On April 7, 2021, the Feast of the Annunciation of the Most Pure Mother of God, H.I.H. The Heir, Tsesarevich, and Grand Duke George of Russia and his fiancée, Miss Victoria Romanovna Bettarini, attended the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Entry of the Most Pure Mother of God in the Temple at the Saltykov Bridge in Moscow. The couple took Holy Communion and, following a tradition, participated with clergy in the release of doves after the service.

Later that same day, His Imperial Highness and Miss Victoria Romanovna toured the Count S. G. Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry. Accompanying the couple were: Alexander Nikolaevich Zakatov, Director of the Chancellery of the Head of the Imperial House; Sergei Evgenievich Gavrilov, the Grand Duke’s Advisor for International Affairs and Press Secretary; Arutyun Vladimirovich Sarkisyan, the Grand Duke’s Advisor for Communications; and Elena Valerievna Bayakhchyan, President of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for the Support and Development of Education, Creativity, and Culture.

The purpose of the visit was to afford the Grand Duke and his fiancée the opportunity to see the Academy and to help reestablish the historical links between the Imperial House of Russia and this important academic and creative center, which was founded in the nineteenth century. More than 100 items of Western European ceramics and porcelain were donated to the Museum of the Stroganov School, as it was known then, by Emperor Alexander II the Tsar-Liberator. In 1901, in honor of its 75th anniversary, the School was renamed The Imperial Stroganov Central School for Arts and Industry. In that same year, the Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna became its Imperial patron. Now a Royal New Martyr, she is revered as the heavenly patroness of the Academy.

During their visit, the couple met with the Academy’s administration, toured the Museum of Decorative, Applied, and Industrial Arts at the Academy, which includes a number of relics associated with the Imperial Family, and explored the facilities and workshops of the Academy.

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For more information (in Russian), see: https://mghpu.ru/newsblok/vizit-e-i-v-velikogo-knyazya-georgiya-mihajlovicha.