Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas

Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas

The extraordinary ecumenical link between the Christian church and the Orthodox Church is demonstrated in a tangible way by the Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas, in the Carrassi district. It is characterized by original geometries and an extraordinary green dome.

The Russian Church was built to accommodate the many pilgrims who came to Bari to venerate the relics of St. Nicholas.

The construction was commissioned to Aleksej Viktorovic Ščusev, in 1911, by the Imperial Orthodox Society of Palestine.

The foundation stone for the construction of the church was laid on May 22, 1913. The date is not accidental, in fact it corresponds in the calendar in use in Russia to May 9, that is, the anniversary of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra to Bari.

In 1911 Tsar Nicholas II approved the architect’s project and donated 10,000 rubles for the construction of the complex.

The Bolshevik revolution of October 1917 in Russia did not allow the completion of the upper part: in fact, the Church was not frescoed at the time. The Soviet regime, atheist, did not pay any attention to the aspects of religion.

The Russian Church of Bari managed to survive thanks to the donations of the Russians who had fled to the West to escape the communist regime.

From 1937 the Russian Church passed into the hands of the Municipality of Bari.

In 2009, on the occasion of the meeting between the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano and the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, the keys of the Church were officially entrusted to the Patriarchate of Moscow.