Jerusalem 1872: The Russian Compound That Changed the Holy City

In 1872, the Russian Empire completed a massive building project in Jerusalem: the Russian Compound, a walled complex of churches, hospitals, and hostels that could house thousands of pilgrims. This episode explores how Tsarist Russia, under Alexander II, used the Orthodox Church and the Palestine Committee to establish a permanent presence in the Holy City — challenging Ottoman, French, and British influence. We follow the story of Antonin Kapustin, the charismatic archimandrite who negotiated with the Ottomans and acquired the land at the Jaffa Road, and the role of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. We also look at the compound's later history: after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, it became the center of British Mandate administration, then the Israeli government's central police headquarters. The episode also touches on the compound's most famous building, the Russian Orthodox Trinity Cathedral, consecrated in 1872, and the nearby Ethiopian Church. A fresh angle that connects 19th-century imperial rivalry to the Cold War and modern Jerusalem.

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