The holy city of Kyiv and its ancient monastic complex, the Caves Monastery, held a special place in the hearts and minds of Orthodox pilgrims of all ranks in society, from the late eighteenth century until the early twentieth century. This period witnessed an astonishing increase in the number of annual pilgrims, from 50,000 to almost 500,000. Representing the Slavic equivalent of Mount Sinai, Jerusalem, and Mount Athos all rolled into one and exuding an unprecedented concentration of sacred power, Kyiv beckoned pilgrims in search of God's mercy and salvation from all over the Russian Empire. The lecture will illuminate some of the emotions, sights, and sounds that pilgrims experienced, as well as insights into their identities and beliefs. It will also touch on the Russian autocracy's anxieties about pilgrimages, which constituted a highly spontaneous form of religious expression.
With the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Advanced Studies in Paris, Aleksanteri Institute, and Open Society Institute, Distinguished Research Professor Emerita Christine D. Worobec (Northern Illinois University) has published widely on nineteenth-century imperial Russian and Ukrainian peasants, women and gender issues, and religious history. Both her monographs, Peasant Russia (1991) and Possessed (2001), have won the Heldt Prize, and she has received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Association for Slavic Women's Studies. Worobec's current research project examines Orthodox pilgrimages in the Russian Empire since 1700. She is also collaborating with Valerie Kivelson, Kateryna Dysa, Elena Smilianskaia, and Aleksandr Lavrov on a reader of primary sources in English translation on Early Slavic, Ukrainian, and Russian witchcraft, 1100-1861.