1836 – fourth day of ninth expedition

We respect the roadsigns and the silence of this place and leave our motorcycles in a parking lot 500 metres before the village. We don’t see any tourists which is hopeful. Upon entering the village, we immediately notice the contrast between the 200 year old historical wooden houses and the fancy cars in the backyards. There are nicely mowed lawns, greenhouses and grill places.

This whole situation looks more like summer housing for the inhabitants of Daugavpils. Our hope to meet the Old Believers is diminishing. We get to the main object in the village- a freshly reconstructed wooden house that is host to Slutišķi Old Believer’s Village Museum. A lady in the museum confirms our fears- there is only one Old Believer left in the village- Arkādijs. After a couple of minutes we find ourselves knocking on Arkādijs’s door. It is opened by a rather modern looking old man. When we ask if he really is the one we are looking for, he smiles and quickly says: ‘I believe in God, I have an icon in my house, and I say prayers.’ He is a fifth generation Old Believer and still remembers his childhood when the spiritual life in the village was still active, when the Pops (the pastor) came every week and the sound of prayers could be heard in every home.

Going back to the information and video material we got from Slutišķi, I conclude that behind the authentic facade there is no real Old Believers spirit anymore. Well structured museums are not really our thing, but Latgale’s Old Believers and their traditions are too much of an interesting topic to let it go. There are some Old Believers communes scattered throughout Latgale so we still hope to meet these people.