The MThA Department of Church History held the All-Russian Scientific Conference «Archaeology is a place, where present meets past»

On November 17, 2022, the All-Russian Scientific Conference «Archaeology is a place, where present meets past» took place at the Elizabethan Hall of the Moscow Theological Academy. The event was dedicated to the 5th anniversary of archaeological practice organized for the Master’s students at the Church History Department of the Moscow Theological Academy.

It brought together twenty-one speakers, who gave their reports including leading specialists of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, teachers, students and graduates of the Church History Department. In the first part of the conference, lecturers of the Academy and employees of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported on the results of excavations in the Holy Trinity - St. Sergius Lavra, the Moscow Kremlin and ancient Roman burial grounds in the Crimea. The second part was devoted to an overview of archaeological trips taken by students of the Academy.

Professor Alexey K. Svetozarsky, Head of the Church History Department of the Moscow Theological Academy, opened the conference with a welcoming speech, in which he noted fruitful and long-term cooperation between the Moscow Theological Academy and the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“Our students are not just historians, they are, first of all, future clergymen. The main benefit of this practice is a real contact with the faith of their fathers and its preservation for next generations,” said Alexey Konstantinovich.

Asya V. Engovatova, Deputy Director for Science at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, gave a report on the results of archaeological excavations at the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra from 2018 to 2022. Hegumen Gerasim (Dyachkov) continued with his report on "Archaeological practice in the system of spiritual education of the Russian Orthodox Church". Being the head of archaeological practice, Hegumen Gerasim highlighted some important and useful skills that archeological work develops in students. Then, the word took Alexey N. Sviridov and Sergey Vl. Yazikov, Junior researchers at the Department of the Preservation of the Archaeological Heritage of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. They presented the results of the excavation at the ancient Roman burial ground "Frontovoye-3" in Sevastopol in 2018. At the end of the first part of the conference, Vladimir Yuryevich Koval, Head of the Medieval Archeology Department of the IA RAS, presented the results of excavations in the Moscow Kremlin.

The second part of the conference was dedicated to the archeological researches in regions of Russia carried out by students of the MThA Church History Department from 2017 to 2022. They were:

• Yaroslavl archaeological expedition, July 2–15, 2017; postgraduate students of the MThA Church History Department, Priest Serafim Goyuk and Georgy Velchev.

• Crimean New Building Expedition, June 25 - July 15, 2018; Master’s students of the Moscow Theological Academy Hieromonk Anthony (Zazheko), Priest Dionisy Obeshchik, Priest Sergiy Krivonogov.

• Archaeological expedition in the Moscow Kremlin, June 24 - July 15, 2019; postgraduate student of the MThA Church History Department, Deacon Konstantin Babak and Georgy Cherepenin.

• Archaeological expedition in Veliky Novgorod, June 24 - July 15, 2019; a postgraduate student of the MThA Church History Department, Deacon Vladislav Pshibyshevsky. 

• Archaeological Expedition in the Moscow Kremlin, July 5-26, 2020; Priest Philip Islomov, a Master’s student of the Moscow Theological Academy. 

• Archaeological expedition to the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra, June 29 - July 19, 2020 ; a postgraduate student of the MThA Church History Department Ilya Ryazanov. 

• Crimean Archaeological Expedition July 6-August 2, 2021; Kirill Shemanaev, a postgraduate student of the MThA Church History Department.

• Archaeological expeditions in 2022: Sochi, Dmitrov, Tver, Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra; second-year Master’s students Priest Georgy Gutorov, Priest Serafim Belyaev, Priest Dimitry Fedorov, Kirill Kurnikov.

After the conference, all participants had lunch at the Celebration Chamber of the Academy and got memorable gifts and certificates of participation.

The professorial and teaching corporation, students and graduates of the Church History Department of the Moscow Theological Academy express their heartfelt gratitude to Professor A.K. Svetozarsky, Head of the Church History Department; A.V. Engovatova, Deputy Director for Science at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Hegumen Gerasim (Dyachkov), Associate Professor of the Church History Department and Head of the archaeological practice.

All materials will be published in the MThA scientific journal "Church Historian".

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MThA Press Office