The ceremony took place at the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society building in Moscow. Oleg Dukhovnitskiy, Head of the Federal Communications Agency, and Sergey Stepashin, the Chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society, took part in the event.
Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) (1817–1894) was a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, an outstanding Russian religious and political figure, archeologist, historian, religious writer, Byzantine scholar, and the head of the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in the Holy Land. Philaret (Amfiteatrov), the metropolitan of Kiev, admitted him to monastic vows under the name of Antonin in 1845, and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church elevated him to the rank of archimandrite in 1853. Antonin was appointed the abbot of the embassy church in Constantinople in 1860. In 1869, he was promoted to the position of the head of the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem and held this office for life.
Antonin has always been the “gatherer of Russian Palestine lands” in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, and still remains so. He acquired 13 land plots totaling 425,000 square meters in Jerusalem. Churches were built on many of them, and later became historical landmarks. They include the Alexander Metochion in the Old City center, the Church of Mary Magdalene and the Ascension Cathedral on the Mount of Olives. Antonin was elected an honorary member of many Russian and international associations, and awarded the Order of Saint Vladimir 2
nd class, the Order of Saint Anna 1
st class, and many more.
“Each philatelic product issued as part of our cooperation agreement with the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society is highly valued and unique. We draw the attention of Russian and international community to historical, religious and cultural values of Russia, to the unique Russian historical and cultural objects and to Orthodox landmarks. We preserve the memory of events and important persons in cultural, historical and Orthodox fields putting the emphasis on promoting religious and cultural heritage of Russia as a subject matter of the national pride”, said Mr. Dukhovnitskiy.
Design: V. Nikonov.
Face value: 27 RUB.
Size of stamp: 65×32.5 mm, size of sheet: 155×155mm.
Form of issue: sheet with illustrated margins of 8 (2×4) stamps.
Circulation: 192,000 stamps (24,000 sheets).
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