Experience in preserving monastic identity in the cloisters of the Podmoskovye in the context of the Soviet regime's museum policy (1917-1930)

The article examines the experience of museumification of monastic property in the Soviet regime in the aftermath of the 1917 revolution. The authors introduce new archival data into historical scholarship. Conclusion is made that, on the one hand, the museumification of the Podmoskovye monasteries in the post-revolutionary period contributed to the preservation of many cultural values, national wealth, traditional monastic household culture and its features in different monasteries. On the other hand, the ideologization of the state policy led to the ousting of the church element from monastery museums, as well as to inexpedient use of monastic cultural monuments. The placement of state and public institutions within monasterial walls and their reorientation towards the domestic and housing needs of the working population of the Moscow Governorate caused a delay in the processes of museumification and the mass destruction of monastic ensembles. At the current stage, it is also noted that the quality of the museumification of monastic property has influenced, and continues to influence, the laboriousness intensity of restoration work on monastic complexes.