Russian Compound - Buildings in The Compound

Buildings in The Compound

Holy Trinity Cathedral The Holy Trinity Cathedral was built as the center of the Russian Compound with funds donated by the people of the Russian Empire. Construction began in 1860, the magnificent edifice was consecrated in 1872. The whole surface of its interior main hall and dome and two aisles is painted an inspiring celestial blue with salmon accents and numerous depictions of saints. The church has four octagonal bell towers. Over the years the bright green domes made this one of Jerusalem’s most distinctive churches.

Russian Mission Building "Duhovnia" The long building lies south of the cathedral towards the new city hall. Built in 1863 as a hospice it also hosted the offices of the ecclesiastical mission of the Russian patriarchate, named "Duhovnia". It’s a courtyard structure with a church in the center. The building has housed all of Jerusalem’s courts, including the Israeli Supreme Court until 1992. The building is now used only for lower law courts and the peace court. The Russian Mission has still an office in the back, but the center is now on the Mount of Olives, directly eastward of the Compound.

Southern Gate Between the mission and the hospital on Safra square. The gate was built in 1890 as part of the perimeter wall of the Russian Compound. It was moved from its original location about 50 meters south of where it now stands as part of the Safra Square Project and the new City hall.

Hospital Safra square 13

Russian Consulate On Shivtei Yisra’el street behind the municipality complex. It was erected in stages since 1860 for the Russian consulate, and combines European characteristics with local building techniques. From 1953-1973 it housed the school of pharmacy, later laboratories of the Hebrew university.

Elisabeth Courtyard - Hostel for Men A courtyard structure built in 1864 as a hostel able to accommodate about 300 pilgrims is located on today's Monbaz street. Above the neo-classical entrance is an inscription marking it as "Elisbeth Courtyard" and the emblem of the Imperial Russian Orthodox Palestine Society. It houses now the police headquarters.

'Northern Gate Right opposite to the Sergei building. Around the Compound was a perimeter wall with two formal gates at north and south, built in 1890. Only one of the two Northern gate houses has survived. The other was pulled down in the 1970s. On the façade is the emblem of the "Imperial Russian Orthodox Palestine Society".

Marianskya Courtyard - Hostel for Women 1 Misheol Hagvurah Street. The hostel for Russian women pilgrims was built 1864 in neo-classical style. At the front of the building one can see the Russian inscription "Marianskya women's hostel" and the symbol of the "Imperial Russian Orthodox Palestine Society" above the entrance. With long hallways leading to separate rooms, it was an ideal layout for a hostel, or a prison, which is exactly what the British turned the place into during the British mandate period. In each cell, one prisoner was made supervisor over the others, and given an actual bed. Over the course of the British occupation, hundreds of prisoners, both simple criminals and political, passed through its gates. Jews and Arabs were incarcerated together. Executions for capital crimes were commonplace, but only for Arabs. While the facility housed many death-row inmates captured from the Jewish underground organizations, Jews sentenced to death were sent to Acco for the actual executions. The British, fearful of the Jewish reaction to executions in the holy city, never used the gallows of the prison for Jews. Prisoners from the Jewish underground organizations were often put to work making coffins and gravestones for the very same British policemen and soldiers they had killed. As the guards used to tell them, "What you start on the outside, you finish on the inside." The building houses now the Underground Prisoner's Museum. The wire fence, bars and inscription "Central Prison Jerusalem" on the door are from the British Mandatory period.

Sergei Building Corner of Heleni HaMalka and Monbaz street. Courtyard structure with a Renaissance style imperial tower, named for Grand Duke Sergei (1857–1905), brother of csar Alexander III, then President of the Provoslavic Palestine Association. Completed in 1890 by architect Frank Gia it was built for pilgrims from the Russian nobility as "Sergej Imperial Hospice". It occupied 9 acres (36,000 m2) of land, and was made entirely out of hewn stone, its 25 luxuriously furnished rooms intended as lodgings for aristocrats. It was referred to as "one of the most marvellous buildings in the city" by the newspapers. The building was nationalized under the British Mandate and used as a public works department and passport office. After the establishment of the State of Israel, it was taken over by the Israeli government. Until 2008, it housed offices of the Agriculture Ministry and the Society for the Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites. The last tenant, the SPNI, will be moving out in the fall of 2012. The Russian government plans to restore the site and use it to serve Russian pilgrims.

Nikolai Courtyard - Pilgrims Hostel In 1903 another hostel for Russian pilgrims, the Nikolai Pilgrims Hostel, was built which was large enough to hold 1,200 guests. Since the British mandate period part of it has been used as police headquarters and as government offices. Later it was the British intelligence headquarters, blown up twice by the Jewish underground under Menachem Begin in 1945.