“She remains forever in the Pomor faith, which she recognizes as the true Christian faith” (Old Believers of Verkhneturinsky Plant and Its Surroundings)

Abstract

The history of the Old Believers’ community of Pomortsy in the mining region of the Urals has not been fully studied. This is due to the lack of a comprehensive set of sources and the relative “secrecy” of this branch of the Old Believers. Even the most important centers of the Ural Pomor community have not been fully identified. The article mainly focuses on the village of Talitsa, which was attached to the Verkhneturinsky plant in the Verkhotursky district of the Perm province and where, in the second half of the 19th century, the majority of its population (out of 400 people) belonged to Pomortsy Old Believers.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Talitsa was one of the most significant centers of the Pomor community in the Urals, which remained completely unknown to the church and civil authorities for a long time. In 1903, for example, only 134 Pomors were counted in the entire Verkhotursky district, while according to our data, there were more than 200 Pomors living in Talitsa alone. The Pomortsy of Talitsa had mentors and spiritual fathers, a chapel, and sketes (male and female), located 8–10 miles away from the village. These sketes were discovered by the authorities in 1854, but the investigation lasted until 1869. Although the sketes themselves were destroyed, almost all of their inhabitants escaped punishment. The document, published as an appendix to this article, describes the final episode of this case, which had lasted for 15 years.

The Talitsky center of the Pomorian agreement in the Urals operated until the 1930s, and ended its existence with the rapid decline of the village, which was finally “abolished” in 1976.