Dean in the Kola North at the beginning of the XIX century (according to the documents of the Kem spiritual collegium of the National archives of the Republic of Karelia)

Using new documents of the Kem spiritual collegium, the institution of deans in the Kola North with its specific features has been studied for the first time. The large territory of the Kola Peninsula that was part of the Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory dioceses had the only one deanery district due to few parishes at the beginning of the XIX century. The everyday life of a local dean was filled with bureaucratic correspondence with the spiritual collegium. The dean took multi-day trips to inspect parish churches located at a great distance from each other and that was a difficult task for him in the conditions of the Kola North. The duties of the Kola dean, like in the other diocesan districts, were numerous but he could not always adhere to the recommendations prescribed by the ecclesiastical authority in the all-Russian instructions and fulfill its requirements in a timely manner. The absence of any state financial support to the deanery service in the Kola North significantly complicated and limited the activities of the dean. The personal qualities of a priest appointed by the bishop to this responsible position were of great importance and largely determined the effectiveness of the established system of control over local parish communities. The information found in the course of the study is important for understanding the development of parish life in the north-western outskirts of the Russian state in the early XIX century.