Karelian gold embroidery will become known in Paris
The products from the White Sea company “Zolotaya Nit Pomorya” will be presented in Paris at the exhibition of the Moscow Novodevichy Convent “The Great Russian Northern Route: The Golden Thread of Centuries”.
The exhibition “The Great Russian Northern Route. The Golden Thread of Centuries” will introduce the visitors to the Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center in Paris to an educational, historical, patriotic, and pilgrimage route that passes through twelve regions of Russia, including Karelia. It begins at the Novodevichy Convent and ends at the Solovetsky Monastery. A key point along the route will be the Church of the Nativity of Christ in the village of Vekhruchey in the Sheltozero Vepsian settlement. Last year, a decision was made to restore it and create a courtyard of the Novodevichy Convent in anticipation of the 800th anniversary of the baptism of the Karelians, which will take place in 2027.
The exhibition takes the viewers back to the origins of the Novodevichy Convent spiritual and artistic heritage. Since the 16th century, covers, shrouds, veils, and icons have been created here, distinguished by their refined composition, complex decorative structure, and the highest level of craftsmanship. Following the resumption of monastic life in 1994, a gradual return to ancient crafts began. Contemporary gold-embroidery artisans creatively interpret classical church motifs. The golden thread that the craftswomen of the Novodevichy Stavropegic Convent seem to stretch through time and space becomes the semantic thread of the Great Russian Northern Route.
The ancient Karelian village of Sumsky Posad has long been a renowned center of gold embroidery on the western coast of the White Sea. Today, the company “Zolotaya Nit Pomorya” is actively restoring and preserving this ancient craft, collaborating with master artisans and organizing gold embroidery training programs. The craft workshops have been opened in Petrozavodsk and Belomorsk. Wedding mittens, a scarf, a headdress, and an evening bag, all crafted by the artisans using gold embroidery, will be sent to the exhibition in Paris.
The exhibition will be held in the exhibition halls of the Russian Spiritual and Cultural Orthodox Center in Paris from January 16 to February 28, 2026.
