Italy to work with Ukraine and UNESCO to restore Odesa Cathedral after criminal Russian attack
Nation25 April 2024, 12:17 PM
Italy will work with Ukraine and the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO to rebuild Odesa's Transfiguration Cathedral after it was badly damaged in a criminal Russian attack in July 2023, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on April 24, Reuters reported.
"We will sign an agreement with Kyiv and UNESCO on May 15 here in Rome for the reconstruction of Odesa and its cathedral," Tajani said.
Italy and UNESCO already signed an agreement in Kyiv in February to provide 500 million euros ($536 million) for the restoration of Odesa's Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi, or Transfiguration Cathedral’s roof, Reuters added.
"As the country holding G7 presidency, we continue to work for a just peace," Tajani concluded.
The Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa is the Orthodox Cathedral in Odesa, Ukraine, dedicated to the Transfiguration of Jesus and belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The first and foremost church in Odesa, the cathedral was founded in 1794 by Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni.