Pilgrimage activities in the territory of the Taurida diocese after the establishment of the Taurida department of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society: based on materials from regional church periodicals (1900-1917)

The subject of this study is the internal and external pilgrimage activities in the territory of the Taurida Diocese from 1900 to 1917. The primary source used is materials from the regional church periodical press – the Tauride diocesan statements for 1900–1905, 1916 and the Taurida Church and Public Herald for 1906–1917. Special attention is given to identifying and localizing the main sites of Christian pilgrimage on the Crimean Peninsula and the adjacent Northern Taurida, as well as mentioning the logistical schemes of external pilgrimage from the Taurida Governorate beyond the Russian Empire – to the Holy Land and Mount Athos. The study highlights the peculiarities of altar holidays in Crimean monasteries (with references to their dates, the author uses both the new and old calendar styles; in all other cases, the old style is used for dating the events described in the article), religious processions, and mass pilgrimages. The main method of research is a systematic approach that reveals the features of internal pilgrimage in the Taurida Governorate and external pilgrimage beyond its borders. To compare the two levels of pilgrimage activity, a comparative method is employed, which allows for assessments of their independence and interconnection. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the author describes internal pilgrimage routes for the first time and provides a historical overview of the main centers of internal pilgrimage in the Taurida Governorate at the beginning of the 20th century. Like in the previous period, these were formed based on the monasteries of the Crimean Peninsula and Northern Taurida. Among all the monasteries, only the Inkerman St. Clement Monastery lacked a hotel for accommodating pilgrims due to extreme poverty. The main conclusion of the research is that the activity of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and the Taurida department of the Society, opened on April 2/15, 1900, influenced the change in the character of internal pilgrimage activities in the Taurida Diocese. Alongside independent visits to holy sites, a new form of organized pilgrimage among groups of students, sobriety society members, and ordinary Orthodox Christians gained popularity in the region.