The agreement was signed by the Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region Alexander Tsybulsky, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Dmitry Vakhrukov, and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Revival of the Traditions of Mercy and Charity “Elizabeth-Sergius Educational Society” (ESPO Foundation) Anna Gromova.
A special feature of the project is the unification across regions of objects associated with the House of Romanov, dedicated to the 300-year history of Imperial Russia.
– It is a great honor to join the “Imperial Route” project, just when Arkhangelsk celebrates its 440th anniversary. The term “first” forever united Arkhangelsk and the personality of Peter I, said the governor of the Arkhangelsk region Alexander Tsybulsky. -Here he founded the first shipyard, fleet, fortress and obtained the first victory over the Swedes. Northern Arkhangelsk played a huge role in the implementation of Peter I’s reformist policies, which changed the entire face of Russia.
“The Arkhangelsk region has become the 31st region to be included in the federal Imperial Route,” said Anna Gromova, director of the ESPO Foundation. “It is very important to link the Arkhangelsk region to the Imperial Route. The route contour, which includes such military defense points as Crimea, Rostov-on-Don, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok, and Khabarovsk, closes here. Peter I attached great strategic importance to Arkhangelsk as an outpost with missionary service.
“Today the Imperial Route has been expanded to include the 31st region of our country,” said Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Dmitry Vakhrukov. – This will contribute to the tourist attractiveness of the region. Now the Arkhangelsk region is a scientific, educational and cultural centre of the Arctic, which, taking into account its rich cultural heritage, is intended to increase the tourist flow.
…A monument to Peter I was erected on the Arkhangelsk embankment. The Emperor is dressed in the officer’s uniform of the Preobrazhensky regiment and with a telescope in his hand. The pedestal was made by the Solovetsky monks from stone quarried in the Onega Bay of the White Sea. The emperor’s three visits to Arkhangelsk, which at that time was the only Russian foreign trade port with access to the world’s oceans, determined the fate of the city.
In 1693, Peter founded a shipyard on the island of Solombala. It was then that he saw the sea for the first time and was captivated by the marine element. For the Tsar’s first visit, the 12-gun admiral’s yacht “Saint Peter” was built in Arkhangelsk, on which the Russian tricolor flag was hoisted for the first time.
After the signing of the agreement, a traveling exhibition “Saint Luke: Doctor, Teacher, Pastor” was opened, dedicated to the ascetic activity and spiritual feat of the surgeon, doctor of medical sciences Valentin Voino-Yasenetsky and at the same time Archbishop Luke . from Simferopol and Crimea. As a doctor, he took monastic vows.
Saint Luke lived and worked in Arkhangelsk from 1931 to 1933, while in exile. Here he created an outstanding scientific work – “Essays on Purulent Surgery”, for which he received the Stalin Prize in 1946.
A memorial plaque dedicated to the saint who treated the sick here was installed in Arkhangelsk polyclinic No. 2 in 2014. As the governor said at the inauguration, when Luka was in exile, he was offered to head the Moscow surgical department, but on the condition that he would renounce the Orthodox faith. He, of course, did not accept this offer and went down in history as one of the most important saints of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The ESPO delegation also learned about objects that could be included in the “Imperial Route”, including the Church of the Three Saints in the village of Kad, which, 105 years after its closure, is being restored by 60 volunteers from the “Common Cause” project.
“It is very important to preserve ancient shrines, they are a guide to the future,” says Archpriest Alexey Yakovlev, head of the “Common Cause.” – Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev said: in order to find the right path to the future, it is necessary to find a foothold in the past. Ancient temples are our heritage, which our predecessors left as a testament. And, despite the fact that there are no residential buildings around this temple, the temple continues to adorn the Russian land.
