President Salome Zurabishvili, along with her children, attended a service in Saint Nino Orthodox Church in Paris. The church was built by President Zourabichvili’s father Levan Zourabichvili, Chairman of the Georgian Diaspora in France.
Archpriest Artchil recalled President Zourabichvili’s childhood when she was frequently visiting the church and singing in the choir. He wished the President success in all her future endeavors.
“This is the Georgian emigration church, built by Levan Zourabichvili, Ioseb Kemularia and Ilamaz Dadekheliani. Salome has been frequently visiting this church since her childhood. I remember her singing in the choir. We have lots of cherished memories. I hope that through her efforts she will achieve great progress and success in relations with Europe and foreign countries. Having this hope, we pray for her and Georgia,” father Artchil said.
The church was built in 1929 by the Georgian Orthodox Christians who, after the Russian occupation in 1921, took shelter in France.
Since 1944, a church service for Saint Nino Orthodox Church community had been held in a rented building in Paris. In 1973, Levan Zourabichvili took the initiative to purchase a building in Paris. Georgians living in France and outside Georgia made a donation and built a chapel.
Until the 1990s, Saint Nino Orthodox Church was the only place outside Georgia where the church service was held in the Georgian language.
President Salome Zurabishvili pays a visit to France. President of Georgia will hold high-level meetings with President Emmanuel Macron, and President of the Senate Gérard Larcher to discuss prospects for further advancing Georgia-France relations and priorities of Georgia’s foreign policy.
(First Channel)