Near Sanremo's Casino one will see the Russian Orthodox Church of Christ the Saviour, which with its five onion-shaped domes reminds one a lot of the famous St.Basil Cathedral in Moscow. Definitely an attractive building, worth also to just see from the outside, when closed. At the end of the 19th century Russian nobility and affluent bourgeoisie loved to spend winters at the Côte d'Azur and nearby Sanremo in Italy, where one could find up to thousand Russians at a time. Still attached to their traditions, they had several Russian Orthodox Churches built. First in Nice, followed by Menton and Cannes and finally - in 1913 - in Sanremo. Just a year ago I had been to a Russian church in German Baden-Baden, another favourite haunt of this society. In the garden in front of the church one is surprised to find busts of the catholic Italian King Vittorio Emanuele III and his wife Elena. A nearby plaque is dedicated to the parents of Queen Elena, who had been buried here at her request: King Nicholas I of Montenegro in 1921 and his wife Milena in 1923, both of the orthodox faith and whose remains had been brought from Montpellier ( now though at Cetinje in Montenegro). Of him there is a monument at the Giardini Ormond-Nobel in the Eastern part of Sanremo. Queen Elena, who also passed away in Montpellier, just as her parents, is now buried at the Santuario de Vicoforte near Turin, together with her husband, who died 6 years earlier in Alexandria, Egypt.

Very colorful and nice icons! The music was very beautiful and you can enjoy sitting on a chair and listen