Topic: Alexander III
The Church of Christ's Resurrection is located on the outskirts of Yalta in the Crimea. It is situated on a 400-metre cliff overlooking the Black Sea.
The church overlooking the village of Foros was commissioned by, Alexander Kuznetsov, a local landowner and tea trader from Moscow to commemorate the survival of Emperor Alexander III and his family in the Borki train disaster on October 29 [O.S. October 17] 1888. The church was built by the Russian architect, Nikolai Chagin.
The church was consecrated on 4 October, 1892 in the name of the in a ceremony attended by the Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod, Konstantin Pobedonostsev. The last tsar, Nicholas II, and his wife prayed at the church on the day of the 10th anniversary of the Borki incident.
After the Russian Revolution the church was closed for worshippers, its priest exiled to Siberia and its frescoes painted over. The building was used as a snack bar for tourists until 1969 and stood empty throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church and went through four restoration campaigns.
© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 09 May, 2012