Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2025 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Europe

St. Petersburg defends transfer of landmark to Orthodox

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 67e9ce0e-
    Image 1 of 3

    Protesters against the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church hold up the Constitution of the Russian Federation in front of the Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. Authorities in Russia's second-largest city defend a controversial decision to give a city landmark cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) (The Associated Press)

  • 67e9ce0e-
    Image 2 of 3

    Protesters against the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church read out the Constitution of the Russian Federation in front of the Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. Authorities in Russia's second-largest city defend a controversial decision to give a city landmark cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) (The Associated Press)

  • 55248d18-
    Image 3 of 3

    An aerial view of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. Authorities in Russia's second-largest city defend a controversial decision to give a city landmark cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) (The Associated Press)

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Authorities in Russia's second-largest city are defending a controversial decision to give a city landmark cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The museum community in St. Petersburg and city residents were rattled by the governor's announcement this week that he was transferring St. Isaac's Cathedral to the church. An online petition against that decision had tens of thousands of signatures by Thursday.

Mikhail Mokretsov, deputy governor of Russia's former imperial capital, told reporters Thursday that the city will make sure that tourists get unfettered access to the site. He said the city will retain its ownership of the cathedral while the church will get operational rights.

St. Isaac's Cathedral has been important museum since Russia's 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Some museum experts are concerned the Orthodox Church will neglect its exhibits.

Related Topics