The building of the Alexander Nevsky Church, located on the territory of the Moscow Novo-Ekaterininsky Hospital in Moscow, was transferred to the property of the Russian Orthodox Church. This Wednesday, May 3, reported on the website of the Moscow Patriarchate. The report indicates that the building is an identified cultural heritage site. The rector of the church is Archpriest Anatoly Varnavsky. In January, the authorities of St. Petersburg agreed to transfer St. Isaac's Cathedral to the gratuitous use of the ROC for 49 years (the church applied for such a request in 2015, but for the first time it was refused). Governor Georgy Poltavchenko promised to preserve museum functions of the building. The decision caused discontent among some of the townspeople, several protests took place in the city. Deputies of the city assembly proposed to hold a referendum on this issue, but the initiative was rejected. The building, located at Strastnoy Boulevard, house 15/29, was originally the estate of Prince Gagarin. After the death of one of the sons, the owner handed over the premises to the English club, the Moscow analog of the British gentleman's meetings (after a while the club moved to Tverskaya). The house burned down in the fire of 1812 and was rebuilt again. At the end of the 1820s the Catherine's Hospital moved to the hospital (the hospital was named Novo-Ekaterininsky).

The medical institution worked until the mid-2000s, then moved. Now the palace is being restored. According to some reports, after the completion of repairs it is planned to open a wedding palace. The building of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Soviet times was used as a boiler room and a warehouse. As part of the reconstruction, it was restored by archival documents.

Original article: Moscow authorities handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church a temple on the territory of Novo-Ekaterininskaya hospital.