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Consecration of the Memorial Cross in Stanitsa Elanskaya

On October 1, 2020, in the stanitsa Elanskaya, Sholokhov District, a ceremony of consecration of the Memorial Cross was held, in which the staff of the Sholokhov museum-reserve took part. 

Elanskaya is an old Cossack stanitsa of the Upper Don, founded in 1699. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was a large trade and cultural center of the Ust-Medveditsk district of the Don Cossack Region. The life of the writer and his family was associated with the stanitsa. The writer's father, Alexander Sholokhov, worked as a salesman for the merchant Simonov of Elanskaya, mother Anastasia Chernikova was married to a Cossack from Elanskaya. During the Civil War, Elanskaya stanitsa became one of the centers of the Vyoshensky uprising, which was described in detail by Mikhail Sholokhov in his novel "And Quiet Flows the Don”. Among the characters of the novel there were stanitsa citizens. 

The Great Patriotic War did not pass by the stanitsa Elanskaya. Here, the Soviet troops, at the cost of their own lives, managed not only to stop the onslaught of the enemy, rushing to Stalingrad, but also to create a bridgehead, which subsequently contributed to the liberation of the region. 

The custom of installing Memorial crosses has had a long history. They have been installed in especially memorable places not far from villages and hamlets, farms and stanitsas. In August 2020, the Memorial Cross was installed in the stanitsa Elanskaya. 

The consecration ceremony was attended by representatives of the clergy, Cossacks, district administration, residents of the Sholokhov district.

Vladimir Antipov