Église orthodoxe de tous les saints de Strasbourg

Église orthodoxe de tous les saints de Strasbourg stands on the Marne-Rhine canal, white, rounded and crowned in gold. The main dome climbs forty-two metres, a deliberate echo of the churches of northern Russia. Smaller domes cluster around it, and together they turned the city's skyline into something new.

The church is younger than its golden domes suggest. By 2007, after a decade of services in a converted garage, the congregation wanted a real church. A visit from Patriarch Alexis II gave the dream momentum. In 2014 the foundation stone went in on half an acre of ground at the canal's edge. Stones from Mount Athos already lay in the earth, set down even before the foundations. Architects Dimitry Pchenitchnikov of Russia and Michel Arnold of France blended tradition with a contemporary spirit. The domes rose in 2017, and that July a golden cross topped the main one. Every stage of the work depended on donations from supporters near and far. Consecration came in two steps: a minor rite in December 2018, then a major one with Patriarch Cyril in May 2019.

Inside, three hundred people can gather in a light-filled interior. Next door, the spiritual and cultural centre glows sky blue in honour of the Virgin Mary, protector of Mount Athos. Prayers rise in Slavonic and in French, and the church welcomes wheelchair users. Seen from the canal bank, the cross shining above the white walls is the detail that stays with you.