Orthodox chapel on site of plane crash

Kalevalatar

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An Orthodox chapel will be built on the site where an aircraft crashed and killed 47 outside Petrozavodsk.
Authorities in the Republic of Karelia have decided to build a chapel at the site of the crash with the Russian Tu-134 on 20 June, RIA Novosti reports. The aircraft, which was on its way from Moscow, crashed on a highway near the local airport in Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, and killed 47 of the 52 passengers.
Seems like an appropriate memorial, indeed.

I hope you don't mind my asking if this is a common way among the Eastern Orthodox churches to commemorate sites where tragedies took place?
 

Annoula

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i am not sure about the building of whole churches, but in Greece we build a small iconostasi in sites where fatal car accidents happen.
you can see some here :

iconostasi these commemorate fire victims. you rarely see so many iconostasia together.

iconostasi 2

iconostasi 3


especially when young children or young adults are killed, relatives place at the iconostasi photos of the children, maybe a plate with some writings (poems or the date of death), and leave flowers.

the majority of them are small, have icons, and a vigil candle.
 
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Kalevalatar

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Thank you both. A beautiful and touching tradition, indeed. In our (Lutheran) neck of the woods, we bring flowers and candles which last the while they do, but nothing more permanent. Although Orthodox Christianity is our other official religion, I have never seen these in Finland.

I have one more follow-up if you don't mind. Typically, would the family of the victim then visit both the (roadside) iconostasi and the graveside and bring flowers to both, or is there a difference between the two sites?

Thank you.
 
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Annoula

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hi Kalevalatar,

the cemetary (grave) is probably located closer to the family, while the iconostasi can be very far away from the family (if it was a car accident it can be in the national highway) so although there's a vigil candle in both, it might be difficult for relatives to visit the iconostasi.

at the grave a priest does trisagion (a prayer), but i am not aware if it's common practice to do the same to an iconostasi.

i remember a site where students in a school bus were killed in a very dangerous place at the national highway, i heard that their families gathered to pray a trisagion for their children souls the other year.
 
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Kalevalatar

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It definitely happens
Church of the Savior on Blood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(eli Kirkko Veren Paalla Pietarissa)

Indeed it is very common to commemorate notable state figures and state events. However, I do think it is quite different to (use tax-money to) build a shrine to commemorate private citizens who perished not in the service of the state, for the state, if you will (as opposed to soldiers and head of states); in this case private Russians & expats on holiday flight, as opposed to the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash, which claimed the lives of the Polish President and several other notable Polish state officials.

Hence my curiosity.
 
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