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Russian church commemorates anniversary of Tsar`s death
Moscow, July 17: Religious services were held throughout Russia today to commemorate the killing of Tsar Nicholas II and his family by Bolshevik revolutionaries exactly 85 years ago, media reported.
Moscow, July 17: Religious services were held throughout Russia today to commemorate the killing of Tsar Nicholas II and his family by Bolshevik revolutionaries exactly 85 years ago, media reported.
The focus of the commemoration was on the Urals city Yekaterinburg where a golden-domed church was consecrated on the site of the former Ipatiev house in whose cellars the royal couple including their five children and four servants were executed by a Bolshevik firing squad.
Russian orthodox patriarch Alexy II was due to hold a service at the trinity Sergius monastery outside Moscow late last night.
The ailing patriarch was advised not to travel to Yekaterinburg for the consecration of the new church or today's liturgy following a procession to the forest clearing where the royal family's remains were discovered in the early 1980s.
Nicholas II, whose death followed his abdication in March 1917 and the Bolshevik seizure of power seven months later, was canonised by the Russian orthodox church in 2000.
In a message to the several hundred pilgrims who travelled to Yekaterinburg yesterday, Alexy II said the building of the new church marked "a possible turning point" in Russia's history.
Ceremonies were scheduled also in Saint Petersburg, Tsarskoye Selo and other cities.
The royal family's remains were disinterred in 1991 and reburied in Saint Petersburg in 1998.
Bureau Report
Russian orthodox patriarch Alexy II was due to hold a service at the trinity Sergius monastery outside Moscow late last night.
The ailing patriarch was advised not to travel to Yekaterinburg for the consecration of the new church or today's liturgy following a procession to the forest clearing where the royal family's remains were discovered in the early 1980s.
Nicholas II, whose death followed his abdication in March 1917 and the Bolshevik seizure of power seven months later, was canonised by the Russian orthodox church in 2000.
In a message to the several hundred pilgrims who travelled to Yekaterinburg yesterday, Alexy II said the building of the new church marked "a possible turning point" in Russia's history.
Ceremonies were scheduled also in Saint Petersburg, Tsarskoye Selo and other cities.
The royal family's remains were disinterred in 1991 and reburied in Saint Petersburg in 1998.
Bureau Report