Orthodox churches

The spread of Christianity in Tunkinskaya valley began in the first half of the VII century. In 1679 the first wooden Pokrovskaya church had been built in the Tunkinsky ostrog, in 1820 the stone one was constructed there. In 1827 250 local people of the Buryat nationality adopted Christianity.

The construction of churches had been lasting until the beginning of XX century. During this period the following churches were constructed: Guzhirskaya Nikolaevskaya missionary, Guzhirskaya Troitskaya missionary, Elovskaya Pеtro-Pavlovskaya, Zhiymytskaya Innokentyevskaya missionary, Koymorskaya Blagoveshchenskaya-Parfenievskaya missionary, Kyrenskaya Svyato-Innokentievskaya, Mondinskaya Knyase-Vladimirskaya, Таloevskaya, Тоrskaya in honour of Alexiy Mitropolit Moskovsky, Tunkinskaya Nikolaevskaya, Turanskaya, Khabornutskaya, Shimkinskaya Mikhaylo-Arkhangelskaya missionary.

It resulted to the adoption of Christianity by many representatives of the Buryat population. The whole families adopted Christianity, that promoted mixed marriages in Tunka. Among newly-adopted Christians there were not only ordinary cattlemen, quite often there were representatives of the elite of the Buryat society and Buddhist Lamas. One of them was the former Lama, Nikolay Nilov Dorzhiev, baptized as Archbishop Nil, who was awarded by tsar with an order of St. Anna of 3-rd degree for translation of prayer books into the Buryat language, later he taught the Mongolian language in the Eastern faculty of the St.-Petersburg university.

The churches of Tunkinskaya valley had valuable religious relics. So, Тroitskaya missionary church constructed due to means of philanthropists and baptised Buryats of Torskaya valley had 6 thrones. The church kept relics as the Icon of Saint Virgin which was presented by the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna; the ancient watersainted Gospel without a title page, printed in Kievo-Pechorskaya Lavra in 1658 with an autographic signature of Nil, the archbishop of Irkutsk; a silver baptizing set presented by the heir, the Prince Alexey Aleksandrovich in 1873 during travel across the city of Irkutsk.

The major part of churches were destroyed during struggle against religion or given for other purposes. The process of restoration of churches began in the end of the XX century. Now the working churches are Kyrenskaya Svyato – Innokentievskaya church and Tunkinskaya Pokrovskaya church (orthodox advent was registered in 1995).