Village

The name of this village is completely unimportant. There are hundreds of villages like this all over Russia. Once a rich merchant village. Two big churches. Then the revolution, some people fled, some were kulaks. One of the churches was torn down for bricks. The second one was miraculously not only preserved, but even had a priest. They built a big collective farm, roads, fields, cowsheds, stables, people came. Kindergartens were built. Then the war… The old merchant’s house was given to a colony of women, a free settlement. After a while it was dissolved. And then there seemed to be a thaw. But no. The local authorities remembered the church. They didn’t succeed in destroying it, but the domes were pulled down. The priest died. The priest’s son and many younger people left for the city. And closer to the 90s, the collective farms collapsed. People were left without work. People started to leave en masse. There are more old houses in ruins than dwellings. The village changed its status to a town. A dying village. It seems to be the end. But people continue to live, someone has sheep, someone has calves, someone has bought land and is building a new house. And they say that someone passed by, saw the remains of the temple with the frescoes inside, and wants to donate money to restore it. All that’s left is to find a priest.