PICKINGS IN RUSSIA.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 30, Issue 19, 8 March 1918, Page 6

PICKINGS IN RUSSIA.

FABULOUS TREASURE IN CHURCHES.

There are pickings in Russia for Bolsheviks with sticky fingers. The Church of the Holy Saviour in Moscow has five cupolas all covered with pure gold half-inch in thickness. This church took -fifty years to build, and cost £35,000,000. In the Cathedral of the Assumption, inside the Kremlin, there is a picture of the Virgin of Vladimir painted by St. Luke. It is priceless, and the jewels which adorn it are worth £250,000, one emerald alone being valued at £50,000. Near this building is the Cathedral of the Annunciation, which also has golden domes 1 valued at £200,000. Its pavement of agate and jasper is priceless, and the glittering ikon of the Virgin studded with precious stones has been variously valued at between £200,000 and £250,i< i. Any stalwart patriot could tuck this jeweller’s exhibit under his arm and take it to a place of safety. In Petrograd is tho wonderful St. Isaac’s Cathedral, with its dome, of copper overlaid with beaten gold, worth at least £200,000. The building and its fittings cost £23,000,000. But for easily portable trophies the House of the Holy Synod, within the Kremlin in Moscow, should be most attractive to the get-rich-quick members of the community. It holds hundreds of sets of vestments of fabulous value. One alone, which is embellished with the Niccne Creed, embroidered in pearls, is estimated to be worth anything from £250,000 to £300,000. There is also a collection of seven mitres studded with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. The value of the treasure housed within this majestic structure is roughly valued at £50,000,000.