Journey to the Braslau lake district.
Падарожжа на Браслаўшчыну.
Churches of Belarus (part CLXXVIII): Old Believers’ church of the Dormition (1905), Varonka. Old Believers split from the Moscow Patriarchate after 1666 in reaction against liturgical reforms. Persecuted as schismatics by the Moscow Patriarchate, Old Believers migrated either to remote areas of Siberia or to the west, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus. Even today, although integrated into the broader Belarusian society in terms of professions, Old Believers remain reserved and wary of potential pressure from the state or the Moscow Patriarchate.
Old Believers in approximately 40 parishes in northern Belarus are “priestless” (беспапоўцы). The more broadly-known Old Believers in Vjetka District of southeastern Belarus retain priests.
Цэрквы Беларусі (частка CLXXVIII): стараверская царква Ўсьпеньня (1905), Варонка 2016 г.
Old Believers’ cemetery, Varonka. Some Old Believers are christened with names from early Slavic times. In this regard it is always fascinating to look at Old Believer names on headstones, as here: Polagij, Likandra, Akilina, Alimpij, and Kalina (as a man’s name).
Стараверскія могілкі, Варонка 2016. Звярніце ўвагу на старадаўныя імёны.
