Visit of Archpriest John of Kronstadt to Ekaterinburg: New Documents and Testimonies

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of a visit of an outstanding religious figure of the Russian Empire, rector of St. Andrew's Cathedral, Father John Ilyich Sergiev (of Kronstadt) to Ekaterinburg in the summer of 1905. The goal of the authors is to describe the visit details that have not been reflected in scientific literature. The article containing biographical information about Father John of Kronstadt analyses the ways of his communication with church people, especially through his trips to different locations. The authors provide biographical information about M. I. and A. M. Ivanov, as well as about M. G. Korolkov — the main organizers of Fr. John's visit to Ekaterinburg. Considerable attention is paid to the description of the visit: the ceremonial meeting of Father John at the station, his ministry in churches and pastoral visits to the Makarovs' flax-spinning and weaving factory, to the Perm Railway workshops, and editorial office of the “Ural” newspaper. The article provides information of Father John of Kronstadt’s visits to a number of private houses, including the estates of M. I. and A. M. Ivanov, P. F. Davydov, Ye. P. Stepanova, M. I. Grebenkova and the garden of Makarov brothers, etc. The description of the visits is complemented with brief biographical information of the citizens that Fr. John communicated with. The authors also inform about some representatives of the Ekaterinburg clergy: the Right Reverend Vladimir, Bishop of Ekaterinburg and Irbit, Archpriest L. A. Ignoratov and Priest S. V. Stakhiev, who either communicated with Father John of Kronstadt or were the eyewitnesses of the church services he held. The article gives the data concerning the pastor’s visit coverage in the local press and its reflection in the local photo chronicle, including a story of the two photos (a group and individual ones) of Father John of Kronstadt taken by photographer N. A. Terekhov, and what happened to them. While working on the article, new sources were found out: they cover the visit of Fr. John of Kronstadt and contain previously unknown interesting details. The factual material used by the authors allows them to conclude that the visit of Father John of Kronstadt was one of the most eminent events in the history of Ekaterinburg in the late 19th — early 20th centuries.

Keywords

• saint righteous archpriest john of kronstadt
• visit
• ekaterinburg
• ekaterinburg residents
• photography