Department for External Church Relations
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First church in Andalusia in Spain consecrated.
DECR Communication service, 04.12.2023.
On 3rd December 2023 on the 26th Sunday after Pentecost, the lesser consecration took place of the Church of the Transfiguration in Estepona, Andalusia.
The office of consecration and the divine liturgy in the new church were celebrated by the Patriarchal exarch of Western Europe the metropolitan of Chersoneses and Western Europe Nestor, the administrator of the diocese of Spain and Portugal. Concelebrating with the metropolitan were Father Dmitry Ageyev, hieromonk Giovanni (Guaita), cleric of the Trinity Cathedral in Paris who was accompanying the metropolitan Father Daniil Neberezhny, the secretary of the diocese of Spain and Portugal deacon Gleb Zaika and clergy from the diocese.
Also attending the consecration of the church was the city mayor Maria Garcia Urbano, reports the website of the diocese of Chersoneses.
At the conclusion of the divine liturgy metropolitan Nestor and the concelebrating clergy held a procession of the cross around the church.
Then the administrator of the diocese of Spain and Portugal delivered a homily to those who had gathered in the church in which he congratulated the clergy and parishioners of the Church of the Transfiguration on the consecration of the church, noting especially the invaluable contribution made by the church’s benefactors under the guidance of the Orthodox Initiative Foundation. The metropolitan also greeted the head of the municipal council of Estepona Garcia Urbano and presented to the mayor a gift of an icon of the Transfiguration of Our Lord.
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The Church of the Transfiguration is the first Orthodox church to be built in Spanish Andalusia. Construction was begun in 2018 and completed in the autumn of 2020. The first service in the church was celebrated in July of 2023.
The construction of the church and its internal décor were carried out by the Orthodox Initiative Foundation. The project was planned with the help of the Arquitectos Tobal architects and the Jamena construction company. The church frescoes were painted by students of the renowned contemporary iconographer archimandrite Zinon (Teodor).
The external design of the newly-consecrated church combines elements of Orthodox medieval architecture and modern-day architecture. The white smooth walls and laconic shapes correspond well with the surrounding scenery, while the silver cupola and tall nine-meter-high bell tower are a unique testimony which underscores the church’s individuality.
Nearby there has also been built a modern-day cultural centre, the architecture of which forms a single ensemble with the newly-consecrated church.
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