In Irkutsk, ice Jordan fonts are already being prepared on the bay for Epiphany, parishioners clear snow and ice, and architects and IrGTU students are building an ice church, chapels and angel sculptures according to church canons. This year they plan several Jordan fonts for collecting blessed water and washing, and the celebration on January 19 will begin with a morning service, a procession and the rite of water blessing.

As architect and project leader Vadim Semenov said, immediately after the New Year holidays, parishioners of the Alexander Nevsky Church began clearing snow from the ice of the bay and preparing areas for the Jordan crosses. After that, Vadim Semenov’s former students—graduates of the Irkutsk State Technical University School of Architecture, and now professional architects—who have been building architectural forms on the ice of the bay free of charge in accordance with church canons for 9 years, will begin constructing the ice Jordan crosses. Current students of the university’s School of Architecture are also involved in the construction. All work is being carried out in coordination with the Committee for the Administration of the Sverdlovsky District and the Irkutsk Metropolis.
At present, the access roads and parking areas have been completely cleared. It is planned to build a three-altar ice church, three chapels and two angel sculptures, as well as three Jordan crosses for drawing consecrated water, 25 meters long, and four six-meter-long ones with handrails and steps—for ablutions.
For the first time, bathing in an ice hole on the Orthodox feast of Epiphany was held in Irkutsk in 2001. Then, as now, the initiator of the event was the director of the Irkutsk Folk Drama Theater, Honored Artist of Russia and Honored Worker of the Arts of Russia Mikhail Kornev. For 13 years he has been supported by the rector of the Alexander Nevsky Church, Archpriest Mark. Thirteen years ago, the Jordan cross was built by actors of the Folk Drama Theater, and there was only one of them, without architectural embellishments, and there were no more than 50 visitors. Now the Epiphany celebration on the bay is a citywide event held with the participation of the head of the local Orthodox Church—Metropolitan Vadim of Irkutsk and Angarsk.
At the Alexander Nevsky Church, on January 19 in the morning, the festive service will traditionally begin at 11 o’clock. Then the parishioners will proceed in a cross procession to the Jordan cross, where Metropolitan Vadim will conduct the rite of blessing the water, after which baptisms will take place, and only then will it be possible to draw the water and immerse oneself in it.
Based on materials from the press service of the Irkutsk City Duma