Hundreds of thousands pilgrims from all over the world come to visit Israel each year. The ancient holy sites attract representatives of the three Abrahamic religions to Jerusalem. Pilgrimage to the Holy Land is very popular among the Orthodox Christians who frequently visit large and well-known monasteries and convents.
Gorny Convent in Jerusalem is located in the village of Ein Karem. The Virgin Mary visited this mountain land soon after the Gospel to share her joy about the coming birth of our Saviour. At the centre of the village Our Lady used to take water from a spring from where the road to the Russian Gorny Convent starts. The construction of the Convent was initiated by Archimandrite Antonin Kapoustin, the head of the Russian religious mission.
In 1871, Archimandrite Antonin Kapoustin, purchased a large plot of land in Ein Karem with funds contributed by devout businessmen and noblemen. He planned and built a modest church at the center of the complex and invited wealthy women who wished to live out their lives in the Holy Land to build houses there. Those houses were subsequently inherited by the community, thus over time a few dozen buildings were incorporated into the Russian Gorny ("mountainous") Convent. In 1911, the Russian mission started the construction of a new larger and grander church interrupted in 1814 by the WWI. The iconostasis, shroud, cruets and icons were brought by the Russian pilgrims to the monastery. The Ecce Homo for the iconostasis was painted by Archimandrite Kapoustin himself. Construction of the Cathedral recommenced in 2003 to be completed in 2007 for the 160th anniversary of the Russian religious mission.
The postage stamp features the Cathedral of All Saints who Resplendent in the Russian Land of the Gorny Convent in Jerusalem.
In addition to the postage stamp, JSC Marka has issued a FDC and first-day postmark for Moscow, and a souvenir pack with the stamps of both countries.
Design: I. Ulyanovsky.
Face value: 35 RUB.
Size of stamp: 42х30 mm, size of sheet: 146х110 mm.
Form of issue: sheet with illustrated margins of 8 (3х3) stamps and a coupon.
Circulation: 240 thousand stamps (30 thousand sheets).
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