The exhibition dedicated to the siege of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Monastery was opened in the Moscow Theological Academy
On November 19 th the exhibition was opened in the Moscow Theological Academy museum also known as a Church & Archeological Cabinet. The exhibition called “The siege of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Monastery. Its Defenders in heaven and on earth” tells about warriors who tried to protect the monastery and an intercession of St. Sergius and St. Nicolas the Wondermaker. The siege lasted for about 16 months from September 23 rd 1608 to January 12 th 1610.
The exhibit contains of three thematic clusters on the Governor, the Archer and the Peasant. Each block is illustrated by a number of museum pieces from the Academy museum as well as some examples of reconstructed garments and model weapons of the XVII century. The exhibition shows the types of the Province Governor’s clothes and weapon, archers’ caftans, hats and ammunition or peasants’ clothes. The separate showcase is dedicated to Avraamy Palitsyn, author of the Tale about the monastery siege.
The exhibition was organised by two undergraduate students Kirill Shelest (Year 1), Michael Malyutin (Year 3) and Bogdan Goncharuk, a post-graduate student of the History and Theory of Church Art department. Kirill Shelest told about the main idea of this project:
We were inspired by this remarkable page in the history of the abbey which was the siege of Laura. The heroic resistance played the key role not only in the history of the monastery but also in the history of the whole country. We made an attempt to tell about this event in an original and interesting way.
The Rector of Moscow Theological Academy Pitirim, the Bishop of Zvenigorod opened the exhibition with his greeting to the assembly, in which he mentioned some main project tasks.
I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who took part in this project. This exhibition is particularly relevant and important nowadays. It allows the juxtaposition of spiritual and secular world, a monastic life in Laura and an ordinary life of Sergeev Posad citizens. When I studied at school #11 in Sergeev Posad, we were obviously told about the siege of Holy Trinity St. Sergius Laura. There were some bits and pieces of our town history which we grasped while studying. Despite knowing that, we heard nothing about St. Sergius and the history of Laura itself. That was quite natural considering the atheistic ideology which was predominant at that time.
So I would be happy if pupils from our local schools were brought here and told about this episode in a more extended, visual and detailed way. We live in the period of freedom when we can openly talk about historical events. However, due to this unlimited freedom we experience an overabundance of information while there did not use to be enough and we had to find some extra sources for it. Now the situation is absolutely different and we choose what makes us really interested. Personally, I find this historical exhibition quite appealing. It unveils not only the Laura history, but also the history of Sergiev Posad.
In fact, all our history is just under out feet. Thanks to archeological excavations taken within the Laura and Academy territory we have a chance to see more and more new artefacts which shed light on the monastery history and the time of its siege. It happens even during the reconstruction works when new parts and historical objects are excavated and they can illustrate some moments in history. Of course, they require a complex research and we have already had enough scientific materials. However, our main task is to show them to a modern man who is not adjust to handle a lot of information. So we have to do it in an easy, engaging and pleasant form.
Olga Dudareva, Deputy Chief executive of the Sergiev Posad region and Head of the Education Authority, hoped that further cooperation between the Moscow Theological Academy and local schools will take place.
Anton Novikov, Director of the Museum, said that the remembrance of the siege is especially important for moral and patriotic education of a younger generation.
I would like to mention that this summer our Patriarch Kirill, while visiting Laura in commemoration of St. Sergius of Radonezsh, emphasized the importance of the siege as it had an immense historical value. Looking back on the great deeds of the heroes of the past who defended the monastery and fought for the independence of the country, we have to give our young people the right patriotic education. It is the main task of Laura and the Moscow Theological Academy to lead this mission. Hope that this exhibition will help to bring some interest to the heroic deed of our ancestors and the St. Sergius Abby”.
Svetlana Nikolaeva, Deputy Chief executive of the scientific work of the Sergiev Posad Museum-Reserve, were also present at the exhibition opening.
The exhibition will last for 2 months. Opening hours from 9.00 to 18.00 every day.
Background information:
The working group thanks Igor Pahomov, Head of The Historical Reconstruction Club “Butyrskaya Sloboda”, and the Historical Reconstruction Center “Austrvegr” for their assistance in preparing the exhibition.
MThA Press Office
