Saint Michael Archangel church, Orthodox temple in Dalian, China.
Saint Michael Archangel church no longer stands: it was blown up during the Cultural Revolution, leaving only its foundation, excavated on 9 May 2013 at the Qingyun Street Russian cemetery. The cemetery itself partly survives between two steep hills with stone retaining walls. The first chapel, built in 1902 on the highest plot, was a small Russian-style structure with symmetrical facades.
The building was founded in 1902 at the Russian cemetery and developed over decades into a complete church. State-funded renovations in the 1930s gave it its present form.
The church was blown up during the Cultural Revolution; only its foundation remained, and the cemetery was partly preserved. Since 2009 a Moscow Patriarchate community named after Archangel Michael has existed in Dalian without a church, meeting in the flat of its warden Andrei Bukhteev. Services are held in a lay rite almost every Sunday, and in 2013 a Russian club was founded.
The church no longer stands: only its foundation survives at the Qingyun Street Russian cemetery, unearthed on 9 May 2013 during clearing work. The cemetery itself was restored and reopened on 4 September 2015, funded by the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation. The Orthodox community of Dalian, named after Archangel Michael, has no church building and meets in the elder's private flat, so visitors should not expect a public church interior.
The church was blown up during the Cultural Revolution; only its foundation remained. On 9 May 2013, while volunteers cleared the Qingyunjie Russian cemetery, that foundation was uncovered and dug out, reviving calls to rebuild the whole cemetery complex with the church.
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