About the Tazovskaya St. Nikolas Church

The study summarizes the data available on the history of the Tazovskaya St. Nicholas Church and introduces information from a new, previously unknown, source into scientific circulation. The author states that the Tazovskaya Church was built in 1719 and stood on the banks of the Taz River for more than two centuries, until the late 1920s. Throughout this time, the clergy of the church performed missionary work, baptizing foreigners, teaching them about the truths of Christian doctrine, and keeping them in the bosom of the church. The complete conversion to the Orthodox faith of the Taz Ostyaks and Yuracs assigned to the church occurred back in the 18th century, but this victory was merely nominal, as the “new converts” did not truly changed their faith and remained pagans. The clergymen of the church, despite receiving a government salary and payment from parishioners for fulfilling spiritual needs, lived a life of half-starvation and were forced to find additional funds through hunting, fishing, and reindeer herding. Some priests acquired material wealth by extorting money from parishioners, while others, on the contrary, were ascetics, mastering the Ostyak language, as well as preaching and conducting church services in it. Many priests married Ostyak women, and some of their children, having grown up, moved to live in a different environment. The long residence of the Tazov clergy alongside the Ostyaks left a mutual mark on both the indigenous and local Russian cultures.