On July 25, the bell that had been stored for over thirty years in the Mikhailovsky Cathedral in Lomonosov was returned to the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in the village of Kovashi. This was reported by the website of the St. Petersburg Metropolis on July 25.

A thanksgiving prayer service was held in Lomonosov next to the historic bell by the rector, Archpriest Pavel Suslov, in the presence of the rector of the church in Kovashi, Priest Nikolai Vinogradov, and the cathedral clergy.

"This bell, when faith was being revived, began to serve its church functions again in Lomonosov, becoming a voice of hope," said Father Pavel. "A new church with a bell tower has been built, and parishioners are waiting for the bell to return to its place where its journey began. We thank God and remember those who contributed to the common cause, who preserve and return the lost."

Upon arrival in Kovashi, the bell was placed by the walls of the Annunciation Church, and a thanksgiving prayer service was held. Father Nikolai performed a bell-ringing on the old bell.

The bell was donated to the Kovashi church in 1787 by the Dolgorukov princes. "Of the six bells, the largest and the next two were cast on November 1, 1787, and bear inscriptions with the names: Alexandra, Peter, and Alexandra Yakovlevich Dolgorukov," states the 1884 historical sketch. After the church was closed in the 1930s, this bell was the only one that survived. In 1988, it was transferred to the Mikhailovsky Cathedral after its return to the Church.

The Kovashi church was completed and consecrated in April of this year. Initially, the Annunciation Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a chapel of St. Nicholas was built in 1788 with funds from Prince Yakov Dolgorukov. In 1875, a parish care committee was established at the church. In 1903, the church was rebuilt according to a project by Silvio Danini. Eight years later, architect Vasily Kosyakov submitted a project for a new stone church with a bell tower for 720 people to the construction commission. The project was not implemented. The 1918 decree by the Soviet of People's Commissars "On the Separation of Church from State and School from Church" deprived the church of legal status, and its property was subject to nationalization. The church was closed in the 1930s, and the building was used as a psychiatric hospital and eventually destroyed. Only the bell survived, which has now been returned to its original place.