Museum of the History of the Orthodox Faith

About museum

Part of the Cherdyn Local History Museum, the Museum of the History of the Faith is the only museum of Orthodoxy in the Urals. It was opened on August 28, 2000, in the former Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, built in 1784. At the entrance visitors are greeted by a depiction of the Last Judgment painted by the master Safonov. In the mid-1970s the paintings on the first floor were whitewashed, and the Last Judgment scene was painted over with oil paint. During preparations for the opening of the Museum of the History of the Faith, the paintings on the first floor and part of the second floor were uncovered by students from the Zlatoust Civil Engineering University. The paint had been applied evenly, but the next morning it began to come off, so workers started scraping the wall and repainting everything. In the upper part the image of Jesus Christ was revealed, and behind him—the depictions of the Most Holy Theotokos and John the Forerunner. On the second floor, according to a plan-drawing by A. V. Fedoseev, an iconostasis was partially recreated, the altar of which is dedicated to the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. The museum exhibits icons from the local workshop of A. V. Fedoseev from the village of Pokcha.