The Bearded Russians in the Balkans
Photograph by Mikhail Evstafiev
If you see a crowd of men with long robes and beards in the middle of the Romanian countryside, you have most likely stumbled upon the Lippovans.
These are ancestors of the Old Believers, who – because of religious persecution, left Russia at the end of the eighteenth century. They migrated to the southwest, settling in the Ukraine, Romania and Northeastern Bulgaria. Their largest colony is in Romania, where they make up 13 per cent of the population in the Danube Delta region.
Out of the 35,000 Lippovans in Romania, nearly 22,000 continue to inhabit Northern Dobrogea. Besides Romanian, the community also speaks an old Russian dialect. Unlike Eastern Orthodox Christians, the Old Believers cross themselves not with three but with two fingers and the men wear long beards.
Out of the 35,000 Lippovans in Romania, nearly 22,000 continue to inhabit Northern Dobrogea. Besides Romanian, the community also speaks an old Russian dialect. Unlike Eastern Orthodox Christians, the Old Believers cross themselves not with three but with two fingers and the men wear long beards.
Epicure
Balkans
Balkan Culinary Wars III: Other People’s Meatballs
Ćevapčići from Leskovac, köfte from İzmir or Bulgarian kebapche? Greek keftedes too, please!
Full Story
Useful Reads
Balkans
Through Another Europe (2009) | Edited by Andrew Hammond
When Henry Blount journeyed through Bosnia in the 1630s, two things struck him: the purity of the water and the great height of the Bosnians, which, he noted, “made me suppose them the offspring of those old Germans noted by Tacitus and Caesar for their huge size.”
Full Story
Music
Romania
A Gang of Romanian Rebels
The Romanian group Taraf de Haïdouks is a mandatory introduction to the Roma culture on the Balkans. Full Story
-
Photogalleries
-
A Perfect Shot
