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City monuments appeared in provincial Russia only in the first part of the nineteenth century. Their construction was both initiated and financed by the nobility. As a result each statue reflected the ideas, ideals and values of this social group. The city-dwellers were mostly proud of the monuments devoted to famous artists and scientists originating from the city, and described the memorials pathetically. Half of the century passed and the situation changed dramatically. The attitude to the monuments changed rad...

For centuries Orthodox churches in Russian regions kept not only sacred relics but also secular objects that were presumed to preserve and highlight the memory of important State and regional events. Being situated in churches' interiors, memorial objects inevitably obtained sacral meaning. Consequently, when interacting with these things one had to contemplate, honour and worship them. As time went by, the composition of objects placed in churches changed noticeably. The scheme of changes was as follows: from sac...