The National Museum of Karelia hosted the transfer of unique archaeological finds related to the early history of Christianity in the Karelian land. The event is timed to coincide with the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the baptism of the Karelians, which will be celebrated in 2027.
On May 8, 2026, the Head of the Republic of Karelia, Artur Parfenchikov, and the Director of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Andrey Golovnev, signed a cooperation agreement between the Government of the Republic of Karelia and the MAE RAS. The ceremony was held at the National Museum of Karelia.
Two collections of medieval finds discovered by Stanislav Belsky, Candidate of Historical Sciences, senior researcher at the Department of Archaeology of the Kunstkamera, were transferred to the museum during expeditions in the Northern Ladoga region near the village of Khitola in the Lahdenpoh district.
The first collection belongs to the late Viking age, the 11th century. It includes axes, spearheads, bits, knives, chairs, and bronze brooches. The second collection dates back to the 13th century, the time of the Karelian baptism. Crosses, as well as weapons, jewelry scales and ornaments are of particular value in it. These finds testify not only to the economic and cultural life of the medieval population of the region, but also to the spread of the Christian faith associated with the spiritual and historical influence of Novgorod.
The transfer of collections is of particular importance on the eve of the anniversary date. The 800th anniversary of the Karelian baptism will be an important event not only for the Republic of Karelia, but also for the entire Russian Orthodox Church, as it draws attention to the origins of the Orthodox tradition in the northwestern lands of Russia.
The ceremony was attended by the Secretary of the Bishops' Council of the Karelian Metropolia, Priest Konstantin Pavlyuchenko.
The opening of the Museum of Orthodoxy in Karelia is planned for the anniversary date in Petrozavodsk. His exhibition will be devoted to the history of the Orthodox faith in the Karelian land, from the first evidence of the region's Christianization to modern church life. The transferred archaeological collections will become an important part of the future museum collection and will help to visualize the early period of the spread of Christianity among the Karelian people.