Page 1
Report of Nimensky parish"s priest to an official on establishment of Shozhmozerskaya Staroobryadcheskaya Pustyn"(Old belief hermitage)in 1760, 1855 |
Page 2
Report of Kargopol District Head to Olonets chamber of State property on liquidation of Shozhmozerskaya Pustyn", 1859 |
Page 3
Church Slavonic printed ABC-book. |
Page 4
"Hook" notation of church psalms |
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Shozhmozerskaya Staroobryadcheskaya Pustyn’
(Staroobryadcheskaya Pustyn’=
Old Belief Hermitage)
It was founded in 1760 by two brothers – Ivan Ivanov and Nikita Ivanov – in
the impenetrable forests of Kargopolskiy Uyezd, the Olonets Province, on the shore of
Lake Shozhmozero.
During 100 years it was a firm peasant household that consisted of two
dwelling two-storeyed houses where a chapel, a dining-room and a sitting-room were
situated and there was also a house for drying the fishing-tackles on the shore of the
lake.
A lot of household constructions such as three barns for storing crops, a
threshing barn, a stable for horses, hay-lofts, boats and other household accessories
abuted on the dwelling houses.
There was a water-mill in 100 sazens (1 sazhen equals 2,134 m) from the
dwelling houses.There was a cemetery and a chapel without windows on the hill. The
hermits were occupied with arable farming, fishing, breeding horses (they never kept
cows). They sold their products on the fairs in Kargopol.
According to the documents of the authorized official dated 1855-1857, of the
district police officer of Kargopol and Olohets archbishop Arkadiy dated 1857
Shozhmozerskaya Pustyn’ was destroyed in the middle of the 19th century.
All its constructions were pulled down, the chapel and the cemetery which
had 25 crosses without inscriptions were destroyed, people were moved to the places
of their registration under the police supervision. Wood waste was left there for about
a year, it was impossible to remove it because of lack of good roads but this problem
was solved in January, 1859. So, Shozhmozerskaya Pustyn’ stopped its existence.
The documents of the National Archives of the Karelian Republic such as:
- The Church-Slavonic manuscript althabet
- A record of the death-prayer
- A funeral note of the community dwellers
- “Hook” notation of the church psalms
hold a good memory of the life of the northern old believers and witness their high
spiritual culture.
Besides these rarities the documents contain some more interesting
information – notes, relatives’ letters, postal orders which represent a striking
illustration of the northern way of life in the beginning of the 19th century.
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