"A Monument to the Pious Zeal for the Faith of the Great Sovereign": the Study and Preservation of Peter the Great's Churches in Olonets Province in the Late 18th and Early 20th Centuries

Abstract

The article is a review of publications and archival documents of the end of the 18th - beginning of the 20th century, which allow us to reconstruct in detail the history oflife of outstanding monuments of wooden architecture of Peter the Great epoch in Olonets province - Peter and Paul Cathedral in Petrozavodsk and St. Peter and Paul Church in Marcialnye Vody. The regularly conducted repairs and the correspondence accompanying them reveal the peculiarities of different generations' attitude to the phenomenon of "Petrovsky antiquity" itself in its historical authenticity and at the same time its partial mythologizing. At the same time the study of this material shows the evolution of historical consciousness - from scattered travel notes of the late 18th century and some sketches of regional studies of the middle of the 19th century to a general understanding of the importance and responsibility of the task of preserving monuments both bylocal clergy, architects and provincial authorities and by representatives of the scientific community of the Russian capital.