Church and religious life in the villages of Zolotonosha district, Poltava region in the 19th and early 20th centuries

The purpose of the article: on the basis of archival sources and old prints, to analyze the main features of church-religious relations in the villages of Zolotonsky district, represented by the Orthodox denomination. Scientific novelty consists in the introduction into scientific circulation of hitherto unknown archival sources, generalizing statistical calculations, personification of events and the presence of author’s interpretive constructions. Conclusions. It was established that the ecclesiastical and religious life of the Zolotonsky District in the 19th century began. 20th century was marked by great versatility. At this time, there was an increase in the number of church parishes, as well as significant temple construction. The church in the village remained the leading center of social, spiritual and public life, accompanying almost all significant events of the life of the peasantry, taking care of their moral upbringing and education. The central figure of the church clergy were clergymen who had different levels of wealth and merit before the church and were distinguished by status isolation. Despite the predominance of typical features of church and religious life inherent in the settlements of the Russian Empire, certain regional specificity of this important sphere of social life can be traced in the county, which is confirmed by the convincing facts presented in the article. The proposed exploration is far from exhausting the epistemological potential of this topical and at the same time controversial topic