Historical Russian churches in Europe

In San Remo, there are the churches of Christ the Savior, St. Catherine the Great Martyr, and St. Seraphim of Sarov. Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of Alexander II, spent the winter of 1874-1875 on the Italian Riviera and gifted the city palms for a new boulevard named in her honor. Following her, Russian aristocrats, including members of the Romanov family, began to visit San Remo. In 1895, Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich was treated here and died of tuberculosis. His older brother, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, also frequently rested in San Remo and, like the Empress, was one of the initiators of the construction of the Russian church.

The laying of the first stone of the church took place on November 26, 1912, and the consecration occurred in December 1913. The church was built thanks to the initiative of the Orthodox residents of San Remo and the support of a charitable committee that included figures such as V.K. Sabler, V.S. Sheremetev, and others. After the war, the church was restored thanks to the efforts of the city authorities and activists.

In the churchyard, there are monuments to King of Italy Victor Emmanuel III and his wife Queen Elena, who was an Orthodox Princess before her marriage. Queen Elena's parents were buried in the church crypt, but in 1989, their remains were transferred to Montenegro.

The consecration of the church, which was not yet fully completed, was conducted on December 23, 1913, by Bishop Vladimir (Putyata). After 1917, the church was left without a permanent priest, and it was served by clergymen from Florence and neighboring cities in France.

During World War II, a bomb hit the church, but fortunately, it did not explode. Since 1931, the parish belonged to the Archdiocese of Russian Churches in Western Europe, but after its dissolution in 2018, on January 23, 2019, the parish transitioned to the Western European Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. The current rector of the church is Priest Dionysius Baikov.