Documents that were considered lost for a long time have been discovered in the Paris archives. They reveal the history of the acquisition of land for the Russian church of St. Alexander Nevsky and complement information about the formation of the Orthodox community in the French capital.
The find belongs to independent researchers Alain Banon and Sylvia Dutto, the founders of the Association for the Protection and Preservation of Russian Historical Heritage in France. In October 2026, they handed over the collection to the Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe, Metropolitan Mark of Korsunsky and Western Europe, on condition of its publication.
The dossier includes contracts, receipts, additional agreements and a land plot plan. The earliest agreement is dated October 29, 1857: according to it, the Russian Imperial Embassy acquired more than two thousand square meters of land on the current Daryu Street. The document was signed by Count Pavel Kiselyov on behalf of the Embassy. A year later, a neighboring plot was purchased.
Archival materials show that payments for the land continued even after the construction was completed. The church was consecrated on September 11, 1861, and the final payment was made only in the summer of 1871. The surviving acts make it possible to trace the stages of land acquisition and identify the participants in the transactions — diplomats, clergy, notaries and sellers.
The church was built on the initiative of the rector of the Russian Embassy Church, Archpriest Joseph Vasiliev, with the support of Emperor Alexander II and the Holy Synod. It received the status of a cathedral in 1951.
Digital copies of documents and their transcripts, preserving corrections and marks of the originals, are published for the study of the church history of the Russian Diaspora.