Stairs. Entry group. Materials. Doors. Locks. Design

The annual general meeting of full members of the historical Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society took place in Munich. But before telling what it was dedicated to, a little about the society itself.

The goal is good, not personal gain

In 1859, by decree of Emperor Alexander II, “for the establishment of charitable and hospitable institutions in the Holy Land,” the Palestine Committee was established. Five years later, it was renamed the Palestine Commission, which, after some time, was closed, and all the lands and buildings belonging to it were transferred to the Orthodox Palestine Society, established on the basis of the Decree of Emperor Alexander III of May 8, 1882.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was elected Chairman of the Society. Among the founders and members of the Board were seven representatives of the House of Romanov, the Governor General of Moscow, Prince V.A. Dolgorukov, Director of the Asian Department Count N.P. Ignatiev, orientalists, professors of theological academies, writers, historians.

On May 24, 1889, Tsar Nicholas II approved the assignment of the name “Imperial” to the Orthodox Palestinian Society.

By 1916, the Society consisted of 2,956 people. Its honorary members were the chairmen of the Council of Ministers S. Yu. Witte, P. A. Stolypin, V. N. Kokovtsev, chief prosecutors of the Holy Synod K. P. Pobedonostsev, P. P. Izvolsky, V.K. Sabler, other politicians, as well as famous businessmen, writers, lawyers, scientists. Every year, the Society spent more than half a million gold rubles on charitable purposes alone. Subsidies for pilgrims (up to 12 thousand people per year), of whom 72 percent were peasants, for trips to holy places - Palestine and Mount Athos in Greece amounted to 35 percent of the cost of travel by rail to Odessa and further by steamship.

For pilgrims, special pilgrim caravans were formed, which were assigned Society guides and guards. These caravans took them to the shrines of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, the Judean Desert, Galilee, and the holy Jordan River. In the evenings, Palestinian readings were held for pilgrims, telling about the history of the Old Testament and the shrines they visited.

To receive pilgrims, the Society in Jerusalem is building special courtyards - Elizavetinskoye, Mariinsky, Sergievsky, Nikolaevsky, Alexandrovsky, Veniaminovsky, as well as the Russian Hospital. In addition, as part of a program to improve the life of pilgrims arriving in Jerusalem, a water sewer is being laid, which, by the way, is the first in Jerusalem.

The next important aspect of the Society’s activities is educational. By 1914, he had opened 102 rural and urban four-year schools in the Middle East, as well as female and male teachers' seminaries for the local population. Several generations of the Arab intelligentsia of the Middle East passed through Russian schools, which were financed by the Russian government in 1912 (150 thousand gold rubles were allocated annually).

At the same time, members of the Society were actively engaged in scientific and publishing activities, conducted archaeological excavations, organized and financed scientific expeditions.

An important detail. All real estate acquired by the Society in the Holy Land for religious and public needs, including temples, farmsteads and hospitals, could not, in accordance with the laws of the Ottoman Empire, be registered in the name of institutions, so it was registered as the property of private individuals. In particular, in the name of Prince Sergei Alexandrovich, who was the chairman of the board of the Company. And this subsequently helped save Orthodox real estate, which almost fell under the jurisdiction of the English and Turkish owners. Unfortunately, not for long, and not all of it, but more on that later.

“The Turks came and robbed, the British...”

The First World War, revolution, and civil war in Russia dealt a terrible blow to Orthodoxy in general and Orthodox missions in the Holy Land in particular.

Cleaning the walls of the courtyard

In December 1914, Turkish authorities requisitioned the property of the IOPS, closed the churches and ordered the Society's members and clergy to leave Jerusalem. Turkish soldiers were housed in farmsteads, shelters and monasteries. Storerooms and warehouses were looted, church utensils were partly stolen, partly desecrated. Monks, sisters of mercy and employees of the Orthodox mission were insulted, humiliated, and some were killed. Communication with Russia was interrupted. After the end of the war and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine came under the control of the British Empire. The Turks are being removed from the buildings belonging to the IOPS, but the majority are now housing the British.

Installation of unique stained glass windows

At the same time, on the ruins of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society in Moscow, the Russian Palestine Society (RPO) arose at the Academy of Sciences, which took an openly godless position, while the other part of its members, by the will of fate, found themselves abroad, including in Palestine, retained their former name and loyalty old goals and ideals. It is important to note that the Soviet government, having categorically renounced the unacceptable definitions “imperial” and “Orthodox”, did not want to give up the property that belonged to the IOPS, repeatedly trying to give it the official status of “state”.

Installing new shutters on windows

On April 28, 1948, it seemed that these Kremlin claims to “imperial-Orthodox” property were finally put to rest. It was on this day that the Decree of the British High Commissioner, who governed Palestine under the mandate of the League of Nations from 1922 to May 15, 1948, was promulgated on the administration of the property of the Palestine Society and the establishment of the Bureau of Administrators. Thus, after decades of red tape and ordeals, the right of the Society, at that moment headed by Prince Kirill Shirinsky-Shikhmatov, to all possessions in the Holy Land was officially recognized and confirmed. However, the first Arab-Israeli war of 1947-49 between the Jewish population of Palestine, and subsequently the newly created state of Israel and the armies of neighboring Arab states and irregular Arab military formations redrawn not only the geographical map, but also the property one.

On May 14, 1948, the USSR was one of the first to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, and six days later a “commissioner for Russian property” in Israel, I.L., was appointed. Rabinovich.

On September 10 of the same year, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR V.A. Zorin in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR G.G. Karpov (by the way, who had the rank of major general of the NKGB) wrote: “Taking into account the current situation in Jerusalem, envoy Comrade Ershov made the following proposal: Appoint and soon send the head of the Russian spiritual mission from the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as a representative of the Russian Palestinian society, by issuing them with the appropriate legal powers and powers of attorney...” And soon the socialist government of Israel, among its first decrees, decided to “recognize all the buildings and lands of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and the Russian Spiritual Mission in the Holy Land” located on its territory as the property of the USSR.

This is what the house church of St. Alexander Nevsky looks like now

This “transfer of property” to representatives personally appointed by Comrade. Stalin, according to the recollections of clergy, sisters and laity who were in Jerusalem at that moment, “was sometimes of an unnecessarily cruel nature.” But not all the property of the IOPS and RDM was then transferred to the USSR, in particular the buildings located in the Old City and East Jerusalem, which went to Jordan after the Arab-Israeli war. Among them is the Alexander Metochion, located 80 meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and including the Threshold of the Gate of Judgment, the house church of St. Alexander Nevsky, a small museum and other attractions. Looking at it today, it is difficult to imagine that ten years ago some of the buildings in the courtyard more closely resembled ruins. But thanks to donations, primarily from Orthodox Christians living outside Russia, and the perseverance and hard work of the members of the IOPS, it has been revived, welcomes pilgrims, church services are held here, and archaeological excavations are conducted.

Stained glass windows of the Alexander Metochion after restoration

Well, as for the “property returned by Israel to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1948,” the actual owners of which, and this should be especially noted, were private individuals, public and church organizations, in 1964 it was sold ... to Israel for 4.5 million . US dollars under the so-called “Orange deal”. Officially, this act, inspired by N. S. Khrushchev (First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Council of Ministers) was called Agreement No. 593 “On the sale by the government of the Soviet Union of property belonging to the USSR to the government of the State of Israel.” During this atheistic action, the buildings of the Russian Consulate General, the Russian Hospital, the Mariinsky, Elizavetinsky, Nikolaevsky, Venyaminovsky metochions in Jerusalem, as well as a number of buildings and land plots in Haifa, Nazareth, Afula, Ein Karem and Kafr Kanna (a total of 22 objects with a total area about 167 thousand square meters) were actually exchanged for oranges and textiles.

Entrance to the Alexander Compound

“Both you and they, let me remind you, are Orthodox”

After the collapse of the USSR, the Russian government began to challenge the legality of this deal, claiming that the Soviet Union was not the legal owner of the farmsteads. On May 22, 1992, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation renamed the Russian Palestine Society, which existed under the USSR Academy of Sciences, into the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, despite the fact that the Society with that name had existed for a long time. This “remake” was headed by the former head of the FSB of the Russian Federation Nikolai Stepashin. This is what, according to the official Kremlin, is the “legal owner of all Russian real estate in the Holy Land,” which was illegally sold to Israel by “the God-fighter Nikita.” However, Nikita Sergeevich, as we know, not only exchanged Jerusalem real estate for citrus fruits, but also transferred Crimea to Ukraine, so what? Should we hold another “referendum”, now in Jerusalem? Or maybe try to establish relations with people who have preserved and continue to preserve the pearl of Orthodoxy in the Holy Land, especially since both you and they, let me remind you, are Orthodox?

However, this is the topic of another article and more than one, especially since the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, which has recently had the prefix “historical”, is not to be confused with Stepashin’s, despite wars and global cataclysms, as it was, so it is. And it didn’t sell anything to anyone, including the Alexander Compound.

I, taking this opportunity, will name those who headed the Society during, perhaps, the most difficult period of its existence (starting from 1917), when Orthodox Russia and the Sovereign Emperor passed away, when it, like all Russian monasteries, the churches lost help and support, both sovereign and financial, when it seemed there was no longer any strength to resist the onslaught of atheists and provocateurs. I will name not only their names, but also their places of residence, which, in light of the events unfolding around the Alexander Metochion, is important. So, this is Prince Alexei Shirinsky-Shikhmatov (Sèvres/Paris), Anatoly Neratov (Villejuif/France), Sergei Botkin (Saint-Briac/France), Sergei Voeikov (Paris), Prince Kirill Shirinsky-Shikhmatov (Chelles, France), Nikolai Pashenny (Paris), Mikhail Khripunov (Jerusalem), Bishop Anthony (Grabe) (New York), Olga Wahbe (Bethlehem). Since May 2004, the historical IOPS has been headed by Nikolai Vorontsov (Munich).

Well, before announcing the new composition of the board of the historical Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, elected at the last general meeting of its members, I will note that there is enough slander and fables about its activities in the yellow press. Don't believe it. Not a single word. It’s better to cross the threshold of the Alexander Metochion in Jerusalem once, and you will see everything with your own eyes and feel it with your heart.

So, the new composition of the board of the historical IOPS: Nikolai Vorontsov, (Munich), Sergei Wilhelm (Bonn), Elena Khalatyan (Kiev), Ekaterina Sharai (Kiev), Vladimir Alekseev (Moscow), Evgeniy Uglyay (Nikolaev), Sergei Grinchuk (Munich) . Reserve members of the board (in case one of the main members of the board is unable to fulfill their duties) Ksenia Rahr-Zabelich (Munich), Vladimir Artyukh (Kyiv) and Galina Roketskaya (Moscow).

The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is the oldest scientific and humanitarian organization in Russia, whose objectives are to promote Orthodox pilgrimage to the Holy Land, scientific Palestinian studies and humanitarian cooperation with the peoples of the Middle East.

The Russian Orthodox Palestine Society was founded in 1882 by decree of Emperor Alexander III. The initiator of the creation of the society, its inspirer and honorary member was the famous Russian expert on Palestine, a prominent St. Petersburg official Vasily Nikolaevich Khitrovo. On May 8, 1882, the charter of the society was approved, and on May 21 in St. Petersburg, in the presence of members of the imperial family, Russian and Greek clergy, scientists and diplomats, the grand opening of the society took place.

In 1889, the society received the honorary title "Imperial" and was accepted under the direct patronage of the reigning house. Until 1905, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IPOS) was headed by Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich; after his death, the chairmanship passed to his widow Elizabeth Feodorovna. Members of the society at different times were representatives of the royal family and aristocracy, high state dignitaries, public and scientific figures, including S.Yu. Witte, P.A. Stolypin, K.P. Pobedonostsev, A.A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov, S. D. Sheremetev, E. V. Putyatin and many others.

The society was created to provide assistance to Orthodox pilgrims, support the interests of the Orthodox Church in the Middle East, educational and humanitarian assistance to the population of Palestine, and scientific research into the heritage of Christianity in the Holy Land.

To assist the Orthodox in organizing pilgrimages to the Holy Land, the IOPS acquired plots of land in Palestine, built farmsteads with the necessary infrastructure, organized travel and accommodation for pilgrims, visited holy places and gave lectures for them. Already in 1907, the society had 8 farmsteads, providing shelter for 10 thousand pilgrims, including the Sergievskoye and Nikolaevskoye metochions in Jerusalem.

In order to provide educational and humanitarian assistance to the peoples of the Middle East and local churches, churches were built for the Greek clergy, schools for children were opened, and financial assistance was provided to the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Antioch. With the assistance of the society, the churches of St. Mary Magdalene, St. Sergei of Radonezh, St. St. George the Victorious and others. In Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, male and female teachers' seminaries were opened in Nazareth and Beit Jala and 101 educational institutions for children. Over 5.5 thousand boys and 6 thousand girls, mainly from Orthodox families, studied there free of charge.

As part of its scientific activities, the society conducted scientific expeditions, archaeological excavations, and scientific research. It played a huge role in the development of Russian oriental studies. The “Orthodox Palestine Collection”, “Messages of the IOPS” and “Reports of the IOPS” published works on the history and culture of the peoples of the Middle East, and texts of literary monuments. These publications quickly gained international fame and recognition in scientific circles.

The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society was engaged in the dissemination and popularization of knowledge about Palestine and its neighboring countries among the Russian public. Lectures, readings and exhibitions about the Holy Land were an important part of the national religious and educational work.

The active work of the IOPS was stopped after the outbreak of the First World War and the 1917 revolution. The Palestinian society in 1917 ceased to be called “Imperial”, and since 1918 it ceased to be called “Orthodox”. It was transferred under the management of the USSR Academy of Sciences and became the Russian Palestine Society under the Academy of Sciences. His activities were reduced to scientific research within the framework of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Only 75 years later, on May 22, 1992, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR returned the society to its historical name and recommended that the government take measures to restore the traditional activities of the IOPS and return the organization’s property and rights. In 1993, the society was re-registered by the Ministry of Justice as the successor to the pre-revolutionary Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and the Russian Palestine Society of the Soviet era.

IOPS today has 22 regional Russian branches, foreign branches in Israel, Palestine, Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, Jordan, Estonia, Cyprus, Ukraine, Malta. The Center of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is located in Bethlehem, and the Russian Center for Science and Culture is located on its base. The society is registered by the UN as a member of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for coordinating cooperation in the economic and social fields.

The goal of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is the full-scale restoration of its legal and actual presence in Russia and abroad to solve pilgrimage, scientific and humanitarian problems. Only in the last five years, the society has managed to resolve such complex issues as the return of Russian property on the territory of another state - the Sergievsky metochion in Jerusalem and land plots in Jericho, to reach agreements on the opening of a Russian school and the Cultural and Business Center of the IOPS in Bethlehem, and on the creation of a new branch society in Ramallah. As part of its activities, the IOPS continues the tradition of organizing pilgrimages to the Holy Land, takes part in international conferences, and conducts research on the history and culture of Europe, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea region and the Middle East in connection with the history of Russia. In 2008, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society decided to establish the Russian Historical Institute with representatives in the traditional scientific centers of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East (Istanbul, Venice, Jerusalem).

The main link in the structure of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is the Council of the Society, headed by the Chairman of the IOPS.

Since June 2007, the chairman of the IOPS has been Sergei Stepashin; since 2009, the Committee of Honorary Members of the IOPS has been headed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.

Lisova N.N., Candidate of Philosophy, senior researcher at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society: XIX – XX – XXI centuries."

National history. 2007 No. 1. P. 3-22.

The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IPOS) is the oldest scientific and humanitarian non-governmental organization in Russia. His activities and legacy in the history of Russian national culture are unique in their significance. The statutory objectives of the Society - promoting pilgrimage to the Holy Land, scientific Palestinian studies and humanitarian cooperation with the countries of the biblical region - are closely related to the traditional spiritual values ​​of our people and the priorities of Russian foreign policy in the East. Likewise, a huge layer of world history and culture cannot be correctly understood without connection with Palestine, its biblical and Christian heritage.

Conceived by the founders of the Russian cause in the East, Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky) and Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) and created in 1882 by the sovereign will of Alexander III, the IOPS enjoyed state attention and support in the pre-revolutionary period. At its head were the leaders. book Sergei Alexandrovich (from the founding of the Society until the day of his death on February 4, 1905), and then, until 1917, leader. book Elizaveta Fedorovna. State and property interests associated with the legacy of the IOPS in the Middle East have allowed it to withstand the revolutionary cataclysm, survive the Soviet period and intensify its work today.

The activities of the IOPS have not been the subject of comprehensive research by historians for a long time. Until 1917, the only work on this topic was the unfinished monograph by A. A. Dmitrievsky “The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and its activities over the past quarter of a century” (the author brought the presentation only up to 1889 - the time of its merger with the Palestine Commission) 1. In the post-October period, only short anniversary notes were dedicated to the Orthodox Palestine Society, the Russian Spiritual Mission (RDM) in Jerusalem and other similar institutions in the corresponding issues of the “Palestine Collection” 2. The situation has changed only in recent years. Several articles related to this topic have appeared in historical and archival Byzantine publications and in periodicals. A monograph by the Israeli Arab historian O. Mahamid was published in St. Petersburg, dedicated to the history of the schools of the Palestinian Society, their significance for the formation of several generations of the Arab national intelligentsia 4 .

The author of this article prepared and published 2 volumes of documents, research and materials “Russia in the Holy Land” 5 and the monograph “Russian spiritual and political presence in the Holy Land and the Middle East in the 19th - early 20th centuries.” (M., 2006). At the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the history of Russian-Palestinian relations became the topic of the candidate's dissertation of I. A. Vorobyova 6 and the book of B. F. Yamilinets 7 .

In foreign historiography, the history of the IOPS is devoted to 2 generalizing works - “Russian interests in Palestine” by F. J. Stavrou 8 and “Russian presence in Syria and Pa-

lestine. Church and Politics in the Middle East" by D. Hopwood 9. The strength of the first monograph is the use of Greek sources, while the center of gravity of the study shifts to the area of ​​Russian-Greek church-political contradictions. Hopwood is a major Arabist, an expert in the political struggle of Russian and British diplomacy in Middle East. A natural drawback of both works is ignorance of Russian archival material, which, regardless of the wishes or position of the authors, impoverishes and often distorts the overall picture.

This article not only provides a general overview of the history of the IOPS, which this year celebrates 125 years of its service to Russia, national science and culture, but also reveals some previously unknown pages of its activities.

“Asymmetrical response”: Paris Peace and Russian Jerusalem

Russia's relations with the Christian East (Byzantine and post-Byzantine world), dating back to the era of the Baptism of Rus', were not interrupted either during the era of the Mongol yoke or after the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders (1204) and the Turks (1453). During the imperial period (XVIII-XIX centuries), when in international treatises and conventions the topic of holy places acquired an international legal character, and church-diplomatic issues became an integral part of foreign policy discourse, Russia only continued the centuries-old traditions of its ties with the Orthodox peoples of the Ottoman Empire - and its historical responsibility for them.

Not always clearly formulated, this theme of responsibility invariably acted as one of the factors in the political and military-political activities of Imperial Russia. A true watershed in this regard was the era of the Crimean War, the very emergence of which was associated, as is known, with Russia’s traditional attempt to protect the rights of the Orthodox population of the Turkish Empire. After the end of the war, despite its difficult results for Russia, Russian diplomacy managed to make a breakthrough precisely in the Jerusalem direction, using the ancient, long-forgotten, but easily activated element of Russian Orthodox pilgrimage. If on his first visit to Palestine (1830) A. N. Muravyov met in Jerusalem only about two dozen Russian pilgrims stuck there in connection with the war, and by the middle of the 19th century there were from 200 to 400 of them in the Holy Land per year. year 10, then by the beginning of the First World War, up to 10 thousand people passed through the institutions of the IOPS annually 11. From an instinctive, uncontrollable popular movement, pilgrimage became an instrument of skillful - and not only church - politics. The peace treaty of 1856 had not yet been signed in Paris, but they were already talking about Russian penetration into the East... in Jerusalem. A new foreign policy approach was found, designed to compensate for losses and concessions, and it consisted, in the spirit of the times, in the formation of a sphere of their own interests in the Holy Land, and, therefore, their own springboard for penetration 12.

The first step was the creation in 1856 of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade with its leadership in St. Petersburg and the main port base in Odessa. The founders of the Society were the aide-de-camp, captain 1st rank N.A. Arkas and the owner of steamships on the Volga N.A. Novoselsky. To encourage and support the Society, the government pledged to pay it per mile for 20 years (about 1.5 million rubles per year), to issue 64 thousand rubles. per year for ship repairs and purchase 6,670 shares of the company in the amount of 2 million rubles. (half of the amount was deposited immediately) 13. The speed of establishment of the Society, the attention paid to it by the highest echelons of power, the generous funding provided by the treasury - all testified to the importance that the government attached to it. By the end of 1857, the Company had 17 steamships at its disposal and 10 in shipyards. (For comparison: on the eve of the Crimean War, the entire steam flotilla of the Odessa port consisted of 12 ships). The first ship captains, officers and supercargo ROPIT were all from the Russian navy.

In order to centralize the management of the construction and operation of pilgrimage farmsteads in Palestine, on March 23, 1859, the Palestine Committee was created in St. Petersburg, headed by the king’s brother, Vel. book Konstantin Nikolaevich 14. Alexander II ordered the release of 500 thousand rubles from the State Treasury for his purposes. An annual church collection (the so-called “Palm” or “Palestine”) was also opened. Over the 5 years of the Palestinian Committee’s existence, its treasury received 295,550 rubles. 69 kopecks mug fee, on average - 59 thousand rubles. per year, which, according to the fair remark of A. A. Dmitrievsky, “one cannot but recognize a very favorable result for the era of the liberation of peasants from serfdom.” Other types of voluntary donations were also used. Thus, 75 thousand rubles were received from tax farmers of different provinces, and 30 thousand rubles from Chamberlain Yakovlev. According to the Committee's reports, by the end of 1864 its capital amounted to 1,003,259 rubles. 34 kopecks 15.

Without dwelling on the details of the acquisition of land and the construction of Russian buildings, I will only note that the launched flywheel of the pilgrimage movement required a further expansion of the material base in Palestine. Russian buildings received the first pilgrims in 1864. The main goal pursued in St. Petersburg by creating the Palestine Committee was achieved: “Russian Palestine” became a real spiritual and political factor in the life of the Christian East 16. True, her financial support was by no means brilliant. Over the years, the Palestinian farmsteads fell into disrepair and became crowded for the growing flow of pilgrims; the public sounded the alarm, and the bureaucratic reports of the Palestine Commission, which replaced the committee of the same name, remained government-friendly: they counted on the unpretentiousness and resignation of the common pilgrim mass 17 . A new reorganization of Russian affairs in the East was brewing with the foreground (with the still decisive role of state structures and the church “circle”) of a freer and more democratic social initiative, the embodiment of which was the Orthodox Palestinian Society.

Creation of the Palestine Society

For the convenience of analyzing the activities of the IOPS, it is necessary to outline some periodization. The history of the Society knows 3 large periods: pre-revolutionary (1882 - 1917), Soviet (1917 - 1991) and post-Soviet (from 1992 to the present). Upon closer examination, the activities of the IOPS of pre-revolutionary times clearly fall into 3 stages. The first opens with the creation of the Society on May 8, 1882 and ends with its transformation and merger with the Palestine Commission on March 24, 1889. The second covers the period of time from 1889 to the first Russian revolution of 1905 - 1907. and ends for the Society with a number of tragic losses: in 1903 its founder and main ideologist V.N. Khitrovo died, in February 1905 the first chairman of the leader was killed by a terrorist bomb. book Sergius Alexandrovich, and in August 1906, secretary A.P. Belyaev died. With the departure of the “founding fathers,” the “ascending” heroic stage in the life of Palestinian society ended. The last, third period, located “between two revolutions,” is associated with the coming to leadership of the leader. book Elizaveta Fedorovna as chairman and Professor A. A. Dmitrievsky as secretary 18. It ends with the outbreak of the First World War, when the work of Russian institutions in the Middle East actually ceased and communications with them were severed, or, formally, with the February Revolution and the resignation of the leader. book Elizaveta Fedorovna.

Within the “Soviet” period one can also notice certain chronological gradations. I would define the first 8 years (1917 - 1925) as a period of “struggle for survival.” Having lost the old regime titles in the revolutionary upheaval and devastation, the Russian Palestine Society under the USSR Academy of Sciences (as it began to be called) was officially registered by the NKVD only in October 1925. After several “quiet” (i.e., not marked by any activity) years, during which they left

life and science, most of the pre-revolutionary figures of the Society, including academicians F.I. Uspensky (chairman of the RPO in 1921 - 1928) and N. Ya. Marr (chairman in 1929 - 1934), the RPO smoothly transitions into a completely virtual mode of existence: not formally closed by anyone, it peacefully ceases functioning. This “dormant” existence continued until 1950, when, by “highest” order, the Society was revived due to the change in the situation in the Middle East - the emergence of the State of Israel. The next decades are difficult, but we have to call them a “rebirth period.” The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the widespread political and economic crisis that followed seemed to once again call into question the very existence of the Society. Deprived of material and other support, it was forced to look for a new status and new, independent sources of financing. Taking advantage of the situation, the Society was able to restore its historical name: the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (resolution of the Supreme Council of May 25, 1992). The named date opens the newest period in the history of the IOPS.

Let's take a closer look at each of the periods. The initiator of the creation of the IOPS was the famous Russian Palestine scholar, a prominent official of the Ministry of Finance V. N. Khitrovo (1834 - 1903) 19 . His interest in the East arose long before the founding of the Society. In the summer of 1871, his first trip to Palestine took place. The difficult, helpless situation of the Russian pilgrims and the desolate state of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church made a strong impression on the quite prosperous St. Petersburg official. Khitrovo was especially influenced by his acquaintance with ordinary pilgrims - commoners, as they were called then: “They attacked our fans a lot in holy places, and yet it was only thanks to these hundreds and thousands of gray peasants and simple women, moving from Jaffa to Jerusalem from year to year and vice versa, as if in a Russian province, we owe to the influence that the name of the Russian has in Palestine, an influence so strong that you and the Russian language will walk along this road and only some Bedouin who has come from afar will not understand you. peasant - and "Moskov", the only one still supporting Russian influence in Palestine, will disappear. Take him away, and Orthodoxy will die out amid systematic Catholic and, in recent times, even more powerful Protestant propaganda" 20 .

It remained to answer a question that was incomprehensible to many in Russia at the time: why do we need Palestine? For Khitrovo, the situation was extremely clear: he considered the issue of presence in the Middle East to be key for the entire Russian foreign policy. He wrote: “Regarding political interests, I will only point out that we are the natural heirs of the Greeks wherever Orthodoxy exists, that the Turks can be beaten not on the Danube alone, not with the support of the Orthodox Slavs alone, but also on the Euphrates and the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, relying on the Orthodox Arabic population. Through Georgia and Armenia we are almost in contact with Palestine and embrace Asia Minor. It is not in the Hindu Kush or the Himalayas that the struggle for dominance in Asia will take place, but in the valleys of the Euphrates and in the gorges of the Lebanese Mountains, where the world struggle over the fate of Asia has always ended."21

It was not so easy to awaken religious and, especially, political interest in Jerusalem in the Russian public consciousness in those “positivist” years. The success of Khitrovo’s efforts at the turn of the 1870s - 1880s. contributed to a number of circumstances, both objective and subjective. A serious influence was exerted by the rise in society of Orthodox patriotic consciousness associated with the Russian-Turkish war of 1877 - 1878, when Russian troops almost captured Constantinople. The Eastern question and the Russian cause in the East acquired a completely new, victorious and offensive perspective. And although the wave of enthusiasm was soon replaced by disappointment that came after the Berlin Treaty, the very defeat of Gorchakov’s diplomacy in Berlin required revenge.

The note from Khitrovo, presented by the leader, is dated March 1880. book Konstantin Nikolaevich, who once headed the Palestine Committee. Khitrovo pointed to the alarming growth of the Catholic presence in Jerusalem. The prospect of a mass defection into the union of Orthodox Arabs (who were Russia's main ally in Palestine and Syria) was obvious 22 . After reading the note, he led. book On March 11, 1880, Konstantin Nikolaevich invited its author to his Marble Palace, and 2 weeks later, in the hall of the Imperial Geographical Society, a “reading” (something between a report and a public lecture) of Khitrovo “Orthodoxy in the Holy Land” took place. The published text of the report constituted the first issue of a new publication in Russian scientific literature - the "Orthodox Palestine Collection", published by the author at his own expense. The title page read: “Published by V. N. Khitrovo” 23 .

Public readings at Khitrovo and the book “Orthodoxy in the Holy Land” (1881) caused great public outcry. But the pilgrimage to the Holy Land on May 21 - 31, 1881 was of decisive importance in the history of the founding of the IOPS. book Sergius and Pavel Alexandrovich and led. book Konstantin Konstantinovich (their cousin, later the famous poet K.R., president of the Academy of Sciences). The immediate reason for the trip was the tragic losses in the royal family: the death of Empress Maria Alexandrovna (May 22, 1880) and the assassination of Alexander II (March 1, 1881). It is unknown who suggested the idea of ​​a funeral pilgrimage to the great princes. Apparently, the idea arose spontaneously: although Empress Maria Alexandrovna was unable to fulfill her dream of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem due to health reasons, she always remained the patroness and benefactor of Russian institutions in Palestine.

Close contact with the head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Antonin, contributed to Sergius Alexandrovich's personal interest in the problems of Russian Palestine 24. Soon after the return of the Grand Dukes to St. Petersburg, Khitrovo, with the help of their educator Admiral D.S. Arsenyev and Admiral E.V. Putyatin, achieved an audience with the Grand Duke. book Sergius Alexandrovich and convinced him to become the head of the projected Orthodox Palestinian Society. On May 8, 1882, the Society’s charter was approved by the highest order, and on May 21, in the palace, it was conducted. book Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder (who also made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1872) in the presence of members of the imperial family, Russian and Greek clergy, scientists and diplomats, after a prayer service in the house church, its grand opening took place.

Composition, sources of financing, management structure of the IOPS

It is interesting to trace the social composition of the society being created. Among the 43 founding members, who made up, in F. Stavrou’s figurative expression, the “picturesque group,” there were people of different interests and occupations who, as a rule, visited holy places or studied the history of the East and had a certain idea about the subject of their future activity. “The project required dynamism,” writes the historian, “and the founding members were determined to fulfill the assigned tasks” 25.

The success of the IOPS depended on the ability of its leaders to avoid the mistakes of their predecessors - the RDM and the Palestinian Commission. It’s indicative that he didn’t drive. book Konstantin Nikolaevich, nor Count N.P. Ignatiev were not included in the list of founders. There was neither Porfiry, nor Leonid Kavelin, nor Antonin, nor K.P. Pobedonostsev in it, despite his close relationship with Sergius Alexandrovich. The only veteran of the Palestinian Committee and the Palestinian Commission admitted to the founding members of the PPO was B.P. Mansurov. Most of the named persons became honorary members of the IOPS from the day of its opening, but their absence among the founders was a kind of litmus test, signaling that the new Society intended to plan and build its work with minimal regard to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Synod.

The main composition of the founding members can be divided into 3 groups: the aristocracy, the military and civilian high bureaucracy and scientists. There were 10 people belonging to the aristocracy: princes, counts, countesses. Of the great princes, besides Sergius Alexandrovich, only his cousin, Vladimir, was there. book Mikhail Mikhailovich. His appearance on the list of founders is difficult to explain; he did not participate in any way in the further activities of the Society and, due to a morganatic marriage, was even forced to spend the rest of his days outside of Russia. Much more serious participants were the famous poet and playwright, Prince. A. A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1848 - 1913) and Count S. D. Sheremetev (1844 - 1918), member of the State Council and honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, who wrote and published a lot on Russian history and the history of holy places. Admiral Count E.V. Putyatin and his daughter Countess O.E. Putyatin were known for their charitable activities in favor of the Church and Orthodoxy abroad. Previously, Putyatin made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and tried to financially help the RDM. Now the Putyatin family became the largest benefactor in favor of the Palestine Society. The same group included colonel, later general, M.P. Stepanov, who accompanied Sergius Alexandrovich on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May 1881 and was soon elected first secretary of the IOPS.

The second group included, among others: a comrade of the state controller (later the state controller), a Slavophile writer, a historian of Russian-Greek church relations, and the author of the book “Modern Church Questions” (St. Petersburg, 1882). T. I. Filippov, who became the first vice-chairman of the IOPS, director of the office of the Ministry of Finance, future director of the Public Library D. F. Kobeko 26 and Minister of State Property M. N. Ostrovsky.

The third group consisted of: the great Russian Byzantinist V. G. Vasilyevsky, M. A. Venevitinov, known for his research and the best edition of “The Walking of Abbot Daniel”, church historian and archaeologist, professor of the Kiev Theological Academy A. A. Olesnitsky, author of the only literature, the archaeological monograph “The Holy Land”, etc. The same group should include the literary critic and bibliographer S.I. Ponomarev, the creator of the first bibliographic index “Palestine and Jerusalem in Russian Literature” (St. Petersburg, 1876).

Membership in the Society was open to all who sympathized with its tasks and goals and were interested in the Holy Land. There were 3 categories of members: honorary, full and associate members. The number of honorary members was initially limited to 50. They could be people known for their merits or scientific works about the Holy Land, or those who made a donation of at least 5 thousand rubles to the IOPS account. This made honorary membership available only to major scientists, secular and ecclesiastical, as well as to wealthy people. The latter group included members of the imperial family, the highest nobility and the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. They constituted the main source of financing for various projects.

The number of active members was limited to 2 thousand. This group formed the backbone of the society. Who were among them? Let us consider, for example, the composition of the Chisinau department, which is quite typical for most regional departments. According to the list as of March 1, 1901, it consisted of: 2 honorary members, 3 full members, 26 employee members (of which 5 were life members). In total, there were 31 people in the department. In terms of social composition, 22 members belonged to the clergy, including: 1 archbishop, 2 bishops, 2 archimandrites, 3 abbots, 1 hieromonk, 3 archpriests, 10 priests. In other words, 2/3 of the department consisted of persons of clergy rank. The secular part of the department included 9 people. Among them were 2 directors of gymnasiums, a director of a real school, 2 teachers of a theological seminary, 1 merchant of the 1st guild, 1 local employee, 1 actual state councilor and a Chisinau craft head 27. Two years later, the department already consisted of 42 people. Replenishment was mainly provided by the same clergy. Exactly half of the department was now occupied by priests (21, of which 12 were rural). As a result, there were 33 spiritual people in the department, i.e. more than 75% 28 .

On January 20, 1902, a department of the IOPS was opened in Tambov. The list of active members of the department allows us to get an idea of ​​its social composition. Among the active members were the ruling bishop, the governor, the provincial leader of the nobility, 1 lieutenant general and 1 hereditary honorary citizen. The collaborating members included the chairman of the Tambov Treasury Chamber, the rector of the Theological Seminary, 2 archpriests, a member of the Tambov consistory, the abbess of the Ascension Convent, the mayor, the district military commander, the director of the Tambov Catherine Teachers' Institute, the director of a real school, the provincial treasurer, and the caretaker of the Second Theological School. As we see, in Tambov the clergy did not make up the majority, and in general the social status of the members of the department was higher than in Chisinau.

Palm tax remained one of the main sources of funding for the Palestine Society. According to the calculations of the always careful and accurate V.N. Khitrovo, the Society’s income had the following structure: “In each ruble of the parish: membership fees - 13 kopecks, donations (including Palm tax) - 70 kopecks, interest on securities - 4 kopecks, from sales of publications - 1 kopecks, from pilgrims - 12 kopecks." 29. Obviously, the Russian cause in Palestine continued to be carried out primarily by the selfless help of ordinary believers. Accordingly, the structure of IOPS expenses (in percentage, or, as Khitrovo liked to say, “in every ruble of expenditure”) looked like this: “for the maintenance of Orthodoxy (i.e. for the maintenance of Russian schools in Syria and Palestine. - N.L.) - 32 kopecks, for benefits to pilgrims (for the maintenance of Russian farmsteads in Jerusalem, Jericho, etc. - N.L.) - 35 kopecks, for scientific publications and research - 8 kopecks, for collecting donations - 9 kopecks, for total expenses - 16 kopecks." thirty . Or, in round figures, the main expenses of the Society were reduced to “1 pilgrim and 1 student: each pilgrim cost 16 rubles 18 kopecks in 1899/1900, with the exception of 3 rubles 80 kopecks received from each - 12 rubles 38 kopecks.” Each student of Russian Arab schools costs 23 rubles and 21 kopecks." 31. The IOPS estimate for 1901/1902 was approved at 400 thousand rubles. (not counting one-time construction costs) 32.

The diocesan departments of the Palestine Society, which began to emerge in 1893, were primarily called upon to intensify the collection of donations in favor of Russian Palestine. Oddly enough, the first of them was the most remote Yakut department, created on March 21, 1893. It included 18 person, the department had 3084 rubles at the cash desk. (of which 1,800 rubles are one-time contributions, 375 rubles are annual membership fees and 904 rubles are donations). At the end of the same year, on December 19, the Odessa department of the IOPS was opened, and from January 1894 to April 1895, 16 more departments were opened. The purpose of their creation was twofold - to find new means of financing the activities of the IOPS in the Holy Land and to develop popular science and propaganda work among the general population to familiarize people with the history of the Holy Land and the significance of the Russian presence in the East.

Unlike the Chisinau and Tambov departments, others were numerous. Thus, there were about 200 members in the Yekaterinburg department. In Donskoy, in one year after its opening, 334 people were accepted into the Society; by 1903, the number of members had increased to 562 33 . The amount of funds collected grew proportionally. For 1895 - 1900 The Don Department of the IOPS contributed almost 40 thousand rubles to the Society's cash desk, not counting the Palm Collection, of which 14,333 rubles were collected over the same years 34 . In total, from the opening of the Department to January 1, 1904, they sent 58,219 rubles to the Council of the IOPS as membership fees and one-time donations (not counting Verbny). The number of pilgrims from the Don region has also increased significantly. During the indicated 5 years, 922 pilgrims were noted, while in the previous 7 years, before the opening of the Department, only 140 35 of them went to Palestine.

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