The Russian Church is building an "Orthodox Vatican"?

The Russian Orthodox Church has developed plans to build its own Vatican, for which it needs about two billion dollars. Talks between church officials and the leadership of the city of Sergiy Posad, located in the Moscow region, have been ongoing since 2017.

The intention is to turn that city into the "capital of Orthodoxy", announced the Russian website Vedomosti.

Sergijev Posad is the place where the Trinity Monastery - Sergius Lavra is located, which is considered the spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church. At the beginning of the year, the church asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to support the project, an unnamed government source told Vedomosti.

The monastery was founded in 1345 by one of the most celebrated Russian saints, Saint Sergius of Radonezh, who built a wooden church in honor of the Holy Trinity on Makovec hill. In 1744, this monastery acquired the status of a Lavra, that is, a monastery settlement.

The church is now planning to build a large complex of buildings around the monastery, according to the 300-page document, and the Vatican, Jerusalem and Mecca are cited as inspirations for this project, reports Tanjug.

The strategy calls for the restructuring of Sergius Posada, dividing it into spiritual, residential and administrative districts.

Mayor Mikhail Tokarev estimated that the project will cost around 140 billion rubles (two billion dollars) and will occupy one third of the city center, and should include museums, cultural centers, theological library, hotel, high church court, medical center and the Orthodox media center.

The document states that the project calls for the construction of a new highway, a transport hub and a new airport to accommodate tourists.