On November 15-17, His Imperial Highness attended a series of work-related meetings in Moscow, and received reports from the Director of the Chancellery of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia. Later, the Grand Duke departed for the Ryazan Region.
On November 18, in the afternoon, Grand Duke George of Russia was invited by V. V. Zyuba, the Head of the Administration of the Rybnovsky District of the Ryazan Region, to tour the cattle-breeding farm at the agricultural complex “Rus’,” then attended the consecration of the new chapel dedicated to the memory of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers in the village of Zhitovo.
The chapel was built on the site of the former St. Nicholas Cathedral (see: https://drevo-info.ru/articles/21170.html), which stood on this location until the 1940s. In 2017, the General Director of the agricultural complex “Rus’,” G. N. Yalovenko, with the blessing of Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailovsk, took the decision to build a new chapel on this site. On November 14 of last year, the cornerstone was laid by the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, who was on an official visit to the Ryazan Region. Her Imperial Highness presented at that time an icon of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers as a gift to the future chapel.
A year later, on the feast day of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the chapel was consecrated in services officiated by the abbot of the nearby St. John the Evangelist-Poshchupovsky Monastery, Hieromonk Isaakii (Ivanov).
After this solemn service, the Tsesarevich George greeted the parishioners, offering his congratulations to all the residents of the village of Zhitovo on the construction and consecration of yet another holy place in the lands of Ryazan. He also thanked the benefactors and all who labored in the construction of the chapel. He then presented an Altar Gospel to the new chapel.
Then Grand Duke George of Russia went to the village of Konstantinovo, where he attended a luncheon in his honour hosted by officials of the Rybnovskii District.
That same day, the Tsesarevich met with I. V. Gorshkov, the Director of the Archbishop Feodorit of Ryazan Historical Library in Ryazan (see: http://rzn400.ru/). The Director described the range of activities being undertaken by the Library, which enjoys the patronage of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia.
On November 19, 2018, on the final day of his visit, His Imperial Highness met over dinner with the Governor of the Ryazan Region, N. V. Lyubimov. The Governor thanked Tsesarevich George for his on-going interest in the Ryazan Region and awarded him the medal “240 Years of the Ryazan Province.”
On behalf of his mother, the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, Grand Duke George awarded N. V. Lyubimov the Imperial Order of St. Anna II Class and the Imperial Medal “In Commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of the House of Romanoff.”
Others attending the meeting and dinner were K. K. Nemirovich-Danchenko, a member of the Chancellery of the Head of the Imperial House, and I. V. Gorshkov, the Director of the Historical Library in Ryazan. During the meeting, the group discussed the many social and cultural events organized in Ryazan to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of the Ryazan Province and the 100th anniversary of the tragic events of 1917. The group also discussed ways the local government in Ryazan and the Imperial House can work together in the future.
On November 19, 2018, after completing all the planned events in the Ryazan Region, H.I.H. the Heir, Tsesarevich, and Grand Duke George of Russia returned to Moscow.
For more information, see: