Old Believers. Descendants of the Old Believers in the Altai Territory

Next door to Kazakh border, in the Uimonskaya valley, there is a well-known enclave of Old Believers, or "old people", as they are called here. They came here a very long time ago - either in search of Belovodye - the legendary country of freedom and justice, refuge from the antichrist who reigned in the world, or persecuted by the church.

The history of Russian peasants-Old Believers is one of the most interesting pages of the past of Altai. The settlement of Altai by Russians began in the pre-Petrine era. In the middle of the 17th century, when a split of the church took place in Russia, the supporters of the old foundations were severely persecuted, as a result of which they were also forced to leave for the Altai mountains. But even here they did not find peace. Church and secular authorities continued to persecute them for their faith and for illegal, unauthorized resettlement. Only in 1792, Catherine the Great issued an order to forgive the Old Believers for fleeing and grant them the right to reside, subject to the payment of a tax - yasak. Since then, the Old Believers have been equated with the local Altai population and exempted from recruiting. During the Soviet years, many of the Old Believers were repressed as middle peasants and enemies of the people.

In Altai, Old Believers have mastered large territories, formed whole villages. The mountain villages of the schismatics with arable farming, maral farms, mountain apiaries, hayfields and forest lands were blooming oases. For almost two generations, they managed to adapt to large temperature extremes, fleeting summers and long winters, seasonal floods of the Katun and other rivers. Gradually, the most reliable methods of the master's attitude to the surrounding world were selected.

The Uimon Old Believers-farmers in the Altai Mountains turned into excellent hunters, well-aimed shooters, and excellent fishermen. The residents of Belovodye exchanged the mined furs and skins for grain, cattle, clothes from the Chinese and Russian Cossacks in villages located near the border zone. They also developed Russian crafts: carpentry, weaving, woven, fur coat, etc. The Kerzhaks of the Uimon Basin spun flax, made linen, clothes, rugs, beautiful belts and waistbands.

The Old Believers lived in solid, warm, well-lit houses with glazed windows. The inside of the house was clean and tidy. The walls were painted with intricate patterns and bright colors. Paints - red lead, ocher, bakan - were prepared by folk craftsmen from natural raw materials. In wall painting, common motives were images of outlandish animals, birds, lush and large flowers, intricate floral ornament. The floors were covered with woven rugs and felt. Forged chests stood along the walls, and beautiful embroidered bedspreads lay on the beds. But the most cozy and warm place in the house was, of course, the stove. Above its canopy, beds were placed on which the children slept. The place opposite the mouth of the furnace was occupied by the hostess. There were comfortable cupboards and kitchen utensils.

The Old Believers kept their houses in amazing cleanliness. The house was washed several times a day, the stove was whitened. Unpainted floors, benches, shelves were scraped with brooms, knives, and scrubbed with sand every Saturday.

The old clothes of the Uimon old-timers are now worn only during holidays and prayers, in addition, they are used by folklore groups. The traditional Old Believer costume was distinguished by its brightness and variety of colors, bright trimmings. The summer men's suit included a white shirt decorated with a red pattern on the collar and sleeves, and canvas harem pants. The festive costume consisted of wide trousers made of plisse or suede and a plain or variegated cuff. Outerwear: zipuns, azams, sheepskin coats were sewn from warm cloth, fur, sheepskin, leather, purchased camel wool.

The traditional female Old Believer costume included a headdress, a sundress, a shirt, a belt, an apron (apron). Short shirts, in common parlance called sleeves, were sewn from white canvas and decorated with rich embroidery, the neck was thickly nailed along a narrow stand-up collar. The main type of sundress of Uimon women was first oblique, then round strap. A lot of assemblies made the round sundress lush and beautiful. Belts and girdles were an important element of the traditional Old Believer costume. From the moment of baptism, the belt was obligatory for the Old Believer throughout his life. The shoes of the Uimon residents were also peculiar. Short and high boots were sewn for men from coarse and thick leather, while women wore shoes. The Old Believers borrowed comfortable and warm fur shoes from the local peoples: high fur boots sewn from goat fur inside and short kitties. From felted wool, they themselves made winter shoes - felt boots (pimas).

The pottery of the Uimon Old Believers is of great historical interest. On Uimon, women were engaged in pottery. The dishes were made not from a single lump on a potter's wheel, but by overlaying rollers (on Uimon they were called karalychki) on top of each other. This technique of making pottery is called sticking. The process consisted of several stages. It all started with the extraction of clay. Pure fine Katunsky sand was added to the clay and crushed on a coarse canvas until there were no lumps left. Rollers were molded from the resulting clay dough, which were laid out in 3-5 rows on a prepared flat bottom. The rollers were rubbed and smoothed with water to level the side surfaces. The prepared products were fired in Russian ovens on burning birch wood. For strength and beauty, the technology of scalding was used: the products taken out of the oven were immersed in warm broths of buttermilk, whey, so that they boil. After scalding, the dishes acquired a beautiful black color. Uncooked products remained the color of red terracotta.

Of course, today the life of the Old Believers of the Uimon Valley has changed, modern life leaves its mark on it. So that age-old traditions do not disappear forever, Uimon residents create museums. It is interesting that the initiators are children, as, for example, in the village of Verkh-Uimon. The history of the museum in this village began with an ordinary linen towel brought to a history lesson. Then the children began to carry to school everything that had long been out of use in everyday life. With the help of all these things, it was possible to recreate the atmosphere of a typical Old Believer family. In addition, the schoolchildren, interviewing the old-timers, collected many proverbs and sayings, conspiracies and signs of the Uimon Valley. Was assembled interesting stuff about the great Patriotic War, because the descendants of the harsh Old Believers also, not sparing their lives, fought for their homeland.

Of course, today the life of the Old Believers of the Uimon Valley has changed, modern life leaves its mark on it. So that age-old traditions do not disappear forever, Uimon residents create museums. It is interesting that the initiators are children, as, for example, in the village of Verkh-Uimon. The history of the museum in this village began with an ordinary linen towel brought to a history lesson. Then the children began to carry to school everything that had long been out of use in everyday life. With the help of all these things, it was possible to recreate the atmosphere of a typical Old Believer family. In addition, the schoolchildren, interviewing the old-timers, collected many proverbs and sayings, conspiracies and signs of the Uimon Valley. Interesting material was collected about the Great Patriotic War, because the descendants of the harsh Old Believers also, not sparing their lives, fought for their homeland.

The history of the Altai Old Believers, closely connected with the development of Siberia by Russian settlers, is widely covered in scientific research. Scientists have created a large factual base based on materials from Siberian chronicles, state documents, statistical data, literary monuments. The information obtained reveals a variety of problems: the emergence of Old Believers in the region, their adaptation to new living conditions, migration processes, customary legal relations, family life, cultural traditions, etc. Among the most fundamental works of historical Siberian studies, touching upon the theme of the Altai Old Believers, stand out the academic work "History of Siberia from ancient times to the present day", the monograph "Bukhtarma Old Believers", books by N.V. Alekseenko, Yu.S. Bulygina, N.N. Pokrovsky, N.G. Apollova, N.F. Emelyanova, V.A. Lipinskaya, T.S. Mamsik. Research by modern scientists takes into account the achievements of figures historical science XIX - early XX centuries: S.I. Gulyaev, G.N. Potanin, A. Printtsa, P.A. Slovtsova, D. N. Belikova, E. Shmurlo, M. Shvetsova, B. Gerasimova, G.D. Grebenshchikova, I.V. Shcheglova, N.M. Yadrintseva. The findings of these, as well as of a number of other researchers, provide a holistic view of initial stages history of the Altai Old Believers and its further development.

The annexation of Siberia to Russia dates back to the end of the 16th century. This process is associated with Yermak's campaign. The region of the primary development of Siberian lands was the Tobolsk province. By the middle of the 17th century. Russian settlers occupied the lands from Verkhoturye to Tobolsk. Since the main, almost the only possible way of advancing inland were rivers, the development of Siberia at first took place along the streams of the Ob and Irtysh.

Then the settlers began to settle in more convenient places - along the southern tributaries of the Siberian rivers. N.M. Yadrintsev defined the general pattern of resettlement processes as moving by river from less fertile to more fertile places. This is how the most densely populated regions of Siberia were formed. At the beginning of the 18th century. As a result of the pushing back of the nomadic Siberian tribes to the Chinese border, the land holdings of the Russian state expanded. Powerful migratory flows poured into the south of Siberia - to the foothills of Altai and further through the Semirechye to the Amur. Thus, Altai is an area of rather late development of Siberian lands by Russian people (1).

The process of colonization of Siberia, including Altai, proceeded in two ways - the government one, which included military, industrial and so-called government resettlements, i.e. sending to Siberia in connection with any tsarist decree, and free people, associated with secret escapes of people from oppression and duties. The Russian settlers included military men, Cossacks, who were traveling to strengthen and expand border lines, to protect fortresses, outposts and forts; miners and industrialists who developed Siberian Natural resources; peasant farmers sent by the tsarist administration to the new industrial zones; fugitive exiles, convicts, and finally, simply "walking people" looking for free lands.

The motley old-time population also had confessional differences. Here it is necessary to highlight the representatives of pre-reform Orthodoxy who came to Altai as a result of internal migration of the population from Tobolya, whose ancestors ended up in Siberia back in late XVI- in the first half of the 17th century, the Nikonian new believers, who received in the second half of the 17th century. church reform, and the Old Believers who rejected the innovations of Patriarch Nikon. The Old Believers constituted a completely separate group among the Siberian population. In the areas of the primary development of Siberia by Russian settlers, Old Believers appeared soon after the split. The mass spread of the Old Believers in Siberia begins in the last quarter of the 17th century. The facts of the burning of schismatics by the Tobolsk authorities in 1676 and 1683-1684, the self-immolation of Old Believers in Berezovsky on the Tobol River in 1679, in Kamenskoye near Tyumen and in the Kurgai Sloboda in 1687 have been documented. the direction of the advancement of the Russian population - from the northwest to the southeast. In Altai, Old Believers appeared no earlier than the 18th century, which is confirmed by documentary sources and historical research.

The first Old Believers came to Altai from the previously developed northern Siberian territories. Some of them were among other Russian settlers who fell under government decrees on the settlement of new lands in connection with the founding of fortresses and factories. Others were fugitives hiding in the inaccessible gorges of the Altai Mountains from government duties, serf bondage, recruitment, and religious persecution. The reason for the more frequent shoots was the introduction in the 20s. XVIII century double salary from Old Believers, as well as the order of 1737 on attracting schismatics to mining work at state-owned factories (2).

It should be noted that in remote areas of Altai, free-folk colonization preceded the government's development of these lands. This is how the settlement took place in the upper reaches of the Uba, Ulba and further south along the Bukhtarma, Belaya, Uimon, Koksa rivers. A. Printz believed that the first Old Believers appeared here in the 1920s. XVIII century, but documentary evidence refers only to the 40s. XVIII century Then secret settlements of desert dwellers were discovered on the river. Ube, united around the monk Kuzma. In 1748, two factory workers were caught trying to escape through Uba to the Bukhtarma valley. As it turned out, their route had already been sufficiently trodden by their predecessors, which indicates an earlier secret development of these places.

“In those places there are no hassles and theft and other things contrary to the law ... And all kinds of earthly fruits and gold and silver are innumerable ... They do not have a secular court, there are no police or guards there, but they live according to the Christian tradition. God fills this place. " However, only true zealots of ancient piety can get into Belovodye. "The way there is ordered for the servants of the Antichrist ... Faith must be unshakable ... If you waver in faith, the fair land of Belovodsk will be covered with fog" (4).

As E. Shmurlo notes, through all the 18th and 19th centuries, there is a tireless search for this fantastic Eldorado, where rivers flow with honey, where taxes are not collected, where, finally, there is no Nikon church especially for schismatics.

Among the Old Believers there were numerous lists of the "Traveler" showing the way to Belovodye. The last real geographical point of the route is the Bukhtarma valley. After fruitless attempts to find the Belovodskaya land, many of its seekers began to consider the Belovodye Bukhtarma Territory, where "a peasant land without officials and priests." The latter also attracted the Old Believers there.

The government knew about secret settlements in the depths of the Altai Mountains from the 40s. XVIII century, but they were discovered only in 1761, when Warrant Officer Zeleny, walking with a search mountain party to Bukhtarma, noticed at one of its tributaries - Turgusun - a hut, in which there were two men who then managed to hide. Such single houses and small villages of five or six courtyards were scattered among the mountain gorges of the Bukhtarma Valley. Their inhabitants were engaged in fishing, hunting, agriculture.

However, difficult living conditions, internal strife, frequent crop failures, as well as the constant danger of detection, since miners began to appear in these places, forced the Bukhtarma residents to legalize their position. In 1786, about 60 residents of the Stone went to the Chinese bogdykhan with a request to take them under their care. But, not wishing to conflict with the Russian government, the Chinese authorities, having kept the petitioners in custody in the city of Hobdo, released them with a refusal.

In 1790, taking advantage of the appearance of a mining official with a party of workers, the Bukhtarma residents expressed to him their desire to "be a public voice to the government." By the rescript of Catherine II of September 15, 1791, the masons were admitted to Russia as yasak foreigners. They paid the government with yasak in the form of furs and animal skins, like all other foreigners. Russian Empire... In 1796, the yasak was replaced by a monetary tax, and in 1824 - by a quitrent as from settled foreigners. In addition, the Bukhtarma residents were freed from submission to the sent administration, mining works, recruitment and some other duties.

Girls in festive clothes. Yazovaya village of Bukhtarma district (Bukhtarma "masons") Photo by E. E. Blomkvist and N. P. Grinkova (1927)

After receiving the official status of Russian subjects, the bricklayers moved to more convenient places to live. In 1792, instead of 30 small settlements, 9 villages were formed, in which a little more than 300 people lived: Osochikha (Bogatyrevo), Bykovo, Sennoe, Korobikha, Pechi, Yazovaya, Belaya, Fykalka, Malonarymskaya (Ognevo).

Russian bricklayers. Drive to arable land with a scythe. D. Korobikha, 1927. Photo by A.N. Beloslyudov. Source: Bukhtarma Old Believers. Materials of the Expeditionary Research Commission

Such are brief information about the initial history of the Bukhtarma bricklayers who settled in the region as a result of spontaneous migrations. The formation of Old Believer settlements in the western part of Altai, which took place at the same time as in the Bukhtarma valley, had a different character, since it was the result of government orders. In connection with the expansion of the mining business, it became necessary to strengthen the Kolyvano-Voskresenskaya border line, which implied the construction of new redoubts and outposts. It took an increase in the number of miners, and, consequently, of peasants-farmers to provide the workers and the military with food.

In 1760, a Senate decree was issued “On the occupation of places in Siberia from the Ust-Kamenogorsk fortress along the Bukhtarma river and further to Lake Teletskoye, on the construction of fortresses there in convenient places and the settlement of that side along the Uba, Ulba, Berezovka, Glubokaya and other rivers. the rivers flowing into the Irtysh River, by Russian people up to two thousand people. " In this regard, on the basis of the manifesto of Catherine II of December 4, 1761, the Senate invited Russian Old Believers who fled to Poland from religious persecution to return to Russia. At the same time, it was indicated that they could choose the place of residence either the previous one, or the designated one at the disposal of the empress, which included Siberia.

Thus, some Old Believers settled here voluntarily, but many, especially the residents of the Vetka settlement, which was part of Poland, brought out by Major General Maslov (5), were expelled to this territory by force. In 1765, a special order was issued, which commanded to exile fugitives from Poland and Lithuania to Siberia, so they began to be called Poles in Altai.

In the 1760s. all the indigenous villages of the "Poles" in the Zmeinogorsk district were founded: Ekaterininka of the Aleksandrovskaya volost; Shemonaikha, Losikha (Verkh-Uba), Sekisovka of the Vladimir volost; Bobrovka Bobrovskaya volost. Soon new villages appeared, where only Old Believers were inhabitants: Malaya Ubinka, Bystrukha of Vladimir volost; Cheremshanka, Butakovo Ridder volost and some others.

On May 21, 1779, an order was issued on the assignment of Polish peasants to factories, which obliged them to perform not only agricultural work, but also logging, export of finished ore, etc. Until 1861, the Poles were assigned to the Kolyvano-Voskresensk mining plants. Unlike bricklayers, they had to fulfill all public duties and pay double poll tax as schismatics.

Children are "Poles" in everyday home clothes. Photo by A. E. Novoselov

In the XIX century. in Altai, there lived representatives of both priestly and non-popov's consents (8). Old Believers-priests came to Altai in Aleiskaya, Aleksandrovskaya, Bobrovskaya, Vladimirskaya, Ridderskaya volosts after the “forcing” of settlements on Vetka. Later, as a result of escapes to the free lands of masons, priests appeared in the Bukhtarma district. Beglopop communities were concentrated in Bystrukh, Malaya Ubinka, Cheremshanka. Since the 1850s. the spread of the Belokrinitsa priesthood among the Altai Poles is noted, and since 1908 - among the masons, whose church was located first in Bogatyrevo, and from 1917 in Korobikha (9).

Since 1800, a co-religion church began to exist, which is a transitional one between the Old Believers and the synodal ones. She obeyed the bishops of the New Believer Church, but the divine services in it were performed according to the old books in accordance with the Old Believer guidelines. In Altai, the most numerous parishes of the same faith were in Orlovka, Poperechnaya, Ekaterininka of the Aleksandrovskaya volost, Verkh-Uba, Shemonaikha of the Vladimir volost, as well as in some villages of stonemasons (Topolnoye, Kamyshenka). In the second half of the XIX century. a cathedral church of the same faith functioned in Barnaul (priest Father Mikhail Kandaurov).

In the role of intermediate between the priest's and bespopov's consents are the chapel, the old man's and the deacon's (10). The Ural and Siberian chapels were actively assimilated with the Altai runglopopovtsy in the 1780s. In the valleys of Bukhtarma and Koksa, on the shores of Lake Teletskoye, the old man's style is most widespread. In the indigenous settlements of the Poles - in the suburbs of Ust-Kamenogorsk, in the villages of the Ridder volost - there were Dyakon's.

One of the most numerous bespopovskih talk in Altai is the Pomor one. Pomeranian communities are spread throughout the region. The Bespopovites-Fedoseevites came to Altai in connection with the mass resettlement of the Vetkovites here. Their native villages were Verkh-Uba, Butakovo, Vydrikha, Bobrovka, Tarkhanka (11). In Butakovo, Cheremshanka, Bystrukh, Malaya Ubinka, there were samodurovtsy bespopovtsy (12). In the Uby valley, there lived representatives of such non-populous religions as Spassovtsy (13) (Netovtsy), Okhovtsy (14) (non-Molaks) who came to Altai from the Volga region, self-crosses (15) in the villages along the Uba and Anui rivers (15), in the Yazovaya and Pechas of the Bukhtarma volost - one-worshipers (hole-mongers) (16), along the river. In Bukhtarma and in the Zmeinogorsk district, there were runners (17) (wanderers), which increased the diversity of the ritual and dogmatic picture of the Altai Old Believers of the 19th century. At this time, the main spiritual centers of the region stand out. Prayers in Kondratyevo, Turgusun, Vydrikha, Sekisovka, Verkh-Uba, Cheremshanka, Belaya were famous for their decoration and competent conduct of services.

History has preserved the names of the most authoritative Old Believer mentors of the 19th century. Among the priests in the 1800s - 1820s. Yegor Alekseev (Krutoberezovka), Trofim Sokolov (Malaya Ubinka), Platon Guslyakov (Verkh-Uba) were highly respected; in the 30s - 40s. - Nikita Zelenkov (Turgusun), Ivan Panteleev (Snegirevo), Ekaterina Karelskikh (Bukhtarma villages); in the 50s - 60s. - Ivan Golovanov (Bystrukha); in the 70s - 80s. - Fedor Eremeev (Tarkhanka); among bespopovtsy - Ivan Krivonogov (Vydrikha), Karp Rachenkov (Butakovo), Fedor Sheshunnikov (Tarkhanka), Guriy Kostin (Bobrovka), Yasson Zyryanov (Belaya).

At the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. the number of Old Believer monasteries is growing. Sketes functioned near Ridder, Verkh-Uba, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Zmeinogorsk, on the river. Baschelak, near the villages of Ponomari and Kordon of the Charysh volost, in the area of the volost center Srednekrasilovo, not far from Zalesovo (in the village of Mikulushkino swamp), in Chulyshman in Gorny Altai (18). During this period, a fairly large group of Old Believers - immigrants from Russia - came to Altai. At the beginning of the XX century. Old Believers populate Kulunda. About 15 families of Old Believers arrived in Altai in 1898 from the Voronezh province. They settled in with. Petukhovo of the present Klyuchevsky district. But since the bulk of the Pethovo people were Nikonians, the Old Believer settlers wanted to form separate settlements. And when in the early 1900s. the government allocated plots of land for the settlement of the Kulunda steppe, the Old Believers appealed to the head of resettlement with a request to give them land, citing religious incompatibility. In 1908, the Old Believers began to move to the Kulunda steppe. Thus, the Kulunda Old Believers belong to the late settlement group of the non-indigenous Siberian population.

In general, the second half of the XIX - early XX century. - the most favorable period in the history of the Altai Old Believers (19). It was a time of intensive spiritual life, including full-fledged ritual and liturgical practice, comprehension of the dogmatic issues of the Old Belief; the formation of libraries of spiritual literature and iconostases in prayer houses, the functioning of Old Believer schools in which they taught the Church Slavonic language and hook singing, which contributed to the preservation of liturgical traditions; the production of handwritten books by monastic scribes and desert dwellers on the river. Ube (mentor V.G. Tregubov).

With the establishment Soviet power in the region since the 20s. In the 20th century, religious oppression began: prayer houses were closed, believers were persecuted, cult customs and traditions were desecrated. A lot of spiritual literature was confiscated, iconostases were destroyed. Many communities have lost their competent teachers. The Old Believers again went underground, once again enduring oppression and persecution by the state (20).

And only in recent times there is a religious revival, as evidenced by the registration of Old Believer communities throughout the region, the opening of new prayer houses, the attraction of the younger generation to the communities, the resumption of hook singing training (in particular, in the parishes of the RPSTs (21) of Barnaul, Biysk, Ust-Kamenogorsk), etc. ... However, such processes are not manifested everywhere. Far from urban centers settlements the opposite tendencies of destruction and extinction of spiritual traditions prevail.

As shown by the expeditionary research of the employees of the Novosibirsk Conservatory to the areas of residence of the Old Believers in 1993-1997. (22), the current state of Old Believer settlements in Altai has undergone certain changes. In the region, there are priests-white-criminals, beglopopovtsy and representatives of eight bespopovtsy: pomors, fedoseevtsy, filipovtsy, chaplains, starikovtsy, dyakonovtsy, melchizedeks, runners (presumably).

The main centers of the Belokrinitsa Old Believers are located in Barnaul (priest Fr. Nikola), Biysk (priest Fr. Mikhail), Ust-Kamenogorsk (priest Fr. Gleb). Thanks to the missionary activities of the clergy, there is an active growth of the Belokrinitsky communities in the regional centers of Krasnogorskoye, Zalesovo, Blagoveshchenka, Gorno-Altaysk, the villages of the Ust-Koksinsky region of the Altai Republic, Glubokovsky and Shemonaikha regions of the East Kazakhstan region. In some settlements (Barnaul, Biysk, Zalesove, the village of Multa, Ust-Koksinsky district), temples are being built (23).

The Beglopop community of up to 100 people, which has its own church, has survived in the village. Cheremshanka of the Glubokovsky district of the East Kazakhstan region. Old Believers-runglopopovtsy also live in the villages of Kordon and Peshcherka of the Zalesovsky district and in the city of Zarinsk. Some of the runaway popes came to the Cave from Kamenka, which ceased to exist in 1957 as a result of the unification of collective farms, in which there was once a church. According to the testimony of local residents, quite recently there was a large community in Zarinsk, but after the death of the mentor, community (cathedral) services ceased, the house of worship was sold. Currently, the priest Fr. Andrey from s. Barite (Ursk) of the Kemerovo region.

Numerically, Pomor remains the predominant non-populist style of Altai. Pomor communities are concentrated in Barnaul (mentors A.V. Gutov, A.V. Mozoleva), Biysk (mentor F.F. Serebrennikov), Ust-Kamenogorsk (mentor M.K. Farafonova), Leninogorsk (mentors I.K. Gruzinov , A.Ya. Nemtsev), Serebryansk (mentor E.Ya. Neustroev). The places of compact residence of the Pomors are Aleyskiy, Altayskiy, Biyskiy, Charyshskiy districts of Altai Krai, as well as Glubokovskiy district of the East Kazakhstan region. In Leninogorsk in the early 1990s. there was a Pomor women's monastery, in which there were two nuns and a novice. Most of the Pomors are the indigenous natives of Altai, however, there are also migrants from Tomsk region, Tobolsk, from the Urals.

In some villages (Verkh-Uba, Butakovo, Malaya Uba), the Pomors are called samodurovtsy. Nowadays a separate branch of samodurovites has not survived in Altai. They joined the Pomors, accepted their dogma and rituals. Only the name remained, which in the original samodur villages passed on to the Pomors.

Fedoseevites live in the villages of Bobrovka, Tarkhanka, Butakovo, Glubokovsky district of the East Kazakhstan region (mentor E.F. Poltoranina). Once upon a time, the residents of these places had two prayer houses. Now they gather only on big holidays in Butakovo.

Old Believers-Filipovtsy survived in the Zalesovsky and Zarinsky districts. They got to these places from Vyatka. However, most of them were in the 1930-1940s. migrated to the Belovsky and Guryevsky districts of the Kemerovo region.

Old Believers-Melchizedeks living in Zalesovo and Biysk are also of Vyatka origin (the full name of the religion is the ancient cephalic church according to the order of Melchizedek). This is the only community found in Siberia of a now rare Old Believer persuasion. From a conversation with a resident of Zalesovo, Z. Kuznetsova, it turned out that before their community numbered up to 70 people, Fr. Timofey, killed during the years of repression; the church building burned down in the 1960s. Now only seven Melchizedeks live in Zalesovo.

Interesting information about the Melchizedeks - closed for communication and little contact Old Believers - was given by the daughter of the teacher of the Biysk community: “At present we no longer have priests, the last of them died in the 60s, so now they are not ordained to the priesthood. My grandfather (the father of the current mentor) was a bishop, lived in Vyatka, moved to Siberia in the 30s, fleeing collectivization: first to the Tomsk region, the village of Kargasok, then to Altai. As a child, my father studied at a church school, studied the charter there. Besides him, there are no literate people in the community ”.

The informant told us that the Melchizedeks have their own calendar and books, the main of which is the Watchmaker. They do not use other people's and new books. The service is conducted in Church Slavonic, chants are sung in speech. Worldly songs are prohibited, only the singing of spiritual verses is permissible. They themselves make candles, which are consecrated by the mentor. During sacrament hours, they partake with water and prosphora. Due to the absence of priests, the wedding ceremony is not performed, only the blessing is given for the marriage. Previously, only people of their faith were blessed, now marriage of different faiths is allowed, but only a member of the community receives the blessing. Children are baptized in the font, adults in the river. Only men have the right to baptize, bless, accept for confession, lead the charter. As a result of the unification of several parishes, three temple holidays are celebrated: the prophet Elijah, the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, the Great Martyr George the Victorious.

The Melchizedeks are still very strict in "keeping the cup." Previously, after the passing travelers, the dishes they used were thrown away, now there is a separate set of dishes for worldly people. Melchizedeks prefer not to communicate with the Gentiles and not to tell anything about their faith.

As before, the most widespread sense in the south of Altai is the old man's. Famous old man communities in Gorno-Altaysk (mentor V.I. Filippova), Maima (mentor N.S. Sukhoplyuev), Zyryanovsk (mentors M.S. Rakhmanov, L.A. Vykhodtsev), the villages of Bogatyrevo, Snegirevo, Parygino (mentor T.I. Loshchilov), Putintsevo (mentor T. Shitsyna) Zyryanovskiy district, settlement Ust-Koksa and the villages of Verkhny and Nizhny Uimon, Tikhonkaya, Chendek, Multa (mentor F.E. Ivanov) Ust-Koksinsky district, Yaylyu Turochaksky district.

The old people of Gorny Altai are distinguished by the originality of ideas, as well as by the severity of morals (the self-name of the sense is old man). Many of them have given up state pensions and are trying to live by subsistence farming, buying essential food in stores as seldom as possible. Old people have separate dishes so as not to be defiled through a common meal with worldly people. They do not accept a tape recorder, radio, television, telephone, considering them "demonic".

Altai old people are characterized by ritual features. In particular, when partaking, they use not prosphora, but Epiphany water (village Multa, Ust-Koksinsky district), on Easter - an egg that has lain for a year in front of the icons since the last Easter (village Yaylyu, Turochak district). In the transition to the old times, Nikonians must be baptized anew, while the White Baptists are baptized with "renunciation" (denial of heresy). According to F.O. Bochkarevoy from the village of Tikhonkaya, “to accept our faith before being baptized, it is necessary to study the charter for three years. We will find this interpretation in the Gospel parable about the owner and the gardener who tended for three years the tree, which blossomed only in the fourth year. "

The spiritual leader of the old man's community is the abbot. According to V.I. Filippova from Gorno-Altaysk, “the rector is almost a priest. He has the right to remove from the cathedral, to bring the spouses together. " In Multa, the abbot retained the name "priest"; all problems are solved by a council (ie, a community) in a spiritual conversation. The most controversial dogmatic issue is the funeral service for the deceased without repentance.

The old people deliberately do not spread their faith.

“One must hide one's faith so that outsiders do not ridicule the Scriptures, do not consider everything that is written there as fairy tales and fables. Our faith will not perish from this, it will only thin out and stretch into a thread, ”F.O. Bochkareva.

It is known that in the mountains on Lake Teletskoye there are hermitages and the nunnery of old men.

Russian peasants. A family of Old Believers from the village. Katanda. 1915 Author N.V. Novikov. From the funds of the Altai State Museum of Local Lore

According to the old believer A. Isakova from the village. Chendek of the Ust-Koksinsky region, before the old man's church was in Katanda. She said that the Koksy Old Believers communicated with the Bukhtarma residents, as well as the Kerzhaks of Biysk and Barnaul. Currently, the center of the Koksin old people is the village of Multa. Old people from Chendek, Upper and Lower Uymon, Tikhonkaya come here for big holidays. According to the memoirs of M.K. Kazantseva:

“There used to be a large prayer room in Multa, consisting of two compartments: the right one for men, the left one for women, with a common deposit. The service ran from four in the evening until nine in the morning. Wealthy villagers supported the prayer house. "

Whereas in the villages there is a tendency to unite the old people around a single center, in urban communities the opposite processes are taking place. So, in the recent past, the community in Gorno-Altaysk split into two, the second is now gathering in Maima. The once large parish in Zyryanovsk, for the convenience of performing divine services, was divided into two groups back in the 1960s, and at present the Zyryanovsk Old Believers do not go for rapprochement, having formed separate communities under the spiritual leadership of M.S. Rakhmanov and L.A. Vykhodtseva.

In Biysk, old people are called "off-register". As F.F. Serebrennikov, the Biysk elders branched off from the chapels, joining the co-religionists, then they turned away from common belief, considering it Nikonian, while the chapels were theirs. they didn’t accept back, that’s why they began to be called otpisnye, then - old people. The same community is in the village. Topolnoe Soloneshinsky district (mentor A.A. Filippova).

Old Believers who call themselves chapels are found in the villages of the Tyumentsevsky region.

Dyakonovshchina (self-name Dyakovsky) was preserved in Rudny Altai in the suburbs of Ust-Kamenogorsk and with. Cheremshanka of the Glubokovsky district of the East Kazakhstan region (mentor TS Denisova) - about 50 people in total.

In Rubtsovsk, Zmeinogorsk, villages of Zmeinogorsk, Tretyakovskiy districts live "Ipehashniki". Apparently, these are the descendants of the once numerous runners in Altai of true Orthodox Christians.

From the memoirs of the inhabitants of Zmeinogorsk:

“During the war years, a holy elder lived in these parts - a seer, in front of people he performed healings. His name was Demetrius, he was a simple Christian until he heard a voice from heaven. Since believers were persecuted, he hid in secret corners and entrances, where people came to pray. Then Dimitri was found and tried, since then he has disappeared without a trace. His work was continued by his son Mikhail, who had returned from the war. However, he was also tried for giving up his passport. Mikhail returned from prison as a cripple, but continued his religious activities. About 40 people joined him. "

Now there are no more than 10 such people left. They do not accept the priesthood, calling modern priests "cult workers" who "do not serve, but work." The sacrament of the sacrament is performed independently: after fasting, they accept holy baptismal water, bring repentance before the Gospel - thereby, they partake of the Holy Spirit (“in the Spirit - the truth”). Many Ipekhasniks refused pensions, believing that money is not given by God, but by the devil, from passports, like the seal of the Antichrist, who reigned in the world; they cut off the electricity, use candles, and cook food on the fire in the oven. These people try to live in isolation, touching the "world" as little as possible.

It should be noted that in some Bukhtarma villages (Bykovo, Bogatyrevo, Zyryanovsky district, Soldatovo, Bolshenarymsky district) locals single out the Poles' Old Believers. Apparently, these are the descendants of Poles who moved to live in Kamen, but at the same time retained their distinctive features in everyday life and church practice. Polyakov's Old Believers formed a kind of independent sense of local significance. Resident of the village. Bogatyrevo U.O. Biryukova reported that the Poles fled from Soviet power to China and then returned to Bukhtarma in the 1950s-1960s. Previously, they had their own prayer house, which differed from the old man's in the absence of bells. In worship they have more chants, and their chants are more chanting and lengthy.

Old Believers of Bykov village (Bykovo village) of Bukhtarma district (Bukhtarma "masons"). Photo by A. N. Beloslyudov (1912-1914)

There was information that representatives of such a rare and small group as neokruzhniks live in Zalesovo. However, expeditionary studies have shown that there is no neokruzhnikov community here. There are some Old Believers who consider themselves both neo-rulers and Melchizedeks at the same time. It is likely that the existence of the word "neokruzhniki" testifies to the existence of this persuasion in Altai in the past, then assimilated with other Old Believer accords.

On the whole, different tendencies prevail among the modern Old Believers-priests and bespopovtsy. In the priest’s communities, there is an intensification of spiritual life, the desire not only to preserve their traditions, but also to give them continuation in new conditions. Popovtsy are not characterized by religious isolation. Contact has been established between their communities both within the region and beyond: with fellow believers in Novosibirsk, Moscow, Odessa, Belarus. Among bespopovtsy, there is no unity of views on ritual-dogmatic and customary legal aspects, which in many respects contributes to the destruction and extinction of spiritual traditions, up to the disappearance of some confessions, their merging with the initially dominant one (24).

So, the more than 250-year history of the Altai Old Believers continues to develop, enriched with new events and facts. The uniqueness of this region is largely due to the multi-layered culture of the Old Believers. Along with the old-time stratum of Altai Old Believers, there is a group of late settlers. A large number of interpretations and agreements on the territory of Altai introduces additional fragmentation and testifies to the heterogeneity of the phenomenon under study. Constant migration processes associated with the outflow of the population due to political events (25), discoveries and development of ore deposits, large construction projects, for example, such as the Bukhtarma hydroelectric power station, give a dynamic character to the map of Old Believer settlements.

There is no doubt that Altai is one of the most interesting and promising regions for the study of the Old Believers, therefore, the systematic collection of material in order to study the current state of the Altai Old Belief must be continued in the future, which will complement and expand our understanding of this distinctive historical and cultural phenomenon.

Notes (edit)

(1) So, the foundation of the Biysk fortress dates back to 1709, the Kolyvan-Chaussky fortress - to 1713. In the same year, Prince M.P. Gagarin reported to Peter I about the possibility of building fortresses along the Irtysh to strengthen the line through Dzungaria. In 1718 the Semipalatinsk fortress was founded, in 1720 - the Ust-Kamenogorsk fortress. In 1723, the first ore deposit was discovered on the river. Loktevka, where in 1726 A.N. Demidov founded the Kolyvan copper smelter. The subsequent discoveries of ore deposits contributed to the opening of mining plants: Barnaul, Shulbinsky, Zmeinogorsky, in the second half of the 18th century. - Pavlovsky, Loktevsky, Zyryanovsky, Gavrilovsky.

(2) These decrees were supported by others as well. In particular, in 1735 (according to other sources, in 1738), a census of schismatics at the Demidov factories was scheduled to be included in the feudal tax system.

(3) K.V. Chistov identified seven lists and three versions of the Belovodsk legend.

(4) Here is a version of the legend recorded by the author of the article during the expedition in 1993 to the village. Parygino Zyryanovskiy district of the East Kazakhstan region from A. Loshchilova, born in 1926: “People gathered, dried biscuits, went to Belovodye. They ride, pull the sled, leave notches. So we got to the big ice mountain. They began to climb on it, and the traces immediately after them freeze and disappear. Finally, the sled rolled downhill, and then there was a sea or a big river. Wherever they rush, they go all the way. Only one was able to run over the water, because he was there (Belovodsk). Either they have a bridge under water, or what secret signs are there, or maybe they know what prayers, in general, not everyone, but only a select few, can get into Belovodye. "

(5) The Polish Vetka is one of the spiritual centers of the Old Believers, along with Kerzhenets, Staroduby, Irgiz, Rogozhsky and Preobrazhensky villages in Moscow. The first Old Believer settlements were founded on Vetka by fugitives from Starodubye. Soon about 20 settlements were formed, where immigrants from other regions of Russia settled. The entire territory inhabited by the Old Believers was called the Branch. Here monasteries and hermitages were founded, in which priests were trained for individual parishes, they wrote polemical essays in defense of the Old Believers, etc.

The tsarist government several times tried to "ruin" Vetka: books and icons were confiscated from monasteries and houses, all buildings were burned, the population was resettled. The first defeat of Vetka, known as "distillation", took place in 1735, but the Old Believers soon settled there again. In the early 60s. XVIII century the second "distillation" of Vetka took place.

(6) On the territory of Poles' residence - Volchikha, Zimovye, Poperechnoye, Pikhtovka, Strezhnaya, Orlovka, Tarkhanka, Chistopolka, Aleksandrovka; masons - Berel, Kamenka, Berezovka, Turgusun, Snegirevo, Krestovka, Solovyevo, Parygino. The settlements of the Uimon Old Believers were founded - Upper and Lower Uimon.

(7) The Poles fled to Kamen from the overwhelming burden of mining duties. Bricklayers, among whom a predominantly male population, often took wives from Polish villages. The commonality of these groups of the population is clearly expressed in the wedding ceremony.

(8) The division of the Old Believers into two consents occurred in the 90s. XVII century after the death of all the priests of the old ordination. One part of the Old Believers - the priests - accepted fugitive priests from the New Believers' church. The other, the non-popovtsy, did not recognize the priests of the new ordination and thus lost such church sacraments as the Eucharist, chrismation, blessing of oil, and marriage. For the performance of the church service, as well as the sacraments of baptism, repentance, and in some cases, marriage, spiritual mentors from the members of the community are selected among bespopovtsy.

(9) The Belokrinitsa (Austrian) Consent got its name due to a significant event in the history of Old Believers that took place in 1846 in Belaya Krinitsa, Austria. That year, the three-ruled hierarchy was restored in the Old Believer Church by joining the Old Believers Metropolitan Ambrose of Bosno-Sarajevo. Thus, the Old Believers' Church found its own bishop, endowed with the right to ordain to the priesthood.

However, not all Old Believers-priests accepted the Belokrinitsa hierarchy. Some continued to perform divine services and church ordinances with the help of fugitive, stripped priests of the New Rite Church. They were called runaways. Beglopopovstvo, in fact, was the first form of clergy, but it took shape in an independent sense after the establishment of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy, as opposed to it.

(10) They originated in the Kerzhen sketes and in the initial period were offshoots of runaway populations. Over time, communities of these sects began to elect spiritual fathers, who were empowered to perform a number of church sacraments. So there was a degeneration of these rumors into non-popovs.

Hourly consent (starikovshchina is one of its self-names) is called so due to the service in chapels devoid of altars. An important distinctive principle of their dogma is the refusal to re-baptize the Old Believers who have converted to old believers' other consents. The chapels themselves trace their origin from the Kerzhen monk Sophrony.

Dyakon's consent was founded at the beginning of the 18th century. Old Believer writer and polemicist T.M. Lysenin. Its name is associated with one of the most active figures - Hierodeacon Alexander (executed in 1720). The Dyakonites allowed the Old Believers to perform civic duties, serve in the army, and communicate with Nikonians. In contrast to the runners-up, they recognize the four-pointed cross on a par with the eight-pointed.

(11) In the first years of its existence, the pomorism was represented by the Pomor style, founded in the 1690s. in Olonets province by brothers Andrey and Semyon Denisov and clerk Danila Vikulin. Cathedrals of 1692 and 1694 ruled that teachers could not perform the ordinances assigned to priests, and therefore proclaimed the inadmissibility of marriage. However, soon some of the Pomors, on the initiative of the Moscow mentor Vasily Emelyanov, refused celibacy. Subsequently, they recognized the double tax established by Peter 1, began to pray for the tsar, eschatological motives in their sermons were somewhat weakened.

The Old Believers, who remained in their former positions, separated into an independent group under the leadership of Fedosey Vasiliev. Fedoseevism arose in Poland. Over time, the asceticism of the Fedoseevites softened: married and married members of the community were under penance, and in old age they were allowed to participate fully in church life. The Fedoseevites are sometimes called celibates, and the Pomors are referred to as law-marital consent, since the latter do not recognize the sinfulness of marriage.

(12) The Samodurovites did not recognize any other sacraments besides baptism. At the same time, baptism only in infancy was considered invalid, since it was not realized by a person. In this regard, their main dogma justifies the need for secondary baptism. In addition, the Samodurites did not pray for icons, but in each room had only the Crucifixion without the image of the Holy Spirit.

(13) Spasovtsy (founder - Kozma Andreev, the sense arose in the Kerzhen sketes at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries) believe that it is necessary to pray to the Savior without witnesses and intermediaries, since they reject traditional Orthodox dogmas and rituals, replacing them with “sketeous repentance” ... As V. Anderson notes, they make confession in private, in front of the image of the Savior or the Mother of God, since they do not recognize other icons. A significant difference between the Spassovites and other bespopovtsy is that they do not re-baptize other Orthodox Christians, because they are convinced that a person must be baptized once. Another name for consent - netovshchina - is associated with the denial of the sacraments, priesthood, temples, monasteries.

(14) Okhovtsy enter into the consent of non-repudiation in a separate sense. Realizing the sinfulness of life, they prefer to sigh for their sins instead of prayers. From here came their other names - non-Molaks and Vozdykhans. Believing in the impossibility of salvation, they refused not only prayers, but also icons. True prayer - "not in the stretch of the arms and in the presence of the body and is seen with the tongue, but in the clever teaching."

(15) The name of the meaning of self-cross comes from the self-written performance of the sacrament of baptism by the believers themselves without an intermediary: “they will undress and prayerfully plunge into Ubu, put on clean linen and call themselves a new name according to the calendar,” testifies G.D. Grebenshchikov.

(16) Self-crosses give rise to holes (or one-worshipers) who do not recognize any objective deity, except for God outside of time and space. They pray to God under open air bowing to the east. They have special openings in their homes, which they open when they turn to God.

(17) The consent of the pilgrims arose in the second half of the 18th century. in the Yaroslavl province (according to most researchers, its founder is the fugitive soldier Euthymius), having separated from the Philippovism. Wanderers believe that eternal wandering is necessary for the salvation of the soul. Since the Antichrist has reigned in the world, one cannot obey the authorities, perform public duties, and pay taxes. Runners do not recognize passports, abandon their names and surnames in order to cut off ties with civil society, perceive self-baptism as a religious dogma so that no one associated with the world of anti-christ would participate in baptism.

(18) The journalist A. Kratenko tried to restore the history of one of the Old Believer monasteries in Altai. From documentary sources, he found out that in 1899 at the confluence of the river. Bannaya in Ubu was founded by the Pomor women's monastery by eight sisters who came from the Ufa province. In 1911, there were already about 40 nuns in the monastery. In the 1930s. the monastery was destroyed, some of the nuns were imprisoned, after their release, many of them settled in Guslyakovka and Ermolaevka.

(19) Let us note the positive consequences of the decree of April 17, 1905 on religious tolerance: the loyal attitude of the government to the Old Believers, the end of the moral and economic oppression of the Old Believers.

(20) Let us illustrate the above with the story of A.F. Belogrudova, who comes from the Dolgov family of Old Believers known in Altai, for a long time the former leader of the Biysk Belokrinitsa community: “In Soviet times, they prayed secretly, there was no constant prayer room. For fear of being noticed, the service was performed, going from house to house. Sometimes I had to change places during one service. " The description of such a situation had to be repeatedly recorded, it is so typical for that time.

(21) RPSTs - Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church- the official name of the Belikrinitsky (Austrian) consent.

(22) In 1993, expeditions to Rudny Altai (East Kazakhstan region) by N.S. Murashova and V.V. Murashov and in Barnaul - I.V. Polozova and L.R. Fattakhova.
In 1996, with the support of the Russian Foundation for Humanities (project 96-04-18023) T.G. Kazantseva, N.S. Murashova, V.V. Murashov and O.A. Svetlov examined Biysk, Gorno-Altaysk, the villages of Biysk, Altaysky, Ust-Koksinsky and Turochaksky districts. In 1997, again thanks to the assistance of the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation (project 97-04-18013), six expeditions were carried out: T.G. Kazantsev and A.M. Shamne worked in the Old Believer communities of Barnaul and Biysk; T.G. Kazantseva, N.S. Murashov and V.V. Murashov visited during the celebration of Easter in the Biysk Pomor community, and then in the Zalesovsky and Zarinsky districts; NS. Murashov and V.V. Murashov examined Rubtsovsk, Zmeinogorsk, the villages of Zmeinogorsky, Tretyakovsky and Kuryinsky districts; O.A. Svetlova and O.V. Svetlov worked in Biyskiy, Altayskiy, Krasnogorskiy and Soloneshenskiy districts; O.A. Svetlova and I.D. Pozdnyakov made a trip to Aleisky, Ust-Kalmansky, Charyshsky districts. The materials of the expeditions are in the Archives of Traditional Music of the Novosibirsk Conservatory.

(23) On September 28, 1997, the consecration of the temple took place (the foundation of the temple - ed.) In Biysk. Let us give short description those events according to the expedition diary of T.G. Kazantseva: “The rite of consecration took place in the courtyard of the prayer house. The foundation, the plinth and the first crown of logs were laid at the future temple. The church is small: 10 by 10 m. In the courtyard, an iconostasis of three icons was prepared, in the center - the temple icon of the Kazan Mother of God; lamp; a table with the Gospel for priests; stand for singing books; in the distance is a wooden eight-pointed cross. Closer to the house were tables for a festive meal. The Biysk priest Fr. Mikhail, priest from Barnaul, Fr. Nikola, mother Marina, who read the canon, poetry reciter Vasily, singers of the Biysk and Barnaul communities (leader Alexander Emelyanov). About 100 people attended. The ceremony consisted of reading and singing the canon, reading the Gospel. The consecration itself consisted in the cruciform censing of the temple from four sides and the cutting of notches with an ax into each corner, also cruciform. After the prayer service and the consecration of the church, all those who took part in the ritual, in pairs, approached the priests to sprinkle them with holy water. Then there was a crowded dinner with festive speeches and chanting of spiritual poetry.

(24) So, among the Pomors, a two-hypostatic Deity is depicted on the crucifix (there is no dove - the symbol of the Holy Spirit). During baptism, the Pomors do not go around the baptismal font: both the spiritual father and the godson are facing the east. For old people, the spiritual father approaches the font from the west, and then turns to the east. Different opinions among Old Believers cause the need to "observe the cup", communicate with the "world", use money, appeal to government agencies, etc.

Currently, there are no differences between the Pomors and Fedoseevites. The Samodurovites lost their independent status, dissolving among the Pomors. In the ideology of the Pomors, there is a penetration of spiritual motives of wandering, in particular, a negative attitude to passports and other documents, as to the seal of the devil.

(25) For example, in the 1920s-1930s. many Old Believers left the Soviet regime for China, in the 1950s-1960s. some of them returned to their homeland after 30 years of coexistence with Old Believers from other regions.

Op .: Traditions of spiritual singing in the culture of Altai Old Believers. Novosibirsk: Science, 2002

Old Believers, Old Believers, or schismatics appeared in Russia in 1653 - Patriarch Nikon promoted church reform and split the ranks of the Orthodox people. The Old Believers were anathematized, and they were forced to flee to remote places in Russia, and mastered the inaccessible corners of Altai. The first Old Believers in Altai appeared in the eighteenth century, in the forties. Inhabited the upper reaches of the Uba and Ulba rivers, settled on Belaya, Koksa and Uimon, Argut and Katun. Many schismatics strove to the valley of Bukhtarma or Kamen (the second name of the river). Bukhtarma residents were christened masons. Later, the Bukhtarma valley was called Belovodye - it was a land free from royal taxes and supervision.

The descendants of the first Old Believers in Altai still live on Bukhtarma. Old Believers from both the European part of the Russian state and residents of the previously developed northern regions of Siberia aspired to the mountainous region. In addition to the fugitives, many government immigrants settled in Altai, who came to the mountains to "develop new lands." Some schismatics were brought to Altai by force. Among them were fugitives to Poland and Lithuania, who later became known as Poles. Old Believers in Altai were forced to hide from the authorities, only in 1792 after the introduction of yasak (taxes for foreigners), their position became legalized. In Soviet times, Old Believers were persecuted. Despite the dramatic history, some of the schismatics managed to preserve ancient traditions, which makes their life attractive for scientists and tourists.

Old Believers are extremely hardy, clean, enterprising and hard-working people. For their diligence and accuracy, they are compared only with the Mennonite Germans. They were able to adapt to the natural extreme of Gorny Altai, learned to use the natural resources of this luxurious land. The schismatics engaged in hunting and fishing, kept bees and raised red deer. Farmers and artisans worked successfully. Among the latter were famous weavers and carpenters, potters (the latter, mostly women). Families of Old Believers always lived in prosperity, prosperous, although most of them had many children, and even adopted orphans, regardless of their roots. The masons were distinguished by mercy, willingness to disinterestedly help those in need, mutual assistance. Harsh natural conditions developed their courage, determination and thrift.

The lack of women among Old Believers led to the emergence of many mixed marriages. After the adoption of the Old Believers, Russians, Chinese women, representatives of local Turkic peoples became the wives of the schismatics. This left an interesting imprint on the customs of the ancient Orthodox. The Old Believers in Altai adhere to different interpretations, which is the reason for the heterogeneity of the Old Believers. And today there are communities that are closed for contacts, which, in the name of purity of spirit and faith, restrict communications with the outside world. Among the Old Believers there are individuals who have refused passports, pensions, believing that these benefits are from the unclean. They do not have televisions and radios, and they consider it a sin to use electricity.

Bukhtarma Old Believers. The settlements of the Bukhtarma Old Believers are one of the first Russian peasant settlements on the territory of Kazakhstan. They were founded in the 18th century. in the East Kazakhstan region by fugitive peasants from the Volga and central Russian provinces, who sought refuge here from economic and religious oppression, from recruitment. These settlements are located in the inaccessible mountain valleys of the river. Bukhtarma (in local terminology, "in stone", which is why the entire population was also called "masons") remained unknown to the government for a long time, and only from 1791 their inhabitants were officially included in Russian citizenship. In the 1760s Russian population East Kazakhstan increased significantly due to Russian Old Believers who fled from religious persecution to Poland and forcibly returned to Russia (they began to be called "Poles"). "Poles" settled next to the Bukhtarma Old Believers - along the river. Ulba and r. Uby, the right tributaries of the Irtysh, flowing somewhat north of Bukhtarma, closer to the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk. Bukhtarma residents and "Poles", due to their common origin and long-term cohabitation, became closer culturally and everyday life.

The Bukhtarma Valley was often the final destination of many fugitives. She was known as the Stone, i.e. the mountainous part of the region, therefore its inhabitants were called masons. Later, these lands began to be called Belovodye, identifying a free land without government supervision with a mythical country from a utopian legend extremely widespread among the Old Believers. In its numerous versions, it is said that Belovodye is a holy land where Russian people live who fled from the religious strife of the 17th century. In Belovodye they have their own churches, in which services are held according to the old books, the sacraments of baptism and marriage are performed according to the sun, they do not pray for the tsar, they are baptized with two fingers. As E. Shmurlo notes, through all the 18th and 19th centuries, there is a tireless search for this fantastic Eldorado, where rivers flow with honey, where taxes are not collected, where, finally, there is no Nikon church especially for schismatics. Among the Old Believers there were numerous lists of the "Traveler" showing the way to Belovodye. The last real geographical point of the route is the Bukhtarma valley. After fruitless attempts to find the Belovodskaya land, many of its seekers began to consider the Belovodye Bukhtarma Territory, where "a peasant land without officials and priests." The latter also attracted the Old Believers there. The government knew about secret settlements in the depths of the Altai Mountains from the 40s. XVIII century, but they were discovered only in 1761, when Warrant Officer Zeleny, walking with a search mountain party to Bukhtarma, noticed at one of its tributaries - Turgusun - a hut, in which there were two men who then managed to hide. Such single houses and small villages of five or six courtyards were scattered among the mountain gorges of the Bukhtarma Valley. Their inhabitants were engaged in fishing, hunting, agriculture. However, difficult living conditions, internal strife, frequent crop failures, as well as the constant danger of detection, as miners began to appear in these places, forced the Bukhtarma residents to legalize their position. In 1786, about 60 residents of the Stone went to the Chinese bogdykhan with a request to take them under their care. But, not wanting a conflict with the Russian government, the Chinese authorities, having kept the petitioners in custody in the city of Hobdo, released them with a refusal. In 1790, taking advantage of the appearance of a mining official with a party of workers, the Bukhtarma residents expressed their desire to "be open to the government." By the rescript of Catherine II of September 15, 1791, the masons were admitted to Russia as yasak foreigners. They paid the government with yasak in the form of furs and animal skins, like all other foreigners of the Russian Empire. In 1796, yasak was replaced by a monetary tax, and in 1824. - quitrent as from sedentary foreigners. In addition, the Bukhtarma residents were freed from submission to the sent administration, mining works, recruitment and some other duties.

These are brief information about the initial history of the Bukhtarma bricklayers who settled in the region as a result of spontaneous migrations. The formation of Old Believer settlements in the western part of Altai, which took place at the same time as in the Bukhtarma valley, had a different character, since it was the result of government orders. In connection with the expansion of the mining business, it became necessary to strengthen the Kolyvano-Voskresenskaya border line, which implied the construction of new redoubts and outposts. It took an increase in the number of miners, and, consequently, of peasants-farmers to provide the workers and the military with food. In 1760, a Senate decree was issued “On the occupation of places in Siberia from the Ust-Kamenogorsk fortress along the Bukhtarma river and further to Lake Teletskoye, on the construction of fortresses there in convenient places and the settlement of that side along the Uba, Ulba, Berezovka, Glubokaya and other rivers. the rivers flowing into the Irtysh River, by Russian people up to two thousand people. " In this regard, on the basis of the manifesto of Catherine II of December 4, 1761, the Senate invited Russian Old Believers who fled to Poland from religious persecution to return to Russia. At the same time, it was indicated that they could choose the place of residence either the previous one, or the designated one at the disposal of the empress, which included Siberia. Thus, some Old Believers settled here voluntarily, but many, especially the residents of the Vetka settlement that was part of Poland, who were led out by Major General Maslov, were expelled to this territory by force. In 1765, a special order was issued, which commanded to exile fugitives from Poland and Lithuania to Siberia, so they began to be called Poles in Altai. all the indigenous villages of the "Poles" in the Zmeinogorsk district were founded: Ekaterininka of the Aleksandrovskaya volost; Shemonaikha, Losikha (Verkh-Uba), Sekisovka of the Vladimir volost; Bobrovka Bobrovskaya volost. Soon new villages appeared, where only Old Believers were inhabitants: Malaya Ubinka, Bystrukha of Vladimir volost; Cheremshanka, Butakovo, Ridder Volost and some others. On May 21, 1779, an order was issued to assign Poles peasants to factories, which obliged them to perform not only agricultural work, but also logging, export of finished ore, etc. Until 1861, the Poles were assigned to the Kolyvano-Voskresensk mining plants. Unlike bricklayers, they had to fulfill all public duties and pay double poll tax as schismatics.

Thus, the history of the Altai Old Believers of the 18th century. is divided into two stages: the first half of the century, when only individual fugitive Old Believers enter the region, and the second half - the time of the formation of settled settlements on this territory (in the 1750s - 1790s - masons, in the 1760s - 1800s. - Poles). XIX century. characterized by a general stabilization of the life of the Altai Old Believers. This is evidenced by the active process of the formation of new villages (6), the establishment of ties between various Old Believer denominations, due to their religious community. In the XIX century. in Altai, there lived representatives of both priestly and non-popov's consents (8). Old Believers-priests came to Altai in Aleiskaya, Aleksandrovskaya, Bobrovskaya, Vladimirskaya, Ridderskaya volosts after the “forcing” of settlements on Vetka. Later, as a result of escapes to the free lands of masons, priests appeared in the Bukhtarma district. Beglopop communities were concentrated in Bystrukh, Malaya Ubinka, Cheremshanka. Since the 1850s. the spread of the Belokrinitsa priesthood among the Altai Poles is noted, and from 1908 - among the masons, whose church was located first in Bogatyrevo, and from 1917 in Korobikha. Since 1800, a co-religion church began to exist, which is a transitional one between the Old Believers and the synodal ones. She obeyed the bishops of the New Believer Church, but the divine services in it were performed according to the old books in accordance with the Old Believer guidelines. In Altai, the most numerous parishes of the same faith were in Orlovka, Poperechnaya, Ekaterininka of the Aleksandrovskaya volost, Verkh-Uba, Shemonaikha of the Vladimir volost, as well as in some villages of stonemasons (Topolnoye, Kamyshenka). In the second half of the XIX century. a cathedral church of the same faith functioned in Barnaul (priest Father Mikhail Kandaurov). The chapel, the old man's and the deacon's talk play the role of intermediate between the priest’s and bespopov’s consents. The Ural and Siberian chapels were actively assimilated with the Altai runglopopovtsy in the 1780s. In the valleys of Bukhtarma and Koksa, on the shores of Lake Teletskoye, the old man's style is most widespread. In the indigenous settlements of the Poles - in the suburbs of Ust-Kamenogorsk, in the villages of the Ridder volost - there were Dyakon's. One of the most numerous bespopovskih talk in Altai is the Pomor one. Pomeranian communities are spread throughout the region. The Bespopovites-Fedoseevites came to Altai in connection with the mass resettlement of the Vetkovites here. Their native villages were Verkh-Uba, Butakovo, Vydrikha, Bobrovka, Tarkhanka. In Butakovo, Cheremshanka, Bystrukh, Malaya Ubinka, there were samodurovtsy bespopovtsy. In the Uby valley, there lived representatives of such non-populous religions as Spassovtsy (Netovtsy), Okhovtsy (non-Molaks) who came to Altai from the Volga region, self-crosses in the villages along the Uba and Anui rivers, in the Yazovaya and Pechs of the Bukhtarma volost - one-worshipers (hole-mongers), along the river. In Bukhtarma and in the Zmeinogorsk district there were runners (wanderers), which intensified the diversity of the ritual and dogmatic picture of the Altai Old Believers of the 19th century. At this time, the main spiritual centers of the region stand out. Prayers in Kondratyevo, Turgusun, Vydrikha, Sekisovka, Verkh-Uba, Cheremshanka, Belaya were famous for their decoration and competent conduct of services. History has preserved the names of the most authoritative Old Believer mentors of the 19th century. Among the priests in the 1800s - 1820s. Yegor Alekseev (Krutoberezovka), Trofim Sokolov (Malaya Ubinka), Platon Guslyakov (Verkh-Uba) were highly respected; in the 30s - 40s. - Nikita Zelenkov (Turgusun), Ivan Panteleev (Snegirevo), Ekaterina Karelskikh (Bukhtarma villages); in the 50s - 60s. - Ivan Golovanov (Bystrukha); in the 70s - 80s. - Fedor Eremeev (Tarkhanka); among bespopovtsy - Ivan Krivonogov (Vydrikha), Karp Rachenkov (Butakovo), Fedor Sheshunnikov (Tarkhanka), Guriy Kostin (Bobrovka), Yasson Zyryanov (Belaya). At the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. the number of Old Believer monasteries is growing. Sketes functioned near Ridder, Verkh-Uba, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Zmeinogorsk, on the river. Baschelak, near the villages of Ponomari and Kordon of the Charysh volost, in the area of the volost center Srednekrasilovo, not far from Zalesovo (in the village of Mikulushkino swamp), in Chulyshman in the Altai Mountains. During this period, a fairly large group of Old Believers - immigrants from Russia - came to Altai. As shown by the expeditionary research of the employees of the Novosibirsk Conservatory to the areas of residence of the Old Believers in 1993-1997. (22), the current state of Old Believer settlements in Altai has undergone certain changes. In the region, there are priests-white-criminals, beglopopovtsy and representatives of eight bespopovtsy: pomors, fedoseevtsy, filipovtsy, chaplains, starikovtsy, dyakonovtsy, melchizedeks, runners (presumably). The main centers of the Belokrinitsa Old Believers are located in Barnaul (priest Fr. Nikola), Biysk (priest Fr. Mikhail), Ust-Kamenogorsk (priest Fr. Gleb). Thanks to the missionary activities of the clergy, there is an active growth of the Belokrinitsky communities in the regional centers of Krasnogorskoye, Zalesovo, Blagoveshchenka, Gorno-Altaysk, the villages of the Ust-Koksinsky region of the Altai Republic, Glubokovsky and Shemonaikha regions of the East Kazakhstan region. In some settlements (Barnaul, Biysk, Zalesove, the village of Multa, Ust-Koksinsky district), temples are being built. The Beglopop community of up to 100 people, which has its own church, has survived in the village. Cheremshanka of the Glubokovsky district of the East Kazakhstan region. Old Believers-runglopopovtsy also live in the villages of Kordon and Peshcherka of the Zalesovsky district and in the city of Zarinsk. Some of the runaway popes came to the Cave from Kamenka, which ceased to exist in 1957 as a result of the unification of collective farms, in which there was once a church. According to the testimony of local residents, quite recently there was a large community in Zarinsk, but after the death of the mentor, community (cathedral) services ceased, the house of worship was sold. Currently, the priest Fr. Andrey from s. Barite (Ursk) of the Kemerovo region. Numerically, Pomor remains the predominant non-populist style of Altai. Pomor communities are concentrated in Barnaul (mentors A.V. Gutov, A.V. Mozoleva), Biysk (mentor F.F. Serebrennikov), Ust-Kamenogorsk (mentor M.K. Farafonova), Leninogorsk (mentors I.K. Gruzinov , A.Ya. Nemtsev), Serebryansk (mentor E.Ya. Neustroev). The places of compact residence of the Pomors are Aleyskiy, Altayskiy, Biyskiy, Charyshskiy districts of Altai Krai, as well as Glubokovskiy district of the East Kazakhstan region. In Leninogorsk in the early 1990s. there was a Pomor women's monastery, in which there were two nuns and a novice. Most of the Pomors are the indigenous natives of Altai, but there are also migrants from the Tomsk region, Tobolsk, and the Urals. In some villages (Verkh-Uba, Butakovo, Malaya Uba), the Pomors are called samodurovtsy. As before, the most widespread sense in the south of Altai is the old man's. Famous old man communities in Gorno-Altaysk (mentor V.I. Filippova), Maima (mentor N.S. Sukhoplyuev), Zyryanovsk (mentors M.S. Rakhmanov, L.A. Vykhodtsev), the villages of Bogatyrevo, Snegirevo, Parygino (mentor T.I. Loshchilov), Putintsevo (mentor T. Shitsyna) Zyryanovskiy district, settlement Ust-Koksa and the villages of Verkhny and Nizhny Uimon, Tikhonkaya, Chendek, Multa (mentor F.E. Ivanov) Ust-Koksinsky district, Yaylyu Turochaksky district. Many of them have given up state pensions and are trying to live by subsistence farming, buying essential food in stores as seldom as possible. Old people have separate dishes so as not to be defiled through a common meal with worldly people. They do not accept a tape recorder, radio, television, telephone, considering them "demonic." In particular, when partaking, they use not prosphora, but Epiphany water (village Multa, Ust-Koksinsky district), on Easter - an egg that has lain for a year in front of the icons since the last Easter (village Yaylyu, Turochak district). In the transition to the old times, Nikonians must be baptized anew, while the White Baptists are baptized with "renunciation" (denial of heresy). According to F.O. Bochkarevoy from the village of Tikhonkaya, “to accept our faith before being baptized, it is necessary to study the charter for three years. We will find this interpretation in the Gospel parable of the owner and gardener who tended a tree for three years, which bloomed only in the fourth year. ”The spiritual leader of the old man's community is the rector. According to V.I. Filippova from Gorno-Altaysk, “the rector is almost a priest. He has the right to remove from the cathedral, to bring the spouses together. " In Multa, the abbot retained the name "priest"; all problems are solved by a council (ie, a community) in a spiritual conversation. One of the most controversial dogmatic issues is the funeral service for the deceased without repentance. The Old Ones deliberately do not spread their faith.

It should be noted that in some Bukhtarma villages (Bykovo, Bogatyrevo, Zyryanovsky District, Soldatovo, Bolshenarymsky District), local residents single out Poles' Old Believers. Apparently, these are the descendants of Poles who moved to live in Kamen, but at the same time retained their distinctive features in everyday life and church practice. Polyakov's Old Believers formed a kind of independent sense of local significance. Resident of the village. Bogatyrevo U.O. Biryukova reported that the Poles fled from Soviet power to China and then returned to Bukhtarma in the 1950s-1960s. Previously, they had their own prayer house, which differed from the old man's in the absence of bells. In worship they have more chants, and their chants are more chanting and lengthy.

Old Believers of East Kazakhstan mastered the main natural resources of the region and were engaged in agriculture (with a predominance of the fallow-fallow system), cattle breeding (including breeding deer-marals), beekeeping, hunting (they hunted sables, squirrels, bears, mountain goats, birds) and fish catching. Many elements of the material and spiritual culture of the Bukhtarma residents were distinguished by the preservation of a number of archaic features, which is a consequence of their residence in remote mountain valleys in isolation from the main mass of the settlement of the Russian people and a closed way of life. Bukhtarma residents adopted some cultural features from neighboring peoples - Kazakhs, Altai. Thus, certain elements of clothing were borrowed - wide trousers from women, ornament, etc. The borrowing of cultural elements from the Kazakhs can be explained, in particular, by the fact that men predominated among the first settlers-Old Believers. Due to the lack of women, some of the settlers took Kazakh women as wives, having previously baptized them. A comprehensive ethnographic survey of the Bukhtarma residents was carried out in 1927 by well-known ethnographers E.E. Blomkvist and N.P. Grinkova within the framework of the Kazakhstan Expedition of the Academy of Sciences (headed by S.I. Rudenko). The survey results are reflected in the collection prepared by E.E. Blomkvist and N.P. Grinkova