On November 16 the cross will be brought to Moscow by Spanish Defense Minister Juan Bono. He is to hand the relic to Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia. After that, the cross will be taken to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The shrine will arrive in Veliky Novgorod on November 19.
It is still unclear whether the cross will be again installed on the dome of St. Sophia's Cathedral or will be exhibited in the Novgorod state museum-reserve. According to museum's officials, all depends on the relic's condition.
The two-meter gilded copper cross crowned with a dove's figurine was made in the late 19th century and installed on the central dome during the Cathedral's restoration in the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. St. Sophia's Cathedral was constructed in 1045-1050 before the building of the eponymous cathedral in Kiev by Prince Vladimir. The Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod was built on the site of a wooden church, which had been erected a year after the adoption of Christianity in Russia.
According to one version, the cross was brought down during a bombardment in 1942 when Veliky Novgorod was occupied by Spanish troops, allies of Nazi Germany. After that, it was taken to Spain. The Spanish side is convinced that Spanish servicemen wanted to save the cross from utter destruction. After the war veterans wanted to return the shrine but were afraid of accusations of theft. The cross was kept as a trophy at the military engineering academy in Madrid's outskirts for about 60 years.
The whereabouts of the cross came to light in September 2003 at the meeting of representatives of the Spanish association of the soldiers who went missing in Russia with Veliky Novgorod Mayor Nikolai Grazhdankin.
According to El Mundo, the return of this cross will mark the end of the complicated period in bilateral relations.
