The Apostolic Nunciature to Russia is the diplomatic mission

Diplomatic mission

A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...

 of the Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 in the Russian Federation. It is located at 7/37 Vadkovsky Lane  in the Tverskoy District of Moscow.

History

The Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and Holy See established official relations 15 March 1990. On 5 September 1991 the Holy See recognized

Diplomatic recognition

Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral political act with domestic and international legal consequences, whereby a state acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state...

 Russia as a successor to the USSR. Russia and the Holy See upgraded their diplomatic relations to full ambassadorial relations in 2009. The increased level of relations followed improvements in the working relationship between the Holy See and the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow. Prior to 2009, Russian officials remained wary of Catholic influence in Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 and tended to treat the Vatican as an international organization

International organization

An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...

, and not a state

Sovereign state

A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...

 in traditional sense.

The building on the corner of Vadkovsky Lane and Tikhvinskaya Street, former Markin house, was completed in 1903 by architect Pyotr Kharko (born 1871, year of death unknown). It was listed on the register of memorial buildings in May 2007. The building mixes traditional eclectic

Eclecticism

Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...

 and Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

 decoration, with notable wrought iron

Wrought iron

thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...

 balcony grille and butterfly ornament on the main doors. In 2005-2008 an adjacent lot was developed into a 17-floor housing project, causing concerns about probable damage to the Nunciature building.

See also

• Holy See–Russia relations
  Holy See–Russia relations
  Holy See–Russia relations is the bilateral relationship between the two countries, Vatican City and Russia. The Holy See has an Apostolic Nunciature in Moscow...
  
  
• List of diplomatic missions of the Holy See
• Diplomatic missions in Russia
• Edmund A. Walsh S.J.
  Edmund A. Walsh
  Fr. Edmund Aloysius Walsh, S.J. was an American Jesuit Catholic priest, professor of geopolitics and founder of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, which he founded in 1919–six years before the U.S...
  
  
• Michel d'Herbigny S.J.
  Michel d'Herbigny
  Michel-Joseph Bourguignon d'Herbigny was a French Jesuit scholar and Roman Catholic bishop. He was president of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, and of the Pontifical Commission for Russia...
  
  
• Augustin Bea S.J.
  Augustin Bea
  Augustin Bea, SJ was a German scholar at the Gregorian University specializing in biblical studies and biblical archeology. He was confessor of Pope Pius XII. In 1959, Pope John XXIII made him cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first President of the Secretariat for Promoting...