Religious life of a provincial town in the 18th – early 20th centuries (based on the materials of the Olonets diocese)

Abstract

The article discusses the main patterns of religious life of the Olonets diocese towns over a long and significant period of Church history. It was revealed that due to the difference in historical destinies, the towns of the Olonets diocese had significant specific features in religious terms. Along with towns with a long ecclesiastical history, there were settlements in which religious life had obvious similarities with the rural way of parish life. Petrozavodsk played a special role in the confessional history of the region having a relatively stable financial situation, and for a long time being the location of the Cathedral and the main spiritual educational institution of the diocese.

Keywords

• town
• urbanization
• orthodoxy
• clergy
• parishioners
• temple
• church
• chapel
• ritual
• laity