Christianity in Russia



Originally a church, the Haga Sophia became a mosque. Today it is a museum in Istanbul.
With all the fanfare over the election of a new Pope and in anticipation of Easter and all the festivities leading up to it, I felt it would be appropriate to write about the role Christianity has played in Russian society. Since the 10th century Eastern Orthodox Christianity has been observed as the official state religion of Russia. For those unfamiliar with the Eastern Orthodox faith, it was once a part of Catholicism until mid-way through the 11th century when both split into two separate camps, Roman Catholicism based in Rome and Eastern Orthodox in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) until the fall of Constantinople when the church moved to Moscow. Through the centuries and years there has been chatter about some type of reconciliation or even reunification, but little if any progress has been made.

From the 10th century until the 1917 October Revolution when the Bolsheviks/Communists overthrew the Russian Tsar, The Orthodox Church held a central role in Russian society. Once power was consolidated amongst the Communists, the church suffered through a sixty plus year period where its presence and influence was purged from nearly every aspect of society. Supposedly the Communist government had a state policy of tolerance toward religion, however the anti-religious actions taken by the government contradicted this “tolerance”.

The original Christ The Savior Cathedral
Probably the most tragic example of Soviet intolerance toward religion occurred in 1931 when Josef Stalin and communist officials targeted Moscow’s most famous church, Cathedral of Christ The Savior, for destruction. The church had been built in 1883 by Tsar Alexander I to serve as a monument to the Russian people and the courage shown in the face of Napoleon’s foreign army. What had taken forty-seven years to build was gone in only a matter of a few days, wiped off the Moscow skyline “forever”.

The never built Palace of the Soviets
In its place another “cathedral” would rise, an over the top building called, The Palace of the Soviets. On top of this massive structure would stand a 260-foot tall statue to the father of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Once construction got underway little progress was made due to the boggy nature of the soil and the start of World War II. Eventually after many years of sitting only partially finished the project was permanently abandoned and transformed into the largest outdoor swimming pool.

Lenin's body as seen today.
Soviets tried desperately to replace religion with Communist dogma making leaders such as Vladimir Lenin into gods on earth. Upon his death in 1924 and against his dying wishes, Lenin's body was embalmed so generations of Russians and tourists could pay their respects for years to come. Today one can view his “body”, which lies underneath an airtight glass casket at the bottom of a large marble mausoleum in the heart of Red Square. I write body in quotes since it has been widely speculated the real body was removed years ago and replaced with a wax duplicate. I guess only the elite team of scientists who are Vlad’s caretakers know the truth.

A picture I took of an Orthodox church in the village of Pushkin.
The long freeze on religion started to thaw some in the mid-80s as Soviet officials loosened restrictions on religion and worship. This in turn led to a re-birth of sorts for the Orthodox Church with long closed churches being re-opened as full places of worship. Citizens also started to take more of an interest in the church.

A picture I took of the newly resurrected Christ The Savior Cathedral. 
And, in the early 1990s, there even began talk of re-building the glorious Cathedral of Christ The Savior on the very sight it once stood. After several years of fundraising and construction, the cathedral rose again, serving as a focal point for not only Russian Orthodoxy, but for Moscow as a whole.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the church’s influence has only grown larger. Now on major religious holidays you will find most all of Russia’s leaders joining the masses at the newly resurrected Christ The Savior Cathedral for worship, an action that thirty years ago not only would have ended a politician’s career but possibly their life.

Turkmen pride!!!!!


Presidential Palace Square. About 10:30 AM and totally vacant!
My journey across the Turkmen desert may have come to an end, but my time in Turkmenistan had not. There was still a full day of activity ahead of me and since there were no activities planned until mid-afternoon, I had a few hours of free time.

Leaving the hotel without my guide was a liberating feeling since I had been kept on a tight leash the entire week. First stop on my solo walking tour of Ashgabat was Presidential Palace Square. I had seen the presidential palace from my hotel balcony but had not had a chance to see it up close and personal.  

Presidential palace
Mutcharad, my guide, had told me that I was strictly prohibited from taking pictures of this lavish over the top residence. I hated to go against Mutcharad but since he was not around and there weren’t any police nearby, I decided to splurge on the forbidden fruit and shoot at liberty. The palace was absolutely gorgeous, a gigantic building with a gold domed roof. But, what else would you expect for the “President for life”, little house on the marble square?

I continued my walking tour around the Ashgabat city center shooting at will ……..until a soldier with a semi-automatic rifle jumped out of nowhere and yelled at me to stop shooting! Knowing this was a military state/dictatorship I figured I better not mess around and slowly backed away. At that point I felt it was best to return to the safety of my hotel while I was still ahead or better yet not in custody.

A Turkmen carpet with a portrait of the president
On my way back to The Grand Turkmen Hotel I stopped in at a carpet shop to see about purchasing a Turkmen carpet, a souvenir I was hoping to buy before I left the nation. I quickly decided against it when I found that in order to “export” a Turkmen carpet one needed to obtain a “license”. And, not to mention the prices were absolutely sky high.

I got back to my room with about an hour or so worth of free time left. This gave me the chance to catch up on some tasks I had been putting off. As I packed my bag the phone rang and on the other end was Mutcharad saying he was in the lobby waiting for me.

The Turkmen national coat of arms.
Our first stop of the day would be a Turkmen horse stud farm outside the capital in the foothills. These magnificent horses serve as a national emblem and are a source of great pride in Turkmenistan. One can spot them on just about anything from billboards to artwork to the centerpiece of the national coat of arms.

The star Turkmen horse giving us a show
Once we arrived we were met by a Turkmen horse breeder who gave us a tour of the farm. All the horses were absolutely beautiful and one can easily understand why the nation is so proud of this beautiful animal. The horse that really stuck out to me the most was a horse named Obama. Yes, that's right, he was named after US President Barack Obama. In 2009 the horse was given as a gift to commemorate the new American Embassy Staff in Turkmenistan. After a meet and greet with one of the stud farm’s stars (I guess he used to be a top racing horse) it was time for us to leave and head for the caves!

"Obama" the Turkmen horse




Ashgabat or bust!

The hardcore traveler hitching a ride back to the capital!

Dashogouz Airport
Having decided it would be too long and boring to sit around Dashogouz until our flight departed at 11 PM (Turkmenistan Airlines only flew once a day to Ashgabat), we opted instead to exchange our tickets at the airport and join our driver who was heading south anyways. The drive back to Ashgabat would be about six to seven hours but would get us in earlier, around sunset, as opposed to flying when we would arrive just after midnight. 

Everything was cool until the road started to turn into what felt like the Turkmen version of a crash test dummy course. Although I had my seat belt on I was still being tossed around the car, my body feeling every last pothole, giant boulder and divot in the unpaved road. After about an hour and a half worth of bumping and grinding across the Turkmen desert we FINALLY hit nice soft asphalt and what a relief it was! The next four hours of the drive was mind numbingly boring, miles upon miles upon miles of straight desert roads. Once in a while we would encounter heavy traffic, um I mean camels walking seven abreast across the road but that was about the only highlight.

The long and lonely road home!
Two hours into our road trip “home”, my driver pulled over to fuel up. What’s so interesting about this mundane activity? Not much, except in Turkmenistan gas is free, as in ZERO! Each citizen gets a certain amount of gas credit every month to use. Once they have used up the monthly credit, prices “skyrocket” to a “crushing” $0.14 a liter or approximately $0.56 a gallon. Citizens also receive free heating, water, and electricity. So, who said Turkmenistan is not free? All in a matter of semantics! My guide was always emphasizing this fact to me and just about any other foreigner he spoke with.

As we zipped down the highway I noticed something odd………..there was no sign of any ads! This was quite the contrast to Russia where ads are just about anywhere and everywhere. The only thing resembling any type of ad were random patriotic propaganda billboards scattered along the highway. Most of them featured messages praising Turkmenistan and her people, pictures of the great President, the Turkmen horse (more on that in a later post), the nation’s coat of arms, etc.

Turkmenistan restroom
From time to time we pulled off to stretch our legs, pray (as in my driver) and use the “restroom”, which usually consisted of a bush on the other side of a sand dune. Some five hours later off on the desert horizon I spotted a sign, not a stop sign or a Turkmen propaganda sign, but smoky/hazy skies, a sure sign we must be nearing the capital. Right as the sun was setting we finally arrived in to Ashgabat. My epic journey across the Turkmen desert was over.


Sunset over Ashgabat. Kopet Dag Mountains in background.



Billboard highlighting Turkmenistan's attractions
Our prayer, snack and restroom break









Dark desert passage


Map of my travels
As darkness enveloped the Turkmen desert, temperatures began to plummet forcing us to pack up our stuff and begin our three hour journey north to the border town of Dashagouz. The three-hour drive passed slowly with my driver and guide spending the time by watching Persian/Turkish music videos on the SUV’s LCD screen.

When we arrived I noticed a difference in how people looked, how people spoke and just the overall environment. A lot of the contrast was due to the large Uzbek immigrant community who had come over from neighboring Uzbekistan in search of work and a better living. No matter where you go in the world, there always exists an ethnic group that is characterized as the root of all troubles. In Turkmenistan it’s the Uzbeks. In Russia it’s Tajiks, who are blamed for the high crime rates present in Russia’s big cities. In America many unfairly blame Mexican immigrants for taking jobs and in the Arab Gulf states like Dubai, citizens blame Indian workers brought over to work on huge lavish construction projects.

My guide was not a fan of diversity in Turkmenistan, a point he made crystal clear to me in a five-minute diatribe in both Russian and English. He began by saying Uzbeks are not only lazy, but are very difficult to communicate with since they refuse to learn either Russian or Turkmen, the two most prominent languages of Turkmenistan. He continued by noting there are two characteristics that distinguish an Uzbek driver from a Turkmen. The first characteristic is how an Uzbek driver will suddenly stop in the middle of the road for no apparent reason. The second characteristic is the type of car they drive, which is usually an old Soviet car, likely a Lada or a Volga.
Picture of The Hardcore Traveler in front of the ruins of Konye- Urgench

The next day began early with a visit to the ancient monument of Konye-Urgench, a once thriving metropolis and capital of a vast ancient empire ruled by the 14th century conqueror, Timur. I was quite excited since only a year ago I had been on the other side of the border in Uzbekistan visiting the other ancient cities in Timur’s empire, Samarkand and Bukhara.

Ancient Konye-Urgench miniaret
An ancient mausoleum
Although Konye-Urgench was stunning and had incredible cultural treasures, it just could not match what I’d seen the year before. I was puzzled to why Uzbekistan had fared so much better than Turkmenistan. According to my guide, in Soviet days, pre-1991, Uzbekistan received a disproportionate amount of aid from the Soviet government for restoration, whereas Turkmenistan only received a very small amount. However in a bit of irony it is Turkmenistan who has profited the most since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, mainly due to their abundance of oil and natural gas. Uzbekistan on the other hand is one of the poorest ex-republics.

The Gutlug Timur minaret as seen through a tiled window
After several hours of sightseeing our day had finished. However, we had one big problem, our flight back “home” to Ashgabat did not leave until 11 PM and it was barely a few minutes past 11 AM, thus giving us about 12 hours to kill before we left. Sitting around Dashagouz for 12 hours was not an option! You can only go to the bazaar so many times.
Another Mausoleum. Many Uzbeks come on pilgrimages to visit these sights
More ancient Mausoleums, sight of pilgrimages by Uzbeks