English ver.

Welcome to the Kolkja Museum of Russian Old Believers!

    It is characteristic of the community of the Russian Old Believers to live in villages kilometers long where houses of peculiar architecture are situated in a single line along a village street. Every house has an icon inside and a spade in the yard. Lake Peipus provides the villagers with fish and the garden bed a yield of onion and vegetables. The vegetable beds are dug by hand, they a straight and deep and the drying onion heaps in autumn are quite a sight. The traditional food of the Russian Old Believers can be enjoyed at the fish-and-onions restaurant at Kolkja. There are 40 places at the restaurant and the building also houses a bigger room for various bigger occasions.

    Visiting Kolkja, Varnja, and Kasepaa villages near Lake Peipus, the fifth biggest lake in Europe, one gets a good opportunity to pay a visit to a unique museum, the Museum of Russian Old Believers. At the museum, which was opened in 1998 in the premises of the Kolkja primary School, one can see a typical room of the Old Believers with its beds, table, chest of drawers, and a mirror. In this room an important place has been separated to God. The museum also exhibits all sorts of clothes traditional to the Old Believers in everyday life as well as on festive occasions; Old Slavic books, books of songs for performing in choir, crucifixes for men and women to be worn around the neck; coins and brooches found in the vicinity; tools and photos of ancestors.

Villages of Russian Old Believers at Lake Peipus - a Unique Opportunity to Experience Different Cultures.

    Russian Old Believers have remained true to their religious beliefs since the 10th century. At the beginning of the 18th century the Old Believers emigrated from Russia to the western coast of Lake Peipus where they rented themselves land and fishing gear. They built brick houses of which stand intact till today. Today there are 11 congregations of Old Believers in Estonia and about 15, 000 Estonian inhabitants who have remained true to their religion. The principal differences from the Russian Orthodoxy are the order of making the sign of the cross and the procedure of christening. The service is held in Old Slavic and the religious texts are also in Old Slavic. To preserve the traditions the children at the Kolkja School have lessons of religious tuition and they are also taught the Old Slavic language.

The chapels of Kolkja, Varnja, and Kasepaa were built in 1740 - 1790. At present there are 4 actively functioning chapels in the villages.

The chapel of the pomors at Great Kolkja was finished in 1880. The author of the iconostasis of the chapel at Little Kolkja is the celebrated Gavriil Frolov with his pupils.
The kasepaa chapel was built at the beginning of the 20th century and the icons were been donated by the members of the congregation.
The iconostasis of the Varnja chapel has been made by the icon painters of Riga.
The old Believers retain a close contact with their dead. On Sundays and during holidays the church is visited and also services held at the cemetery.

1.Chapel in Kolkja 2. Chapel in Varnja 3. Chapel in Kasepaa

The most important holidays of the Old Believers are

the Christmas (January, 7)
New Year's Eve (January, 14)
Chresenye (January, 19)
Maslenitsa (February/March)
Pasha (April/May)
Troitsa (May/June)
Ivanov's Day (July)
Peter's Day (July, 12)
llya's Day (August,2)
Uspenye (August, 28)
Pokrov (September, 21).