First Orthodox church on Arabian Peninsula built in the UAE

Abu Dhabi, November 2, 2011

Russia thanked authorities of the United Arab Emirates for cooperation in building the first Russian Orthodox church on the Arabian Peninsula, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"We are grateful to the UAE authorities for your assistance in building a Russian Orthodox church in Shardjah which has become the first on the Arabian Peninsula," Lavrov said at a press conference summing up the results if strategic dialogue Russia - Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.
In September 2007, when Patriarch Kirill was Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad and headed the Synodal Department for External Church Relations, he consecrated the foundation stone of the future church.