Böcker av Stella (The Open University Rock

Orthodox Pilgrimage in Contemporary Russia is a systematic attempt to consider the mixture of piety, politics, and history at work in the revival of post-Soviet Orthodox Christian pilgrimage. Stella Rock contributes to our understanding of this phenomenon by analyzing concepts of authenticity, invented tradition, and sacredness; the relationships between travel and place, heritage, and identity; and the role of institutions in the development of pilgrimage practices.

Dispels the view that paganism survived in Russia alongside Orthodox Christianity, demonstrating that 'double belief', "dvoeverie", is in fact an academic myth. This volume shows how the concept of "dvoeverie" arose with nineteenth-century scholars obsessed with the Russian 'folk' and was perpetuated as a propaganda tool in the Soviet period.