Meeting members of a rare Russian Christian sect
I felt honoured to enter Alexei and Tamara’s home, enabling me to get an insight into a rare Russian religious sect known for usually being very private and secluded.
They live in the village of Fioletovo, in the northern Lori Region of Armenia, a two-hour drive from the capital, Yerevan. The sleepy village is surrounded by the beautiful forests of Dilijan National Park. Their wooden house, built in a traditional Russian style, was simply furnished, with no electricity and cented around a wood-burning stove.
Alexei and Tamara are Molokans, a Russian ethnic minority in Armenia, a Christian sect regarded as being outside the traditional Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholic and Protestant denominations.
Their descendants were exiled from Tsarist Russia to the Caucasus for rejecting some principles of the Orthodox Church, such as refusing to wear a cross or obeying Orthodox mandates on fasting. They are pacifists, and refused to take part in military service also.
They abide literally by the words of the Old Testament: they do not pray in front of a cross because it was made by human hands, or worship saints or icons. They follow centuries-old rules, such as only being allowed to marry other Molokans, and a divorced man or woman is forbidden from marrying again. They do not accept clergy or have churches, but instead have a house where they pray. These houses have no decorations or images.
They do not drink alcohol or smoke, oppose contraception and refuse to eat foods such as pork, shellfish or what they see as unclean foods. They bear some resemblance to the Amish community in the United States.
Around 150 Molokans live in this region, and there are currently around 3,000 Molokans in the country in total, with further communities in countries that now include Georgia, Azerbaijan, Australia, the US, Guadalupe, Mexico, Uruguay and Russia.
Their number in the country has been declining steadily. When Armenia declared independence in 1991 there were around 12,000 Molokans in the country and at least 30 Molokan-only villages. However, when the Soviet Union collapsed, many Molokans emigrated out of Armenia and the Caucasus.
I sat at the dining table with Alexei and my companion, Sonja. Wives are not permitted to also sit at the table, so Tamara stood next to us. Their son, aged about 40 or so, was required to stay outside the house while we were there as he couldn’t sit at the table with Sonja, an unmarried woman.
After a prayer, wooden spoons were dished out and lunch was served: bowls of blood red borsch topped with sour cream, a traditional soup that originated in Ukraine but which is also popular in Russia, Poland and other areas of Eastern Europe. We drank tea made from water from a samovar, the traditional Russian metal container used to heat and boil water.
Alexei was not adhering to the Molokan dress code completely to the letter, which has hardly changed much since the 19th century. Men are normally required to have long beards, wear dark trousers and a white shirt, while women wear headscarves and long dresses or skirts. Yet on this day he was wearing a green shirt and grey trousers.
I was surprised when he then demonstrated a nod to the modern world, putting his old Nokia mobile phone on the table. Fioletovo, being the last remaining Molokan-only village in the country, has the strictest population observing Molokan traditions, along with another nearby village Lermontovo, which also has a sizeable number of Molokan inhabitants.
Many of those living in the capital, Yerevan, and major towns and cities like Dilijan, Vanadzor and Gyumriand and other parts of the country, are a bit more relaxed about following Molokan traditions, and there are also some mixed Armenian-Molokan marriages nowadays. The use of mobile phones and the internet are increasingly common in their community.
And while older generations traditionally worked in factories and in farms, today younger Molokans are increasingly receiving higher education and working in other industries.
Although Molokans seldom allow themselves to be photographed, Alexei and Tamara allowed us to take pictures of them, on the understanding that we did not publish them. I have therefore illustrated this piece with images of Molokans living in Armenia that are allowed to be used publicly.
Luckily, Molokan culture and traditions are now formally being showcased and preserved. In 2023 the first-ever Molokan heritage museum was opened in Fioletovo, with the financial support of the European Union and Germany. The Chaibushka Molokan Heritage Museum’s exhibits include clothes, handicrafts, photographs and interactive components, and is a worthwhile adjunct to a meeting with these people who have such a fascinating culture.