Marking the Day of Christianization of Rus’. The Presidential Library provides a virtual tour

The Day of Christianization of Rus’ is a memorable date established in honor of an important historical event that occurred in 988 and which had a significant impact on the social, spiritual and cultural development of peoples and on the strengthening of statehood, is celebrated in Russia on July 28, 2020.

The Presidential Library’s portal provides a virtual tour of the exhibition “Keeping Orthodox Faith: the history of church museums. Marking the 1030th Anniversary of Christianization of Rus’”, which was available in the historic building of the Synod on Senate Square, 3.

Thanks to the exposition, one can learn about unique church relics preserved over the centuries, why it became necessary to create the first church museums, how their fate evolved in different periods of the history of our country and who stood at the origins of this large and important undertaking.

The Presidential Library’s portal features rarities from the Museum-ancient storage of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and the sacristy of the Smolny Cathedral: objects of church life of the 18th-19th centuries, including icons made in different techniques and from different materials, details of bishop's vestments, antimension (boards with sewn in it with a particle of holy relics) of the second half of the 18th century and much more.

The history of church museums-ancient depositories is told by rare archival documents, books, scientific monographs, periodicals and catalogs of church collections of the 19th century. The exposition is added by unique photographs from the Presidential Library’s collections. These are the works of the photographer of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a recognized master of Russian architectural photography I. F. Barshchevsky, as well as the pioneer of Russian color photography S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky.

The exhibition “Keeping Orthodox Faith: the history of church museums. Marking the 1030th Anniversary of Christianization of Rus’”, has become another exposition that has moved from real space to digital. The institution’s portal provides virtual tours of the exhibition such as “Monuments of book culture: from print to digital”, “Journey from Petrograd to Moscow. 1918: marking the 100th anniversary of the relocation of the Soviet government and the capital to Moscow”,, "North-West of Russia: two regions - one history. Marking the 90th anniversary of Leningrad region and the 80th anniversary of Vologda Region”, “More than Just a Game: Marking FIFA World Cup in Russia”. 

Visitors to the Presidential Library’s portal from anywhere in the world can have a tour around the historic building of the Synod, which today houses a modern multifunctional cultural and educational center. They can also to remotely visit the legendary cruiser Aurora, the State Memorial Museum of  the Defence and Siege of Leningrad, the Kobona: Road of Life museum, And Muses Were Not Silent... as well as the Yulian Semyonov House-Museum in Crimea.