Revival of spirituality

St. Peter and Paul’s church was constructed due to the efforts of many people and the Opening Day became one of the most festive holidays in the history of Sestroretsk. Saint Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill — the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church blessed this church. Many famous citizens, among them there were Alexander Beglov, the representative of the President Administration of the Russian Federation, Svetlana Medvedeva, wife of ex-president of Russia, the representatives of the naval forces of Russia, Saint-Petersburg and local authorities, attended the ceremony on this memorable day.

St. Peter and Paul’s Church is a special place. Long before its construction in 2001 the cornerstone was based in St. Nicholas chapel, next to the upcoming church of St. Peter and Paul’s, as well as the future tradition was marked to commemorate the festive dates in the history of the submarine navy. The chapel and St. Peter and Paul’s church are the only ones in our country, which were built especially to honour and recall all Russian submariners who have tragically died on duty.

In June 2017, the Day of the Holy Trinity was widely celebrated for the third time in Sestroretsk. After the service, a huge wreath was lowered into the lake’s waters. Then a mass religious procession took place to the park “Dubki”, where folk festivals were held.

Nowadays the mourning services are held in the church to commemorate the heroes, as well as the numerous meetings of submariners-veterans are organized here.

The revival of spiritual traditions started at the beginning of 1990s when St. Panteleimon’s church in Tarkhovka was given back to people who truly believed in God. In 2005 the construction of St. Virgin Mary’s church was completed in settlement Alexandrovskaya. One of the initiators of this construction was the Honorary Citizen of Sestroretsk, the member of the first Municipal Council Eugene Litovka. A great contribution was made by the People’s Artist of the USSR an opera singer Irina Bogacheva, ballerina Irina Kolpakova, by a lot of Sestroretsk’s organizations and sanatorium “Sestroretsky Kurort”.