St Nicholas Church in Bari Back to Russian Orthodox Church

The church of St Nicholas in Bari, Italy, was given back last week to the Russian Orthodox Church that had built it there a hundred years ago. Russian President Putin visited Italy last week to ask the Bari municipality for the church. He also met the Pope during his visit.CZECH

Bari (I): The church and a hospital of St Nicholas in South Italian town of Bari were built by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1913, from 1937 they were possessed by the municipality. Last Wednesday (14 Mar 2007), during President Putin's visit, the authorities decided to hand the building over to the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate in Moscow.

St Nicholas lived in the 4th century in Asia Minor, he was a bishop in Myra. In 1082, his relics were transferred to Bari and the town became an object of pilgrimages of Russian Orthodox for centuries.