A French court ruled yesterday that a Russian Orthodox church built in Nice on the orders of Tsar Nicholas II belongs to Russia, handing Moscow a victory in its legal battle against parishioners.
The onion-domed Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in the Riviera city and its entire contents including some 300 precious icons are the property of the Russian state, the tribunal in Nice said.
Russia had laid claim to the cathedral, built on land first acquired by Tsar Alexander II, after a 99-year lease expired in 2007.
But the Nice Russian Orthodox cultural association challenged the move, arguing that they were the legitimate heirs to the building and not the Russian state.
The Nice court ruled that the parishioners did not have the right to buy the property under the terms of the long-term lease and that the cathedral, the largest Russian Orthodox church outside of Russia, should revert to Moscow.
The association immediately announced plans to appeal.
"I cannot see how an association that has occupied the cathedral for 80 years in a peaceful and continuous fashion cannot be considered its owner," said the group's lawyer Antoine Chatain.
Russian embassy spokesman Andrei Kleymenov said Moscow was "satisfied" with the decision, which he said recognised the Russian state's claim to the historic building.
"It's not the end of the proceedings. The other side is going to appeal," Mr Kleymenov cautioned, but he added: "We are satisfied that justice has been done and that our claim has been recognised."
Saint Nicholas Cathedral was completed in 1912 under the orders of Russia's last tsar, Nicholas II, who wanted to provide Russian emigres and Russian travellers to the Riviera a place of worship.
The large red-stone functioning cathedral was built on land acquired by Tsar Alexander II who erected a memorial for his eldest son and heir to the Russian throne, Nicholas, after he died of meningitis in Nice in 1865.
The cathedral had become a major tourist draw, with up to 150,000 paying visitors coming to the site every year.
The local association had accused Moscow of trying to get hold of the revenues from the visits. The Russian Orthodox parish in Nice broke away from Moscow patriarch in 1931 and its members are followers of the Constantinople church.