The Presidential Library offers the exhibition "The Most Holy Governing Synod in the History of Russian Statehood"

It is almost impossible to divide a history of the Russian State from a history of the Russian Orthodox Church, and "The Most Holy Governing Synod in the History of Russian Statehood" exhibition, which opens in the Presidential Library on May 26, 2016, proves that fact in full.

In 2015, the Presidential Library, located in one of the buildings of the Senate and Synod ensemble, has initiated the "The Most Holy Governing Synod in the History of Russian Statehood" project, within the framework of which the electronic collection, dedicated to the history of the Most Holy Governing Synod (1721-1918) and its accomplishments in the social, religious, scientific, educational and domestic spheres of life of the Russian state, was launched on the library website.

The exhibition of the same name aims to introduce the professionals and the general public to this project’s main directions.

The history of the Russian Orthodox Church is inscribed in the historical outline of state policy with the key decisions of its national leaders. Baptism of Russia by Prince Vladimir in 988 was the most important factor in a strengthening the Old Russian state, in the consolidation different tribes on the basis of a one whole religion. By receiving the baptism from Byzantium Russia took its inherent tradition of strong relationship of secular and religious control. The nature of this alliance has been changing over time: an alliance of religious and secular power of the era of Moscow realm, the Patriarch and the Tsar (1589-1700) was replaced with the Synodic period of Orthodox Church (1721-1918). With the establishment by Peter I in 1721 the Ecclesiastical College, which almost immediately changed its name to the “Most Holy All-Ruling Synod”, the church, to some extent, has become one of the state institutions of the Russian Empire. All legislative acts of the Most Holy Synod actually came from the government - either directly from the Emperor, or were issued "by order of His Imperial Majesty."

Virtually, during the entire XVIII century appointed by the Emperor Chief Procurator of the Most Holy Governing Synod was the "sovereign's eye" that is an observer and a mediator between the Holy Synod and the Emperor, but not its head. Since 1817 the situation has changed - the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod concentrated in his hands all the threads of the ecclesiastical machine control, becoming the de facto Minister of the Office of the Orthodox Faith.

In many ways defining the ideology of society, the Church, guided by the Holy Synod, made an enormous contribution to a shaping the social, spiritual, scientific, educational and cultural spheres of life of Russian society.

The Ecclesiastic Regulation of Peter I, according to which the eparchial schools were founded, laid the basics of systematic primary education in Russia. These, like arisen later theological academies, seminaries and parish schools, were open for people of all social categories. All classes’ nature of clerical educational institutions is largely compensated for the lack of primary public schools.

The Most Holy Governing Synod led the spiritual missions, widespread both inside the borders of Russia and abroad. Established by decree of Peter I the Russian Orthodox Mission in Beijing served as an unofficial diplomatic embassy of Russia in China until 1864.

One of the most successful forms of cultural, educational and outreach activities of the church were the Orthodox brotherhoods that serve to a development of charity, church archaeological societies and committees, church museum (“drevnehranilische” - the repositories of an ancient), the number of which by 1909 has reached 35. Two Synodic libraries existed in Russia up to 1918 - the Moscow one, or the patriarch’s, and the St. Petersburg’s. In 1918, the stocks of both libraries were nationalized in the 1920s-1930s. Many of publications from these libraries were relocated to various public museums and the other libraries.

The project of the Presidential Library, bringing together numerous Russian and foreign participants, public and church institutions, is intended on the basis of electronic information and analytical resource to actualize the historical experience of dual approach of the public and religious authorities in Russia, to encourage the re-establishment of vanished cultural and spiritual heritage of Russia.

The exhibition presents materials from the collections of the Presidential Library, the Scientific Library named after Gorky, the St. Petersburg State University, the Library of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, the National Library, and the Russian State Historical Archive.

The retrospective will run from May 26 to September 23, 2016, and will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please call in advance or e-mail us for an arrangement:
+7 (812) 334-25-14 excursion@prlib.ru