On February 23, 2025, the great consecration of the house church in honor of the First Apostles Peter and Paul at St. Petersburg State University, located in the building of Twelve Colleges, took place.
The Rite of great consecration and the Divine Liturgy in the newly consecrated church were led by Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. His Eminence was co-served by Bishop Veniamin of Kronstadt, Vicar of the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and Bishop Methodius of Yegoryevsk, Vicar of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Stavropol Monastery, rector of the Orthodox St. Tikhon University for the Humanities.
Representatives of the Intercollegiate Association for the Promotion of Spiritual and Moral Education "Pokrov", students of St. Petersburg State University and the D.K. Faddeev St. Petersburg State University Academic Gymnasium, members of the Board of Trustees of the St. Petersburg State University Institute of Theology, honored guests and parishioners of the temple prayed at the service.
"I am especially glad that it was at our university that the holy key was hammered. There are saints among those who studied here, because the university is the highest school of piety. And those who graduated with a red diploma are depicted on icons, frescoes and in books. We already read their works as holy fathers, because they were very diligent students," Metropolitan Varsonofy said in a sermon after the service.
N.M. Kropachev, Rector of St. Petersburg State University, noted that it is now safe to say that a center of spiritual attraction has appeared at the university, and a parish community is being formed among Orthodox universalists, which includes residents of the city. "One of the tasks of St. Petersburg University is to form correct moral guidelines among students, protect traditional spiritual and moral values and promote the education of the younger generation of responsible citizens. This need is especially acute today, and the university, I am sure, is successfully coping with this important mission," said the Rector of St. Petersburg State University.
After the Liturgy, a rally in honor of Defender of the Fatherland Day was held at the monument "To the Immortality of the Departed", dedicated to the memory of students and teachers of Leningrad State University who died during the Great Patriotic War and the siege of Leningrad. 

***
On February 8, 1819, the Transfiguration Church for students was consecrated in the building of Twelve colleges in St. Petersburg. This day was considered the opening date of the university. Subsequently, another temple was built in the center of the building of the Twelve Colleges after its reconstruction for the needs of the university. It was consecrated on July 12, 1837 in honor of the first—born Apostles Peter and Paul, the patron saints of St. Petersburg. In December 2023, the restoration of the university church began. All the work was completed in six months with the support of Gazprom. On September 10, 2024, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia performed the rite of minor consecration of the university church in honor of the First Apostles Peter and Paul after the restoration.