Doukhobors at Veregin

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Doukhobors at Veregin
National Historic Site
Countries Country, Canada
States Province, Saskatchewan
City Veregin
Doukhobors 1904
 - National Historic Site 2006

"Doukhobors at Veregin" is a National Historic Site of Canada located in the village of Veregin, Saskatchewan, and designated so in 2006. The site has also been known as National Doukhobor Heritage Village.[1]

The site includes four historical buildings associated with Veregin's role in its heyday as the administrative and spiritual centre of the Canadian Doukhobors in the early 20th century.

[edit] The buildings

The main building of the site is the prayer house, constructed in 1917 as the spiritual meeting place of the community and personal residence of the leader of the majority of the Doukhobors, Peter Vasilevich Verigin. It is an intricately decorated two-storey building, inspired by the architectural traditions brought by the Doukhobor settlers from Russia. The building is surrounded by a large open space that was used for community outdoor meetings.

The other three building - a machine shed, a grain elevator, and the foundations of a store - reflect the importance of the site as the distribution center in the communal economy of the Doukhobor settlers.

[edit] Events

The headquarters of the orhanization of Community Doukhobors, Peter Verigin's Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood (CCUB), was located in Veregin since the organization's incorporation in 1917 until its move to Brilliant (near Castlegar, British Columbia.[2].

Even though the majority of the Doukhbors moved from Saskatchewan to British Columbia even earlier, the Saskatchewan years loom large in their history. This is why Veregin was chosen by Doukhobor organizations as the site to celebrate the 60th, 75th and 100th anniversaries of their arrival to Canada in 1899.

[edit] Sources

  1. ^ Heritage Village Acquires Doukhobor Elevator (From "Kamsack Times", March 29, 2001
  2. ^ Koozma J. Tarasoff Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers’ Strategies for Living (2002)
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