OREANDA-NEWS. September 26, 2007. In the village of Lavy, Valuiki district a Foundation Stone Ceremony took place, thus symbolizing the start of a new stone Cathedral construction to be named after St Theodore Pechersky. The construction of the Cathedral has been initiated by the Belgorod power engineers. The church, that was built here before the events in 1917, was completely destroyed in the early 30s of last century.

Remarkably, the Foundation Stone Ceremony took place on the same day as the Opening of the Historical – Cultural Complex “The Spelaean Monastery of Ignatius of Antioch”. The Managing Director of JSC “Belgorodenergo”, Victor Filatov was the first who congratulated the village residents with this special event.

The General Director of JSC “IDGC of the Centre” Evgeny Makarov, chairman of the Board of Trustees, in charge of the construction of the St Theodore Pechersky Cathedral, expressed his confidence that the reconstruction of the Orthodox Church in Lavy could be considered as a sign of its rebirth, both material and spiritual. Congratulatory words were also expressed by the Speaker of Belgorod Regional Duma, Anatoly Zelikov, the member of Belgorod Regional Duma, Yuri Klepikov, the Head of the Local Government, Ivan Posokhov.

After the blessing of the Archbishop of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, Ioann a plaque was fixed to the Foundation stone. Thus, Belgorodia made one more step in the direction of restoring its historical and cultural heritage. It’s a very pleasant fact, indeed, that Belgorod power companies played a significant part in this event.