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Volume 7 Number 30 - Tuesday, July 26th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY

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Published by ITAR-TASS/Sedmitza.ru, July 21, 2005

Foundation of Orthodox temple found during excavations on territory of Russian Embassy in Beijing

English Translation by Nina Tkachuk Dimas

BEIJING. The foundation of an Orthodox temple is discovered during the now completed excavations on the territory of Russian embassy in Beijing. This temple - All Holy Martyrs - was erected in 1903-1906 on the site of the previous stone church destroyed during Yihetuan uprising (1899-1901).

Earlier still this was the location of the very first wooden Orthodox temple in the Chinese capital. It was built by Albazinians – Russian cossacks, who served since 1685 in the imperial guard of the Manchurian dynasty of Qing and who established their settlement on Beijing land. Subsequently the territory of the present Russian embassy was occupied by the Russian Orthodox Spiritual Mission, abolished in the mid-50's of the XX century. All previous church buildings were demolished when the embassy complex was built.

An inspection of the foundation All Holy Martyrs temple confirmed information that the remains of the Alapayevsk martyrs held in its socle chamber during the 20s-40s of the preceding century were moved elsewhere. The Alapayevsk martyrs are members of the imperial family, killed during the years of Civil War in Russia in the Ural city of Alapayevsk. Recent research makes it possible to hypothesize that the ashes of the Russian grand dukes - Sergey Mikhaylovich, the brothers of Ioann, Konstantin and Igor Konstantinovich, and also prince Vladimir Paley are to be found in the former Orthodox cemetery near the gates of Andingmen, which a decade and a half ago became Qingnianhu city park.

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