First lady comes to Murmansk Oblast
Russia’s first lady Svetlana Medvedeva is coming to Murmansk Oblast in October to participate in the ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the world’s northernmost monastery.
According to TV21.ru President Dmitry Medvedev’s wife will take part in the ceremony when the Russian Orthodox Church marks the start-up for rebuilding of the Trifon Pechenga monastery.
The old monastery burned down to the ground in December 2008.
Svetlana Medvedeva is known to show interest in the country’s spiritual life and has conducted several pilgrimages, Komsomolskaya Pravda writes.
Since the monk Trifon (Saint Tryphon of Pechenga) spread Orthodoxy to the Russian North in the mid 16th century, Pechenga has been the site for a monastery. The new monastery will be built in Luostari, a neighboring settlement to Pechenga. The reason moving the monastery is a long-lasting disagreement between the eparchy and the military about use of land in the heavily militarized Pechenga settlement.
Luostari is also known for being the air base where the first man in outer space Yury Gagarin served in 1957-1960, after graduating from the Orenburg Pilot’s School.
