Derbent to Erect Synagogue, Mosque and Orthodox Church Next to One Another

Paul Goble

    Staunton, Apr. 6 – In what may be a sign of Moscow’s plans to further reify the position of what it defines as the “traditional” faiths of Russia, an official of the Presidential Administration has announced that the Dagestani city of Derbent will create “a spiritual center” over the next two years in which there will be a synagogue, a mosque and an Orthodox church.

    This 35 hectare area will also include a park, museums, libraries and other unspecified “public spaces,” Vladimir Ostrovenko says (t.me/pravitelstvord/27072, t.me/dagminnac/10753 and nazaccent.ru/content/43789-duhovnyj-centr-s-sinagogoj-mechetyu-i-cerkovyu-postroyat-v-derbente-do-2027-goda/).

    Republic officials say that the idea for creating such a religious center belonged to Dagestani Senator Suleyman Kerimov who will finance construction and has been approved by republic head Sergey Melikov, but the involvement of a PA official at the cornerstone laying ceremony suggests Moscow is involved as well.

    On the one hand, siting churches, synagogues and mosques together is not unprecedented. In many Russian cities, such religious facilities are located close to one another for historical or other reasons. But on the other, this effort may prove a harbinger of efforts to formalize such arrangements.

    That is especially likely because all those at the opening stressed how the three traditional religions would work together and even emphasized that the mosque would serve both Sunni and Shiia faithful, something that may allow the authorities to shutter Islamic shrines that serve only one or the other. Moreover, Moscow is known to be worried about religious activism in Dagestan.

    As a result, what looks like a move to support religious life could in fact be yet another move to bring it under tighter central control, with traditional faiths getting facilities if they cooperate and losing out on such possibilities if they don’t.