Visits by Foreign Delegations and Tourists to Churches of Rostov Oblast in 1950s–1960s
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2026-15-6-531-548
Abstract
This article examines the history of visits by foreign delegations and tourists to churches in Rostov Oblast between 1954 and the late 1960s within the context of state-church relations during the “Khrushchev Thaw.” The study aims to demonstrate that these events became a characteristic phenomenon of the era's new paradigm of state-religious policy. This framework was defined by a distinct duality: while public demonstrations of religious freedom were staged for Western audiences, internal pressure on the believing population simultaneously intensified. The research is conducted based on unpublished archival materials from the office records of the Plenipotentiary for the Council for Russian Orthodox Church Affairs for Rostov Oblast, publications in regional periodicals of the 1950s, as well as through the synthesis and systematization of findings presented in recent monographs and scholarly articles. As the analysis reveals, such excursions into the USSR by foreign groups became feasible only due to the Soviet leadership's tactical retreat from aggressive Cold War confrontation policies. Using the case of Rostov Oblast, the author demonstrates that guided tours of active parishes and direct communication with clergy did not always succeed in persuading foreign delegates of the absence of governmental coercion against the Church. Nevertheless, it is noted that visitors consistently displayed profound reverence toward both the sanctuaries and their ministers. Furthermore, the paper reports that local diocesan hierarchs skillfully exploited the situation surrounding these high-profile international visits to secure official permission for urgent restoration work at the Ascension Cathedral (Voznesensky Sobor) in Novocherkassk.
About the Author
A. V. Shadrina
Don State Technical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Alla V. Shadrina - Doctor of History, Department of Documentation Studies and Language Communication.
Rostov-on-Don
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Review
For citations:
Shadrina A.V. Visits by Foreign Delegations and Tourists to Churches of Rostov Oblast in 1950s–1960s. Nauchnyi dialog. 2026;15(6):531-548. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2026-15-6-531-548
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