Church of St. Alexandra (Irem)

In 1799, Grand Duchess Alexandra, the eldest daughter of Russian Emperor Paul I , married the Hungarian palatine of Archduke Joseph Habsburg , but she died 17 months after her marriage. At the burial place of the princess, an Orthodox church was erected, consecrated on August 31, 1803 by the confessor of Alexandra Pavlovna - archpriest Andrei Samborsky , in the name of the holy martyr Alexandra of Rome . The temple, which received the status of a courtier, relied on a priest and a church clergy . Until the beginning of the 20th century, pilgrims were mainly Serbs living in the district ^[2] .

In 1814, during the Vienna Congress, they jointly visited the temple: Russian Emperor Alexander I , King of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm and Emperor of Austria Joseph . The following year, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna visited the sister’s tomb, accompanied by the Austrian Archduke Johann ^[3] .

On September 11, 1852, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich visited the heir to the Russian throne when he came to Hungary on maneuvers taking place near Budapest, and in 1866, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich ^[4] .

Divine services in the church temporarily ceased after the outbreak of the First World War , when the clergy left for Russia. They resumed in the early 1920s.

After the revolution of 1917, until his death in 1926, Archpriest Stefan Columbov served in the church. The temple gradually fell into disrepair, but did not close. Local residents for a long time supported the church in proper order, and Orthodox priests from Budapest (not only Russian, but also Serbian and Hungarian) performed services on especially memorable dates ^[5] .

The rebirth of the church began in 2001, when priest Nikolai Kim was appointed rector and received the blessing of the archbishop for his efforts to rebuild the church. Active restoration has begun. Work was carried out from 2002 to 2006. First of all, the crypt and the fence of the temple territory were restored. Later, with the support of the city authorities, they paved a stone with a wide avenue to the temple, planted birch on both sides, conducted outdoor lighting, installed lanterns, wrought-iron benches, and updated the facade of the building. The dome of the temple was also restored.

In 2004, with the consent of representatives of the Habsburg family, the earthly remains of Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna were transferred from the Buda Castle to the renovated crypt of the temple. The remains of the Grand Duchess were transferred to the family tomb of the Habsburgs after the sacrilegious opening of the tomb in the 80s, when the temple was left unguarded and unattended.

Now the temple is completely revived for a full spiritual life. This is a historical monument, as evidenced by the plaque at the main entrance. Every Saturday at 10 a.m., parishioners come to the Divine Liturgy, after which a memorial service is held in memory of Grand Duchess Alexander Pavlovna.

On October 17, 2004, the church was visited by Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill (Gundyaev) , accompanied by Bishop of Vienna and Austria Hilarion (Alfeev) ^[6] .

• Archpriest Andrei Samborsky (1802-1804)
• Protopresbyter Nikolai Muzovsky (1804-1810)
• Hieromonk Herman (1810-1817)
• Hieromonk Gennady (January 1817-1822)
• Archpriest Theodore Raevsky (1822-1831)
• Hieromonk Amphilochius (1832-1846)
• Priest Vasily Sudakevich (1848 - January 1849)
• Archpriest Vasily Voitkovsky (1850-1870)
• Archpriest Konstantin Kustodiev (1870-1875)
• Priest Michael Mansvetov (1875-1877)
• Archpriest Feofil Kardasevich (1877 - 1914)
• Archpriest Stefan Columbov (1914 - 1926)
• Archpriest Nikolai Kim (2001-2010)
• Priest Dimitri Svirko (since 2010)

• http://irem.orthodoxia.org/
• Natalia Zheleznova In the holy Orthodox places with Archpriest Nikolai Kim. Iremean Tomb Temple
• Sergey Mudrov Orthodox Europe. Article 7. Hungary: the joy of missionary congregations and the weeping of abandoned churches. Part 2