METAMORFÓZY KRESŤANSTVA NA KAUKAZE: OD JEHO ROZŠÍRENIA PO ZAČLENENIE REGIÓNU K RUSKÉMU IMPÉRIU V 19. STOROČÍ

Christianity in the Caucasus – from its expansion in the 3rd – 4th centuries to the integration of the region to the Russian Empire in the 19th century went through peculiar metamorphic changes. It had its own history for each nation of the region. On the one hand, old Transcaucasian cultures (Armenian and Georgian) entirely adopted Christianity and maintained it throughout the centuries. On the other hand, the mountain dweller nations of the Caucasus, lacking their own statehood, have only partially adopted Christianity with the long-term presence of religious syncretism (mix of paganism, Judaism, Christianity and Mohammedanism) and after all, they were mostly Islamized. Beside a number of internal and external influences and factors, the mental conservatism of Caucasian ethnic groups also appears important in these processes.