Church of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky

The Church of Alexander Nevsky, built in 1833 in the Byzantine style, holds a unique distinction as the only operating military church in all of Pridnestrovie, and stands among the oldest religious buildings in Bendery. Its resilience across the turbulent centuries of the 20th century is remarkable: the church survived the Revolution of 1917, the period of Romanian occupation and the years of fascist rule, before succumbing to the Soviet era’s anti-religious policies. During this period, like so many other Pridnestrovian churches, Orthodox services ceased within its walls, and the building was repurposed as a soldier’s club — a function it served until the mid-1990s.

Following three years of extensive reconstruction, the church was reopened on October 12, 2011, beginning a new chapter in its long history. The following year, parts of the relics of Prince Alexander Nevsky were brought to the church, deepening its spiritual significance. In September 2013, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill personally visited, delivering a sermon to parishioners and presenting the church with the icon of the Mother of God “The Surety of Sinners.” By year’s end, the painting of the church’s walls and domes had been completed, restoring the interior to its full spiritual and artistic glory.

In 2018, a chapel dedicated to “the memory of the holy tsarist martyrs” was opened adjacent to the church, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the shooting of the Romanov family by the Bolsheviks. This addition carries particular historical resonance, as Emperor Nicholas II and his family are known to have visited Bendery and prayed in the Alexander Nevsky Church — a personal connection that gives this chapel profound meaning for those who venerate the memory of the last Russian imperial family.

Address: 2, Panina str., Bendery
Phone: +373 777 56029
Website: aleksandronevskii.prihod.ru