In 2017, the Isaacievsky Cathedral will be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church

The Government of St. Petersburg is discussing plans for the transfer of the Isaacievsky Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church.

According to Fontanka.ru with reference to government officials, Governor Georgy Poltavchenko "set the task: to transfer the cathedral by December 2017."

According to the sources of the publication, "the task is absolutely unsolvable due to paperwork, most likely, the real term is 2019."

The information that the issue of transferring the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church is considered, was confirmed by the Committee of Property Relations of St. Petersburg, noting that no final decisions have yet been made.

In July 2015, the Petersburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church appealed to the Committee of Property Relations with a request to transfer the St. Isaac's Cathedral from city property to the ROC.

The Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky spoke out against this idea. In September 2015, the St. Petersburg government decided to preserve the Cathedral building in the Operational Administration of St. Petersburg GBUK "State Museum-Monument" of Isaac's Cathedral. "

According to the vice-governor Vladimir Kirillov, the discussion of the program of the Isaac's Cathedral resumed in August 2016. “Even the Patriarch turned to President Vladimir Putin to be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church,” he said. When asked why the government changed its decision, Kirillov replied: “There is a law, and we must fulfill it, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church had the right, for example, to go to court.”

The Cathedral of St. Isaac Dalmatian was built in 1819-1858, in 1948 it became a museum. In 1990, the first church service was held in the cathedral, now they are held regularly on holidays and Sundays.

Now the Isaacievsky Cathedral is owned by the city and is part of the State Museum-Museum along with the Savior-on-blood and Sampsonievsky cathedrals. Earlier, the complex also included the Smolny Cathedral, which served as a concert and exhibition site. At the end of 2015, he was transferred to the Petersburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The contract of the director of the Isaac Cathedral Museum Nikolai Burov, who repeatedly opposed the transfer of the St. Isaac's Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church, expires in June 2017.