The Internet says that the growing Russian population of Geneva was granted permission to build a church in 1859. It was founded in 1863 by the Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna, sister-in-law of the tsar and aunt of Queen Victoria, designed by Grimm, a professor at the St-Petersburg Academy, completed in 1866, and that it also serves Bulgarians, Serbs, Coptic Christians and other Orthodox worshipers who do not have their own church in Geneva.

I like it because it is pretty.

A few hundred meters from the Museum of Art and History, it’s located in the stately Tranchées neigbourhood. I do not remember when I saw it for the first time, but for years after that, I could only ever seem to find it when I had business in the area and passed in front of it. Even though it is quite visible, with the golden onion domes, and all.

I finally went inside after years and years, and it is absolutely stunning. It features beautiful Icons from the 16th to the 20th century, as well as various treasures donated by the Russian imperial family. The black wood from which the interior is made makes them all stand out in a beautiful way, and it is a place where I regularly take anyone who comes for a visit in Geneva.