House-museum in the memory of St. Basil, Bishop of Kineshma

The countdown for the creation of the museum began in 2009, when the first Orthodox festival “Kineshma Church-bells chime” was held in Kineshma, dedicated to the memory of St. Basil of Kineshma. N.M. Redyanova from Pushkino, Moscow Region, whose mother was the spiritual daughter of Bishop Basil (Preobrazhensky), was invited to it. She told about the house on the city outskirts, in the village of Ilino, the mistress of which was the bishop’s spiritual daughter Maria Andreyevna Dmitrieva. After the closure of the Orthodox churches by the atheistic power in this house, Bishop Basil opened a secret church. Antimins (a cloth plate with a sewn in particle of holy relics on which the Liturgy is performed) was kept there, used for the service by the Bishop, consecrated (signed) by the archbishop of Kostroma and Galich Plato (1809-1877), air (woven cover for sacred vessels used in the Divine Liturgy), seal for the prosphoras. Orthodox people gathered there not only from Kineshma, but also from surrounding villages and cities. In the 1990s this old house burned down. But soon it was time to “collect stones.” In April 2011, a charitable foundation for the preservation of the heritage of St. Basil the Bishop of Kineshma was created. The foundation decided to recreate the burnt one-story wooden house of M.A. Dmitrieva and create in it a house in memory of Bishop Basil of Kineshma. At the expense of the Kineshma businessman and philanthropist Igor Yuryevich Golubev, a complete restoration of the building was carried out. A wooden hipped church was erected nearby.

An important role in the creation of the museum was played by the old-timer of these places, Lydia Pavlovna Murekhina. As a very young girl, she talked with Bishop Basil. During the 20 years preceding the creation of the museum, she guarded this holy place, and paid rent for the piece of land. She saved some of Bishop Basil’s possessions and transferred all the preserved relics to the museum, thereby realizing the spiritual covenant of the Bishop: “… each of us is obliged to work to build the Kingdom of God in that place and in that ministry where he was set by God. Participation in this common work is mandatory for everyone, but it is not necessary that this participation be shown without fail in the form of apostolic ministry. Do what you can, where you can and how you can. But do it only with love. “

The museum conducts research and spiritual and educational work. The formation of an exposition devoted to the life path and spiritual deed of Bishop Basil continues. The pilgrimage route “Kineshma is the birthplace of St. Basil” was developed.