Russian Church of Bari (Chiesa Russa di Bari) description and photos - Italy: Bari (Topic)

Russian Church of Bari (Chiesa Russa di Bari) description and photos - Italy: Bari. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Chiesa Russa di Bari.

Photo and description

The Russian Church of Bari, also known as the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, is an Orthodox church located in the city of Bari in the Karrassi region.

The church was built at the beginning of the 20th century to meet the needs of Russian pilgrims, who came to Bari in a continuous stream to venerate the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker, one of the most revered Christian saints. The relics of this saint have been kept in the local Basilica of Saint Nicholas (San Nicola) since the end of the 11th century.

Construction of the temple began in 1913 on behalf of the Imperial Palestinian Society. The architect was appointed Alexei Shchusev, an expert on Old Russian architecture, who created the project of the Russian Church on the model of the ancient Novgorod churches. It is interesting that funds for the construction of the church were collected in Russia. The construction was completed only after the First World War, but since then the flow of pilgrims has not dried up and the church has never been empty. True, it should be said that today the number of Greek pilgrims significantly exceeds the number of Russians.

In 1937, the Bari mayor's office bought the Russian Church, but the services continued. In the 2000s, it was restored, and in 2007, Vladimir Putin visited it with a proposal to transfer the Russian temple to the Russian Orthodox Church. For various reasons, this historic event took place only in 2009. It was attended by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Italian President Giorgio Napoletano. Since then, the Russian Church of Bari has been a part of Russia on Italian soil. Next to the church there is a sculpture of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker by Zurab Tseretelli.

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Topic: Russian Church of Bari (Chiesa Russa di Bari) description and photos - Italy: Bari.