Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine in Rome. Panorama of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine (Rome). Virtual tour of the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr (Rome). Attractions, map, photos, videos. At the most significant shrines

The idea of ​​building a Russian Orthodox church in Rome was first expressed at the end of the 19th century. Archimandrite Kliment (Vernikovsky), who from 1897 to 1902 served as rector of the Russian Embassy Church. Archimandrite Clement managed to convince the highest church leadership and secular authorities of the “need to have an Orthodox church that corresponds to the dignity of Orthodoxy and the greatness of the Fatherland” in the city of the Supreme Apostles.

Already in 1898, on the initiative of Archimandrite Clement, fundraising began, which in 1900 was officially supported by Nicholas II, who made a “royal contribution” of 10 thousand rubles. Grand Dukes Sergei Alexandrovich and Mikhail Nikolaevich, Moscow factory owners and Siberian gold miners donated money to the temple.

The first composition of the Construction Committee was formed and headed by Archimandrite Kliment (Vernikovsky) and A.I. Nelidov, Russian Ambassador to Italy. A large number of projects for the future temple were submitted for consideration by the Construction Committee, including those completed by the famous Russian architect V.A. Pokrovsky and the master of Italian origin Moraldi.

In the fall of 1913, Emperor Nicholas II allowed the collection of donations to begin throughout Russia. During the same period, the Construction Committee issued an appeal that began with the words: “The Throne of God is placed in a rented apartment.” After its publication, fundraising accelerated significantly. In the summer of 1914, the State Bank of the Russian Empire opened a special account in the name of the temple under construction in the St. Petersburg office.

In 1915, the new Construction Committee headed by Prince S.S. Abamelek-Lazarev acquired a plot of the Tiber embankment near Ponte Margherita (Lungotevere Arnaldo da Brescia) in the name of the Russian embassy. By 1916, about 265 thousand lire had been collected - these funds could well be enough to carry out the necessary work. But the outbreak of revolutionary events in Russia prevented the implementation of the project.

In the early 1990s, the idea of ​​​​the need to build a Russian Orthodox church in Rome was again expressed. This initiative was blessed.

In 2001, on the territory of the Russian embassy villa Abamelek, which before the revolution belonged to the head of the Construction Committee, Prince S.S. Abamelek-Lazarev, a plot of land was allocated for future construction.

In May of the same year, bells cast at the ZIL plant were installed on the church belfry.

On December 7, 2007, during his visit to Italy, DECR Chairman Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad visited the territory of Villa Abamelek, where he consecrated the Church of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helena, located on the ground floor of the church of St. Catherine.

The desire to worship God and the shrines of parishioners from the Russian diaspora and just ordinary people in an Orthodox church prompted the clergy to build a new Orthodox church. So today in Rome there is the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine of the Moscow Patriarchate.

History of origin

Rome is known as the city of Christian churches. But all 400 churches are related to Catholicism. Back in the nineteenth century, thanks to Archimandrite Clement Vernikovsky, the first step was taken towards the creation of the first Orthodox church in Rome. Clement was the rector of the Russian Orthodox Church from 1897 to 1902. Thanks to the patriotic attitude of the archimandrite, the highest church leadership and the highest ranks of government came to the conclusion that it was necessary to build a temple that would correspond to the dignity of Orthodoxy. It took a lot of time to build an Orthodox church in the capital of Catholicism. Having shown activity and perseverance, already in 1898 Archimandrite Clement managed to begin collecting donations. Two years later, in 1900, church mentor Clement received an approving response to the construction of the temple from the Tsar of the Russian Empire himself. Not only the Russian Tsar responded to help in the construction of the temple. A construction committee was created to create the temple. The first leading officials were Archimandrite Kliment and Nelidov (Russian ambassador to Italy). The committee faced a difficult choice. Many architectural projects were brought to their attention. Among these works one could find a plan by the Russian architect Pokrovsky. And also the works of the Italian master - Moraldi. Fundraising continued until 1916. So in 1913, Tsar Nicholas II officially announced in Russia the collection of funds for donations for the construction of a future Orthodox church. This fact significantly accelerated the process of collecting money. So by 1916, more than two hundred sixty-five thousand rubles were collected. This not a small amount of money could more fully cover all the costs that were associated with construction. But the revolutionary actions that began during this period in Russia stopped construction. And only in 1990, His Holiness Patriarch of All Rus' Alexei II again spoke about the need to build a temple on Italian soil. Ten years later, in 2001, the first stone was laid and consecrated. So from that moment on, the future temple was named in honor of the Great Martyr Catherine. On Easter and Christmas days, services were held near this stone. And only in 2003 the long-awaited construction began. On May 19, 2006, the official consecration of the church took place and since then liturgies have been held every Sunday.

Architecture

The Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine is made in the style familiar to Christians. The church is decorated with a gilded dome with an Orthodox cross. The interior decoration of the temple is quite elegant. The walls and ceiling are painted with paintings depicting the faces of saints. The altar of the temple is crowned with many icons.

Neighborhood

Next to the Church of St. Catherine the Martyr are the superb Piazza del Popolo, St. Peter's Square and the Spanish Steps.

Note to tourists

The Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr is open from Thursday to Sunday. Most often, the church doors open at nine o'clock in the morning, but there are days when the liturgy begins at ten in the morning. The services end at around seven o'clock in the evening. There is a schedule of services on the official website of the temple.

The idea of ​​​​building an Orthodox church in the center of Rome at first seemed completely unrealistic.

In a rented apartment

A Russian Orthodox parish appeared in the Eternal City at the beginning of the 19th century - for the needs of the Russian diplomatic mission. Over time, more and more people from Russia come to Rome and stay here to live. By the end of the century, it becomes clear that the small house church of the embassy is no longer able to accommodate everyone.

“The Throne of God is placed in a rented apartment” - these words began the manifesto of the construction committee, addressed to future patrons of the temple, and in 1913, a collection of money was announced throughout Russia for the construction of a Russian church in Rome.

The construction committee was headed by one of the richest people of his time - Prince Abamelek-Lazarev. But when all the preparatory stages are left behind and the construction itself begins, the prince suddenly dies. This was in the autumn of 1916. Soon a revolution breaks out in Russia, and there is no time to build a temple. Moreover, the house church at the embassy of now Soviet Russia ceases to exist.

The parish becomes part of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Divine services are now held at believers’ homes – sometimes in one apartment, sometimes in another. Finally, in 1931, the community took possession of the Chernyshev Palazzo, the home of the Chernyshev princes, located on Via Palestro in the Castro Pretorio area.

The first floor of the house is being rebuilt as a temple and consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas. True, only the inscription on the facade indicates that there is a church inside the building.

The best of both ways

In 2000, the Orthodox community in Rome, which since the thirties of the last century belonged to the foreign church and then to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, returned under the wing of the Moscow Patriarchate. By this time, the Church of St. Nicholas becomes too crowded for believers. On Sundays it was impossible to enter it - it was so crowded. Rome, like all of Italy, was then flooded with migrants from the former Soviet republics: Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan...

A century later, the Russian Orthodox Church faced the same problem: it needed a more spacious church that could accommodate everyone.

“There were two ways to resolve this issue,” says Bishop Anthony (Sevryuk), rector of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. – The first seemed the most realistic - to take the temple for use from the Catholic Church, the city administration or private owners.

The second way is to build your own temple. At first it seemed completely unreal. The city of Rome is entirely recognized as an architectural monument, and every piece of land is strictly registered. But then something happens that non-believers would call just an accident. But we know that the Lord does not have accidents.

A gift from the archive

Prince Semyon Abamelek-Lazarev, who headed the Construction Committee a century earlier, owned a villa in Rome, not far from the Vatican - a plot of land and several houses. Later, this villa was transferred to the Italian government, which in turn transferred it to the USSR for the needs of the embassy.

Prince Semyon Davydovich Abamelek-Lazaev was passionate about archeology. In 1882, during a trip to Syria, at the excavations in Palmyra, the prince found a marble slab with an inscription in Greek and Aramaic. This find played a big role in the study of the Aramaic language spoken by Jesus Christ.

Today Villa Abamelek serves as the residence of the Russian ambassador. Embassy employees live here with their families, and there is a school. And when working with archival documents, it suddenly turns out that the territory of the villa is much larger than is commonly believed. It extends beyond the fence and covers a vacant lot where a vegetable garden spontaneously arose - local residents set up vegetable beds here. An ideal place to build a temple.

And the legal work began to boil. First of all, it was necessary to obtain permission from local authorities for the construction (albeit on the territory of an embassy, ​​that is, of another state) of a religious building. The authorities, fortunately, are accommodating. The Parliament of the Lazio Metropolitan Region passes the necessary laws.

A piece of homeland

In 2001, on the territory of the Russian embassy, ​​the first stone was laid for the foundation of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. Five years later, the future Patriarch Kirill (then Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad) performs a minor consecration. From this time on, services in the temple became regular. And in 2009, the great consecration of the temple took place, which was conducted by Metropolitan Valentin of Orenburg and Buzuluk.

The parishioners are very glad that their new temple turned out to be so elegant and Russian in all respects - the familiar tented architecture, traditional decor in the form of kokoshniks, golden onion domes... Far from their homeland, they perceive this temple as a piece of Russia.

The unusual structure for Rome also attracts casual people. Out of curiosity, both residents of Rome and the ubiquitous tourists often come here. Bishop Anthony welcomes everyone equally cordially, answers questions and shows the main shrines of the temple.

Recently, a new icon “The Council of Roman Saints” appeared here, which was painted at the Moscow Theological Academy. It is noteworthy that not all the saints depicted on it have signatures. With this technique, icon painters want to say: in the first years of Christianity in Rome there were so many devotees of the faith that we don’t even know their exact number, not to mention their names.

However, the internal work in the temple has not yet been completed. In the summer the tent had not yet been painted. This work is planned to be completed here by the feast day of St. Catherine - December 7.

At the most significant shrines

You can feel the uniqueness of Rome everywhere. It’s as if you find yourself inside a history textbook, the text of the Acts of the Apostles or the Lives of the Saints. This is a special city for any Christian, and it places special demands on interfaith communication.

Bishop Anthony calls the relations that our clergy has developed with representatives of the Roman Catholic Church very good.

– We, as an Orthodox parish, are allowed to perform services at the most significant shrines. Let's say, on the day of remembrance of Cyril and Methodius, we serve in the Basilica of St. Clement, where the relics of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril rest. We serve in the Roman catacombs, in St. Paul's Cathedral, and even in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on special days we celebrate the Liturgy.

Without dividing into strangers and our own

Today there are two Orthodox churches in Rome - St. Nicholas in a residential building on Via Palestro and St. Catherine in Villa Abamelek. But in essence there are three churches - there is also a lower church on the ground floor of the Church of Catherine, consecrated in honor of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen. Every week the Liturgy is celebrated here in Moldavian.

Bishop Anthony does not separate these parishes, believing that the community of the Russian Orthodox Church in Rome is one. It’s just that parishioners can come to one church today, and a week later to another. By the way, some services are performed in the church with the participation of both parishes, and they also go on pilgrimage trips around Italy together.

About 500 people gather for the Liturgy in three churches in Rome. This is on ordinary days. And on fasting days, over 300 people come to the lower church alone for the Moldavian service. There are many parishioners from Ukraine and Serbia - the only Serbian church in Italy is located in the very north of the country. In the Russian church, the Serbian community celebrates its holidays, and on special days it performs services with its priest and choir.

Salvation Island

Among the Roman parishioners there are almost no descendants of white emigration, who can still be found in Orthodox churches in France and Germany. The core of the community are people who came to Italy from the former Soviet republics in the 1990s in the hope of finding decent work here to support their families back home. But these hopes are not always realized. It's hard to find work here. Most often they offer care for elderly or seriously ill people, and this is not easy both mentally and physically. And when these people come to the temple on their day off, they seek understanding and support here. Often this is the only place where they can speak their native language and meet like-minded people.

“It requires special pastoral sensitivity towards these people in order to find the right word, to encourage, to simply pay attention, which they sometimes lack,” says Bishop Anthony. – Since the composition of our parishioners is constant, we can talk about a real close-knit Christian community. We know well what difficulties there are in this or that family, and we think about how to help each other. This is the real pastoral work that every priest dreams of.

Last year, almost 200 people were baptized in St. Catherine’s Church. A quarter of them are adults. One day they came to the temple to find out where they could find work or get help. Now they are all zealous parishioners.

High bar

The strong community of the temple is the merit of the rector himself. It is difficult to remain indifferent after hearing the sermons of Bishop Anthony.

There are two ways to correct a person. The first is to tell a person how bad (sinful) he is. The second is to remind him what heights he can achieve with some effort. Bishop Anthony himself follows the second path, explaining to parishioners what high service they are assigned to as Christians. And how important it is to live up to this calling.

Last year alone, about two hundred people were baptized in St. Catherine’s Church.

The words and deeds of the apostles, all the saints, the rector says in his sermons, are addressed to all of us now standing in the church. The words of Christ “Go and be witnesses to Me” are about the real calling of every Christian. How will we testify about Christ to those around us? First of all - by your own deeds.

...In noisy and chaotic Rome, the new Russian Church of St. Catherine becomes the place where the Eternal City is still perceived as the city of the apostles.

The Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine is a functioning Orthodox shrine of modern times in Rome, subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate. Located on the territory of the residence of the Embassy of the Russian Federation.

The Church of Catherine is interesting by the very fact of its existence - the center of the Russian Orthodox faith in the heart of the papal Catholic diocese. Confessional tensions are softened by the personality of the great martyr herself, because she was revered by Christians in an era when Catholics and Orthodox Christians were united.

During her lifetime, Catherine was a noble resident of Alexandria, received a decent education, and at the beginning of the 4th century. accepted Christ.

Wanting to open the eyes of her contemporary to paganism, Catherine entered the imperial palace and participated in a theological debate with the court sages, as a result of which they all believed in Christ.

Such a daring act led to the girl’s imprisonment and quick execution, but before that, with her passionate speeches and unshakable faith, she converted the emperor’s wife and part of his army to Christianity - all of them were also executed.

Three centuries after these bloody events, Catherine’s followers found her incorrupt remains on Mount Sinai and transferred them to a new temple.

Story The first step was taken at the beginning of the 20th century, when the Russian embassy bought a plot of land on the embankment for the construction of a church, but the revolution turned the entire structure of society upside down and such a factor as religion disappeared for a long time from the life of Soviet people. The Diaspora at that time also could not provide significant assistance.

Dear reader, to find an answer to any question about holidays in Italy, use. I answer all questions in the comments under the relevant articles at least once a day. Your guide in Italy Artur Yakutsevich.

In the 90s of the last century, many immigrants from those countries that constitute the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate arrived in Italy.

The idea of ​​​​creating a symbol of the Russian Orthodox Church in a foreign land gained new strength. The initiative quickly gained support among the clergy and in 2001, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow solemnly blessed the creation of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. Construction of the main part took only 4 years.

In 2006, the temple was consecrated for the first time, and since then regular services have been held there, and a children's parish school operates at the temple.

In May 2009, the world Christian community observed the solemn Great Consecration of the Shrine, a great celebration of faith and unity of the Russian Orthodox people, who dared to take a desperate step and did not stop at any difficulties.

Architecture and interior decoration

The chief architect was Andrei Obolensky, whose team was able to create an ideal harmony between the Orthodox tradition and Roman architectonics. The territory is located on a hill, which predetermined the architectural composition of the temple, starting from the foot of the Janiculum hill (Gianicolo) and ending at its top. In order not to be dissonant with Roman architecture, the main church is built in the form of a tent, and all the walls are lined with travertine, traditional for the original Roman architecture.

In 2012, painting began on the inside of the temple, which represents pictures of the path of the Great Martyr Catherine from birth to ascension. Within the walls of the temple there are a number of Orthodox relics that attract hundreds of parishioners here every day, both on their own initiative and as part of pilgrimage tours of Orthodox Christians from Russia and all over the world.

• To obtain a license to build a temple, had to make changes to some laws in the Lazio region, which previously prohibited any development in this corner of Rome.
• At the height of construction, local architectural authorities limited the height of the church, since no building in Rome could be taller (Basilica di San Pietro). The architect did not abandon his plan and solved the problem by “sinking” the building into the hill.

How to get there?

• Address: Via del Lago Terrione 77
• Bus: No. 64, go to the San Pietro stop.
• : Line A, Ottaviano-San Pietro station.
• Working hours: services are held at 9:00 and 17:00 according to the schedule indicated on the website.
• Official site: www.stcaterina.com

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The Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine is an Orthodox church built in 2009 in Rome. Located on the territory of the Russian embassy complex - Villa Abamelek. At the Church of St. Catherine there is a secretariat of the Administration of Parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in Italy - which coordinates the activities of communities of the Russian Orthodox Church on Italian soil. The parish has the stauropegic status of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The idea of ​​building a Russian Orthodox church in Rome has a long history. At the end of the 19th century, on the initiative of Archimandrite Clement (Vernikovsky), who was then (1897-1902) rector of the Russian Embassy Church in Rome, fundraising began. Donations to the temple included: Nicholas II (10,000 rubles in 1900), grand dukes, factory owners, and gold miners. Since 1913, the collection of donations was announced throughout Russia. The site for the construction of an Orthodox church on the Tiber embankment, near Ponte Margherita, was purchased in the name of the Russian embassy in Rome in 1915 by the construction committee, which was headed by Prince Semyon Semyonovich Abamelek-Lazarev. By 1916, enough funds had been collected for the construction of the temple, amounting to about 265,000 lire. However, revolutionary events in Russia prevented the construction of the temple. The project to build an Orthodox church in Rome was returned to only 80 years later. The decisive contribution to the creation of the Catherine Church was made by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the future patriarch. During the construction of the temple we had to face a number of difficulties. Architect Andrei Nikolaevich Obolensky, who created the project selflessly, at first did not find understanding from the local authorities: “They looked at him in the municipality as if he were abnormal - what an Orthodox church in the capital of Catholicism!” To obtain permission to build on the territory of Villa Abamelek, the residence of the Russian ambassador, it was even necessary to initiate changes in the laws of the Lazio region. There were problems with raising funds for construction, since the temple had to be built with donations from individuals and companies. Construction began on January 14, 2001, when Archbishop Innokenty (Vasiliev) of Korsun, in the presence of Russian Foreign Minister I. S. Ivanov, consecrated the foundation stone on the site of the future church in the name of the Great Martyr Catherine. Active construction of the temple began in April 2005. During the construction process, changes were forced to make to the project, since according to current laws, no building in Rome can be taller than St. Peter's Basilica. According to the original design, it turned out that the domes of the temple under construction were higher than the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral. Therefore, it was necessary to raze the hill on which the temple stands so that the domes of the Orthodox church would not be higher than the domes of the main cathedral in the capital of Catholicism. On March 31, 2006, the consecration of the domes and crosses of the temple under construction took place. In May 2006, bells cast at the ZIL plant were installed on the church belfry. By May 2009, the construction of the temple complex...