The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1922-11-02
RUSSIAN CHURCH JEWELS
Russian Government Puts Them to
Fit Use.

been opened by the decision of the
Soviet authorities to confscate some
of the treasures Of the Russian
churches and sell them to feed the
famine sufferers.
(The Soviet decree issued Feb. 26,
directs the seizure of all precious
metals and stones (which would not
interfere with the interests of the va
rious cults" 1t has been announced
that the All-Russian Central Com
mittee will determine what articles
are absolutely necessary for religious
purposes and exempt from requisi-
tion.)
Most famous of the church trea-
sures, described by the Moscow news
paper Izvesta, is the bejewelled ikon,
Our Lady of Kazan," at the Kazan
Cathedral in Petrograd. 1t is re-
presentation of the Virgin done in
beaten gold, weighing 10 pounds and
decorated with 1855 larger and l.
532 lesser diamonds, 63S rubies,
seven sapphires, 1,400 pearls and
155 other jewels; and hung about the
neck of the Virgin is diamond neck
lace of huge, first water stones.
At Peter Paul's cathedral, also in
Petrograd there is another famous
ikon, known as the Jerusalem Holy
Lady," in solid gold. 1t is about two
feet square, and contains 3S carats of
large diamonds, 13 carats of middle
size diamonds and IA and one-quart-
er carats of smaller stones. Alto
gether, in this church, says the lives
tia, there are "a almost equally valu-
able ikons.
To st. Isaac's cathedral, Petrograd,
were presented on the day it was cp-
ended, total Of 125 articles contain
ing 81 pounds of silver, and later
shrine was built of solid silver weigh
ing 46S pounds. St. Isaac's also has
one ikon 21 inches wide by 2S inches
high, done in gold overlay and bear
ing wreath in large diamonds.
There are a dozen other ikons of tre-
mendous value at St. Isaac's alone.
While these big Petrograd cathed-
rails, which were long favored by roy
atty, probably contain the most valu-
able treasures of the Greek Orthodox.
church in Russia, nearly every one of
the estimated $1,000 other cathed-
rails, monasteries, converts and
churches contains objects in gold and
silver and jewelled ikons are not at
all rare, even in the small edihces.
Royal gifts, donations by pious
Pensioners and church taxes for CEN
turies went largely into ornamenting
the churches. Kazan cathedral was
the holy of holies to the Cossacks.
The Cossacks Of the Don once sent to
it LAO pounds of silver, asking that
it be made into ikons of four of the
Apostles.
Beyond their value in precious.
metal and jewels, some of the OBJ
jects might be extremely sought after
by collectors. The Byzantine nagni-
ficence of the jewelled ikons, how
ever, might impress the Western
world as more ornate than artistic.
With a few scattered, exceptions,
wherein some looting of churches
may have occurred during the early
days Of the revolution, church trea-
sures have been left practically in
tact.
Patriarch Tikhon, the head of the
Russian church, is understood to con-
tend that, since the church and the
state have been separated, the title to
the treasures rests in the hands of the
Pensioners Of each church and that,
therefore, it is for each parish to
decide what treasures it wishes to
surrender for the famine sufferers.
He advises charity in this respect
but it is believed in Moscow that the
church, as a whole, will strenuously
oppose general confiscation, while
willing to surrender those objects
which if does not consider particular-