Details

Subject(s)

• Atheism—Soviet Union [Browse]
• Church buildings—Soviet Union [Browse]
• Historic buildings—Conservation and restoration—Soviet Union [Browse]

Summary note

In Russia, legislation on the separation of church and state in early 1918 marginalized religious faith and raised pressing questions about what was to be done with church buildings. While associated with suspect beliefs, they were also regarded as structures with potential practical uses, and some were considered works of art. This engaging study draws on religious anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and history to explore the fate of these "socialist churches," showing how attitudes and practices related to them were shaped both by laws on the preservation of monuments and anti-religious measures. 0Based on abundant archival documentation, Catriona Kelly's powerful narrative portrays the human tragedies and compromises, but also the remarkable achievements, of those who fought to preserve these important buildings over the course of seven decades of state atheism. Socialist Churches will appeal to specialists, students, and general readers interested in church history, the history of architecture, and Russian art, history, and cultural studies.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-400) and index.

Contents

• "October has caught up with the church": the separation of church and state, 1918-1923
• Monuments to the golden age: the canons of preservation, 1924-1928
• Churches in the Socialist city: crash industrialization, rational Atheism, and city planning, 1929-1940
• The great patriotic church?: wartime destruction, postwar reconstruction, 1941-1953
• The scientific assault on God: church-monuments in the Khrushchev era, 1953-1964
• Cynosures of the city: church buildings as national heritage, 1965-1988.

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ISBN

• 9780875807430 ((cloth ; : alk. paper))
• 0875807437 ((cloth ; : alk. paper))

LCCN

2016011327

OCLC

951158221

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