I have rediscovered a pamphlet from the Church of St Mary Magdelene in Jerusalem which I received in the late 1990s. The following information may be of some interest -
'The Church of St Mary Magdalene is situated on the slope of the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane and is one of the most recogniseable landmarks of Jerusalem. This striking example of Russian architecture was built in the Muscovite style with golden onion domes or cupolas. It was built as a memorial to Empress Maria Alexandrovna by her son the Russian Tsar Alexander III and his brothers.
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, brother of Alexander III, and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth (formerly Princess Elizabeth of Hesse-Darmstadt), granddaughter of Queen Victoria and sister of the last Empress of Russia, presided at the consecration of the church of St Mary Magdalene in 1888 as representatives of the Emperor. The Grand Duchess took a deep personal interest in the church and commissioned the well-known Russian artist Sergei Ivanov (1864-1910) to paint the large imposing murals depicting the life of Saint Mary Magdalene which were brought to Jerusalem for the consecration and hang in the church today. The large canvas above the iconstasis shows Mary Magdalene before the Roman Emperor Tiberius. In her hand she holds a red egg which she presents to the Emperor, symbolizing the resurrection and eternal life. She tells Tiberius about the unjust judgement and death of the cross of Jesus Christ. It is known that after re-examining this unlawful trial Pilate, at that time governor of Jerusalem, was deposed and sent into exile. The elegant white marble and bronze iconostasis holds icons by the distinguished Russian artist, Veresshchaguin......................
'Grand Duchess Elizabeth, widowed by an assassin's bomb in 1905, became a nun and founded a convent devoted to nursing and charitable work in Moscow. After the revolution, in 1918 the Grand Duchess together with her companion Sister Barbara and several members of the Russian Imperial Family were thrown into a mine shaft by the bolsheviks and left to die. Her remains and those of Sister Barbara eventually were brought to Jerusalem. In 1920, they were laid to rest, as the Grand Duchess wished, in a crypt below the Saint Mary Magdalene Church. They were canonized as Martyr Saints in 1981 and at this time their relics were moved into the main section of the church where they rest today in marble sarcophagi.
'Princess Andrew of Greece (born Princess Alice of Batterberg) mother of the Duke of Edinburgh visited the church and stayed in the monastery in the 1930s. Her wish was to be buried near her 'Aunt Ella', the Grand Duchess Elizabeth whose devotion to the church and to nursing and charitable service she strove to emulate. Princess Andrew died at Buckingham Palace in 1969. Her wish to be buried at the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane was finally realised in 1988 when her remains were transferred to her final resting place in a crypt below the church.........'
This Church was held very dear not just to the sons of Alexander II - who felt their mother had been seriously neglected by their father - but also by the four daughters of the Grand Duke and Duchess of Hesse Darmstadt - Victoria, Elizabeth, Irene and Alix. The late Empress, Marie Alexandrovna, had been a Hessian princess like themselves. The Grand Duchess Elizabeth along with her sisters worked a carpet which lay in front of the iconostasis.
There are further details in the pamphlet concerning the Church and its work today should anyone be interested.
I am sure much of this material is known to many on the Forum. I hope the above includes some fresh information.
I feel the Grand Duchess', later, preference would to be laid to rest in Moscow within the precincts of the Convent she founded.
