The Church of the Ascension of the Lord (Biserica Înălțarea Domnului) is a Russian Old Rite Orthodox church in Tulcea, built in 1920-1921 for the city’s Russian-Lipovan community. It stands in the Monument Hill area and was founded during a period of division within Tulcea’s Old Believer congregation over access to ordained clergy.
Russian Old Believers had settled in Tulcea and other parts of Dobrogea after separating from the official Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century. By the early 20th century, political upheaval in Russia and the disruption caused by the First World War made it increasingly difficult for some communities to receive priests from across the border. In Tulcea, this led to a split between worshippers who continued without regular clergy and those who wanted services led by ordained priests.
The latter group decided to establish a new church in the Monument Hill neighborhood. The site was consecrated on 3 May 1920 by Bishop Nicodim, together with priest Vikul and deacon Ignatie, and the foundation stone was laid the same day. Construction was financed by local Russian-Lipovan parishioners and continued into the following year.
The project was opposed by members of the older Saint Paraskeva congregation on Strada Gloriei, which had become identified with the priestless branch of the community. Complaints interrupted the building work several times, but the church was completed in 1921.
The finished church was consecrated on 23 May 1921 in a ceremony attended by Bishop Nicodim, two other bishops from Russia, nine priests, six deacons and worshippers from Tulcea and nearby settlements. It has remained part of the Russian Old Rite Orthodox Church in Romania ever since, following the Belokrinitskaya hierarchy and continuing to serve Tulcea’s Russian-Lipovan community.
