The Temple Context: How to save crumbling churches in remote villages
The restoration of rural churches in Russia is hindered by problems with the outflow of rural population, lack of funds for legal and repair work, and problems with communications, such as gas and electricity. This conclusion was reached by the participants of the forum "Keepers of Russia's Temples", held in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. To solve the problem, experts suggested including rural temples in programs of preferential gasification and registering temple buildings according to a simplified scheme. On how the programs to restore churches are being implemented - in the material "Izvestia".
How to restore a rural temple
In Russia, many temples, even recognized as objects of cultural heritage, for a long time remain without reconstruction and restoration, recognized the participants of the Second All-Russian Forum "Keepers of the temples of Russia", which was held in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. The abandoned temples are cleaned of debris, and conservation and anti-rehabilitation work is carried out primarily by volunteers.
In particular, representatives of the project "Common Cause", which restores wooden temples in the Russian North, have conducted about 560 expeditions since 2006. According to the representative of the project, during this period of time volunteers managed to put 187 objects in order. In a number of them, after the work was done, worship services were resumed and communities of believers appeared around them.
But, as the head of the project Archpriest Alexei Yakovlev pointed out in the spring of 2024, before the revolution there were more than 1.3 thousand churches in the Russian North, of which less than 400 have survived to this day. And of these structures, more than 40% are still in a state of disrepair.
- And this means that in the next ten years these temples will turn into ruins," he said.
Daria Ryabukhina, Deputy Director of the Department of Rural Development of the Ministry of Agriculture, listed the main problems of rural churches: dilapidated infrastructure and rural population outflow.
- This coincides with the problems of rural areas in general," she said.
Unfortunately, there is no universal algorithm for working with such monuments, admitted Anna Rozhkova, head of the program on cultural heritage objects of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives.
- It is impossible to hand everyone a manual and say that if you follow it, you will end up with a restored cultural heritage site that will make the entire multinational people of Russia proud," she added. - Each of the more than 200,000 cultural heritage sites in our country is a private story with its own peculiarities.
Vladislav Larkin, head of the movement for the preservation of rural temples in Tatarstan "Where the streams lead", suggested that in order to preserve the temple buildings the scheme of registration of the temple building should be simplified, they should be included in the regional programs of pre-gasification and preferential provision of electricity.
He also considers it necessary to allocate forest areas to church parishes to reduce the cost of conservation work and to develop regional systems of self-assessment (voluntary one-time payments by citizens to address specific issues of local importance), including conservation of rural churches. In particular, such programs work in Tatarstan and Udmurtia. Thus, in Udmurtia, for every 1 ruble collected, the regional authorities add three budgetary rubles, and in Tatarstan - four.
- If we want to set ourselves the task of saving as many churches as possible, we should talk first of all not about restoration work, but about conservation work, - he explained.
Vladislav Larkin, speaking at the forum, said that in 2024 the project "Where the streams lead" spent 14 million rubles for the conservation of deteriorating temples, 36% of these funds were collected through a system of private donations.
- To cover the roofs of the main parts of churches on average requires about 350 thousand rubles and about five trips of a group of specially trained volunteers, who have already participated in similar covering works, - he said.
The key task now is to formulate proposals to improve the current legislation, which would contribute to the preservation of such heritage, said Anna Rozhkova in a conversation with Izvestia.
- We note a constant need to eliminate some redundant requirements and barriers," she added. - In addition, we are looking for bright projects that help us to cope with problems, such as the lack of general knowledge on the process of registration of restoration objects.
What are the challenges in restoring temples
Most of the temples that require immediate reconstruction are located in remote places, Archpriest Vladimir Shaforostov, chairman of the restoration and construction department of the Odintsovo diocese, reminded Izvestia.
- As a rule, these are extinct villages, near which no one lives anymore," the priest explained. - Difficulties of registration of all necessary documents are supplemented by lack of money. Also in remote areas, one priest often serves as rector of several churches, but it is impossible to properly maintain several churches at once.
Often clergymen have to look for benefactors who can help from the time of registration of all the necessary documents to the restoration, he confirmed.
One of the clergymen from the Moscow region complained to Izvestia that the process of restoring rural churches is heavily influenced by the bureaucratic aspect.
- In order to begin restoration of a federal monument of architecture, where I was appointed rector, it was necessary to formalize the property into the ownership of our parish, and this took a lot of time and considerable funds, which we collected from benefactors," he said.
Registration of the land plot under the temple usually takes place through the procedure of registration of a gratuitous use agreement with the administration of a city district or municipality, said Pavel Sedinin, General Director of Geointer LLC, a geodetic company.
- Usually the term of such an agreement is ten years, but there are other cases, for example, when the land is given in ownership or lease, - he added. - The difficulty of registration of documents is their absence; often most temples have nothing except the passport of the Bureau of Technical Inventory (BTI). Registration of real estate objects into ownership usually occurs in accordance with the requirements of the legislation in the presence of a building permit and a document confirming the commissioning of such an object.
Such documents can be obtained from the authorized state authority of the subject of the Russian Federation, and if there are no such documents, you will have to go to court, said the specialist.
The priests and specialists on the registration of churches into ownership also agreed that this is a long process, which can take up to several years, but all the paperwork is necessary to ensure that the churches are eventually restored to a high quality.
