St. Matron of Moscow, Plovdiv, Orthodox church building in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
St. Matron of Moscow is a 50-square-metre Orthodox church on San Pietroburgo Boulevard in Plovdiv's Iztochen district, consecrated in 2015. It is the first Orthodox temple in the Balkans dedicated to Matrona of Moscow and is also called the Russian Church. It holds the saint's relics, an icon of the Mother of God painted at her request, and a particle of the relics of Seraphim of Sarov.
The Russian community in Plovdiv formed in two waves: White émigrés after 1918–1921, who used the St. Demetrius church from 1922 to 1945, and mixed marriages after 1945. In 2001 Georgi Gyulemetov built the Sts. Cosmas and Damian chapel near Lauta park; in 2009 it received relics of Matrona of Moscow. The current church was consecrated in 2015, costing 40,000 euros.
The church is also called the Russian Church, a name tied to the Russian community that formed in Plovdiv in two waves: White émigrés after 1918–1921 and mixed marriages after 1945. Around the chapel that preceded it, a parish of about 25 people helped seriously ill lonely people and supported children without parents.
Visitors should wear appropriate clothing when entering, as this is an active place of worship. The best times to visit are between services or during special religious celebrations when the building is open to the public.
The church keeps a relic of St. Seraphim of Sarov, canonised in 1903, alongside the relics of St. Matrona and an icon she asked to have painted, the Mother of God Seeking the Lost. The parish around the earlier chapel began with about 25 people who helped seriously ill people living alone and supported children without parents.
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