Italy to hand over to Russia compound of Orthodox mission in Bari

22.11.2007, 19.08

MOSCOW, November 22 (Itar-Tass) - Italy will hand over to Russia the compound of the legendary Orthodox mission in southern city of Bari, one of the most popular destinations of the Christian religious world where the relics of St Nicholas are kept.

A document on the handover was signed Thursday in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

The statement on intentions of the two countries’ governments regarding the transfer of ownership rights over the mission’s compound to Russia was signed by Alexei Meshkov, Russia’s ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Italy, and Vittorio Claudio Surdo, the Italian ambassador in Moscow.

Italian authorities said officially March 14 they had an intention to return the compound to Moscow Patriarchate.

The Russian mission that consists of a church dedicated to St Nicholas and an inn for pilgrims was built at the beginning of the 20th century. Its construction was fully financed the Russian Empire.

It is located on the Adriatic coast three kilometers away from the basilica where St Nicholas’s relics are kept since the 11th century.

The initiative to build a center of Russian Orthodox pilgrims in Bari initially came from the Grand Princess Elizabeth, the sister-in-law of Czar Nicholas II. The czar supported her proposal and made a personal donation to the project.

Monies were raised for the pilgrims center twice a year, on the days when the Orthodox congregation venerates St Nicholas, in all the monasteries and churches of the Russian Orthodox Church, as wardens would walk through the crowds of worshipers with special dishes in the hands and the worshipers would put coins and bills there.

The design of the compound was commissioned to Russian architect Shchussev. The lower church was built in 1914. However, the outbreak of World War I interrupted all the works.

Soviet authorities sold the compound to Bari municipality dirt cheap in 1937.

The city returned the church and some of the buildings to the Russian Church in 1998 and 2001, and the upper church was consecrated in 2004 upon completion of construction works.

“The return of the entire compound to the Russian Orthodox Church will bring benefits not only to Russia and the Church but also to the city of Bari itself and will contribute to the progress of Russian-Italian contacts,” Bishop Marc, a deputy chairman of Moscow Patriachate’s department for external relations told Itar-Tass.

“Relations between our countries don’t rely on oil and gas only, they also have a spiritual element and pilgrims /going to Bari/ are the guides of that spiritual relationship,” the Most Reverend Marc said.

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