On October 28, 2024, Metropolitan Leo of Novgorod and Old Russia consecrated a new domed cross for the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul on Sinichy Hill on the territory of the Petrovsky Cemetery in Veliky Novgorod.
The service was attended by the Governor of the Novgorod region Andrey Nikitin.
After the consecration, a new cross was placed on the dome of the temple.
During the archaeological work currently being carried out in the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the relics of St. Haritina, Princess of Lithuania, were found. Addressing the participants of the service, Metropolitan Lev said: "We have been searching for the relics of St. Haritina for a long time. Archaeologists first began searching in one place on the south side, but there is historical information that she was reburied in the northwestern side of the temple. She was buried in a deck that had rotted away. The bedspread she was covered with was embroidered with gold and silver threads. This was determined by the remains and filaments found in the area of the frontal bone. She was the abbess of the monastery, and monks are covered with a veil at burial."
Now the relics of St. Haritina reside in the Spassky Cathedral of the Yuriev Monastery of Veliky Novgorod.
Governor Andrey Nikitin also addressed the participants of the service: "Of course, there is still a lot of work both in the church itself and on the territory. Let me remind you that the city has committed itself to the improvement of the cemetery itself, to the improvement of the entrance group, the crypt of the chapel. Next year, these works will begin, and as a result, by the time the restoration of the temple is completed, we will have completely improved the territory."
The Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul was built in the XII century. According to Sergey Brun, General Director of the Novgorod State United Museum-Reserve, the cross consecrated and installed on the church of Peter and Paul is made in the image of the only surviving cross of that time — the cross of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir. "It is important for us to work out the issue of installing the throne. The temple will be opened as a museum object for visiting, but I really hope that with the blessing of the bishop, services will be held there," said Sergey Brun.