Cultural and educational work of the Siberian and Far Eastern departments of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society in the late 19th to early 20th centuries

The article examines the main directions of the cultural and educational work of the Siberian and Far Eastern departments of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, which consisted in organizing and conducting readings about the Holy Land and Russian pilgrimages, publishing and distributing literature on Palestinian topics. It is noted that this work reached the largest scale in the early years of the twentieth century, and the leading role in the preparation of readings was played by teachers of theological educational institutions, deaneries and some parish priests, to a lesser extent by teachers of parish schools. In the conduct of the Palestinian readings, two stages are highlighted, the chronological boundary of which is the First Russian Revolution. It is estimated that in some years the number of listeners exceeded 350 thousand, and the number of readings could reach a thousand. Although the circle of institutions where the Palestinian readings were held narrowed by the First World War, this was not evidence of the refusal of the clergy from educational work. The gradual evolution of the subjects of religious and moral readings for the people is traced, in which subjects dedicated to the Holy Land are included as one of the organic elements. It is concluded that the Palestinian readings contributed to the spread of spiritual enlightenment, the growth of Siberians’ pilgrimage to the Holy Land.