PATRIARCH KIRILL DEDICATES NEW CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYR TATIANA IN KOGALYM
Sunday, September 9, 2018
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia held a service to dedicate the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana in Kogalym, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District – Yugra, today. The construction of the new church was funded by the LUKOIL Charitable Foundation, while the design and survey work was financed as part of a cooperation agreement between LUKOIL and the region's government.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill delivered a primatial address and bestowed a miraculous reliquary with relics of Saint Tatiana upon the newly dedicated temple. The relics had been donated earlier by the Roman Catholic Church in honor of the Russian Orthodox Church.
For assistance in the construction of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana the President of PJSC LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov was awarded the Order of Glory and Honor of the third degree, Vice-President of PJSC LUKOIL, General Director of "LUKOIL-Western Siberia" Sergey Kochkurov and several other employees of the Company were awarded Patriarchal letters.
"With the award of the Order of Glory and Honor of the third degree, Vagit Alekperov becomes a full custodian of this highest order of the Russian Orthodox Church. There are very few such people in our country," - His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said.
"Your Holiness, I am happy to receive such a high award. I am confident that today all the thousands of LUKOIL personnel have been honored to receive this award. A unique temple in Kogalym was built according to your will," - said the President of PJSC" LUKOIL "Vagit Alekperov.
After the service, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia paid a visit to the mission of the Puhtitsa stauropegic Convent of Dormition and viewed a commemorative pillar in honor of the dedication of the convent by the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Russia, Alexis II, in September of 1998.
His Holiness also visited Kogalym's integrated social-security center providing healthcare and rehabilitation services to welfare beneficiaries as part of 29 inhouse-developed programs. In 2017, assistance was provided to 7,275 people.
The Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana is a five-dome temple with a total floor area of 2,000 square meters. The central dome is three meters in diameter. Its highest point is 48 meters above ground, the height of the cross notwithstanding. The ground floor of the church features a prayer hall, an altar and a sacristy. A baptistery with a font and a fratery are in the basement. The church is duly equipped to welcome differently- abled people. All rooms of the church are lit by daylight, except for the basement floor, where both day and lamp lights are used.
The Byzantine-style murals, painted by iconographers from Tomsk, feature special mineral paints which help preserve the breathability of the plaster layer. The life of these mineral paints can be as long as one hundred years. The roof of the church is covered with a unique self-healing copper coating which disguises scratches and damages that might occur in its lifetime. The territory around the church has been landscaped.
Eleven bells on a two-tier belfry, weighing from five to over four thousand kilograms, were tuned by Konstantin Mishurovsky, a bellman of the Moscow Kremlin.
The Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana was designed by architect Andrey Obolensky, the author of over fifty projects in Moscow and across Russia. He also participated in the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
