Patriarch Kirill asked the Kremlin to allow the Trinity to be moved to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on June 4, on Trinity

Patriarch Kirill appealed to the administration of the President of Russia with a request to agree on the transfer of Andrei Rublev’s icon “Trinity” to the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior for the celebration of the Trinity (Orthodox celebrate this holiday on June 4). On the eve of the Russian Orthodox Church reportedthat Vladimir Putin decided to return the icon to her.

“Taking into account the special historical and cultural value of this icon, I believe it is right this year to organize its bringing on the feast of the Holy Trinity from the Tretyakov Gallery to the Cathedral Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow with the icon staying in this temple for two weeks in order to provide access to a wide circle of believers. The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation has no objections to bringing the icon of the Holy Trinity to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for a specified period, ”says the patriarch’s appeal sent to the head of the presidential administration, Anton Vaino (quoted from site ROC).

Also, Patriarch Kirill, according to the Russian Orthodox Church, expressed the hope that the process of “returning the shrines” of the church will continue.

According to TASSthe Ministry of Culture of Russia has already expressed its readiness to transfer the “Trinity” to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on June 4, but after that, as noted in the department, “the icon should be sent for restoration to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.”

On July 16, 2022, the Trinity was taken from the Tretyakov Gallery to the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra at the personal request of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’. The icon spent two days in the Lavra. Employees of the Tretyakov Gallery opposed the movement of the icon. Researchers and restorers of the Tretyakov Gallery argued that it was impossible to transport the icon, since only in the conditions of the museum it is possible to provide the necessary conditions for temperature and humidity.

From the Tretyakov Gallery “Trinity” temporarily moved in 2007. Then she was transferred from the building of the Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky lane to the building on the Crimean embankment. After that, significant damage was found on the icon: the lag of the primer and the paint layer, the cracking of the base and the divergence of the boards at the joints. It took two years to restore the relic.

Alexander Kislov