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The establishment of the Siberian (Tobolsk) Eparchy (1620)
On September 8 (18), 1620, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and Moscow Patriarch Filaret established the Siberian Eparchy with the centre in Tobolsk. It became the first Orthodox Eparchy in Siberia, the Urals and the Far East. Cyprian was appointed the first archbishop of Siberia and Tobolsk. He did a lot to enlighten parishioners and raise the spirit and morale of the Siberian clergy. Cyprian launched writing chronicles of the region, including the records about Yermak's campaign. Over the years, the Siberian Eparchy became the largest department of the Russian Church. In 1667, the Great Moscow Synod decided to turn the Tobolsk Archdiocese into a Metropolia. Cornelius was appointed the first Metropolitan.
In April 1683, church authorities began to build the St. Sophia Cathedral - the first stone building in Tobolsk. Its prototype was the Church of the Ascension in the Moscow Kremlin.
The main task of the prelates of the Tobolsk Eparchy was missionary activity among native peoples and Old Believers, as well as the creation of parish schools. Metropolitan Philotheus Leshchinsky made the most significant contribution to the development of the Eparchy. He headed the Siberian Eparchy in 1702–1711 and 1715–1720. One of the achievements of Philopheus Leshchinsky was the establishment of the Slavic-Russian School, the first theological school in Siberia. In 1743, it became the Tobolsk Theological Seminary, the oldest educational institution in the area. Since that time, Tobolsk has become not only the administrative but also the spiritual and educational centre of Siberia.
The Tobolsk Seminary was the ancestor of most of the religious and state educational institutions at the Urals. Its graduates gradually formed the basis of the teaching staff for the newly opened universities, colleges and schools. In the XVIII century, Russian Church launched active missionary work in Siberia. Some Siberian monasteries trained missionaries from children of northern peoples. In the XIX century, missionary activities were more prominent and regular. In the XIX - early XX centuries, the Eparchy included the Northern (Obdorsk), Kondinsk and Surgut missions.
From 1882 to 1919, the Eparchy issued the Tobolskie Eparhialnie Vedomosti (Tobolsk Eparchy News). The publication was a literary and historical chronicle of the religious life of Tobolsk Province. The magazine published imperial manifestos, the highest orders related to church affairs, decrees and decisions of the Most Holy Synod, the Tobolsk Spiritual Consistory and eparchial news. It also featured historical descriptions of monasteries, temples, villages, annals of parishes, biographies of prominent church figures, results of historical, archaeological and ethnographic research in the province. The Vedomosti released articles of religious and moral content, various teachings, speeches and admonitions of priests.
During the revolution and the Civil War, the clergy of Western Siberia supported the White Guard movement. In 1917-1918, Nicholas II and his family were under arrest in Tobolsk. At the same time, the Tobolsk Bishop Hermogenes arranged a procession in defence of the royal family, after which he was arrested and finally drowned. In the spring of 1919, the Tobolsk Theological Seminary had the last class of graduates. In the 1920s, almost all churches and monasteries were closed. The Tobolsk Eparchy was abolished. At the end of the Great Patriotic War, several churches were opened in the cities in the southern parts of the region. The territory of the former Tobolsk Eparchy entered the newly created Omsk-Tyumen Eparchy.
In the autumn of 1989, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to resume the activity of the Tobolsk Seminary after a 70-year pause. It again became the first in importance in Siberian Region. In January 1990, the revival of the Tobolsk-Tyumen Eparchy began.
In October 2013, the Ishim Eparchy separated from the Tobolsk-Tyumen Eparchy. The Tobolsk and Ishim Eparchies are parts of the Tobolsk Metropola. Today, the Tobolsk-Tyumen Eparchy includes parishes of cities and villages in the south of Tyumen Region, excluding several districts and settlements of the Ishim Eparchy.
Today the Eparchy has four monasteries, 123 parishes, 86 churches, 63 preaching-houses and rooms, 15 chapels. It supervises theological educational institutions: Tobolsk Orthodox Theological Seminary, Tyumen Orthodox Theological School, Orthodox schools in Tobolsk, Tyumen, Yalutorovsk. 62 Sunday Schools are opened at the churches. The Eparchy issues the Siberian Orthodox Newspaper, the magazines Orthodox Enlightener, Orthodox Siberian.
For a long time, the Tobolsk Metropolia has been actively involved in the implementation of large-scale regional social and educational projects. It conducts great educational work among the youth, promotes moral values in society, calls people to mercy, love, peace and unity.
Lit.: Абрамов Н. А. Киприан, первый архиепископ Сибирский // Город Тюмень: из истории Тобольской епархии Тюмень, 1998. С.96–105; История Епархии // Тобольская митрополия: официальный сайт. Раздел сайта «Епархиальное управление». URL: http://www.tobolsk-eparhia.ru/p/pages.php?id=t01_1; Коновалов В. В. Первые сто лет Сибирской Епархии. Архипастыри // Сибирский исторический журнал. 2020. № 1. С.26–36, 51–61; Половинкин Н. С., Чернышов А. В. Роль Тобольской епархии в системе образования и просвещения в крае. XVIII начало XX вв. // Религия и церковь в Сибири. Вып. 2. Тюмень, 1991. С.14–21; Современное состояние в митрополии // Тобольская митрополия: официальный сайт. Раздел сайта «Епархиальное управление». – URL: http://www.tobolsk-eparhia.ru/p/pages.php?id=t01_3#; Софронов В. Ю. Светочи земли сибирской: биографии архипастырей Тобольских и Сибирских (1620–1918 гг.). Екатеринбург, 1998; Софронов В. Ю. Три века сибирского миссионерства. В трёх частях. Часть 3: Духовно-просветительская деятельность русской православной церкви в Западной Сибири (конец ХVII – нач. ХХ вв.). Тобольск, 2005; Тепышева Т. Архипастыри Сибири // Тюменская область сегодня. 2007. 18 августа. С. 4–9; Тобольская духовная семинария. 250 лет / Московская патриархия. Тобольско-Тюменская епархия. Тобольск, 1993; Тобольские епархиальные ведомости (1882–1919): указатель разделов и статей / сост.: Филарет, И. Б. Короткова. Тобольск; Екатеринбург, 2009; 300 лет духовному образованию в Сибири. Тюмень, 2003.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Служители церкви в Тобольске. Епископ Гермоген: [фотография]. – Тобольск, 1917-1918
The article is prepared by the Tyumen Branch of the Presidential Library