Unveiling of the Russian Orthodox Chapel of St. George the Victorious in Malta
09.10.2013 -
On October 9, 2013 in San Anton Presidential Palace in the city of Valetta in Malta there was an unveiling ceremony for the restored Russian Orthodox Chapel of St. George the Victorious attended by Russian and Maltese officials and representatives of the diplomatic corps. The event timed to the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty also included a presentation of the sculptural composition of St. George the Victorious placed in the Chapel. The sculpture by the world-renowned artist, President of the Russian Academy of Arts Zurab Tsereteli was presented as a gift to the people of Malta.
The restoration work in the Russian Orthodox Chapel located in San Anton Presidential Palace has been executed within the Preservation and Rebirth of the Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Russia program of the Russian Academy of Arts.
The history of the Russian Orthodox Chapel is connected with the Imperial Romanov House. The Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of the Russian Emperor Alexander II lived in San Anton Palace in Malta in the middle of the 1860-s and together with her husband Duke of Edinburgh - the second son of the British Queen Victoria in 1876-89. It was she who laid the foundation of the Russian Orthodox Chapel and it was at this Chapel, that her daughter – Princess Victoria-Melita (Melita is one of the English names of Malta), who later became a wife of the Grand Prince Cyril Vladimirovich – cousin of the last Russian Emperor, was baptized in 1876. The Empress-dowager Maria Fyodorovna during her stay in Malta in the April of 1919 prayed at the Chapel for the murdered family of Tsar Nicholas II.
In 1996 on the initiative of the President of Malta und under the auspices of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Malta, Nickolai Mukhin, the People’s Artist of Russia, Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts executed the wall painting for the Chapel’s plafond “Our Lady of the Sign”. In 2012 the acting President of Malta Dr. George Abela continued the restoration efforts of his predecessor and in 2013 Nickolai Mukhin created for the Chapel images of Sts. Evangelists.
The Russian Academy Of Arts
On October 9, 2013 in San Anton Presidential Palace in the city of Valetta in Malta there was an unveiling ceremony for the restored Russian Orthodox Chapel of St. George the Victorious attended by Russian and Maltese officials and representatives of the diplomatic corps. The event timed to the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty also included a presentation of the sculptural composition of St. George the Victorious placed in the Chapel. The sculpture by the world-renowned artist, President of the Russian Academy of Arts Zurab Tsereteli was presented as a gift to the people of Malta. 
