Exhibition 'Old Believer Complex'

About exhibition

Here are presented houses of peasants of varying means: the 'svyaz' house of a well-to-do peasant, the izba of a peasant-craftsman, and the house of a wealthy Old Believer merchant. The complex also includes a ritual building of the Old-Rite Orthodox faith – a chapel of the Bespopovtsy (priestless Old Believers). The estate of the prosperous peasant consists of three main parts: the front yard, the cattle yard and the garden. In the yard there are the main dwelling, the zimovye (winter house), workers' quarters and farm outbuildings, where numerous household implements and means of transport are exhibited. The 'svyaz' house of the prosperous peasant Zaitsev was built in the Tarbagataysky District of Buryatia at the end of the 19th century in the traditions of old Russian architecture. The house of the wealthy peasant-merchant Borisov was built in the village of Kuytun, Tarbagataysky District of Buryatia in the second half of the 19th century. It is a large two-story 'svyaz' house with living rooms and a balcony-terrace on the second floor, a shop, a large pantry and an official room. The main ornament of the wealthy estate is the entrance gate from the village of Novaya Bran, Zaigraevsky District of Buryatia, crafted by local and visiting masters in 1906. In the estate of the poor peasant craftsman Krasikov, the front yard contains a modestly planned house with a seni (entry hall), a pantry and a covered porch. The stove, painted with patterns, was the central feature of the izba's interior. Much of the house is occupied by items of women's crafts – weaving looms, hackles and spinning wheels. Besides the house, the residential yard includes a barn, a forge and two work machines.