The blood pressure of Moscow’s motorists has dropped to almost safe levels now that the Belt of the Virgin Mary has left town for its home in the Greek monastic complex of Mount Athos. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims had been queuing for weeks to see the relic, understood to be an item of apparel of the Blessed Virgin, and believed to cure barrenness and disorders of women’s health.

The results of the miles-long queues and the bussing in of pilgrims from regional towns and cities has been a series of mammoth traffic jams, the likes of which have not been seen since the arrival of the head of Saint Panteleimon the Healer 11 years ago. The multitudes queued to kiss the ornate box in which the relic is held, but even a glimpse of the reliquary, it is believed, can affect whatever cure the respective believers request.

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