Misplaced Pages

#171828

72-935: The river flows from the Fontanka river, which is itself a distributary of the Neva, near the Summer Garden past the Field of Mars , crosses Nevsky Prospect and the Kryukov Canal before entering the Neva river. It is also connected with the Neva by the Swan Canal and the Winter Canal . In 1711, Peter the Great ordered the consolidation of the banks of the river. After the Kryukov Canal linked it with

144-546: A United Nations General Assembly observer since 1994, this was granted in view of its "long-standing dedication [...] in providing humanitarian assistance and its special role in international humanitarian relations"; the same category is held by other non-state entities such as the International Olympic Committee and International Committee of the Red Cross . The Order of Malta comprises

216-582: A Grand Master to the order. This signaled the renewal of the Order's fortunes as a humanitarian and religious organization. On 19 September 1806, the Swedish government offered the sovereignty of the island of Gotland to the Order. The offer was rejected since it would have meant the Order renouncing their claim to Malta. The French forces occupying Malta expelled the Knights Hospitaller from

288-550: A departure from tradition, the leadership of the Order wore informal attire rather than formal wear full dress uniforms to their annual papal audience. In May 2018 when a new Grand Master was elected, Francis extended Becciu's mandate indefinitely. When the Order's Chapter General met in May 2019 three of the 62 participants were women for the first time. On 1 November 2020, Pope Francis named Archbishop (later Cardinal) Silvano Tomasi to replace Becciu as his Special Delegate to

360-896: A diminished form and negotiated with European governments for a return to power as part of the agreement between France and Holy Roman Empire during the German mediatisation . The Russian Emperor, Paul I , gave the largest number of knights shelter in Saint Petersburg , an action that gave rise to the Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller and the Order's recognition among the Russian Imperial Orders. The refugee knights in Saint Petersburg proceeded to elect Tsar Paul as their Grand Master –

432-482: A large number of Priories , Sub-priories, and National Associations around the world, but there also exist various organizations with similar-sounding names that are unrelated to the Order. These include a number of mimic orders, such as masonic and non-Catholic organizations. The Order has two flags : the State Flag is rectangular with a red background upon which there is a white Latin cross . The Flag of

504-412: A path was created for Knights and Dames of the lowest class (of whom proof of aristocratic lineage is not required) to be specially elevated to the highest class, making them eligible for office in the order. The Order's modern-day role is largely focused on providing humanitarian assistance and assisting with international humanitarian relations, for which purpose it has had permanent observer status at

576-518: A rival to Grand Master von Hompesch until the latter's abdication left Paul as the sole Grand Master. Grand Master Paul I created, in addition to the Catholic Grand Priory, a "Russian Grand Priory" of no fewer than 118 Commanderies, dwarfing the rest of the Order and open to all Christians. Paul's election as Grand Master was, however, never ratified under Catholic canon law, and he was the de facto rather than de jure Grand Master of

648-438: A vacancy of 75 years, confirming Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce as the first Grand Master of the restored Order of Malta. However, the loss of possession of Malta during this period did not affect the right of active and passive legation for the Order, which is legally important for the absolute continuity of international status, regardless of the former territorial possession. The original hospitaller mission became

720-477: Is a right-hand distributary of the Fontanka and starts its course immediately to the south of the Summer Garden , making the southern border of the garden Island and separating it from the reddish Saint Michael's Castle . The Summer Garden, which during the Swedish possession of these lands until they were taken by Russia in 1703 in the Great Northern War , was part of a Swedish army major. After

792-425: Is led by an elected prince and grand master . Its motto is Tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum ("Defence of the faith and assistance to the poor"). The Order's membership includes about 13,500 Knights, Dames and Chaplains. Thirty-three of these are professed religious Knights of Justice . Until the 1990s, the highest classes of membership, including officers, required proof of noble lineage. More recently,

SECTION 10

#1732779768172

864-607: Is most often depicted on an oval shield surrounded by a rosary, all superimposed on a white eight-pointed cross over a princely mantle surmounted by a crown . In ecclesiastical heraldry of the Catholic Church , the Order of Malta is one of only two orders (along with the Order of the Holy Sepulchre ) whose insignia may be displayed in a clerical coat of arms (laypersons having no such restriction). The shield

936-638: Is next to the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood and a degree college named Higher School of Folk Arts (crafts), originally founded by Empress Alexandra, the wife of Russia's last Emperor, and facing a waterway that starts here off Moyka - Griboyedov Canal , across which westwards there is a square formed chiefly by two buildings of the former Royal Mews and named after them together with two adjoining streets Konyushennaya. The carriage house faces

1008-482: Is surrounded with a silver rosary for Professed Knights, or for others the ribbon of their rank. Some members may also display the Maltese cross behind their shield instead of the ribbon . To protect its heritage against fraud, the Order has legally registered sixteen versions of its names and emblems in some one hundred countries. The birth of the Knights Hospitaller dates back to around 1048. Merchants from

1080-411: Is the head of the order and governs both as sovereign and as religious superior. He is "entitled to sovereign prerogatives and honors as well as the title of " Most Eminent Highness ". He is elected to a term of ten years and may be elected to a second term, but may not serve beyond the completion of his 85th year. The Prince and Grand Master is Fra' John T. Dunlap who was elected on 3 May 2023. "In

1152-614: The Count Colloredo . Their mandates complexively covered the period until the death of the Emperor Paul in 1801. The Treaty of Amiens (1802) obliged the United Kingdom to evacuate Malta , which was to be restored to a recreated Order of St. John , whose sovereignty was to be guaranteed by all of the major European powers, to be determined at the final peace. However, this did not happen because of objections to

1224-584: The Knights of Malta , is a Catholic lay religious order , traditionally of a military , chivalric , and noble nature. Though it possesses no territory, the order is often considered a sovereign entity under international law. The order claims continuity with the Knights Hospitaller , a chivalric order that was founded about 1099 by the Blessed Gerard in the Kingdom of Jerusalem . The order

1296-622: The Papal bull Pie postulatio voluntatis dated 15 February 1113, Pope Paschal II approved the foundation of the Hospital and placed it under the aegis of the Holy See, granting it the right to freely elect its superiors without interference from other secular or religious authorities. By virtue of the Papal Bull, the hospital became an order exempt from the control of the local church. All

1368-498: The United Nations General Assembly since 1994. The Order employs about 52,000 doctors, nurses, auxiliaries and paramedics assisted by 95,000 volunteers in more than 120 countries, assisting children, homeless, disabled, elderly, and terminally ill people, refugees, and lepers around the world without distinction of ethnicity or religion. Through its worldwide relief corps, Malteser International ,

1440-581: The last accommodation and museum of Alexander Pushkin . As of 2016 15 bridges cross the Moyka. Most of these have historical and artistic interest: Flowing through the 18th- and 19th-century capital of the Russian Empire , the Moyka, similarly to other downtown rivers and streets got its sides decorated with Russian nobles' city palaces, mansions and gardens, historical churches, monuments, apartment buildings and hotels, public squares etc. The Moyka

1512-531: The 19th-century Russian liberal thinker and writer Alexander Herzen . The main campus has about 20 buildings occupying a large city block, while some colleges of the university are scattered around the city. 59°55′36″N 30°16′34″E  /  59.92667°N 30.27611°E  / 59.92667; 30.27611 Fontanka Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

SECTION 20

#1732779768172

1584-521: The Castle served as a residence connected with this together with his other ones including Gatchina Priory Palace . (See Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller ). His arbitrary domestic and international politics caused dissatisfaction among some of his courtiers who plotted against him, and he was assassinated in his Castle bedroom despite all his precautions: the Castle was surrounded by water on all four sides, drawbridges raised every night, yet

1656-538: The Castle was symbolic both of the Emperor's romantic chivalrous inclinations and his fear for his life. Interested in the high spirit of European knights, he gave shelter in Russia to the Order of Malta when its members lost their island to the troops of Napoleon . Paul's decision was unusual, given known rivalry between their Roman Catholic and his Russian Orthodox Church. He temporarily served as their Grand Master, and

1728-712: The Democratic Republic of Congo and Myanmar, inter alia. In 2023, more than half its income was from the Government of Germany. The current membership of Malteser International consists of 27 National Associations and Priories of the Order of Malta. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, South Sudan, Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries, South Sudan, Ministry of Education and Instruction, South Sudan, Ministry of Health, Nigeria, Ministry of Health, Uganda, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, South Sudan and Ministry of Women Affairs, Nigeria are among

1800-525: The Fontanka River four years later, the river became so much cleaner that its name was changed from Muya to "Moyka", the latter from the Russian verb "to wash". With the spread of cars and services for them in post-Soviet Russia, the Russian word Мойка has become a common sight unconnected to the river as it very often means (car)wash, which may confuse foreign tourists. In 1736, the first Moyka quay

1872-534: The General Chapter elected to six-year terms on the Sovereign Council the same four members Francis had appointed the previous September and six of the nine Councillors he had named. On 19 June 2023, Pope Francis named Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda to succeed Burke as patron. The proceedings of the Order are governed by its Constitutional Charter and Code. The Prince and Grand Master

1944-895: The Grand Hospitaller and the Receiver of the Common Treasure), the five Councilors of the Council of the Professed Knights, and four Councilors. The Council of the Professed Knights "assists the Grand Master in the spiritual care of the Order and in the governance of the First and Second Class". It includes the Grand Master (or Lieutenant), the Grand Commander, and five Councilors elected by

2016-549: The Grand Masters Fra' Angelo de Mojana di Cologna (1962–88) and Fra' Andrew Bertie (1988–2008), the projects expanded. In February 2013, the Order celebrated the 900th anniversary of its papal recognition with a general audience with Pope Benedict XVI and a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in Saint Peter's Basilica . The order has 95, 000 volunteers. It has major cooperation with Alliance of

2088-590: The Knights were religious, bound by the three monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience . The constitution of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem during the Crusades obliged the order to take on the military defence of the sick, the pilgrims, and the captured territories. The order thus added the task of defending the faith to that of its hospitaller mission. As time went on, the order adopted

2160-463: The Maltese in the west were forced to surrender. Napoleon opened negotiations with the fortress capital of Valletta. Faced with vastly superior French forces and the loss of western Malta, the Grand Master negotiated a surrender to the invasion. Hompesch left Malta for Trieste on 18 June. He resigned as Grand Master on 6 July 1799. The knights were dispersed, though the Order continued to exist in

2232-763: The Order ruled four islands in the Caribbean . On 21 May 1651 it acquired the islands of Saint Barthélemy , Saint Christopher , Saint Croix and Saint Martin . These were purchased from the French Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique which had just been dissolved. In 1665, the four islands were sold to the French West India Company . In 1798, Napoleon led the French occupation of Malta . Napoleon demanded from Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim that his ships be allowed to enter

Moyka - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-511: The Order were given to representatives of different Langues . In 1523, after six months of siege and fierce combat against the fleet and army of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent , the walls collapsed from undermining explosives, and by a negotiated surrender the Knights left Rhodes carrying their arms. The Order remained without a territory of its own until 1530, when Grand Master Fra' Philippe de Villiers de l'Isle Adam took possession of

2376-471: The Order – sidelining the Order's Cardinal Patron Raymond Burke – until the election of a new Grand Master. The pope effectively taking control over the Order was seen by some as a break with tradition and the Order's independence. In May 2017, the Order named Mauro Bertero Gutiérrez, a Bolivian member of the Government Council, to lead its constitutional reform process. In June 2017, in

2448-452: The Order's works is rectangular with a red background upon which there is a white eight-pointed Maltese cross . The Grand Master displays a rectangular flag with a red background upon which there is a white eight-pointed Maltese cross, encircled by the Collar of the Order and surmounted by a crown. The coat of arms of the Order, gules a cross argent (a white/silver cross on a red field),

2520-489: The Order, reiterating the responsibilities of that office as his sole representative. On 3 September 2022, Pope Francis promulgated the new constitution of the Order and made provisional appointments to the Sovereign Council; he scheduled a convocation of the Extraordinary General Chapter for 25 January 2023, when regular appointments can be made in place of his provisional ones. On 26 January,

2592-561: The Order. By the early 19th century, the Order was severely weakened by the loss of its priories throughout Europe. Only 10% of the order's income came from traditional sources in Europe, with the remaining 90% being generated by the Russian Grand Priory until 1810. This was partly reflected in the government of the Order being under Lieutenants, rather than Grand Masters, in the period 1805 to 1879, when Pope Leo XIII restored

2664-511: The Orders of Saint John of Jerusalem They monitor breaches having set up a Unrecognised Orders Monitoring Group . In Germany, in daughter societies of both organisations there was alleged, that there was not much concern about racism by staff in the early 2020s. Malteser Auslandsdienst ( Malteser Foreign Service ) is an organisation from Germany active in several European countries as well as South Africa, Chile and Russia. Malteser Aid Service

2736-577: The ancient Marine Republic of Amalfi obtained from the Caliph of Egypt the authorisation to build a church, convent, and hospital in Jerusalem, to care for pilgrims of any religious faith or race. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem – the monastic community that ran the hospital for the pilgrims in the Holy Land – became independent under the guidance of its founder, the religious brother Gerard . With

2808-531: The building under Paul's third son, Alexander's successor Emperor Nicholas I of Russia , and the edifice became also known as Engineers' Castle. Occupied then by various Soviet institutions like the Central Naval Library, now the Castle is part of Russian Museum , has been repaired and holds national exhibitions of art connected with history of Russia. Next to the Castle, on the Fontanka over

2880-784: The country. During the seventeen years that separated the seizure of Malta and the General Peace, "the formality of electing a brother Chief to discharge the office of Grand Master , and thus to preserve the vitality of the Sovereign Institute, was duty attended to". The office of Lieutenant of the Magistery and ad interim of Grand Master was held by the Grand Baillies Field Marshal Counto Soltikoff , Giovanni Tommasi , De Gaevera , Giovanni y Centelles , De Candida and

2952-509: The defense of the Christian world required the organization of a naval force, so the Order built a powerful fleet and sailed the eastern Mediterranean , fighting battles for the sake of Christendom , including Crusades in Syria and Egypt . In the early 14th century, the institutions of the Order and the knights who came to Rhodes from every corner of Europe were grouped according to

Moyka - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-511: The details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 211675941 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:42:48 GMT Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta ( SMOM ), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta , and commonly known as the Order of Malta or

3096-412: The event of permanent impediment, resignation or death of the Grand Master, the Order is governed by a Lieutenant ad interim in the person of the Grand Commander, who can only perform acts of ordinary administration without making any innovations." If it is not possible to elect a Grand Master, a Lieutenant of the Grand Master is elected, who has the same powers as the Grand Master with the exception of

3168-722: The field was used to bury the casualties of the revolutionary events, and in the Soviet times this part was made into the Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution , a memorial of granite slabs inscribed with dedications to the heroes by the Bolshevik Government Secretary for Education Anatoly Lunacharskiy , and a gas burner eternal flame was placed in the middle. Many cultivars of lilac were planted in

3240-451: The foundation and planning of the new Russian capital in the lands of Saint Petersburg, the victorious Peter I of Russia made this land plot into a gridlined garden where he placed for the first time in Russian history multiple imported statues of Greek and Roman mythology characters and had his Summer Palace built here following Dutch examples he had seen and liked on his grand tour of Europe . The Summer Garden and Palace, as well as

3312-480: The guard let conspirators pass as the latter included senior supervising officers. After him the Castle was virtually neglected by the royal family of his eldest son and heir Alexander I of Russia and was used as a shared living space by some of the Imperial household until it was converted into a Military Engineering School whose cadets included the future writer Fyodor Dostoevsky . The cadets studied and lived in

3384-681: The island for more than three months during the Great Siege by the Ottomans . The fleet of the Order contributed to the ultimate destruction of the Ottoman naval power in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, led by John of Austria , half brother of King Philip II of Spain . The Reformation , which split Western Europe into Protestant and Catholic states, affected the knights as well. In several countries, including England, Scotland, and Sweden,

3456-415: The island of Malta , granted to the order by Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and his mother Queen Joanna of Castile as monarchs of Sicily, with the approval of Pope Clement VII , for which the order had to honour the conditions of the Tribute of the Maltese Falcon . In 1565, the Knights, led by Grand Master Fra' Jean de Valette (after whom the capital of Malta, Valletta , was named), defended

3528-404: The languages they spoke. The first seven such groups, or Langues (Tongues) – from Provence , Auvergne , France , Italy , Aragon ( Navarre ), England (with Scotland and Ireland), and Germany – became eight in 1492, when Castile and Portugal were separated from the Langue of Aragon. Each Langue included Priories or Grand Priories, Bailiwicks , and Commanderies . The Order

3600-417: The late 18th and in 19th centuries it was used for Emperors' military parades of the regiments quartered in the city as the capital of the country. Before that, the once marshy ground had been drained with canals and turned into a public meadow with amusements. When turned to military use, the ground was decorated with two monuments to victorious Russian Field Marshals of the second half of 18th century. One of

3672-440: The loss of Malta. After having temporarily resided in Messina, Catania and Ferrara , the seat of the order was moved to Ferrara in 1826 and to Rome in 1834. The Magistral Palace in Via Condotti 68 and the Magistral Villa on the Aventine Hill enjoy extraterritorial status. The grand priories of Lombardy-Venetia and of Sicily were restored from 1839 to 1841. The office of Grand Master was restored by Pope Leo XIII in 1879, after

SECTION 50

#1732779768172

3744-410: The main activity of the order, growing ever stronger during the 20th century, most especially because of the contribution of the activities carried out by the Grand Priories and National Associations in many countries around the world. Large-scale hospitaller and charitable activities were carried out during World Wars I and II under Grand Master Fra' Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere (1931–1951). Under

3816-408: The memorials - an obelisk to Count Pyotr Rumyantsev - was later moved to a dedicated smaller Rumyantsev Garden in Vassiliyevskiy Island , while the other, the Suvorov Monument depicting Count Alexander Suvorov as Mars , now on Suvorov Square at the other end of the field, facing Trinity Bridge . After the February 1917 democratic revolution that destroyed the Russian autocracy , part of

3888-443: The nearby Saint Michael's Castle and Garden, in post-Soviet Russia became branches of the national treasury of domestic art the Russian Museum and can be visited. The Summer Garden was mentioned by Alexander Pushkin both as his frequent place for pleasant walks, and as destination for childhood walks with a French governor of his classical for Russian literature novel in verse protagonist Eugene Onegin . The garden's Moyka fence

3960-408: The order aids victims of natural disasters , epidemics and war. The Order maintains diplomatic relations with 113 states, enters into treaties, and issues its own passports , coins and postage stamps. Its two headquarters buildings in Rome enjoy extraterritoriality, and it maintains embassies in other countries. The three principal officers are counted as citizens. Although the Order has been

4032-446: The order dissolved. In others, including the Netherlands and Germany, entire bailiwicks or commanderies (administrative divisions of the order) experienced Protestant conversions; these " Johanniter orders " survive in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden and many other countries, including the United States and South Africa. It was established that the order should remain neutral in any war between Christian nations. From 1651 to 1665,

4104-411: The partners of Malteser International. The German Federal Foreign Office has started a campaign on forgotten crises, with other organisation including Save the Children and SOS Children's Villages. The Order experienced a leadership crisis beginning in December 2016, when Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager protested his removal as Grand Chancellor by Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing . Von Boeselager

4176-442: The playwright Alexander Griboyedov. Next to the garden there stands a brightly coloured tall church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood . This place of worship and now a museum was built in a traditional Russian style to mark the canalside spot on which Emperor Alexander II who had in 1861 abolished serfdom was on 1 March 1881, assassinated by terrorists from the Narodnaya Volya movement. The Mikhailovsky Garden's western side

4248-465: The port and to take on water and supplies. The Grand Master replied that only two foreign ships could be allowed to enter the port at a time. Bonaparte, aware that such a procedure would take a long time and leave his forces vulnerable to British Admiral Horatio Nelson , immediately ordered a cannon fusillade against Malta. The French soldiers disembarked in Malta at seven points on the morning of 11 June and attacked. After several hours of fierce fighting,

4320-401: The prerogatives of honour pertaining to a sovereign. Both the Lieutenant ad interim and the Lieutenant of the Grand Master are styled Eccellenza ( Excellency ). The Sovereign Council is the primary governing body of the Order that handles regular business. The members are the Grand Master (or Lieutenant), the holders of the four High Officers (the Grand Commander, the Grand Chancellor,

4392-560: The square while the neoclassical stable also runs along the Moyka. The 18th-century estate of Count Razumovsky with its palace and outbuildings was converted towards the end of the century into a royal charity - an orphanage that for the first time in national history gave shelter to children born out of wedlock, whose mothers could anonymously leave them in a basket supervised by the gatekeeper. They were nurtured and given general and vocational training and, if born to serfs, were set free from submission to landlords of their parents. Its mascot

SECTION 60

#1732779768172

4464-462: The square. In post-Soviet Russia the rest of the field has seen a number of public political rallies . Mikhailovsky Garden is across the Moyka from the Field of Mars and across Sadovaya ("Garden") Street. It is a 19th-century landscape garden , whose southern part meets the garden façade of Mikhailovsky Palace facing Arts Square not far from the city's main street Nevsky Prospect . The Palace, built for Paul I's fourth son Grand Duke Mikhail ,

4536-455: The treaty that quickly grew in the United Kingdom. Bonaparte 's rejection of a British offer involving a ten-year lease of Malta prompted the reactivation of the British blockade of the French coast; Britain declared war on France on 18 May. The 1802 treaty was never implemented. The United Kingdom resumed hostilities citing France's imperialist policies in the West Indies , Italy, and Switzerland. The Congress of Vienna of 1815 confirmed

4608-410: The water near the source of Moyka, stands a miniature statue Chizhik-Pyzhik of a little bird siskin across the river from the 19th-century Emperor's Law School, whose students' uniforms' colour matched the bird's colouration. On the right bank of Moyka across the Swan Canal from the Summer Garden lies a large open square named the Field of Mars after the Roman mythology god of war because in

4680-414: The white, eight-pointed Cross that is still its symbol today. The eight points represent the eight beatitudes that Jesus pronounced in his Sermon on the Mount . When the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land fell after the Siege of Acre in 1291, the order settled first in Cyprus . In 1310, led by Grand Master Fra' Foulques de Villaret , the knights regrouped on the island of Rhodes . From there,

4752-436: Was constructed in wood. Four bridges originally spanned the river: the Blue, the Green, the Yellow, and the Red. The 99-metre (325 ft)-wide Blue Bridge, now hardly visible underneath Saint Isaac's Square , remains the widest bridge in the whole city. Magnificent 18th-century edifices lining the Moyka quay include the Stroganov Palace , Razumovsky Palace, Yusupov Palace , New Holland Arch , Saint Michael's Castle , and

4824-453: Was designed by Ludwig Charlemagne . Behind the fence there is a pond on which swans are released in warm season. Across the Moyka from the Summer Garden stands Saint Michael's Castle commissioned in late 18th century for himself by Emperor Paul I of Russia who had been born on this site when it was occupied by another Summer Palace - of his officially childless unmarried aunt Elisabeth I of Russia . Inspired by Western Europe models,

4896-472: Was founded by the order and the German Caritas Association in Germany in 1953. Malteser International has more than 140 projects in 35 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Malteser International is a division of Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V. and based in Cologne, Germany. Malteser International Americas is based in New York, USA. It provides emergency aid. It is active in Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, but also Ukraine, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Kenya, South Sudan,

4968-401: Was governed by its Grand Master, the Prince of Rhodes, and its Council. From its beginning, independence from other nations granted by pontifical charter and the universally recognised right to maintain and deploy armed forces constituted grounds for the international sovereignty of the Order, which minted its own coins and maintained diplomatic relations with other states. The senior positions of

5040-430: Was later in the 19th century converted to the royal museum of the nation's art named after Alexander III with the nationwide ethnographic department. These serve to this day as the Russian Museum and the Russian Ethnographic Museum . The garden's western side with a decorative fence faces another waterway, a canal originally named after Catherine II who commissioned it, but after the 1917 revolution renamed in honour of

5112-431: Was removed after condoms were found to have been distributed by other aid groups in Myanmar as part of a joint charitable project with the order’s Malteser International to help sex slaves protect themselves from AIDS. In January 2017, Pope Francis ordered von Boeselager reinstated and required Festing's resignation. Francis also named Archbishop (later Cardinal) Giovanni Becciu as his personal representative to

5184-408: Was the pelican, once believed to sacrifice itself nursing its young. The bird is now on the crest of the city's large teacher-training university located in the former estate. Giving multilevel higher education at its colleges (faculties and institutes) grouped by school subjects and administrative spheres, in the 1990s it was recognised as having national importance. Named in the Soviet times after

#171828