Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society Exhibition

The history and activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society in Russia and Palestine are the subject of an exhibition at the Museum of State Religion in St. Petersburg.

The Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

The exhibition, which opened today feature 200  items, including works of decorative and fine arts, photographs, rare books, pilgrims relics and more. The society marks its 130th anniversary in June 2012.

The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society was founded by the Emperor Alexander III in 1882. His brother, the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was a founding member of the IOPS, and served as its first president from April 1905 up to February 1905, when he was murdered by assassins in Moscow.

The society aided Russian pilgrims to visit the Holy Land, and to assist the Russian Orthodox Church in its spiritual ministry abroad, as well as cultural and educational activities among the Middle Eastern peoples, as well as the research of Christianity in the Holy Land. The society's activities were discontinued after the Russian Revolution in the 1917, but were renewed in 1992.

© Paul Gilbert, 14 March, 2012