Holy Trinity Cathedral in Magadan, Russia built on site of a Soviet Gulag
On September 2, 2011 Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill consecrated a new Cathedral which commemorates the victims of the Soviet era gulag labor camps. Constructed over the site of a former camp, Holy Trinity Cathedral is in Magadan, Russia, the center for the notorious Kolyma camps. Estimates of those who died in these camps range from 500,000 to 3 million, including countless bishops, priests, deacons, nuns and other believers.
Patriarch Kirill was quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax:
“Kolyma is the Russian Calvary and perhaps those who tormented people on this earth, pronounced terrible words during transporting convicts “step to the right, step to the left – shooting without warning,” couldn’t imagine that a grand cathedral will be erected here,” the Patriarch said after the prayer.
He called the cathedral “a great sign showing that God’s truth is alive and none even most powerful human forces can destroy this truth” and called it a symbol of victory over evil, “faith in Christ, as for confessing Him many people were exiled here to Kolyma to become martyrs.”
Video and audio from the Cathedral’s consecration can be seen below:
Orthocath 