| Church of Mary Magdalene | |
|---|---|
 Church of Mary Magdalene | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Orthodox Christian |
| Year consecrated | 1888 |
| Location | |
| Location | Jerusalem |
 | |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | David Grimm |
| Style | Russian Revival architecture |
| Completed | 1888 |
TheChurch of Mary Magdalene (Russian:Церковь Святой Марии Магдалины;Arabic:كنيسة القديسة مريم المجدلية;Hebrew:כנסיית מריה מגדלנה) is anEastern Orthodox Christian church located on theMount of Olives, directly across theKidron Valley and near theGarden of Gethsemane inJerusalem.
The church, dedicated toMary Magdalene, is part of theConvent of St. Mary Magdalene, a sisterhood established in 1936 by an English convert, and since the 1920s has been under the jurisdiction of theRussian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), an independent ecclesiastical entityuntil 2007 and part of theMoscow-basedRussian Orthodox Church since then.[1]
The church was built in 1888 by TsarAlexander III and his brothers to honour their mother,Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia.[1] It was constructed toDavid Grimm's design in the traditionaltented roof style popular in 16th- and 17th-century Russia, and includes seven distinctive,gildedonion domes.
The church is dedicated toMary Magdalene, the disciple ofJesus, the Apostle of the Apostles. According to the sixteenth chapter of theGospel of Mark, Mary Magdalene was the first to seeChrist after his resurrection (Mark 16:9). She is usually considered a crucial and important disciple ofJesus, along withMary of Bethany, whom some believe to have been the same woman.[2]
The relics of two martyred saints,Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia and her fellow nunVarvara Yakovleva,[3] are displayed in the church.
In 1982, the New-York-basedRussian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which was at the time administratively independent of the Moscow-basedRussian Orthodox Church, canonised the new martyrs of the communist revolution and in May the bodies of Elizabeth and Barbara (Varvara) were moved from the crypt, where only private veneration was possible, to the upper church of St. Mary Magdalene. Since 1981, Elizabeth and Barbara are venerated as "new martyrs" by the Orthodox Church in Exile at St. Mary Magdalene, Gethsemane. A statue of Elizabeth is among those of the 20th-century martyrs above the West Door ofWestminster Abbey installed in 1998. In the changed political situation of the 1990s, theMoscow Patriarchate considered recognition of the martyrs of this period including the members of the royal family and her status as a saint was also recognized in April 1992 by the Moscow Patriarchate.[4]
In the 1930s,Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother ofPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, visited the church and asked to be buried near her aunt "Ella", theGrand-Duchess Elizabeth.[1] In 1969, she died atBuckingham Palace.[1] In 1988, her remains were transferred to a crypt below the church.[1]
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31°46′44″N35°14′28″E / 31.77889°N 35.24111°E /31.77889; 35.24111
