Restoration of St. Sergius Residence, a historical building belonging to Russia and located in the center of Jerusalem, has been completed, RIA Novosti informs.
According to the head of Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society Sergei Stepashin, it is one of the most valuable Russian cultural objects on the Holy land. It was named in honor of the first chairman of Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, Governor General of Moscow, the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov.
One of the most beautiful buildings in the center of Jerusalem, St. Sergius Residence was constructed in 1880ies and registered as property of the Grand Duke. The church could accommodate up to two thousand Russian pilgrims during main religious holidays before Revolution of 1917.
It is a two-storied building made of stone and situated next to the Russian Spiritual Mission and the Holy Trinity Cathedral. After Revolution, property right was lost for a long time and regained by Russia only in the twenty first century.
Sergei Stepashin has assured that now the churchyard will serve the same purposes as it did when it was founded. A pilgrimage center together with museum and storage premises for archives are to be arranged here. The gala opening ceremony is scheduled for July 18. It coincides with Day of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. It should be reminded that Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, called Russian Palestine, celebrates its 170th anniversary this year.
Russkiy Mir
