Catholicism has a discreet but real presence in Russia, carried over the centuries by communities of Polish, German, Lithuanian and other origins, and marked in the urban landscape by churches whose forms stand apart from Orthodox tradition. Tambov, a provincial city in the black-earth belt, has one such church. This programme observes it in 4K, attentive to the difference: a Western silhouette and plan, a nave organised around the altar, benches, stained glass and statuary rather than an icon screen. The film reads the building in its street, follows the interior light, and observes the parish that keeps it alive, its services and its calendar. A short, well-defined title for strands on religious diversity, minority heritage and the sacred architecture of Europe's margins.
