A Portrait of Tsar St Nikolai Aleksandrovich (Ilya Repin, 1896)
Yekaterinburg, 16 May 2008 (Interfax):
A unique memorial to Tsar St Nikolai II the Passion-bearer fabricated entirely from materials found in the Ural region shall be unveiled on his Day of Remembrance at Ural Mountains State University in Yekaterinburg. The 140th anniversary of the birth of the last Russian emperor, Tsar St Nikolai II, is on 19 May. A decree of Tsar St Nikolai established the first VUZ (Institute of Higher Education) in the region, a school known today as Ural Mountains State University. The new memorial is in honour of that founding, the university press service reported to Interfax.
According to the press-release, all elements of the icon and its shrine (kiot) are going to be done in mosaic-style using precious stones from the Ural region such as rubies, garnets, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, and other gems. The corona of the tsar-martyr is made from chased and figured gilded silver, and figured silver lace decorates the cover (oklad) of the icon. The shrine for the icon is to use white-red Pushtun marble; the red splotches appear on the face of the stone as if it is oozing blood. This is to symbolise the tragic fate of the last Russian emperor, who was shot, together with his family and his servants, in Yekaterinburg.
At the dedication of the memorial, Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye shall serve a molieben. As part of the events planned for the Day of Remembrance for Tsar St Nikolai II, students from the university shall take part in a sports festival and an athletic competition called “The Miner”.
Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24486 (in Russian)
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