In the article, on the basis of a significant complex of sources, the reconstruction of the Orthodox landscape of Shimozero in the second half of the 19th – first quarter of the 20th century, inhabited by Veps, was carried out for the first time. In 1958–1959, Shimozersky Vepsians were forced to leave their small homeland in the Vytegorsky district of the Vologda region. The Shimozero tragedy aroused a continuing interest in the history and culture of this Vepsian group on the part of the descendants of the natives of these places, researchers and tourists who constantly visit the abandoned territory. The article traces the emergence of Orthodox churches, chapels and a monastery in the cultural landscape of Shimozersky Znamensky and Vysokozersky Nikolaevsky parishes, gives their description, analysis of temple dedications and holidays. Turning to a comprehensive study of the Orthodox landscape made it possible, on the one hand, to highlight some events in confessional history and forms of folk religiosity of an ethno-cultural group, on the other hand, to identify decaying original cultural heritage sites that require urgent conservation measures (Georgievsky Church (1496) and Znamenskaya Church (1808) with a sundial). It has been established that this territory in the past possessed phenomenal Orthodox shrines (Vysokoyezerskaya Hermitage; a miraculous icon; holidays that captured the contamination of unique folk and Christian events).
Key words: Vepsians, Shimozerye, Orthodox landscape, folk religiosity, cultural heritage
DOI: 10.22250/20728662_2023_4_31
About the author
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Irina Yu.Vinokurova – DSc (History), leading researcher of the Ethnology Sector of the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the KarRC RAS; 11 Pushkinskaya str., Petrozavodsk, 185910, Republic of Karelia, Russia; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |