Tatarstan Academy of Sciences

100 million rubles — to cathedral and museum

The idea of creating this museum belongs to the head of the non-profit foundation Russian Antiquity, Vasily Kirillov. At the end of 2016, he asked Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, the Kazan diocese and the Moscow Metropolitan to support this initiative and received approval.

It was decided to allocate a basement for the museum, which required major repairs: due to that a river flows next to the temple, sometimes the ground water level in the basement rooms reached a height of 1 metre. According to Kirillov, funds in the amount of 50 million rubles were allocated from various extra-budgetary funds by order of the head of the republic. In 2017, the basement of the temple was waterproofed, the boiler room, water supply and heating systems were repaired.

In addition to organising exhibitions, it is planned to organise a space for cultural, educational and educational programmes on the basis of the museum. Besides, despite the old believer spirit, the museum's activities, as stated in the documents, will include modern technologies — systems for wireless access to audio-visual information of museums, including virtual excursions, using wireless devices, as well as multimedia panels with various historical information.

For these purposes, as well as the purchase of stained glass windows, stands, digital equipment and other materials, the ministry of culture of Russia allocated 8 million rubles. But as Vasily Kirillov, the head of the non-profit foundation for cultural and historical heritage Russian Antiquity, who initiated the creation of the museum, told Realnoe Vremya, this is only a small part of the funds.
Initially, the money was invested in the preservation of the architectural and historical monument — the cathedral, the roof and walls were redone, and the interior of the church was restored. After the renovation of the ground floor, it was decided to create the historical museum here. The total amount that was eventually spent during the repair and restoration works of both the temple and the museum is about 100 million rubles, Vasily Kirillov, the head of the foundation, told

Icons of 16th century and portraits of merchants-Old Believers

Museum visitors will have the opportunity to see rare books of the 17th century, related to the era of separation of the Old Believers under the leadership of Archpriest Avvakum from the traditional Orthodox Church, the so-called raskol, ancient icons and banners, old printed books, clothing and household items of the followers of the old Russian worship — already about 400 exhibits, and most of them are originals.

The Kazan Museum of the History of the Old Believers will be unique in its essence and, perhaps, the only one in Russia with such an extensive and permanent exhibition. It will consist of several sections and will be located in three halls with a total area of 1,200 square metres: these are documents and various exhibits that tell about the history of the formation and development of the Old Believer Church — from the raskol to the present.