Russian Jerusalem

Russian Jerusalem is not just crosses and domes. First of all, these are remarkable Russian people who have left a great mark in the history of Russia, in the history of the Holy Land and, of course, the great Russian culture in the works about the Holy Land.

We will begin our journey through Russian Jerusalem from the Ascension Monastery, located near the Ascension Place. On the territory of the monastery there is a stone on which the All-Pure Virgin stood at the time of the Ascension of Jesus to heaven. Here is the Chapel of Finding the Head of John the Forerunner. The chapel was built on the donations of Russian philanthropist Irina Grigorievna Silaeva.

In the central Ascension Church of the monastery, stunningly bright and majestic, there are two unique icons: “The Olive Skoropolodustsa” and “The Recovery of the Dead”. Here, in the Northern limit of the Temple, the grave of Father Antonin Kapustin - a great Russian man, tireless ascetic and talented researcher of the Holy Land, thanks to whose efforts and labors there are Russian churches, monasteries and farmsteads in the Holy Land!

Further, our way will pass to Russian Gethsemane, where in the most beautiful church of Mary Magdalene, along with classical icons, you can see paintings of the greatest Russian artists of the late 19th century - Vereshchagin, Ivanov, Korzukhin, Zhivago ... And in the white-stone crayons to the left and right of the Royal Gates rested the holy relics of the new Martyrs Barbara and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fedorovna Romanova.

Arriving in the Alexandrovskaya compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, we will visit the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, at the Doomsday Gate and honor the memory of Russian (but not Soviet) heroes of the Second World War who gave their lives in the fight against Nazism for the freedom of the Motherland.

Returning to the Jaffa Gate, we will go to the Mountain Monastery, whose sisters pray in the Holy Land for the good of Russia. Here we will visit the Church of All Saints in the Land of the Russian Shining and (if possible) the historical temple of the Kazan Mother of God, built according to the plan of Archimandrite Antonin, as well as the underground Temple of John the Forerunner.