A STEP INTO THE WORLD OF HOLY WRIT

The term "history of religion" is normally associated with the early centuries of Christianity, primitive beliefs and dilapidated Buddhist temples in the jungles of India. In actual fact, it encompasses the whole complex development of man's inner being, his perception of himself and his place in the universe, starting from the Stone Age. There are a great many museums of religious art in the world, but only a handful of museums of the history of religion, and one of them was founded in St. Petersburg in 1932. Over six decades or more the museum has amassed a rich collection of material concerning archaic and traditional beliefs, the religions of the ancient world, the history of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and other Eastern religions. Of particular interest is the section devoted to the anti-religious aspect of life in the former Soviet Union. Last year the museum moved from Kazan Cathedral to a new building on Pochtamtskaya Ulitsa; in January it will open its first permanent displays there, concerning the history of religion in the ancient world and the origin and early days of Christianity. Further sections devoted to Catholicism, Protestantism,Orthodoxy, Buddhism and Islam will be added later. Meanwhile the Museum of the History of Religion puts forward its own somewhat unconventional opinions on our city's culture. The exhibition "Religious St. Petersburg" describes the multi-confessional traditions characteristic of the Northern Palmyra, which has been ethnically very colourful since the moment of its foundation. People of various nationalities arrived on the banks of Neva at the invitation of Peter the Great - Swedes and Italians, Germans and Frenchmen, Tatars and Mongols. They spoke in different languages and represented different cultures and religions, but for all of them Russia became a second homeland.