A Russian Orthodox church to be built in downtown Paris

On 8 February 2010, French authorities announced that the Russian Federation had won the contest for purchasing a plot of land in the seventh district of Paris on the bank of the River Seine not far from the Eiffel Tower. At present, the plot is occupied by the building of Meteo France. According to the Russian Presidential Administration, a religious and cultural centre with an Orthodox church would be built there after Meteo France moves to another building, TV Channel 1 reports.

During his visit to France in 2007, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia expressed his wish to build a Russian Orthodox church in Paris in his talk with President Nicolas Sarkozy of the French Republic.