The ceremony of the blessing of the foundation stone of the first Orthodox Church in Reykjavik took place two years ago, on May 12, 2011. The blessing was performed with the blessing of his Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia by Archbishop Mark of Yegorievsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administration for Institutions Abroad. The president of Iceland Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, members of the delegation of the Russian Federation’s State Duma headed by its deputy chairman L.K. Sliska, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Iceland A.V. Tsyganov, the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Iceland Bishop Karl Sigurbjornsson, the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Iceland Bishop Pierre Burcher as well as numerous representatives of Russian-speaking diaspora took part in the ceremony, reports the website of the Orthodox Church in Iceland.
On Sunday, May 12, after the Divine Liturgy the Cross procession with the revered Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was processed from the house church on the Oldugata Street 44, to the parcel of land between the Myrargata and Nylendugata Streets. The prayer service on the site of the future building of the Church was also celebrated.