Periodization of the history of the development of museums of the Russian Orthodox Church (1950 - 2020)

The article is a review of the history of Museum work in the Russian Orthodox Church from 1950 to the present. Periodization is proposed, the stages of which are associated with significant changes in the sphere of Church and Museum activities, including organizational and legal, thematic and exposition aspects. For the first time, documents related to the discussion of the possibility of creating the first Church-state Museum are introduced into scientific circulation. The author States that since the first decade of the XXI century, there has been a steady positive dynamics in the development of Museum institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church.