District center Tarbagatai. The village of Tarbagatai: three centuries of traditions on Lake Baikal Tarbagatai Buryatia

History of Tarbagatai

In 1764, the Tsar's Major General Maslov evicted...

Located at a distance of 52 km from the city of Ulan-Ude. In front of the village on the pass there is a gas station and a traffic police post. Not far from the pass there is a natural landmark - the “Scallop” rock, which was a sacred place in ancient times. This place is also known for the fact that during the Civil War there were positions of Semeysky partisans, who, having no weapons, stopped the troops of Ataman Semenov with sheer determination. In the village there is a cultural center for the Old Believers, which has a museum and folk ensemble “Sudbinushka”. The center organizes meetings, excursions with demonstrations of dwellings and ancient rituals. There are shops, cafes, a post office, a library, and a gas station.

History of Tarbagatai

In 1764, the Tsarist Major General Maslov evicted a party of Old Believers from Poland and sent them to Siberia. A group of 824 people was settled near Verkhneudinsk in the village of Tarbagatai.

To the south of the capital of our republic, Ulan-Ude, lies a land of rare beauty: high mountains and ridges, centuries-old pine forests, dense taiga, sandy gullies and water meadows in river valleys. The village of Tarbagatai is located here. Most of the route from Ulan-Ude to the village of Tarbagatai goes past bare high mountains, partly adapted for arable land. Only on the right, among the green banks, Selenga shines in the sun with its countless islands, overgrown with lush herbs, willows and bird cherry, truly a bird cherry land.

It is known that N.A. Nekrasov, in his poem “Grandfather,” gave an enthusiastic description of Tarbagatai, one of the large villages in Transbaikalia. In the passage dedicated to the named village, the exiled Old Believers are highly appreciated.

A handful of Russians were exiled

Into the terrible wilderness for the split,

They were given land and freedom;

The administrative center is the village of Tarbagatai.

Geography

The area, with an area of ​​3.3 thousand km², is located in central Buryatia. It borders in the northeast with the urban district of Ulan-Ude (Oktyabrsky district), in the east - with Zaigraevsky, in the south - with Mukhorshibirsky, in the west - with Selenginsky, in the northwest, along the Selenga River - with Ivolginsky districts.

Story

19th century

In 1826, in the Tarbagatai volost of the Verkhneudinsk district of the Irkutsk province there were: 13 villages, 835 wooden houses in philistine villages, 6 public wooden houses, 2 Greek-Russian wooden churches, 5 water mills, 1 windmills, smithies - 16, drinking houses - 3, grain stores with rural supplies - 13. Main roads 110 miles, 10 bridges, 1 transportation (crossing).

The Tarbagatai volost included the following villages: Tarbagatai, Zhirim, Burnashevo, Desyatnikovo, Barskoe, Kunaley, Pesterevo, Nadeino, Kuitun, Staraya Bryansk, Novaya Bryansk, Taltsy, Sayantui.

Participants of the Polish uprisings were exiled to the volost: Shimon Krzhechkovsky (Tarbagatay), Anton Sulemirsky (Kunalei), Karl Todinsky (Pesterevo), Feofil Bembnovsky (Pesterevo), Philip Grodnitsky (Pesterevo), Leopold Dobrsky, Mieczyslaw Zarembsky (Kunalei volost), Andrey Kozminsky ( Barskoe).

In November 1868, Nikolaevsky Distillery No. 21 was built (the modern village of Nikolaevsky). The plant belonged to the merchant of the 1st guild I.F. Goldobin.

In 1878, 15,635 people lived in Tarbagatai volost.

In 1891, on the territory of the modern Tarbagatai district there were volosts of the Verkhneudinsk district of the Trans-Baikal region: Tarbagatai, Klyuchevskaya, Kuitunskaya, Kunaleyskaya.

XX century

In 1903, in the Tarbagatai volost there operated the Tarbagatai one-class parish school, the Pesterevskoe one-class school, the Desyatnikovskoe one-class school, and the Burnashevskaya literacy school, in which 142 people studied.

On August 29, 1939, two settlements were transferred from Tarbagatai aimag to the newly formed Ivolginsky aimak.

On February 1, 1963, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, the aimak was abolished and transferred to the Ulan-Ude aimag, newly formed on the basis of three aimaks (Ivolginsky, Tarbagataisky and Zaigraevsky).

On August 15, 1985, in accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, the Tarbagatai district was restored to its former territorial boundaries.

Population

The population is mainly Russian, most of them are Old Believers.

Municipal-territorial structure

In the Tarbagatai region there are 23 settlements consisting of ten rural settlements:

List of settlements in the region

Economy

In terms of industrial production, the region ranks 20th in Buryatia. Wood harvesting and processing are developed.

Agricultural land makes up 20.9% of all land in the district, arable land - 10.6%. The region's agriculture specializes in growing grain crops, potatoes, and vegetables. Meat and dairy cattle breeding, sheep breeding, and horse breeding are developed.

Structure of industrial products:

• production of food products (confectionery, bread, semi-finished products);
• logging activities (industrial timber);
• timber processing industry (lumber, molded products);
• furniture manufacture.

People associated with the area

• Guslyakov, Georgy Ivanovich (1922-1998) - Hero of the Russian Federation (1994). Participant of the Great Patriotic War, nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (1944). Born in the village of Bolshoy Kunaley.
• Mordvinov, Georgy Ivanovich (1896-1966) - Soviet intelligence officer. Born in the village of Burnashevo.
• Radikaltsev, Pyotr Kapitonovich (1912-1977) - Full holder of the Order of Glory, participant in the Great Patriotic War. Born in the village of Pesterevo.

Attractions

• Mount Omulevaya (Omulyovka, “Sleeping Lion”).
• Mineralogical Museum in the Zharchikha area.
• Russian ancient Orthodox church in Tarbagatai.
• Museum of the History of Old Believer Culture in Tarbagatai.

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Notes

2. www.gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2016/bul_dr/mun_obr2016.rar Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2016
4. NARB. F.207. Op.1. D.1599. L.24ob.
5. NARB. F.207. Op.1. D.87. L.1ob., 6.
6. Baikal region (historical sketch) // Baikal calendar for 1922. Verkhneudinsk Book publishing house of the United Pribaikalsky Union of Cooperatives. pp. 68-69.
7. Message from the office of the Nikolaev Distillery of the merchant I. F. Goldobin // NARB. F.207. Op.1. D.1201. L.13-13ob.
8. From the report on the number of residents in the Tarbagatai volost for 1878 // NARB. F.337. Op.1. D.891. L.31-31ob.
9. Statement on the number of educational institutions in the Tarbagatai volost // NARB. F.337. Op.1. D.234. L.3ob.-4.
10. K. Ivaylovsky Hero brothers.// Light over Baikal, No. 3, May-June 1957, pp. 124-128
11. . Retrieved February 25, 2015. .
12. std.gmcrosstata.ru/webapi/opendatabase?id=vpn2002 All-Russian Population Census 2002
13. . Retrieved January 2, 2014. .
14. . Retrieved November 14, 2013. .
15. . Retrieved June 18, 2014. .
16. . Retrieved May 31, 2014. .
17. . Retrieved November 16, 2013. .
18. . Retrieved August 6, 2015. .
19. Tarbagatai district Urban districts Districts Articles

    An excerpt characterizing the Tarbagatai region (Buryatia)

    “Natalya Ilyinishna treats me very well,” said Boris. “I can't complain,” he said.
    - Leave it, Boris, you are such a diplomat (the word diplomat was in great use among children in the special meaning that they attached to this word); It’s even boring,” Natasha said in an offended, trembling voice. - Why is she pestering me? You will never understand this,” she said, turning to Vera, “because you have never loved anyone; you have no heart, you are only madame de Genlis [Madame Genlis] (this nickname, considered very offensive, was given to Vera by Nikolai), and your first pleasure is to cause trouble for others. “You flirt with Berg as much as you want,” she said quickly.
    - Yes, I certainly won’t start chasing a young man in front of guests...
    “Well, she achieved her goal,” Nikolai intervened, “she said unpleasant things to everyone, upset everyone.” Let's go to the nursery.
    All four, like a frightened flock of birds, got up and left the room.
    “They told me some troubles, but I didn’t mean anything to anyone,” said Vera.
    - Madame de Genlis! Madame de Genlis! - Laughing voices said from behind the door.
    Beautiful Vera, who had such an irritating, unpleasant effect on everyone, smiled and, apparently unaffected by what was said to her, went to the mirror and straightened her scarf and hairstyle. Looking at her beautiful face, she apparently became even colder and calmer.

    The conversation continued in the living room.
    - Ah! chere,” said the countess, “and in my life tout n”est pas rose. Don’t I see that du train, que nous allons, [not everything is roses. - given our way of life,] our condition will not last long for us! And "It's all a club, and its kindness. We live in the village, do we really relax? Theatres, hunting and God knows what. But what can I say about me! Well, how did you arrange all this? I'm often surprised at you, Annette, how it's possible You, at your age, ride alone in a carriage, to Moscow, to St. Petersburg, to all the ministers, to all the nobility, you know how to get along with everyone, I’m surprised! Well, how did this work out? I don’t know how to do any of this.
    - Oh, my soul! - answered Princess Anna Mikhailovna. “God forbid you know how hard it is to remain a widow without support and with a son whom you love to the point of adoration.” “You’ll learn everything,” she continued with some pride. – My process taught me. If I need to see one of these aces, I write a note: “princesse une telle [princess so-and-so] wants to see so-and-so,” and I drive myself in a cab at least two, at least three times, at least four times, until I achieve what I need. I don't care what anyone thinks about me.
    - Well, well, who did you ask about Borenka? – asked the Countess. - After all, yours is already a guard officer, and Nikolushka is a cadet. There is no one to bother. Who did you ask?
    - Prince Vasily. He was very nice. Now I agreed to everything, reported to the sovereign,” Princess Anna Mikhailovna said with delight, completely forgetting all the humiliation she went through to achieve her goal.
    - That he has aged, Prince Vasily? – asked the Countess. – I haven’t seen him since our theaters at the Rumyantsevs’. And I think he forgot about me. “Il me faisait la cour, [He was trailing after me,” the countess recalled with a smile.
    “Still the same,” answered Anna Mikhailovna, “kind, crumbling.” Les grandeurs ne lui ont pas touriene la tete du tout. [The high position did not turn his head at all.] “I regret that I can do too little for you, dear princess,” he tells me, “order.” No, he is a nice man and a wonderful family member. But you know, Nathalieie, my love for my son. I don't know what I wouldn't do to make him happy. “And my circumstances are so bad,” Anna Mikhailovna continued with sadness and lowering her voice, “so bad that I am now in the most terrible situation. My miserable process is eating up everything I have and is not moving. I don’t have, you can imagine, a la lettre [literally], I don’t have a dime of money, and I don’t know what to outfit Boris with. “She took out a handkerchief and began to cry. “I need five hundred rubles, but I have one twenty-five-ruble note.” I am in this position... My only hope now is Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhov. If he does not want to support his godson - after all, he baptized Borya - and assign him something for his maintenance, then all my troubles will be lost: I will have nothing to outfit him with.
    The Countess shed tears and silently thought about something.
    “I often think, maybe this is a sin,” said the princess, “and I often think: Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhoy lives alone... this is a huge fortune... and what does he live for? Life is a burden for him, but Borya is just beginning to live.
    “He will probably leave something for Boris,” said the countess.
    - God knows, chere amie! [dear friend!] These rich people and nobles are so selfish. But I’ll still go to him now with Boris and tell him straight out what’s going on. Let them think what they want about me, I really don’t care when my son’s fate depends on it. - The princess stood up. - Now it’s two o’clock, and at four o’clock you have lunch. I'll have time to go.
    And with the techniques of a St. Petersburg business lady who knows how to use time, Anna Mikhailovna sent for her son and went out into the hall with him.
    “Farewell, my soul,” she said to the countess, who accompanied her to the door, “wish me success,” she added in a whisper from her son.
    – Are you visiting Count Kirill Vladimirovich, ma chere? - said the count from the dining room, also going out into the hallway. - If he feels better, invite Pierre to dinner with me. After all, he visited me and danced with the children. Call me by all means, ma chere. Well, let's see how Taras distinguishes himself today. He says that Count Orlov never had such a dinner as we will have.

    “Mon cher Boris, [Dear Boris,”] said Princess Anna Mikhailovna to her son when Countess Rostova’s carriage, in which they were sitting, drove along the straw-covered street and drove into the wide courtyard of Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhy. “Mon cher Boris,” said the mother, pulling her hand out from under her old coat and with a timid and affectionate movement placing it on her son’s hand, “be gentle, be attentive.” Count Kirill Vladimirovich is still your godfather, and your future fate depends on him. Remember this, mon cher, be as sweet as you know how to be...
    “If I had known that anything other than humiliation would come out of this...” the son answered coldly. “But I promised you and I’m doing this for you.”
    Despite the fact that someone’s carriage was standing at the entrance, the doorman, looking at the mother and son (who, without ordering to report themselves, directly entered the glass vestibule between two rows of statues in the niches), looking significantly at the old cloak, asked who they wanted whatever, the princesses or the count, and, having learned that the count, said that their Lordships are worse off now and their Lordships do not receive anyone.
    “We can leave,” the son said in French.
    - Mon ami! [My friend!] - said the mother in a pleading voice, again touching her son’s hand, as if this touch could calm or excite him.
    Boris fell silent and, without taking off his overcoat, looked questioningly at his mother.
    “Darling,” Anna Mikhailovna said in a gentle voice, turning to the doorman, “I know that Count Kirill Vladimirovich is very ill... that’s why I came... I’m a relative... I won’t bother you, dear... But I just need to see Prince Vasily Sergeevich: because he is standing here. Report back, please.
    The doorman sullenly pulled the string upward and turned away.
    “Princess Drubetskaya to Prince Vasily Sergeevich,” he shouted to a waiter in stockings, shoes and a tailcoat who had run down from above and was looking out from under the ledge of the stairs.
    The mother smoothed out the folds of her dyed silk dress, looked into the solid Venetian mirror in the wall and walked briskly up the staircase carpet in her worn-out shoes.
    “Mon cher, voue m"avez promis, [My friend, you promised me,” she turned again to the Son, exciting him with the touch of her hand.
    The son, with lowered eyes, calmly followed her.
    They entered the hall, from which one door led to the chambers allocated to Prince Vasily.
    While the mother and son, going out into the middle of the room, intended to ask for directions from the old waiter who jumped up at their entrance, a bronze handle turned at one of the doors and Prince Vasily in a velvet fur coat, with one star, in a homely manner, came out, seeing off the handsome black-haired a man. This man was the famous St. Petersburg doctor Lorrain.
    “C"est donc positif? [So, is this true?] - said the prince.
    “Mon prince, “errare humanum est”, mais... [Prince, it is human nature to make mistakes.] - answered the doctor, gracing and pronouncing Latin words in a French accent.
    – C"est bien, c"est bien... [Okay, okay...]
    Noticing Anna Mikhailovna and her son, Prince Vasily dismissed the doctor with a bow and silently, but with a questioning look, approached them. The son noticed how suddenly deep sorrow was expressed in his mother's eyes, and smiled slightly.
    - Yes, in what sad circumstances did we have to see each other, Prince... Well, what about our dear patient? - she said, as if not noticing the cold, insulting gaze directed at her.
    Prince Vasily looked questioningly, to the point of bewilderment, at her, then at Boris. Boris bowed politely. Prince Vasily, without answering the bow, turned to Anna Mikhailovna and answered her question with a movement of his head and lips, which meant the worst hope for the patient.
    - Really? - Anna Mikhailovna exclaimed. - Oh, this is terrible! It’s scary to think... This is my son,” she added, pointing to Boris. “He himself wanted to thank you.”
    Boris bowed politely again.
    - Believe, prince, that a mother’s heart will never forget what you did for us.
    “I’m glad that I could do something pleasant for you, my dear Anna Mikhailovna,” said Prince Vasily, straightening his frill and in his gesture and voice showing here, in Moscow, in front of the patronized Anna Mikhailovna, even greater importance than in St. Petersburg, at Annette’s evening Scherer.
    “Try to serve well and be worthy,” he added, turning sternly to Boris. - I'm glad... Are you here on vacation? – he dictated in his dispassionate tone.
    “I’m waiting for an order, your Excellency, to go to a new destination,” answered Boris, showing neither annoyance at the prince’s harsh tone, nor a desire to engage in conversation, but so calmly and respectfully that the prince looked at him intently.
    - Do you live with your mother?
    “I live with Countess Rostova,” said Boris, adding again: “Your Excellency.”
    “This is the Ilya Rostov who married Nathalie Shinshina,” said Anna Mikhailovna.
    “I know, I know,” said Prince Vasily in his monotonous voice. – Je n"ai jamais pu concevoir, comment Nathalieie s"est decidee a epouser cet ours mal – leche l Un personnage completement stupide et ridicule.Et joueur a ce qu"on dit. [I could never understand how Natalie decided to come out marry this dirty bear. A completely stupid and ridiculous person. And a player, too, they say.]
    “Mais tres brave homme, mon prince,” Anna Mikhailovna remarked, smiling touchingly, as if she knew that Count Rostov deserved such an opinion, but asked to have pity on the poor old man. – What do the doctors say? - asked the princess, after a short silence and again expressing great sadness on her tear-stained face.
    “There is little hope,” said the prince.
    “And I really wanted to thank my uncle again for all his good deeds to both me and Bora.” C"est son filleuil, [This is his godson," she added in such a tone, as if this news should have greatly pleased Prince Vasily.
    Prince Vasily thought and winced. Anna Mikhailovna realized that he was afraid to find in her a rival in the will of Count Bezukhy. She hastened to reassure him.
    “If it weren’t for my true love and devotion to my uncle,” she said, pronouncing this word with particular confidence and carelessness: “I know his character, noble, direct, but he has only the princesses with him... They are still young...” She bowed her head and she added in a whisper: “Did he fulfill his last duty, prince?” How precious are these last minutes! After all, it can’t be worse; it needs to be cooked if it is that bad. We women, Prince,” she smiled tenderly, “always know how to say these things.” It is necessary to see him. No matter how hard it was for me, I was already used to suffering.
    The prince apparently understood, and understood, as he did at the evening at Annette Scherer’s, that it was difficult to get rid of Anna Mikhailovna.
    “Wouldn’t this meeting be difficult for him, here Anna Mikhailovna,” he said. - Let's wait until evening, the doctors promised a crisis.
    “But you can’t wait, Prince, at these moments.” Pensez, il va du salut de son ame... Ah! c"est terrible, les devoirs d"un chretien... [Think, it’s about saving his soul! Oh! this is terrible, the duty of a Christian...]
    A door opened from the inner rooms, and one of the count's princesses, the count's nieces, entered, with a gloomy and cold face and a strikingly disproportionate long waist to her legs.
    Prince Vasily turned to her.
    - Well, what is he?
    - All the same. And as you wish, this noise... - said the princess, looking around Anna Mikhailovna as if she were a stranger.
    “Ah, chere, je ne vous reconnaissais pas, [Ah, dear, I didn’t recognize you,” Anna Mikhailovna said with a happy smile, walking up to the count’s niece with a light amble. “Je viens d"arriver et je suis a vous pour vous aider a soigner mon oncle. J'imagine, combien vous avez souffert, [I came to help you follow your uncle. I can imagine how you suffered," she added, with participation rolling my eyes.
    

It began in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or more precisely, in the Vetkovsky settlements near modern Gomel, where Old Believers lived from the end of the 17th century. Yes, they didn’t just live: Vetka, located abroad, supported its own on the territory of Russia in every possible way, and therefore the tsarist authorities tried to eradicate it long and hard, for which purpose they twice (in 1735 and 1764) invaded the territory of the weakened Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was not very interfered. By 1795, the Vetkovsky settlements were finally liquidated, and their entire population, according to various sources, up to 40 thousand people (I think it’s still much less) was sent across Baikal. In those days, only Cossacks lived here, taking Buryat women as wives, and they were quite surprised when settlers began to arrive here with whole families: that’s how the Old Believers in Transbaikalia were nicknamed “semeiskie”.
But the plan of the tsarist authorities was much more subtle than it might seem at first glance: in those years China, with which Russia was fighting for Dauria, was still strong, and the most reliable way was to simply populate these deserted steppes with Russian people. It was not by chance that such a mission was entrusted to the Old Believers, especially against their will: after all, in conditions of endless persecution, drunkenness, theft and sloppiness were unacceptable luxuries, the Old Believers were distinguished by strong economy and enterprise, and no one could have done a better job with the task of mastering the alien and cruel steppe.

The idea was a success, and now it is difficult to imagine greater Siberians than the Semeys. We will now go to their capital, the village of Tarbagatai (5.6 thousand inhabitants) fifty kilometers south of Ulan-Ude.

The name “Tarbagatai” in these parts is similar to all sorts of Sosnovki and Zalesye in the Central Russian zone; in Buryatia alone there are a dozen Tarbagatai of different sizes and statuses, and the name comes from the Tarbagan marmot. Tarbagatai, which interests us, is a regional center 50 km south of Ulan-Ude, and minibuses from the bus station run there once every half hour, passing to more distant villages several times a day. There is no bus station in Tarbagatai itself; the “rookery” of minibuses is located in this square:

A concrete cultural center, a Victory Stele, some departments and a museum with unusual opening hours (13:00-16:00) in a blue building. Next door is a brick district committee:

And some other Soviet buildings:

But this is a drop in the ocean - at least 9/10 Tarbagatai looks like this:

The architecture of "semeyskie" buildings is recognizable and remembered at first sight. Strongly built huts of unusually archaic appearance, with high-set windows, immediately evoke the phrase Pre-Petrine Rus':

Moreover, it is not known what is more impressive here: the appearance of the huts or their location - along the street they, together with the gates, stand as an endless and impregnable wall:

The huts themselves are mostly very small, much smaller than the houses of “ordinary” old-timers:

But they are almost always well-groomed and brightly painted right on the logs:

Very beautiful platbands, the appearance of which immediately made me remember Belarus and Polesie:

And the gates are especially impressive - not only are they tall and impregnable, they are also often beautifully decorated:

In general, the appearance of Old Believer villages in Transbaikalia cannot be confused with anything else. It’s not for nothing that Semeyskiye are called “the guardians of Pre-Petrine Rus',” and from the appearance of these villages you can roughly imagine what urban architecture looked like in Russia during the times of Alexei Mikhailovich, or even Ivan the Terrible. And the problems are the same: for example, in 2004, a fire destroyed several public buildings here in the center of the village.

Almost opposite the district committee there is a wooden clinic, and in its courtyard there is such a cross, a monument to the destroyed cathedral and victims of repression. In the 1930s, the Old Believers suffered perhaps more than other Russian peasants - but here it was no longer a matter of religion, but of the very prosperity of the Old Believer villages, through which dispossession swept especially horribly. The same Tarbagatai by the middle of the twentieth century was half as large as in 1919, and recovered only by the 1980s. There was also a martyr here - Athanasius of Tarbagatai:

Initially, the Semeyskie were “beglopopvtsy”. Here it is worth explaining that some of the Old Believers believed that the New Believers were “heterodox,” that is, one could accept from there into the Old Faith through confirmation, while others considered Nikoniastism a heresy, and therefore, those who converted to the Old Belief needed re-baptism. The former could accept “runaway” priests, but the latter were quickly left without priests at all - this is how “priests” and “bespopovtsy” appeared. In the 1830s, the priests developed their own hierarchy on the territory of Austria-Hungary - which eventually included the majority of the priestly communities, but Transbaikalia was too far away. With the advent of the Belokrinitsky consent, the Old Believers included in its hierarchy began to be called “priests,” and the “beglopopvtsy” who lived in the old fashioned way became a separate community, to which the Semeiskie mostly belonged. Here each community lived on its own, and it often got to the point that the Old Believers went to the New Believer priests, who, in secret from the center, served according to the old rite. Somewhere on the eve of the revolution, the then layman Ambrose Fedotov achieved the inclusion of Tarbagatai in the Belokrinitsky consent, the parish of which had been operating here since the end of the 19th century. In 1920, Ambrose secretly went to Harbin, where Joseph, Bishop of Irkutsk-Amur, was in exile, who transferred his rank to Ambrose, who became Athanasius in monasticism. In 1923, the newly minted bishop returned to his homeland, where he served until his arrest and execution in 1937. Read more, and it was truly a feat - to go to distant lands and return to certain death, but to prepare the homeland for the troubled years.
In the same 1923, the Russian Ancient Orthodox Church was formed in Saratov, which included the Beglopopvian communities, including the majority of the Semey ones. Its administrative center has changed many times, but its spiritual center is considered almost the ancestral home of the Semeis.
Another victim of “militant atheism” is also immortalized on the same stone; however, I was unable to find the date of construction of this “rural cathedral,” but I would venture to guess that this is the same “first Belokrinitskaya church” of the late 19th century. In total, there were 7 churches and a chapel in Tarbagatai, the oldest of which has been known since 1810.

The main street leads to the hill with the cross shown in the opening shot. From the hill, the layout of the village is especially clearly visible:

Tarbagatai is located in a rather deep valley. The mountains are the same Tsagan-Daban, bordering Ulan-Ude from the south. The road leads to the Irkutsk-Chita highway (that is, Moscow-Vladivostok), but it lies behind the pass several kilometers from here. An abandoned factory is clearly visible, meeting the Ulan-Ude minibus at the entrance - things are very sad with the economy here:

In general, Tarbagatai is quite large, several kilometers across. To the left, a lonely and clearly very high mountain dominates the village:

To the right, from where we came, go the long valley of the Kuitunka River:

The cemetery, according to the Siberian tradition, is clearly visible on the hill:

And finally, the Zosimo-Savvatievskaya Church, which, as it turned out, stands a couple of blocks from the main square, but on a parallel street. It was to her that I came down the hill and headed:

But on the way I went into a store to warm up. God forbid there are several shops in the village, or maybe this is the only one - food, clothes and children's toys are laid out on the neighboring shelves. The saleswoman, seeing my face with icicles on her mustache, immediately made me some tea, free of charge, and said that it was -41 degrees outside - but I didn’t even notice... We talked, I told who I was and where I was from, and learned from she says that in modern Tarbagatai the “semeis” are somewhere around half the population, and she herself is not one of them. And having warmed up a little, I went further, and before reaching the church, I went out onto the bank of the Kuitunka:

Beyond the river there is a cross on a hill. A lot is also connected with the surrounding mountains - for example, in one of the caves the same Saint Athanasius managed to bury Tarbagatai shrines and antiquities, which were found there only in the 1950s, and at least some of them ended up in museums. Or the “battle” on Mount Omulevka in 1920, when villagers under the leadership of Afanasy Dumnov, who had returned from World War I, armed with scythes, put the Reds to flight with a “psychological attack.” And the cross on the hill was erected by Father Sergius (Paliy), rector of the Zosimo-Savvatievskaya Church:

If Afanasy’s mission was to prepare the Semeiskies for the time of troubles, then Father Sergius is among those who help the Semeiskie leave this troubled time. He is known among Old Believers far beyond the borders of Buryatia. The only functioning church (2003) was also built by him, and its dedication is not accidental: the Church of Zosima and Savvaty, still New Believers, has been known in Tarbagatai since 1744.

But what’s even more interesting is that Father Sergius’ activities are not only church-related: in 2001, he renovated an abandoned gym opposite the church under construction, and organized a museum there, which over time grew to 5,000 exhibits, and now has perhaps the largest collection of Russian ethnography in Buryatia:

I entered the church yard, where (despite the ban) I photographed such an authoritative figure - as I was told later, this is not an exhibit, it is on the move and is even registered.

At the church, a dashing-looking man in camouflage came out to meet me, I greeted him, and began to explain who I was and where I was from, but he interrupted me, asking with a grin:
-So what do you want?
-Well... Look at the museum.
-No problem. Only our museum is paid, it costs 100 rubles.
I never asked the name of this man, but he gave me a whole tour - first he took me to the church, where (like in all the Old Believer churches that I saw) there were many very old icons, possibly painted even before the Schism, he told me that Old Believers from other cities and countries, as well as European tourists, often come here. I went to the church twice - after the museum I needed somewhere to warm up. Museum yard:

The carved details appear to have been made specifically for the museum:

The difficulty was that visitors do not come here every day in winter, so the museum is not heated, and as a result, it was also 40 degrees in the room. I almost fell asleep here, and then walked to the minibus in a semi-fainting state - but it was worth it. The museum’s collection is quite worthy of regional centers, dedicated not only to Semeys, but also to the life of Transbaikal old-timers in general, and the man who met me turned out to be an excellent guide.

Only one stand is dedicated to nature - paleontological finds, of which, as is known, Buryatia and Mongolia are extremely rich:

The main hall of the museum looks like this, and note that its layout resembles a church hall - it is no coincidence that the priest created it:

I won’t be able to show everything that they told me about, here are just a few examples. Let's say, merchant scales of the early twentieth century, which still react to a 5-ruble coin, having an accuracy of up to 10 grams:

Genuine leather miners' bag - may have once contained a fortune:

Products, equipment and slag from the Goldobin glass factory, whose house I have already shown. As has already been said more than once, due to the wild remoteness, the Siberian cities provided themselves with everything they needed themselves, and many small factories that did not play any role for the empire as a whole operated here for 200 years without a break.

The stand in the “altar” is dedicated to the actual life of the Semeis - characteristic clothing and decorative and applied arts, primarily wood painting. Painted “self-spinning” spinning wheels were once in every home here. And the rather unusual costume absorbed the features of all those places that the Semeysky ancestors passed through: Pre-Petrine Rus', the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Transbaikal steppes at the gates of the Celestial Empire:

For example, the dress is made from Chinese silk from the 18th century:

Here are home icons of families of different incomes:

And separately - a “folding”, a marching iconostasis. In this land of vast spaces and remote villages, this is an irreplaceable thing; the average family priest was also a traveler, spending a lot of time on trips to distant villages:

A Cossack saber in the hands of the man who opened the museum to me:

In general, it is better not to go here without an accompanying person - the purpose of many things is not clear without explanation, there are signs not everywhere, and many things simply cannot be seen otherwise. Let’s say, against the backdrop of samovars (the one on the far left is from the 1820s), they show me two almost identical things. This is the mold used to bake heraldic gingerbread for the arrival of Tsarevich Nicholas in Verkhneudinsk:

And in this one there are copper crosses under the shirt:

On the second floor there is the interior of a family house, quite worthy of city houses of that era:

In the “red corner” there are again several old icons and books. The narrator shows me a prayer book from the times of Alexei Mikhailovich, but no matter how much I tried to photograph it, all the frames came out blurry:

In general, there is a lot more that could be said about this museum, but it would be a thankless task to talk about the museum in the format of a LiveJournal post. I will say this: Tarbagatai deserves a trip from Ulan-Ude no less than Ivolginsk, and getting there is no more difficult. But Tarbagatai is the “capital” of the Semey country; it is more cosmopolitan and open to the world. As I was told, in more distant villages, old women still wear traditional clothes, and a stranger “will not ask for snow in winter,” since letting a new believer into the house and eating from the same dishes with him is not good...

And there is another stand in the museum with currencies from the most unexpected countries, including the Philippines and Venezuela. It was not by chance that it came here - it was left behind by Old Believers guests, and from this stand one can understand the true scale of Old Believer civilization. Although now all Old Believer denominations unite about three million people (of which two million are in Russia, with 1.5 being “Belokrinitsky”), the “guardians of Pre-Petrine Rus'” have long since dispersed throughout the planet.

This is where I will finish the story about Buryatia. But the last point is ahead - Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky, which I will talk about in three more parts.

EASTERN SIBERIA-2012