From Tzar to Chief: reconstruction of history of the orthodox community of the church of Theotokos of Kazan in the village of Aleksashkino based on archival documents

The paper offers a reconstruction of the history of the Russian Orthodox parish formed around the church of Our Lady of Kazan in the village of Aleksashkino, Saratov region (formerly Samara province) in the 19th-20th century. The reconstruction is based on the previously unstudied documents from the state archives of Samara and Saratov regions, archives of the Federal Security Service (Saratov region), and “Samara Diocesan Gazette” materials, as well as interviews with village elders.The study aims to recreate the life of the typical Russian Orthodox parish in the Volga region and examine the evolution of the social institutions connected with the church. The parish history appears in a context of interrelations with the secular government that took a dramatic turn in the Soviet period. The evolvement of the village’s educational institutions receives special attention. Another essential part of the proposed reconstruction is tracing the personalities who stood behind the parish activities – priests, churchwardens, and village teachers. Their names and details of their lives are an inseparable part of the suggested reconstruction. The paper offers a periodization of the parish history that includes five stages, starting from the preaching house and finishing with the 1951 fire. Each period is considered within a separate paper section, while the conclusion summarizes the data on the modern village church. References accompanying the data offer vast opportunities for the further investigation of the Orthodox parishes in the Volga region.