Exhibits

Carefully curated to engage and educate visitors of all interests and ages, our indoor and outdoor exhibits use original artifacts, implements, audio/visual galleries and interactive displays to illustrate, demonstrate and celebrate Doukhobor culture and heritage.

Main Dom

The Main Dom (Communal Dwelling) was built in 1971 to commemorate the settlement of the Doukhobors in the Castlegar area in 1908. This first building of the Doukhobor Village was a centennial project honouring British Columbia’s entry into confederation (1871 – 1971). Construction was made possible through support from the governments of Canada and British Columbia, and the people in the local community.

This exhibit features a full kitchen with wood fired bread oven, Peter Lordly Verigin’s clothing from the train explosion that caused his death, models of other Doukhobor dwellings including community building in Verigin, Saskatchewan, and upstairs bedrooms arranged according to various eras in Doukhobor history.

Laura Verigin Textiles

Laura Petrovna Verigin, wife of the late John J Verigin, Honourary Chairman of the Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ, is the custodian of various textiles gifted to generations of the Verigin family over the 20th century. Laura has generously loaned a number of those pieces for display at the Doukhobor Discovery Centre. The display, housed in the Main Dom, was unveiled in August 2015 as a temporary exhibit with an undetermined date for dismantling.

Audio Visual Building

Constructed in traditional style to replicate the exterior feel of the village, the second communal dwelling's bright, two story interior is home to our audio and visual exhibits which include a variety of videos about Doukhobor history and a spectacular photo history timeline.

Textiles Display

Discover the various tools used through the early 1900s to create Doukhobor textiles and view an assortment of textile examples.

Interactive Youth Room

This fun, educational, youth focused exhibit is not just for kids. Visitors of all ages enjoy learning about the Russian language and Douknobor food, family, traditions and more through bright, colourful, hands-on interactive displays. Please DO touch!

Banya & Flower Bed

A tradition that still lives on in Scandinavian countries, the banya (bath house) is where the Doukhobors would do their laundry and bathe in a sauna/steam room like setting.

The adjacent flower bed could have traditionally been a vegetable garden but this one showcases peonies donated from the Canadian Peony Society in the fall of 2015, among other flowers that the Doukhobor women loved.

Blacksmith Shop

More than 100 years old, this authentic blacksmith shop was relocated from the nearby Doukhobor community of Pass Creek to the Doukhobor Discovery Centre.

Leo Tolstoy Statue

A favourite spot for visitor photos, sculptor Yuri Chernov's Leo Tolstoy statue stands tall and centre, overlooking the main courtyard between the Doukhobor Discovery Centre's two communal dwellings.

The statue was presented to the Kootenay Doukhobor Historical Society in Castlegar, BC on July 25-26, 1987 by the Association of Canadians of Russian Descent, compliments of Rodina Society for Cultural Relations, Moscow, former USSR.

Buggies & Wagons

Our collection of buggies and wagons includes a pre-World War One horse drawn buggy reportedly used for transport by Peter Lordly Verigin, a horse drawn Fire Wagon with gas powered water pump, an early 20th century Studebaker Mountain Wagon and a Farm Wagon (circa 1908) used by the Doukhobors to haul hay, firewood, logs to the saw mill, grain to the flour mill, and fruit (with modified rack) to the jam factory. In 2015 the badly deteriorated Mountain Wagon and Farm Wagon were beautifully rebuilt by Marten Springford, a Doukhobor elder with wheelwright experience.

Field Implements

As you approach the Doukhobor Village, Heritage Way is lined with various implements that the Doukhobors used in their fields.