Orthodoxy in Dagestan

This article could be jokingly entitled, “A Friend Among Strangers, a Stranger Among Friends, or a Tale about How an Orthodox Woman Was Looking for a Church Among Mosques.”

My trip to the capital of the mountains and the heart of the Caucasus has found a special place in my heart, leaving many unforgettable impressions and memories, and even more food for thought. When on my arrival I saw the mountains, I immediately forgot about everything in the world. They captivated me with their magnificence and beauty. I often meditated on how wonderfully the Lord has arranged everything and how He created all this immense beauty.

Sulak Canyon     

But I was even more fascinated by the local people. They are kind, sensitive, always eager to help, well-mannered, and honest. They live by their conscience and centuries-old laws, like Dagestan itself. “But what are these laws?” I thought. These people are devoted to their faith and customs, collected in the Koran—the sacred book of all Muslims. Here the singing of azans and prayers unusual for Christian ears can be heard from every corner. Local women wear hijabs—special clothing that cover their bodies from the eyes of outsiders. And in all this harmony of local traditions and customs a Christian cannot help but ask the question: “Where is Christ here?” One’s eyes involuntarily search for churches, and the heart thirsts for that dear “Kyrie Eleison.” Are there any Christians here? And if so, how do they live?

Statistics show that today about five percent of Dagestan’s residents are Christians, and most of them are Orthodox. Despite the fact that the Muslim population is predominant, the Orthodox community has existed here for several centuries.

Apparently the history of Christianity in Dagestan dates back to ancient times. Christianity in what is now Dagestan began to spread in the first centuries A.D. through preachers from the Byzantine Empire and Georgia. In the fourth century, Christianity became the state religion of Caucasian Albania, which is part of the territory of modern Dagestan. The first preacher here in the first century was Elishe, a disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus whom Jesus Christ sent along with the Apostle Bartholomew to preach in Persia and the Caucasus.

From the seventh century on, Georgian missionaries in Dagestan were actively engaged in the “spiritual enlightenment” of the mountain dwellers. In the eighteenth century, a new stage of development of Orthodoxy began in Dagestan thanks to the settlement of some Russians, Ukrainians, Armenians and Georgians in North Caucasus. The first Orthodox churches appeared simultaneously with the Kizlyar Fortress. At the same time, the Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was founded (1736). Thus, there is a particle of Russian Orthodoxy on this soil!

Locals show a special respect for Christian believers. One day we talked with an elderly mountain dweller, and he said to us: “I respect you if only because you wear crosses around your necks.” There are many stories about how Muslims helped build Orthodox churches in Dagestan, and this cannot go unnoticed. In Derbent, an ancient historic city of Dagestan, the mutual respect of faiths is striking. This city is famous for the friendship between religions. Mosques and churches have coexisted peacefully in it since time immemorial.

In Gunib I first learned about Imam Shamil and his son Jamal al-Din, a young man who went down in the history of the Russian Empire and the Caucasus as “Amanat”, “Russian Muslim”, and “a dzhigit¹ officer of the Russian Army”. He became the symbol of reconciliation between Russia and the Caucasus.

​Imam Shamil and his son Jamal al-Din     

It happened during the Caucasian War when the son of Imam Shamil was handed over to Russia as a hostage (amanat) at the request of the Russian General Pavel Grabbe. At the age of nine, after leaving his home and family, Jamal al-Din was raised by the Imperial court, under the patronage of Tsar Nicholas I.

In Russia he was treated as a person of royal blood, and Emperor Nicholas I treated him like his own son. The boy was allowed to practice Islam and was not baptized as a child, so that when he reached adulthood he could choose his faith on his own. Jamal al-Din grew up, coming to love Russia with all his heart, but he never forgot his roots and traditions. The young man swore to serve the Russian Empire faithfully.

Shortly after that, Jamal al-Din met Elizaveta Petrovna Olenina, the daughter of Pyotr Alexeyevich Olenin, a retired major general and member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. They fell strongly in love with each other. In a letter to his beloved, the Dagestani wrote: “Your God is my God! My soul is yours. We will pray together, rejoice together, and suffer together. My happiness will be a reflection of your love. Your faith is better than mine already because it knows the The Most Holy Virgin Is Our Unfailing HopeHer most pure hands are spread out all over the Christian world with wholesome miracles and signs—obvious and manifest tokens and proofs of Her mercy and intercession, so frequent that we can hardly enumerate them.

“>Most Pure Virgin, the Mother of God, but my faith does not know Her.” Jamal al-Din’s fate can be traced in more detail through historical resources, but these simple words in his letter to his beloved touch your heart the most.

We see that the history of Orthodoxy in Dagestan shows how different cultures could coexist on the same territory, leaving their mark on time, and continue to coexist to this day.

After coming down from the mountains, we headed for the small seaside town of Izberbash. Sunday, or the “little Pascha”—the most important day of the Christian week—was drawing near. Without thinking twice, we tried to find out if there was at least one small church there. And there was one! It was the Church of St. Seraphim of SarovI greet you, dear friends, on the day of St. Seraphim of Sarov, wonderworker of all Russia and luminary of Russian history, the Russian land, and the Russian Church!Allow me to ask you a question: What is the main difference between our contemporaries and the venerable Sarov ascetic?

“>St. Seraphim of Sarov on Buinakskovo Street. It is a rectangular building without a bell tower or dome, as it was originally intended as a prayer house. The fact is that in the 1990s, Orthodox residents of Izberbash appealed to the city administration with a request to give them an unused room in the building of a school of young naturalists. By the efforts of the Orthodox, the room was adapted for worship, and then developed into a church, which began to be headed by Priest Oleg Shalnov.

When we entered this “house”, we immediately felt at home; our dear images looked at us from the icons, candles were burning, and church hymns could be heard. Such a small, but precious “island” of Christ in a foreign land! The service was quiet and peaceful, and we felt very good. Everything was simple and without frills at the church, everything was in its place, everything was clear and familiar: the Cherubic Hymn, the Creed, and the Chalice with the Body and Blood of Christ. “Great and marvelous are Thy works,” truly great! God alone knows why and how everything is arranged in our amazing world.

The Orthodox community remains an important part of Dagestan and preserves its identity and spirituality in the face of the republic’s strict historical principles. Alexander Pushkin’s lines from Eugene Onegin come to mind: “They became close: wave and stone, verse and prose, ice and flame…” How precisely they describe what is happening! That’s how one trip was able to show the strength and kindness of people and the power of the Christian faith.