​The village of Kolkja sits on Estonia’s border with Russia, with Lake Peipus between the two countries.

 

Once, the Old Believers of Peipus were famous in St. Petersburg for their tasty onions. Since the times and borders have changed and community tries to keep up the tradition in modern ways.

 

Autumn days in the village still revolve around onions and prayer houses. Daily life includes the little things of life – work, tea, and village gossip. Stepping into Kolkja is like having a full teacup from a Samovar with a piece of boiled sugar. 

 

The Old Believers – Starovery, are priestless Orthodox Christians who chose to follow the old rituals rather than accept the reformations in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1650s. They fled to the borders and remote places of the Russian Empire, including Estonia.

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