The modern Soloneshensky district is located in the south-eastern part of the Altai Territory of the Russian Federation, where the low mountains border the steppe; on its territory of 3,529 km2 there are now 32 settlements; at the beginning of 2006, there were 12.4 thousand people in them. out of more than 2.6 million people in the Altai Territory (http://www.altairegion.ru/ras/territory/regions/solonehrain/). Today, the area is inhabited by Russians, Belarusians, Germans, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Tatars, Chuvash, Altaians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis-old-timers and immigrants of the XIX, XX and already XXI centuries. The origins of the formation of this multiethnic community go back to the XVIII century, when after the inclusion of Altai in the Russian Empire, the development of its territory began. It was determined by the peculiarities of the departmental policy of the Tsarist Cabinet, the owner of the Altai lands, which restricted the movement of the population to the Altai Mountain District. However, the spontaneous migration flow that emerged already in the first half of the XVIII century gradually gained strength; from the North of European Russia, from the Volga region, from the Urals, from Siberia, migrants left for the Altai; Cossack villages were formed, peasant villages and zaimki of Old Believers appeared.

In the XVIII century, according to experts, there were 17 settlements within the boundaries of the present Soloneshensky district, in the XIX century-105, and in the XX century - about 130; villages appeared on the administrative map one after another: Sibiryachikha, Soloneshnoye, Peschany, Topolnoye, Korozhikha, Tumanovo, Berezovka, Lyutaevo, etc. [Vladimirov, Koldakov]. The first mention of the village of Soloneshny dates back to 1828; Emelyan Nagibin, Gavriil Grebenshchikov, Osip Bulatov, Klementiy Shadrin, and others from Barnaul parish were attributed to it. In 1834, there were 226 people in Soloneshny, in 1893 - about 800, in 1917 - 2146 people; 57% of the farms were old-timers, others belonged to immigrants from the Tomsk province [Drozhetsky, 2004, p. 76].

Russian and Siberian settlers began to actively settle in these places from the second half of the XIX century, when the borders of the Altai Mountain District were opened in 1865. A significant part of them (58 %) were natives of Tomsk province; numerous were also immigrants from Perm (10 %) and Orenburg (6 %) provinces. The mountain-steppe and taiga landscapes of the Northwestern Altai attracted visitors with their reserves of timber, expanse of arable land and pastures, and convenient geographical location [Ibid., p. 78].

At the same time, people from the Kazakh steppes appeared in the valleys of Chergi and Anuya. Their movement to the Altai territory began in the first half of the XIX century; by the middle of the century, Kazakh nomads already occupied the entire south-western part of the Altai mountain circle. In 1835, the Sarasinsk non-native council emerged in this area, a significant role in the formation of which was played by the" steppe "Kazakhs, who retained their language and identity, but adopted the standards of peasant culture and the commandments of the old Orthodox faith - as follows from the missionary notes, the Sarasinsk" non-native " people were Old Believers. It was they (probably adopting the New Rites) who laid the foundations of the Kazakh enclave, which during the second half of the XIX century was formed in the tracts along the Anuya Valley - in the villages of Cherny Anui and Turata.

The end of the 19th century was marked by active migrations in the zone of interaction between nomadic and agricultural cultures in the foothills of the Altai. Russians predominated among local residents; they made up 97.8 %, Ukrainians-1.43, Mordovians - 0.65, Poles - 0.08, Latvians - 0.04 %.

A special role in the development of the taiga and forest-steppe territories of Altai was played by Russian Old Believers. Their penetration into the region began in the XVIII century, when, after a century of persecution in the Catherine era, the followers of" ancient piety", who settled on the outskirts of the vast empire, were accepted as Russian subjects. Old Believers of various concordances were widely dispersed in the zone of influence of the Altai Ecclesiastical Mission, established by the decree of the Holy Synod in 1828; they lived throughout the North-Western Altai, including in the Chernoanui branch, created by 1848, and later in Beloanui and Abai, separated from Chernoanui. As a land of Old Believers-schismatics Soloneshenskaya land and neighboring villages -

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Black and White Anuy, Karakol, etc. - were known in the late XIX-early XX centuries.

The most widespread among the Old Believers of the North-Western Altai was the consent of the chapels; its large community existed in the village of Topolny, founded in 1829. In 1834, there were 166 farms in it; according to the census of 1917, 2333 people lived in the village; 76 % were old-timers, the rest came from Voronezh, Tambov, Poltava, Orenburg,etc. Ryazan, Vyatka, Penza, and Tomsk provinces [Ibid., p. 77]. Topolinsky old-timers and settlers were divided into three" villages " - upper, middle and lower, each of which lived its own social and religious life, each had its own chapel.

Chapel Old Believers-bespopovtsy also prevailed in the villages of Tumanov, Cheremshanka, Kolbina (Iskra), Blinov. Next to them were the communities of Pomeranian concord. Pomeranians (also bespopovtsy) were represented all in the same Blinov, as well as in the villages of Lezhanov, Lyutaev, Karpov, etc. Each community had its own mentor and house of worship.

A special place in the ethno-confessional community of the Northwestern Altai was occupied by the co-religious community of the village of Sibiryachikha, founded in 1824. In 1834, 321 people lived in it, in 1893 - already more than 1,300, and in 1917 - 2,779 people. By the beginning of the 20th century, 68 % of Sibiryachikha's farms were old-timers; newcomers came from 23 provinces of Russia: Tomsk, Tobolsk, Orenburg, Perm, Tambov, Voronezh, Vyatka, Ryazan, Poltava, Chernihiv, etc. In the village, among other things, a co-orthodox St. Nicholas Church and a parish school were built [Ibid., pp. 75-76].

As is well known, the United Church was founded in Russia in 1790 and at the beginning of the 19th century under the supreme decree of Emperor Paul. It was considered as a transitional form from Old Believers to New Believers. It adhered to the old, pre-Iconoclastic canons in rites, orders, and statutes, but was subordinate to the bishops of the reformed Orthodox Church.

The Old Believers shunned the new church for a long time, considering it a "trap", tempting by its similarity to old books and ancient rites. Mass forced conversion to co-religionism began in the reign of Nicholas I, when the government took away churches and monasteries from the Old Believers, turning them into co-religionists. Over time, the co-religionists lost their Old Believer traditions, but only after the revolution of 1917 did they declare their church independent [Melnikov].

It is generally accepted that in Siberia the first orthodox (Holy Trinity) Church was founded in Tomsk in 1836. Its parishioners were converted Old Believers who inhabited the "schismatic settlement" of the old city in the XVIII - XIX centuries. In the Altai region, co-religionism developed with the beginning of active migration from the Siberian and Russian provinces. In the village of Sibiryachikha, the community of co-religionists became the center of attraction for Old Believers of other consents, and above all Old Believers- "Poles" who also accept the priesthood. According to tradition, the first settlers of Sibiryachikha were Larion Burykin, Moisey Kaverzin, Afanasy Bordeyev and other natives of the village of Petropavlovsk of Biya Volost - a total of 62 male souls who in 1824 moved to the Sibiryachikha River, a tributary of the Anuya [Drozhetsky, 2004, pp. 75-76]. In turn, the village of Petropavlovsk appeared, as follows from the materials of the audit inventories, by 1782, when 74 male souls of" Polish settlers " left the village at will. Staroaleyskaya River on the Anui River (Kurilov and Mamsik, 1998, p. 25).

"Poles" appeared in the mountains of the Western Altai at the end of the XVIII century. Their establishment was connected with the events of Catherine's time - with the "second expulsion" of the Old Believers from the Branch and Starodubya, from the zone of the Russian-Polish border, where by the middle of the XVIII century large religious centers were formed - "schismatic settlements". In the 1760s, during the political crisis of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the active advance of Russia in the western direction, several thousand "runaway schismatics"were sent from the Branch Line to Siberia. Some of them ended up in Transbaikalia, marking the beginning of the "Semeyskys", the other - in the status of penal colonists - was sent to the Altai to settle the border line from the Ust-Kamenogorsk fortress to Bukhtarma.

Later, having settled in the Bukhtarma region, the Old Believers-"Poles" -took part in the development of the Uymon steppe and the Northwestern Altai. Having switched to new technologies of life activity in the conditions of the mountain-steppe and mountain-taiga landscapes, they preserved Southern Russian traditions in everyday and spiritual culture, and active interaction with other Old Believer communities, including those from the Russian North, Pomerania and the Urals, allowed the "Poles" to organically join regional ethno-confessional communities Altai.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Old Believers - "Poles" lived in many villages of the Northwestern Altai, including Poplar, Sibiryachikha, etc. The leveling of differences in the boundaries of Old Believers ' agreements in the conditions of dispersed settlement was inevitable. "Poles", belonging to the circle of popish interpretations, were able to find a common language with their co-religionists.

Over time, the villages of Sibiryachikha and Soloneshnoye, where a significant part of the population was made up of Old Believers (and co-religionists), turned into cereals-

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fair trade and handicraft industry centers. The everyday well-being of the guardians of "ancient piety", devout in their work and faith, was combined with their independence in relation to the official authorities and the church.

The Altai Ecclesiastical Mission, which represented the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church, assessed interaction with the Old Believers in terms of confrontation. In the village of Soloneshny, in the second half of the 19th century, an Orthodox (missionary) church was erected, and there was a school that educated the younger generation in the spirit of loyalty to the official church. By the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, missionary churches were built in many neighboring villages: in 1885 - the Holy Trinity Church in the village of Cherny Anuy, in 1886-the ascribed church in the name of St. John the Baptist. Great-Martyr Panteleimon in the village of Mariinsky, in 1898 - attributed church in the name of St. John the Baptist. The Prophet Elijah in the village of Ilinsky, in 1904-the attributed church In the name of the Archangel of God Michael in the village of Bely Anuy and others (TSKAF AK, f. 164, op. 2, d. 28, l. 187-190 vol.).

At the beginning of the XX century. The Altai ecclesiastical mission had 30 mission camps, more than 40 churches, dozens of chapels, and 84 schools (http://altai.eparhia.ra/history/). Together with the diocesan anti - schismatic society - the Brotherhood of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov-it waged a persistent struggle against the guardians of"ancient piety". The society's appeal "A Word of Love for Brothers and Children of the Orthodox Church" stated:: "Would it be excusable for us Christians if, while we possess the most important happiness of human life, we did not wish that happiness to others who had been led astray to renounce it, and possessed it solely and selflessly?

...But taking care of the conversion of schismatics is the duty of each of us, not only as a Christian, but also as a true Russian person, it is not only a church duty, but also a civil one. From time immemorial, the Orthodox Church and the Russian State are bound together by internal indissoluble ties. The holy Orthodox faith has always been the mainstay and stronghold of our state. Can a schism that is hostile to Orthodoxy also be sincerely disposed towards the Orthodox state? Can it produce immaculate, trustworthy and loyal citizens from among itself? " (TSKAF AK, f. 164, op. 2, d. 4, l. 13).

Concern for the interests of the state and the Church determined the practical activity of the missionary fathers in converting to Orthodoxy. However, the number of schismatics joined by the beginning of the XX century did not exceed 2% of the total number of Old Believers, whose number continuously increased. According to estimates of Orthodox priests, only on the territory of Soloneshensky parish at that time there were about 1560 souls of Old Believers [Ivanov, 1998, p. 234; Kupriyanova, 2004, p. 292].

The Altai Ecclesiastical Mission was particularly concerned about the influence of the Old Believers on the indigenous population of the region. Its founder (and leader from 1830 to 1844), Archimandrite Makariy (Glukharev), who was later canonized as a saint, complained that schismatics " seduce foreigners." Back in the 1870s, the Tsarist Cabinet issued a "decree on preventing the settlement of schismatics among Altai foreigners". But even at the end of the nineteenth century, missionary reports were full of complaints about the transition to the" schism "of both immigrants and newly baptized "non-christians" and pagans: "Where schismatics live in the neighborhood of newly Baptized schismatics, you can everywhere meet non-schismatics who hate the Orthodox Church in no way inferior to their teachers" [Ivanov, 1998, p. 233]. The missionaries ' fears were justified. Old Believers found a response among the indigenous inhabitants of Altai. To this day, old Altaians in the villages of Cherny Anuy, Kolbino (Iskra), and Mariinskoe still remember the former "pigeon" faith that once existed in these parts. In 1901. one of the Orthodox pastors of the Soloneshensk parish, John Kormin, summing up his many years of work, bitterly wrote about how in the "unequal struggle with a strong enemy - a fanatical schism" he only wasted moral strength and the flock, which was subject to "schismatic propaganda" (TSKAF AK, f. 164, op. 2 17, l. 6). Nevertheless, considering loyalty to true Orthodoxy as a factor of loyalty to the state, missionaries actively introduced the symbols of faith into the non-native and schismatic environment. Their success has been widely recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church. At the Irkutsk Missionary Congress of 1910, the Altai Spiritual Mission was called a "model and guide" for other missions, because it brought up a whole galaxy of ascetic missionaries, among whom were those who were still called the apostles of Altai during their lifetime. However, for all the depth and strength of their apostolic aspirations, the missionaries were confronted with the unshakable faith of the Old Believers in the sinfulness of a world that had deviated from the righteousness of the old foundations.

Prior to the Decree of October 17, 1905, the activities of the Old Believers were considered illegal by the Russian Orthodox Church. The silver age of Old Believers in the Altai, as in Russia as a whole, came after the publication of the manifesto "On Religious tolerance" in 1905 and the decree "On the order of organization of communities" in 1906. Then the Old Believers ' communities of Altai formed four deaneries. In May 1908, a community of the Belokrinitsky hierarchy was registered in Altai.

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In 1911, the construction of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was completed, three deaneries and seven Old Believer parishes were organized in Barnaul (http://www.altairegion.ru/rus/info/culture/religion). But the heyday of the Old Believers in the Altai was short-lived. In 1917, the established socio-political, economic, and ethno-confessional models were broken down. The revolution called into question both the faith and the everyday values of the Altai Old Believers. Some of them, trying to defend their usual foundations, joined the insurgent counter-revolutionary movement. The Kolchak regime in the region organized squads of the "holy cross" for self-defense and the fight against partisan detachments that supported the new Soviet government. In the political confrontation of the early XX century. The confessional and ethnic contradictions of earlier times became more acute.

The Old Believers tried to understand the causes and consequences of the changes that took place. One after another, in the 1920s, councils were held in the villages of the Biysk district, discussing the prospects for the existence of an ethno-confessional community of the region within the framework of the new socio-political regime. There was no unity: residents of the villages of Korozhikha, Topolnoye, Tumanovo, Elinovo, Kolbino (Iskra), Sibiryachikha, Soloneshnoye, etc. supported some Red Army units and partisan brigades, some Kolchak detachments [Kupriyanova, 2004, pp. 293-297].

In 1921, the Soloneshenskaya land was seized by the uprising of Ignatius Kolesnikov. Its defeat in the summer of 1922 put an end to the fratricidal war and served as an impetus for the exodus of the Old Believers from the Altai [Belikova, 2004, pp. 161-162]. Fleeing from the "godless government", collectivization and persecution, the Old Believers went to the remote mountain gorges of the Sayano-Altai, to China and Mongolia; they tried to get lost in the gold mines or on the construction sites of large cities in Siberia and the Far East.

The economic stabilization of the NEP era gave rise to the hope of preserving the former socio-cultural foundations. However, hundreds of Old Believer families have already been torn down. Migrations overwhelmed Altai; old-timers left their native villages. Waves of Old Believers from Russia and the Urals were moving to Siberia. It is known, for example, that the leader of the Ural chapels who left with Kolchak's detachments, Ivan Mokrushin (the first editor of the Ural Old Believer), together with his family, settled on Soloneshenskaya land. His father, Porfiry Mokrushin, a mentor of one of the Yekaterinburg chapel communities, settled in the same places. The Bolshebatsalashchak Cathedral in 1923 was reviewing the questionnaire it had filled out for registering a religious society with the Biysk Executive Committee. In 1928. M. Deryabinnikov [Klyukina], the "ringleader of the Mikhailovsky sense", moved to Biysk from the Urals.

Siberia seemed to be a free land, but from the mid-1920s onwards, as elsewhere in Soviet Russia, an anti-religious campaign began to take place. Many Old Believers were repressed in the 1930s. Twice (in 1931 and 1935) Ivan Mokrushin was sent to forced labor by a court verdict. In 1938, when he was working as a chief accountant in one of the farms of the Soloneshensky district, he was arrested for the third time, accusing him of leading the Old-believer monarchical organization "Brotherhood of Russian Truth", which allegedly on the instructions of the Harbin White Emigrant Center created "rebel cadres" in Siberia and the Urals, organized the collapse of collective farms, and published counter-revolutionary articles. flyers. Dozens of members of the Brotherhood were identified, including many representatives of the chapel and other Old Believers, as well as Orthodox Christians. The total destruction of churches occurred in the 1930s [Ibid.]. By 1925, there were 351 Orthodox communities in Altai and about 300 organizations of other faiths, including Old Believers. In 1931-1937, 185 parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church were dissolved; in 1938-1939, 161 congregations ceased to operate (http://www.altairegion.ru/ras/info/culture/religion).

Enthusiastically assessing the current situation, the central God-fighting magazine of Soviet Russia "Antireligious" in 1931 published an article entitled "Altai on the way to Godlessness". This path lasted for several decades. Militant atheism has made both the Old Believer and New Believer versions of Orthodoxy equally problematic.

Already in the post-Soviet period, the restoration of the confessional space of Altai began. By the mid-2000s, 240 religious associations of 15 confessional directions officially existed in the Altai Territory; the Old Believers ' movement became more active; six Orthodox parishes were restored (http://www.altairegion.ra/ras/ info/culture/religion). The position of the Old Believers began to strengthen in the Altai Republic, where the Belokrinitsky accord, which has close ties with the Barnaul and Novosibirsk communities, gradually gained strength.

In the Altai Territory in the early 2000s, there were more than 70 Orthodox churches; several dozen more are being built.

In Soloneshensky district, the revival of faith remains an acute problem to this day. The last teachers and old women scribes in the Old Believer communities live out their lives, performing fasts and prayers according to the precepts of their ancestors. Today, the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who painfully tried to combine faith and politics in our country-

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At the beginning of the XX century, only by hearsay they know about Old-Believers ' opinions and concordances. The tragic events of the 1920s and 1930s remained in the family traditions. Those who were born in the first decades of the twentieth century studied in Soviet schools, fought with honor on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, raised their native villages in the post-war years, and held senior positions in the party, administrative, and trade union apparatuses. Today's native-born Old Believers of the Northwestern Altai mostly do not know the basics of the faith, but in many houses of the Soloneshensky district there are grandmother's icons, bronze folds and crucifixes. Grandfathers ' books, from which their owners learned to read, are carefully stored in chests; and from time to time one of the villagers repeats the old-fashioned saying among the Old Believers: "The church is not in the logs, but in the ribs."

Acknowledgements

The Directorate of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the management of the Denisova Cave research hospital, and all participants of the photo project express their gratitude to the administrations of Soloneshensky district of the Altai Territory and Ust-Kansky district of the Altai Republic, as well as to the heads of rural administrations and residents of Soloneshnoye, Topolnoye, Cherny Anuy, Karakol, and Tog-Altai villages for their support and fruitful cooperation. cooperation.

List of literature

Belikova T. G. Establishment of Soviet power on the territory of Soloneshensky district. 1918-1921 gg. / / Soloneshenskiy district: Ocherki istorii i kul'tury: Sb. nauch. - practice. Barnaul: Barnaul Publishing House, State Pedagogical University. Univ., 2004, pp. 143-168.

Vladimirov V. N., Koldakov D. V. Dinamika obrazovaniya poselochnykh pochetov Altaiskogo kraya [Dynamics of formation of settlements in the Altai Territory]. Access mode: http://old.aik.org.ru/aik/krug/ikk/vladimirov.shtml.

Drozhetsky D. A. Istoriya zaseleniya Soloneshenskogo raion [History of settlement of the Soloneshensky district]. - practice. checkmate. Barnaul: Barnaul Publishing House, State Pedagogical University. univ., 2004. - P. 74-85.

Ivanov K. Y. Altai spiritual mission: staroobryadtsy i inorodtsy [Old Believers and foreigners] / / Ethnography of Altai and adjacent territories. Barnaul: Barnaul Publishing House, State Pedagogical University. un-ta, 1998, pp. 233-234.

Klyukina Yu. V. Staroobryadtsy-chel'ennye Urala v kontsey XIX - nachale XX v. [Old Believers-chapels of the Urals at the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX century]. Access mode: http://www.eurmet.net/books/oldb3/chapter3/text.html.

Kupriyanova I. V. Staroobryadcheskie obshchestva Soloneshenskogo raion v pervoi treti XX v. [Old Believers ' communities of the Soloneshensky district in the first third of the XX century]. - practice. checkmate. Barnaul: Barnaul Publishing House, State Pedagogical University. Univ., 2004, pp. 291-300.

Kurilov V. N., Mamsik T. A. "Poles" of Rudny Altai: historiographical myth and demographic reality // Ethnography of Altai and adjacent territories. - Barnaul: Publishing House Barnaul, State University. ped. un-ta, 1998, p. 25.

Melnikov F. E. Kratkaya istoriya drevlepravoslavnoi (staroobryadcheskoi) tserkvi [A brief history of the Old Orthodox (Old Believers') Church]. Resource]. Access mode: http://www.vyatka.Su/-umcnd/books/meln_2.htm#1.

I. V. Oktyabrskaya, M. V. Shunkov

Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS

17 Akademika Lavrentieva Ave., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia.

E-mail:SIEM405@yandex.ru

E-mail:Shunkov@archaeology.nsc.ru

* * *

Photo report prepared by Rashid Salikhov and Maxim Shipenkov (Kemerovo).

Rashid Salikhov was born in 1955 in the village of Karacharov, Kemerovo region. He graduated from the Kemerovo Technical School of Food Industry, then the Kemerovo State Institute of Culture. In photojournalism, since 1990 he has been published in the publications Ogonyok, Izvestia, and Novye Izvestia. He is a regular participant of regional and All-Russian photo exhibitions; in 2004 he presented his works at the exhibition "Kuzbass Land" in Moscow. At the Third International photo show "Siberia-2004" he was awarded a special prize for the series "Epiphany" and "Spring Call". Currently, he works as a photojournalist for the newspaper "Nasha Gazeta" (Kemerovo).

Maxim Shipenkov was born in 1982 in Yurga, Kemerovo region. Graduated from Kemerovo State University of Culture and Art. Published in Kommersant and Komsomolskaya Pravda. He is a scholarship holder and participant of exhibitions of the Fund "Young Gifts of Kuzbass", winner of the All-Russian Student photo contest 2003. In 2004, he presented his works at the exhibition "Land of Kuzbass" in Moscow. Currently, he works as a photojournalist for the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda in Kuzbass (Kemerovo).

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1. R. Salikhov. Early May. Surroundings of Karakol village.

May came to the Altai with the clear green of the forest edges, sudden snowstorms, rapid flooding of rivers and streams, with the bitter smoke of bonfires on which the garbage of the long winter burned, with garden work and traditional sahman: on livestock farms along the valleys of the Anuya and its tributaries, lambing began - and the villagers forgot about weekends and holidays.

2. R. Salikhov. The working day begins on the maralnik of Karakol village.

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3. M. Shipenkov. Morning of May 1. At the table is the Beisenov family Natalia, Misha and Nikolai. The village of Tog-Altai.

In 2005, the May holidays in Russia coincided with the Easter week. But there were no kumach banners or bells ringing in the villages of the Soloneshensky district of the Altai Territory. Soviet traditions are gone, and the Orthodox remain tied to the family circle.

4. M. Shipenkov. Easter. Soloneshnoye village.

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5. M. Shipenkov. The day before Easter. The village of Tog-Altai.

Spring gives hope for the renewal of the world. On the eve of Orthodox Easter, the soul is freed from sins, and the houses are washed of soot and dirt: "So that God can step over the threshold without fear" - so old women say, forcing their granddaughters to wash the floors.

6. R. Salikhov. In the Tukeshevs ' house, they bake Easter muffins. Karakol village.

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7. R. Salikhov. The family of Klavdia Yemelyanovna and Gennady Aleksandrovich Kolosov is waiting for Easter guests: sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The village of Cherny Anuy.

In the villages of the Northwestern Altai, Orthodox churches have long disappeared, but church holidays have remained. Easter is one of those days that bring together several generations and do not let traditions fade away. "Don't knock your testicle on the table," the old men tell their grandchildren. It's not good, it hurts."

8. R. Salikhov. The Tukeshevs ' house is preparing for Easter. Alexandra Yakovlevna and Yegor Petrovich were joined by their grandchildren, Roma, Vitaly and Maxim Efimov. Karakol village.

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9. R. Salikhov. Zinaida Antonovna Porokhina is one of the parishioners of the Old Believer community in the village of Topolnoye.

Old holidays bring a person back to the old values. For the Easter vigil, Old Believers take out "undressed" humpback sundresses from their chests; they sort out woven belts - they have long since left everyday life, turning into symbols of faith and tradition.

10. R. Salikhov. Tatyana F. Klimkina "directs" the weaving mill. Poplar village.

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11. R. Salikhov. Valentina Petrovna Fedorova is the founder of the Poplar village folk movement.

In post-Soviet Russia, International Workers ' Solidarity Day is no longer celebrated. The holiday of May 1 has changed, which is considered a labor day, but the feeling of joy associated with the arrival of spring and the awakening of life has not changed.

12. R. Salikhov. By the beginning of May, when the last snow melts, the swing comes to life. Soloneshnoye village.

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13. R. Salikhov. Faith gives you the hope of coming back to life. Rehabilitation center "Asklepion" in the village of Topolny.

In Russian culture, the sacred truths of Orthodoxy have acquired everyday meanings. The image of Bright Easter-Resurrection, "by death the death of the deceased", defined a personal perspective for those who seek salvation from the pains and troubles in the earthly world.

14. R. Salikhov. Spring starts with construction. With the onset of May, saws are ringing in the villages. Poplar village.

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