21 February 2023

2023-02-21 The Opening of the Imperial Church History Museum in Crimea

With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and Crimea, the first historical museum dedicated to the cooperation between the Romanoff dynasty and the Russian Orthodox Church and other traditional religious confessions in Russia, as well as to the history of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in the city of Yevpatoria, was opened in a formal ceremony on 21 February 2023. The event took place in the Orthodox Cultural and Educational Center of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Yevpatoria. The Imperial Church History Museum is the first museum of its kind in the territory of the Russian Federation.

 

The opening ceremony was timed to coincide with several significant state, Church, and public anniversaries: the 410th anniversary of the accession of the Romanoff dynasty to the Russian throne by the Assembly of the Land and Church Council of 1613, the 130th anniversary of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Yevpatoria, and the 25th anniversary of the traveling exhibition “The Imperial House of Romanoff: Past and Present.”

 

The event was sponsored by the Orthodox Cultural and Educational Center of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Yevpatoria, the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, and the non-profit organization “The Imperial Cultural Center.”

 

Greetings from a number of dignitaries were read at the ceremony, including the Museum’s Imperial patron, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria of Russia; His Eminence Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and Crimea, Sergei Pavlovich Tsekov, a member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Tatyana Anatolievna Manezhina, the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Crimea; and a number of other public figures.

 

In his address, Metropolitan Lazar noted that “knowledge of history provides a link that ensures continuity over generations. Thanks to this continuity, we come together as a people and as a nation... Of particular importance for each of us is the study of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and our blessed homeland. It was for this purpose that this Museum was created.”

 

In her address, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia warmly greeted the participants in the opening ceremony of the Imperial Church History Museum in Yevpatoria. She thanked His Eminence Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and Crimea and the clergy of the Crimean Metropolis, the Orthodox Cultural and Educational Center of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Yevpatoria, the “Imperial Cultural Center,” and other state, Church and public figures, whose efforts and assistance made this new Museum possible. The Grand Duchess also noted that it gives her “the greatest joy that the traveling exhibition ‘The Imperial House of the Romanoffs: Past and Present,’ founded a quarter of a century ago in Kiev, and having visited different regions and undergone many trials, has nonetheless endured and is now entering the next phase of its development on a qualitatively new level.”

 

The opening ceremony began with an intercessory prayer service, or moleben, at which the choir of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Yevpatoria sang the responses.

 

With the blessing of the rector of the Cathedral, Metropolitan Lazar, the moleben was served by the senior priest of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Yevpatoria, the Director of the Orthodox Cultural and Educational Center, and advisor to the “Imperial Cultural Center” Archpriest Georgii Dik, along with the priest Fr. Dmitrii Chkan and deacon Fr. Elizbar Rustamov of the St. Nicholas Cathedral.

 

Other greetings were read as well, including from the First Deputy Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea and Chairman of the Committee of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea for State Construction and Local Self-Government, Efim Zisievich Fiks; the Head of the Municipal Development and Chairperson of the Yevpatoria City Council of the Republic of Crimea, Emmilia Mikhailovna Leonova; the Chief of Staff of the Administration of the city of Yevpatoria, Elena Mikhailovna Demidova; and the Director of the Department of Culture and Interethnic Relations of the city of Yevpatoria of the Republic of Crimea, Veronika Yurievna Nadeeva.

 

Also among the honoured guests in attendance were the Chairman of the Committee of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea for Culture and the Preservation Cultural Heritage, Nikolai Anatolievich Volkov, and the Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for International Relations of the Republic of Crimea, Aikui Genrikovna Arutyunyan.

 

According to the First Vice-Speaker of the Crimean Parliament, “the opening of the Church History Museum is an important contribution to the development of morality and spirituality among the younger generation, and to understanding the historical processes that took place in Crimea.”

 

I feel certain that the expositions in the Museum will serve our common cause, aimed at fostering patriotism, respect for history, and loyalty to historical truth,” said E. Z. Fiks. He also conveyed the greetings of the Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, Vladimir Andreevich Konstantinov, who sent his thanks to all those who had worked so hard to establish this Museum, and wished them every success in their important work.

 

The Museum includes materials from the archives and private collections of the Imperial Family, and from the collection of the traveling exhibition “The Imperial House of Romanoff: Past and Present,” and the exhibition “The Russian Orthodox Church and the House of Romanoffs after the 1917 Revolution (1917-2017),” as well as materials from the collection of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Yevpatoria.

 

Artifacts in the Museum include documents and photographs from the close friendship between the Heads of the Romanoff dynasty and St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, as well as materials about the Imperial House’s relationships with the First Hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Patriarchs Alexis II and Kirill I, hierarchs and clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia and abroad, and leaders of other traditional religious confessions in Russia.

 

The Museum also includes the correspondence of the Russian Imperial House in exile with the reigning monarchs and other Heads of Imperial and Royal Houses of Europe; a collection of orders and medals of the Russian Imperial House, as well as other decorations and insignia of the Dynasty and its affiliated institutions and organizations; a collection of postcards published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; Russian currency from the beginning of the 20th century; books and periodicals; and documents and photographs from the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Imperial House of Romanoff in Crimea in 2013.

 

Among the unique items of more recent origin are:

 

- portraits of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, created using a unique technique on birch bark—a gift from the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, V. M. Lebedev, to the Head of the Imperial House of Russia;

 

- a replica uniform of Her Majesty Empress Alexandra Feodorovna’s Own Crimean Mounted Regiment, made in Yevpatoria by local historians and military reenactors Andrei Sakovich and Alexander Malomed; and

 

- episcopal vestments of the Russian Orthodox Church from the personal vestry of Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and Crimea.

 

The guests at the opening ceremony were led by Archpriest Georgii Dik in the first ever formal tour of the exhibits. Fr. Georgii described a number of items in the collection related to the Orthodox Church, including old liturgical books, icons, samples of intricate embroidery and fabrics for vestments, various Church utensils and liturgical objects from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, vestments of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church, and other unique items.

 

Vladislav Pilkevich, the advisor to the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House for Relations with Government Organs and Religious and Civic Organizations in the Republic of Crimea and City of Sevastopol, continued the excursion, underscoring that the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir V. Putin, in one of his addresses to the Federal Assembly, had noted that “Russia began not in 1917 and not in 1991. Russia has a 1000-year-long history.” The President unambiguously expressed the idea of the continuity of all Russian history and of the need to draw upon the traditions that come to us from the depths of centuries.

 

After 1917, the history of the Romanoff dynasty had become taboo. It had been the official position that the execution of Emperor Nicholas II and his relatives ended the Romanoffs forever. Many did not even suspect that the Imperial House had survived the Revolution and continued to exist. Not just the random descendants of the Tsars, but a direct branch of the Romanoff tree continued ondirect descendants, whose goal throughout all these years was “not to let the candle go out,” to preserve the historical Dynasty and its spiritual and cultural values.

 

The main and unchanging purpose of the Russian Imperial House of Romanoff has been the same at all times and in all political and social circumstances: to serve their country.

 

Vladislav Pilkevich also discussed the history of the exposition, which has its origins in Kiev in 1998 and gradually was transformed into a traveling exhibition, the purpose of which was to disseminate accurate information about the historical and legal foundations and the current situation of the Russian Imperial House of Romanoff, to educate the public on its role in unifying its peoples and their cultures and traditions, to preserve the cultural, historical and spiritual heritage left by the House of Romanoff, and to promote and strengthen the ideas of the Russian world.

 

The newly opened Museum will help to advance popular knowledge of the history of our country, encourage the search for ways to serve Russian society, and contribute to the patriotic, cultural, and historical education of the younger generation.

 

 

The opening ceremony was reported in a number of Russian-language news outlets and portals, including:

 

The Site of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea: http://crimea.gov.ru/news/21_02_23_5

 

https://crimea24tv.ru/content/v-krimu-otkrili-perviy-imperatorskiy/

 

https://new.crimiz.ru/rubriki/101-istoriya/20459-efim-fiks-vospityvat-patriotov-v-vernosti-istoricheskoj-pravde

 

https://crimea-eparhia.ru/30-events/evpator-2013/25308-v-prosvetitelskom-tsentre-svyato-nikolaevskogo-sobora-evpatorijskogo-blagochiniya-sostoyalos-otkrytie-tserkovno-istoricheskogo-muzeya

 

Сайт администрации города Евпатории:

https://evp.rk.gov.ru/ru/article/show/5389

 

https://gorthodox.com/news-item/v-krymu-otkrylsya-imperatorskij-cerkovno-istoricheskij-muzej

 

https://travelcrimea.com/novosti/20230222/2724653.html

 

https://dzen.ru/a/Y_Xk2lsr6iK3YUSY

 

https://www.crimea.kp.ru/online/news/5153207/

 

https://c-pravda.ru/news/2023-02-22/v-evpatorii-otkryli-pervyjj-v-rossii-imperatorskijj-cerkovno-istoricheskijj-muzejj

 

https://journalcrimea.ru/v-evpatorii-otkrylsya-pervyj-v-rossii-tserkovno-istoricheskij-muzej/

 

https://pobedarf.ru/2023/02/22/v-krymu-sozdan-novyj-muzej/

 

https://tass.ru/kultura/17115731

 

https://crimeapress.info/v-evpatorii-otkryli-pervyy-imperatorskiy-tserkovno-istoricheskiy-muzey/

 

https://crimea-news.com/culture/2023/02/22/1022625.html

 

https://vk.com/wall754227106_188

 

https://kianews24.ru/news/perviy-v-rossii-cerkovno-istoricheski/

 

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