Seizure of church treasures in the Russian North in the 1920s

• Published in: The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret's Institute
• Main Authors: I. P. Ponomareva, A. M. Kopirovsky
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: St. Philaret’s Christian Orthodox Institute 2022
• Subjects: history of the russian church; the russian north; a campaign for the seizure of church treasures; spiritual resistance; surskoye podvorie; history of churches and monasteries; solovetsky monastery; ancient repository; история русской церкви; русский север; кампания по изъятию церковных ценностей; духовное сопротивление; сурское подворье; история храмов и монастырей; соловецкий монастырь; епархиальное древле хранилище; Religion (General); BL1-50; Solovetsky; Arkhangelsk; Russian North
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.25803/26587599_2022_44_138; https://doaj.org/article/dfc3a179da3547ad80716b6a90d53921

The article reveals the background and describes the main stages in the process of seizing church treasures in the Russian North in the 1920s. The chronology of this process is shown on the basis of archival documents, historians’ and local scholars’ studies; the paper explores the characteristics of the two phases of the campaign, the role of the clergy in them and the media coverage of the process. There is evidence of the loss of church sacred objects and of parts of peoples’ church and state cultural heritage in Arkhangelsk province, in particular the unique collection of church treasures from the diocesan ancient repository irretrievably destroyed, and five monastery libraries. A special description is given to several stages in the process of seizing valuables in the Solovetsky monastery. Evidence of resistance against the destruction of the shrines of the Russian North by individuals, Orthodox communities, and members of the clergy is also examined. A special place in the article is given to the account of the activity of the experts of the Glavmusei, who, in spite of the catastrophic state of museums in the Arkhangelsk province in the early 1920s, preserved spiritual and cultural rarities of the Russian North, which at present are kept in museums of Moscow and St. Petersburg. This paper identifies hitherto unexplored problems connected with the seizure of church treasures in the Arkhangelsk province.