On May 21, 2024, on the eve of the memorial day of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra of Lycia, the Wonderworker, in St. Nicholas Church in Myra of Lycia (modern Demre, Turkey), Hieromonk Palladius (Bystrov), who nourishes the community of the Russian Orthodox Church in Akkuyu, performed an evening divine service with the reading of the akathist.
On May 22, the memorial day of St. Nicholas of Myra, Priest Georgy Sergeyev, responsible for organizing the care of the flock of the Moscow Patriarchate in the territory of the Turkish Republic, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Demra. Hieromonk Palladius (Bystrov) took part in the divine service.
Special petitions and prayers for Holy Russia were read at the special litany.
More than 300 pilgrims from different regions of Turkey, as well as Russian specialists working on the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, prayed at the service.
At the end of the Liturgy, the faithful took part in a prayer service to St. Nicholas.
Then Father George congratulated all those present on the day of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the Lycian World to the Italian city of Bari.
The priest thanked the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the management of the museum in Demre for the permission to perform divine services.