Changes in the cultural landscape during the Soviet and the post-Soviet periods: rural temples and cemeteries (on the example of the Komi Republic)

Holy places are an integral part of the cultural landscape of rural Russia. They play an important role in shaping the local, ethnic and religious identity. The article deals with elements of the cultural landscape which were vital symbols of the Russian Orthodox tradition (churches, chapels, cemeteries). The aim of the study is to highlight general trends and local features of the functioning of these elements of the cultural landscape during the 20th century. The author tries to show different scenarios related to the fact that churches in the villages were closed in the 1930s and to the new soviet ritualism. The study is based on the archive data and field materials collected during ethnographic expeditions in rural areas of the Komi Republic in 1999-2017. In this article, the author considers churches and rural chapels that played an important role in the formation of the cultural landscape of the village, that were symbols of Orthodoxy. It is no coincidence that the closing of churches became an integral part of the Soviet anti-religious policy. Stories about destroying churches and punishment for the sacrilege still remained in the people's memory. During the Soviet period rural temples were used as storehouses, houses of culture or clubs; they were demolished, abandoned and gradually ruined. Despite the prohibitions, some temples retained their functions to some extent: here local people celebrated services without clergy. The author points that instead of the destroyed old monuments Soviet authorities created new ones. Near the church buildings there appeared monuments to the Red Army soldiers who died during the Civil War, memorials to the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) and a new "Soviet ceremony" associated with these monuments was formed. The author comes to a conclusion that during the Soviet period local authorities could not entirely "erase" religious buildings and structures from the cultural landscape of rural areas of the Komi Republic. In some cases, Soviet rituals were associated with church buildings. Soviet monuments became a kind of places of worship, visible symbols of the new ideology. During the post-Soviet period, the number of rural parishes increased, many churches were rebuilt, some new ones were built. In some villages, memorial signs were put on places of destroyed burials of the rural clergy and on places of destroyed temples. In the contemporary village, public attitude towards Soviet monuments varies. The author noted the current ambivalence towards monuments to the Red Army soldiers who died during the Civil War, while memorials to the Great Patriotic War still play an important role in the public life of rural communities. Annual celebrations of the Victory Day (9 May) continue the Soviet tradition. At the same time, some folk rituals which had existed during the Soviet period and appeared in the post-Soviet time connected with these monuments allow speaking about the symbolical development of the rural cultural landscape by means of traditional religious practices.

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