#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. A twelve-meter roadside memorial with the words ‘Lord, save this city’ was installed seven kilometers from the entrance to the city on the eve of the Annunciation, April 6. The place on the highway near the Kupets river was chosen by the director of the Nornickel Polar Division in 2010-2012, Evgeny Muravyov.
Initially, it was proposed to install the cross on the Norilsk Golgotha memorial or on the Tooth mountain. Both options were rejected by the Norilskproekt projecting office. In the first case, the cross, in order to be seen, had to be at least 40 meters high, and the place on the Tooth mountain did not fit due to the unreliability of the ground.
A young Norilskproekt architect Elena Pankratova and an experienced designer Alexander Kostyuchenko worked on the project under the guidance of chief engineer Sergey Teryaev. The design of the 12-meter-high cross was considered non-standard, that caused a lot of difficulties for the designers. According to Elena Pankratova, the director of the Polar Division actively participated in the process up to the installation of the cross.
The first religious procession was made by Orthodox believers on April 17, the last Sunday before Easter 2011.
On Palm Sunday, after the end of the divine liturgy in the cathedral in honor of the Joy of All Who Sorrow icon, the procession headed to the worship cross, where the clergy performed a prayer service.
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Text: Varvara Sosnovskaya, Photo: Marina Peshkova, Nornickel Polar Division archive
