The Russian Church in Athens in the Late 19th — Early 20th Centuries

The community of the Holy Trinity Church in Athens has been the center of Russian church life in Greece for over 150 years. The history of this temple is very rich, and of particular interest is the period of the late 19th — early 20th centuries, when the Holy Trinity Church was the center of the Russian colony in Athens and played a significant role in the development of relations between the Greek Orthodox Church and the Russian Church. A number of well-known church figures served as the rectors of the church during this period — the future bishops Mikhail (Gribanovsky), Arseny (Timofeev), Ioanniky (Efremov), Leonty (von Wimpfen), the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Sergius (Stragorodsky), and others. The article relies on materials from the Russian State Historical Archives, as well as from two church archives in Greece. The relevance of the topic under consideration is evident given the problem of the complex relationship between the Greek and Russian Churches today.