the Nizhny Novgorod region was a benefit for the entire region, and you'll understand why later. says Margarita, leading along the path to the Old Believer cemetery.
It's very old. Some of the golbets are 200 years old and seem ready to crumble to dust at the slightest touch, while others are "younger" and stronger. Behind the crosses, a pile of blackened planks and logs can be seen—a crumbling chapel where sacred texts could be laid out and prayers offered.
A sense of unreality haunts: how has all this antiquity been preserved so nearly in its original form? According to Margarita, this is her main goal—preservation. To preserve sacred sites, to memorize and study prayers, songs, and tales, to preserve the "Staroobryaets" newspaper, chapels and churches, or even to repair them and build new ones, to tell the story of revived Old Believer crafts, architecture, dress, and rituals. And most importantly, to debunk the myths that have been created over centuries due to the forced isolation of the Old Believers and to tell the truth about these people.
He says there have been attempts to destroy sacred sites—whether workers desecrate an Old Believer cemetery or decide to cut something in the wrong place—but it's all due to ignorance. A new official comes in, sees the documents labeled "Closed Old Believer Cemetery," and assumes it's no longer there. So far, such incidents have been resolved with the authorities, as more than 40 sites in the district—the graves of elders and sketes—are designated cultural heritage sites of regional significance. And local residents help resolve minor problems. For example, recently replaced the boards in the frame of the holy well that had begun to rot.
A ruined chapel next to an Old Believer cemetery
With difficulty and faith
We reach the village of Larionovo, where Baba Nastya—Anastasia Ivanovna Abramova—lives in an old house. She's busy with the housework. She picked some garlic scapes, put them in a large bowl, and wondered who to share them with—she has a lot on her own.
She's 84 now, a neat old woman in a headscarf with an open smile. Her tanned fingers—she still digs in the garden by herself—are crooked with arthritis. She enters the house quickly, complaining that it's "falling over." The small room is surrounded by flowers—on the bedspread, wallpaper, and curtains. She tells me she's waiting for the "nanny" (a social worker) to fry some fish: "I want some fish."
Anastasia Ivanova Abramova from the village of Larionovo
Incidentally, her sister, who lives nearby, is 91 years old. Her neighbor, a 95-year-old, has a valid driver's license, which her grandfather uses extensively. Such longevity, according to Margarita, is no accident: outdoor work, home-grown produce, and faith. And reading sacred books in Old Church Slavonic prevents her brain from "sinking into childhood."
Anastasia Ivanovna was the ninth and second-to-last child in the family; she had five. She now has 16 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Everyone invites her to live with them, but she refuses. She worked many jobs throughout her life: from childhood, as a nanny in someone else's house, then as a shepherdess, a calf-keeper, a milkmaid, and in the planting and haymaking, but she also never forgot to go to parties—she loved to dance, sing songs, and ditties. Some of that has faded now, but Baba Nastya is still as much a singer as ever. She and Margarita begin singing together, merrily and harmoniously.
- Margarita, my dear, what do I know about you? I just won't tell you and upset you, — the hostess begins to sing.
"Oh, my friend Nastya, speak up, don't be afraid! My zeal is not jealous, don't worry!" — Margarita picks up.
Baba Nastya's eyes become lively, even mischievous. She sits on her bed, her hands folded in her lap.
It so happened that non-Slavic tribes lived here. And when the Old Believers arrived, they covered [the local faith] like a cap, but also accepted into their consciousness what was alien to Christianity. For example, one of the prayers: "Angel on the threshold, Christ on the way, holy road, keep the enemy out." In other words, they prayed to the Angel, Christ, and the Road. When Grandma Nastya closes the door, she turns to the holy mansion, which is built on a holy site. — explains Margarita.
The Old Believers are a religious movement within the Orthodox faith, very diverse in structure. It has numerous branches, of which perhaps only the Popovtsy and Bespopovtsy are well-known. However, in the Semenovskoye settlement alone, there are more than five such movements, and there are 15 Old Believer denominations in total. There are also "modern" Orthodox denominations, so understanding them all in one fell swoop is impossible.
Grandma Nastya and Margarita sometimes sing songs to set the mood
— I have two large icons: Saint Nicholas and John the Baptist, — Baba Nastya points to two opposite walls. — I know 40 verses of poetry about him [the Saint], about how he baptized Jesus in the Jordan. Whenever I go to bed, I always talk to him:
I ask you, God's servant,
Saint Nicholas the Great,
I'm drowning in the sea of life,
Give me a helping hand.
This is one of the Old Believer spiritual poems that were recited in everyday life, during leisure time. Baba Nastya also knows a great many of them.
Some Old Believers practiced performing rituals themselves, and this was primarily done by women. The mother of the house—their grandmother—baptized the children. There was nothing special about this.
Baba Nastya has a radio and a television covered with a napkin, and she is even shown on this television from time to time. A year ago she became a star The show "Hello, Andrey!", which she really enjoys watching. So, the Old Believer grandmother can't exactly be called a recluse.
Chapel with a Mannequin, a Temple with "Jewels"
And then things flashed by like a kaleidoscope: a stunning chapel, a marvelous church, a guest house-museum, a spoon and matryoshka doll maker's cooperative, forests, forests, and people—friendly, ready to tell stories, show you, feed you, and certainly give you a special souvenir. But first things first.
In the Nizhny Novgorod region, there are 50 buildings and places revered by Old Believers; we visited several so-called religious buildings.
The Bespopovskaya Chapel of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in Larionovo is brand new. It was built with the help of everyone: the village administration allocated the site, some neighbors donated funds, others cleared the site and helped with construction and wiring, a local businessman donated money for the bells, and most unexpectedly, Alexey Mordashov, head of the Severstal mining and steel company, donated the funds for the chapel itself. Village mayor Alexander Ilyin, who initiated the construction, still speaks of it with enthusiasm.
Larionovo Mayor Alexander Ilyin
— From here you can see where he settled. the first monk Arseny from the Solovetsky Monastery, who followed the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Kazan, — the headman points his hand to the forest, which is located a little further away and below the village. — Later, six more brothers from the same monastery came to our area: Adrian, Nikonur, Onufriy, Parthenius, Sophonius, and Trifilius. They settled in the taiga near the town of Semenov and began building sketes, which attracted people. These places were named Semibratskaya Valley. And over there, - points to the other side of the village, There was a chapel there, which was burned in 1936, and the icons were chopped up with an axe. And people began to pray in their homes and at the holy graves.
Alexander Mikhailovich is dressed simply: a checkered shirt, a Panama hat, and jeans. Kindly wrinkles run from his eyes to his temples. He seems to smile at everything—the sun, the distant forest, my surprise, my questions. He himself led a rather secular life for many years, and in retirement he decided to return with his wife to his native village. He says the idea to build a chapel came spontaneously, after visiting the surrounding Old Believer monasteries. He saw that many of the grave crosses had rotted and fallen, repaired what he could, and restored them. And so he conceived the idea of a chapel so that people of the Old Believer faith could pray there openly.
There's only one door to the chapel, but I think I got the wrong entrance. Immediately to the left is a stand with photographs of fellow countrymen who died in World War II. There are nearly a hundred portraits on it.
In the chapel of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God
- Is this even possible? — I blurt out.
- Why not? — Alexander Mikhailovich smiles. — They died for us, and we pray for them. Their descendants pray. I didn't even have a chapel yet, but I already ordered a display and put it out on the street for Easter. People asked why his grandfather, for example, wasn't there. And I said, "Let's collect them together." And they brought me photographs. In total, more than two hundred of our fellow countrymen went to the front. Now grandmothers come to pray, see their father, and cry. We must remember them. If they stop remembering them, that's it, the end.
Further on, in the left corner, there's a small display case containing Old Believer pectoral crosses and coins found in the area, and in the right corner, there's a mannequin dressed in women's clothing. Christ wasn't depicted on crosses, so as not to desecrate the sacred image, as a person with a cross around his neck goes to the restroom or the bathhouse. The attire is an example of women's clothing worn to prayer. It includes a headscarf, a white blouse, a floor-length sarafan, and the obligatory lestovka—braided rope or leather prayer beads. It resembles a flexible ladder and symbolizes, in the Old Russian tradition, the ladder of spiritual ascent to heaven.
There's no altar. Instead, there's a table and chair. Tables line the right wall of the chapel, and samovars sit on the tables. Icons line one windowless wall, many of them ancient. They were preserved and brought there by local residents.
- Very strange.“I share with Margarita on the way out.
— The Old Believers have it all like that: warm, simple, homely, — she answers.
As if to confirm her words, bells ring out—just like that, not on a holiday, but in the middle of a weekday. And why not, if it brings joy to someone?
And finally, the village elder laments: yes, no one oppresses the Old Believers now, there's no persecution, but civilization is advancing: young people are leaving for the big cities, "and they don't want to have children, even though families used to have six to nine children." He doesn't yet know how to solve the problem, how to prevent the village from dying out.
The Church of Our Lady of Vladimir in the village of Svetloye is already affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church—"new" Orthodox churches have always tended to be built in Old Believer sites, as a counterbalance. But it, too, has plenty of surprising features. For example, the three-dimensional head of a saint, made of wood. This is likely part of an Orthodox sculpture, such as those called "Permian gods" Serving such gods has been forbidden since the 1700s, so the ancient treasure is kept in a glass cabinet in the vestibule.
Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Svetloye
The rector, Priest Artemy Skakalin (incidentally, the first man with a long beard we encountered on our journey), talks about the church's ancient icons, some 200 years old and more. You'd think you'd only see them in movies. But here's something you wouldn't see in a movie: behind the glass of many of the icons, jewelry—gold and silver chains, rings, and pendants—is hung on strings.
"Believers bring their gifts to the saints, even from afar. For example, they prayed for their deepest desires, and they came true. And here we even have a special box for notes with wishes." — says Father Artemy, pointing to one of the icons.
He points to the same problem as Alexander Mikhailovich: a small number of parishioners, mostly grandmothers. He says he could be more helpful working in a larger parish, but for now he serves where God and the church leadership have directed him. He also tries to convey his faith to people through social media and records videos—something like "Good night, little ones!" only "Angel to bed!" The hosts are himself and his children Masha and Vanya.
There are many amazing things in the church in the village of Svetloe
House with a Secret
"We are a museum you can live in!" says Nizhny Novgorod resident Tatyana Zuykova talks about her homes. Young people are leaving villages because there's no work, but Tatyana invented her own way of working in the countryside. The Zuykovs first bought a house for a summer cottage, then acquired the one next door, which turned out to have a secret. After renovating, the owners found so many antiques that they decided to open a museum there. But this isn't a museum where you can "keep your hands off!"—it's one where you can cook and dine, lie on the stove or on soft featherbeds, and gaze at the protective dolls on the walls.
The owner of the house-museum, Tatyana Zuikova
"We discovered the most astonishing find only two years after the renovations began. In a secluded corner of the attic, there lay an icon of St. Nicholas, wrapped in a jacket. It's a Kerzhen icon." - Tatyana tells the story with inspiration, as if the discovery had just been made.
She was wearing a summery, colorful headscarf and a matching dress. When I saw Tatyana, I immediately imagined a stove in the house, pies, cool homemade kvass, and the distinct scent of meadow herbs. I was only slightly mistaken: instead of pies, there was one large pie with wild strawberries for lunch after okroshka, and instead of homemade kvass, there was herbal tea. The aroma permeated the entire hut.
The owner showed off all the "treasures" she'd found in the house: old photographs, a girl's diary with entries over a hundred years old, and a chest of drawers with equally aged cups. All of this can be touched and photographed, and here's why.
"I wanted to preserve and show what a peasant farm was like, so that those who didn't have grandmothers in the villages could at least learn about such life, and those who did could immerse themselves in childhood and rejoice. How was everything arranged? There's the dining table in the front corner—this is where they ate and welcomed guests. Right there, by the window, is my grandmother's—my mother-in-law's—bed. It's by the window, behind the curtain. At first, my grandmother looked after her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and now the children take care of their grandmother. Behind another curtain is the living room with beds—this was the owners' private space; strangers weren't allowed in. And, of course, the stove! Most often, the elderly and children, or those who were sick, lay on it." — Tatyana pulls back the curtain, behind which her children are laughing on the stove.
"Treasures" found in the house
The hut once belonged to a family of Old Believers, and their children adopted the "new" Orthodox faith. This wasn't unusual: the Makaryev Monastery operated in the neighboring village, and Orthodox missionaries persistently sought to convert the "lost" to their faith. And in everyday life, the "Old Believers" differed little from the "non-Old Believers." They lived harmoniously, without feuding, and even registered mixed marriages.
— What does it mean to “preserve the Kerzhen and Old Believer culture”? What does it need to be saved from? — Tatyana continues to explain. — From progress, the modern way of life, and oblivion. After all, even if a modern Old Believer wants to observe the original way of life, he won't be able to because he goes to work and has dozens of other things to do. Our ancestors worked too, but the elders prayed for them. The eldest woman in the family knew all the rituals and passed this knowledge on to the middle one, but now the eldest woman in the family remembers none of it. But one wants to study and preserve these nuggets of knowledge to pass on to others.
Hopes for preserving knowledge have already begun to come true: Tatyana's schedule is practically full, and people keep coming to the museum and the neighboring guesthouse—just to relax, have tea with the hostess, and listen to her stories.
Idleness. To hit or not to hit?
The interactive museum "Island of Living Crafts" in the district's center, Semyonov, also has a busy schedule. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the future seemed uncertain, the Pavlov family opened a production facility in a recently abandoned building, producing traditional items from the region—spoons, bowls, matryoshka dolls, and other wooden souvenirs. Due to the poor soil, it was impossible to grow a bountiful harvest, so spoon-making became a tradition among the Old Believers in the area. Here, you can see shelves of pre-made and finished spoons and bowls, watch the matryoshka dolls being made, and even try your hand at making one yourself or painting a pre-made one.
Khokhloma painting—a method of heat-treating metallized aluminum and tin powder using drying oil—was an invention of the Old Believers: the pieces appear golden, or at least gilded. The process of creating the "gilding" is truly magical. Here, the craft has been revived and is being popularized in every possible way. For example, wood turner Veniamin Sirotin started using it two years ago. did it a walking trip to Ryazan, where he shared the secrets of making Semenov winches (wine cups from which guests drank in turn during feasts).
Master Veniamin Sirotin
Veniamin himself can be called a bearer of local and family traditions: he learned the craft from his older brother. Now he can carve any bowl on a lathe in a few minutes, and craft a spoon from a baklushka in just two minutes.
— Has everyone heard the expression “to beat the twiddle”? — the master asks casually. That's it—a block of wood, a blank for a spoon. In the old days, any child of 7 or 8 years old could make a block of wood; if they couldn't, that meant they weren't cut out for anything.
As he spoke, the idle thing in his hands transformed into a spoon. Or rather, into a blank, because it still needs to be trimmed of any rough edges, sanded, painted, and varnished. According to Veniamin, the spoon blanks are in the greatest demand—they are purchased for painting by craftswomen, aspiring artists, and even by teachers and kindergarten teachers to teach children how to paint. He also says he's now reassured: the craft won't die out, and interest in it is only growing—even among those who have no connection to the region or the Old Believers.
In Sirotin's workshop
"Now let's talk about why the schismatics were lucky with their location, and the region with the Old Believers. They needed to survive, so the settlers led an ascetic lifestyle, being hardworking people." — Margarita returns to the previous conversation. — Many successful and famous people come from Old Believer families. Just look at our town of Semyonov, and everything becomes clear: it's neat and clean, and its historical heritage is preserved. The courtyards of private homes are always tidy, flowerbeds are laid out, and flowers are planted. Even if the owner isn't an Old Believer, they won't leave their property dirty, lest they become "famous" among the neighbors. So we're all very lucky.
I was lucky too: I brought a piece of Old Believer culture back to my region. From Elder Ilyin I received two Old Believer candles, from Margarita a newspaper she oversees, from Tatyana warm memories and a sense of childhood, and from Veniamin ready-made spoons, painted spoons, and a salt shaker he carved on a lathe in a couple of minutes. And Baba Nastya… absolved me of my sins. Without further ado, she suddenly asked so earnestly, "Am I sinful?" I am sinful, Baba Nastya… It was unusual, wonderful, but my soul truly felt much lighter.
