Russian cultural heritage register
Encyclopedia
The national cultural heritage register of Russia
is a data bank
of historically or culturally significant man-made immovable properties
– landmark buildings, industrial facilities, memorial homes of notable people of the past, monuments, cemeteries and tombs, archaeological site
s, and cultural landscape
s – man-made environments and natural habitat
s significantly altered by humans. Current federal register continues a tradition established in 1947 and is governed by a 2002 law "On the objects of cultural heritage (monuments of culture and history)" (Law 73-FZ). The register is maintained by the Federal Service for Monitoring Compliance with Cultural Heritage Legislation
(a branch of the federal Ministry of Culture); publicly available online database is hosted by the Ministry of Culture. Its primary purpose is to aggregate the inventory of regional heritage registers maintained by the federal subjects of Russia
, monitor present state of the heritage objects and compliance with relevant laws.
Legal framework of the register, as of May 2009, remains incomplete, and the register itself is not yet matched to lists of protected buildings maintained by regional and municipal authorities. It includes around 100 thousand items while the local lists sum up in excess of 140 thousand. 42 thousand listed properties are rated as federal (national) landmarks, the rest are of regional or local significance. Ministry of Culture admits the fact that many items on federal and regional register have already been destroyed.
Natural landmarks and reserves (apart from cultural landscapes), movable art, archives, museum and library collections are not part of the register and are governed by different laws and government agencies. A different listing, State Code of Particularly Valuable Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Russian Federation, created in 1992, includes the most conspicuous man-made landmarks as well as operating institutions: museums, archives, theatres, universities and academies.
go back to 1805, when Alexander I
demanded state protection of archaeological sites on the recently conquered
Black Sea
coast. These Greek
, Genoan
and Tatar
relics in sparsely populated steppe
s were regularly looted by treasure hunters
. In 1821 minister Alexander Golitsyn limited the scope of protection to Greek and Genoan heritage and denied protection to Tatar and Ottoman buildings. Requirements for a thoroughly scientific heritage reqister were formulated in 1823 by Ivan Stempkovsky, and effectively enforced by governor Vorontsov
.
In 1826 emperor Nicholas I
decreed compilation of Russia's first nation-wide register of architectural "antiquities". The decree prohibited demolition of historical "castles, fortresses and other ancient buildings", imposed local governors' responsibity for their preservation, and required them to compile lists of notable local properties, backed by archive research, and where qualified architects were available, by proper architectural drawings of their facade
s and floorplans. Churches were omitted from the decree, – Nicholas at that time did not want to interfere with clergy; a similar but less strict decree on religious heritage was issued in 1828.
Nicholas did not explain what, specifically, constitutes protected buildings, so initial responses from the provinces listed both pre-petrine
buildings and contemporary neoclassical
landmarks. Within the 1830s official and public understanding of "antiquities" was narrowed to Russia's "indigenous" art of pre-petrine periods; baroque
and neoclassicism of the 18th century, regarded as recent foreign influence, were exempt from state regulations. Recognition of these styles as national heritage did not occur until the Russian neoclassical revival
of early 1900s.
The first regional register (album) of listed buildings was published in 1830 in Novgorod (including the relics of Belozersk
). In 1839 Andrey Glagolev published "Russian Fortresses", in 1844–1846 Ivan Pushkarev published four volumes on the Northern Russian heritage. Professional studies of ancient architecture did not gain momemtum until the 1840s, when the country accumulated a critical mass of architects trained in restoration projects in Italy
and France
at the expense of the Imperial Academy of Arts
. Materials on Kievan Rus relics collected in 1820s–1834, compiled by Konstantin Thon
, contributed to the formulation of the official Russo-Byzantine style of 1830s–1850s. Eventually the compilation duties were delegated to the Russian Archaeological Society, established in 1846–1849.
The building code
of 1857 separated responsibility for preservation of historical buildings (17th century and earlier) depending on property type. State properties were now governed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, their restoration financed by local taxes. Restoration of churches in the cities had to be approved by the Holy Synod
, restoration of country churches by local bishop
, with prior consent of a civilian city architect. Private properties remained largely unregulated. An Imperial Archeological Commission, established in 1859, was tasked with maintenance of the national heritage register; however, it was never properly financed to do the job.
(1856–1881) the dominant policy shifted from preservation of buildings to recreation of their perceived, frequently illusionary, "original" looks. The change was influenced by Western European experience, particularly works by Jonathan Smith and Viollet-le-Duc
, as well as domestic political unrest. After the 1863 uprising in Poland
Alexander launched a campaign of reintroducing Orthodoxy
into Western provinces, including restoration of ruined Orthodox churches. To help formulate the new canon, Grigory Gagarin
(vice-president of the Archaeological Society) instituted a special commission for "the studies of Russian, and Orthodox in general, monuments of the Western Territory". In less than ten years the commission catalogued the Orhodox heritage of western Ukraine
, Lithuania
and Congress Poland
, paying special attention to churches initially built as Orthodox and later converted to Catholicism
; these were repossessed and eventually rebuilt to Orthodox canon.
In the second half of 1860s Gagarin and count Alexey Uvarov finally solved the problem of managing the national register; in particular, Uvarov is credited with establishment of the non-governmental Moscow Archaeological Society (1869), a professional institution that literally "kept the nation's records" and was the public watchdog for preservation until the October Revolution
. It also tried to secure an exclusive right to approve or veto
any changes to listed buildings, but failed; in 1874 these rights were granted to an Imperial Commission composed of members of Archaeological Societies, the Holy Synod, Russian Academy of Sciences
and the Academy of Arts. In the same year the state finally formulated the legal meaning of architectural landmark and ensured equal protection for church and civil properties.
Register compiled by Archaeological Societies was augmented by regional catalogues published by amateurs like Nikolay Naidenov, author of the four-volume "Moscow Cathedrals, Monasteries and Churches" (1883–1888). Amateurs were not bound by the official borderline between "antiquities" and modernity
, and thus preserved all-inclusive snapshots of their period. In the 1890s protection was gradually extended to selected buildings of the 18th century, however, their classification as heritage remained debatable until the 1900s. Empire style buildings of late 18th and 19th century were placed on the register shortly before World War I
through the efforts of Ivan Mashkov
, Ilya Bondarenko
of Moscow Architectural Society and the Saint Petersburg school of Russian neoclassical revival
.
, Bolshevik
administration has not yet forged its policy on culture; it was outwardly hostile to religion and "alien" classes, at the same time allowing preservationists to have a say in daily life of Soviet cities. The same person, Vladimir Lenin
, decreed destruction of tsarist monument and looting of church properties, and at the same time authorized maintenance of cultural heritage registers. In the early 1920s the government supported conversion of significant historical buildings into public museums. Notable preservationists like Petr Baranovsky
, Ilya Bondarenko and Petr Sytin took over nationalized landmarks for museums of local "people's heritage" and managed to delay their destruction and keep the record of surviving local heritage.
However, in the second half of 1920s the policy reversed to outward denial of the heritage and shutting down "redundant" local museums. With the change in values imposed by communist ideology
, tradition of preservation was broken. Independent preservationist societies, even those that defended only secular landmarks, like Moscow-based OIRU, were disbanded by the end of 1920s. A new anti-religious campaign, launched in 1929, coincided with forced collectivization
of peasants; destruction of churches in the cities peaked around 1932.
Rise of stalinist architecture
had dual consequences. On one hand, gigantic reconstruction plans demanded demolition of anything caught in the way. In Moscow, the new plans resulted in reducing the heritage register from 474 items in 1925 to just 74 in 1935; national RSFSR register shrunk from 3 thousands to 1,200. On the other hand, establishment of the Academy of Architecture marginally improved attitude towards the heritage; the Academy provided a new, politically correct forum for the preservationists. In 1940 the Academy compiled its own list of top priority landmarks and assessed the damages, but comprehensive national or even regional heritage registers did not reapper until after World War II
. The few landmarks set aside by the planners of 1930s remained protected and restored until the German invasion
.
Losses of World War II
, conservatively estimated at 3,000 landmarks, and a wartime shift in favor of nationalist
ideology
raised the politicians' attention to the problems of surviving national heritage. In 1947 Council of Ministers of the RSFSR approved the new comprehensive list of more than 600 top priority buildings and ensembles. Detailed legal instruction on recordkeeping and protection followed in 1948.
The 1947 decree limited the scope of protected buildings to "ancient Russian" art, although the register also included singular objects of Muslim
culture (Khan's Mosque
of the Bakhchisaray Palace
and the fortress of Derbent
), and many 19th century buildings. More than half of listed buildings were located in the historical northern lands of the former Novgorod Republic
and Vladimir Rus, with a substantial share of vernacular
wooden architecture. Novgorod and Pskov
, largely destroyed during the war, were rather successfully restored.
Registers for the other republics of the Union and the cities of Leningrad
and Moscow
were developed independently (Moscow, in particular, benefited from its 800 year anniversary celebrated in 1947). Religious buildings dominated the registers, a consequence of a "conciliatory" policy toward Russian Orthodox Church that was practiced in the last decade of Joseph Stalin
's tenure.
launched his own anti-religious campaign of 1959–1964. By 1964 over 10 thousand churches out of 20 thousand were shut down (mostly in rural areas), many demolished. Of 58 monasteries and convents operating in 1959, only sixteen remained by 1964; of Moscow's fifty churches operating in 1959, thirty were closed and six of them demolished. As a consequence, the 1960 register also suffered reductions, notably in 1963 when authorities struck Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
and other landmarks. Destruction reached into Moscow Kremlin
when the Palace of Congresses
replaced the "old" buildings of the Kremlin Armoury
. In an unrelated move, in 1956, Khrushchev shut down the Academy of Architecture, an established venue for restorators
and historians of architecture, literally pushing professionals out into the streets.
Khrushchev's campaign backfired with an unexpected result, a rise in public attention to national, particularly religious, heritage and to dismal state of ecology
. In March, 1962 a group of intellectuals published a bitter article on the destruction of old Moscow in Moskva monthly; official Pravda
responded with harsh criticism in May. A public call to establish an independent watchdog society was just as harshly rejected. Two years later and six months before Khrushchev's fall from power, the first truly independent preservation society, Rodina, was founded in Moscow by Petr Baranovsky
; barely tolerated by authorities, Rodina survived into early 1970s.
, Sergey Konenkov
and Leonid Leonov
published a call to stop destruction of churches and, literally, "preserve our sacred places". Two months later, in an apparent reversal of Khrushchev's past, the state announced creation of VOOPIK - a national preservation society controlled by the state. However, preparation to its founding congress demonstrated that the state actually intended to create a helpless front. It subordinated VOOPIK to Party
bureaucrats and denied it the right to publish own journal. Disillusioned preservation advocates (Vladimir Soloukhin
, Ilya Glazunov
) moved to a public forum of Molodaya Gvardiya
magazine, shaping a new, nationalist, version of Russian history
that sharply contradicted the official doctrine
.
Nevertheless, VOOPIK provided forum to preservationists; discussions inside VOOPIK eventually led to legitimisation of previously suppressed nationalist
issues; the dues paid by 15 million of "mandatory volunteers" financed actual restoration projects. The society contributed to the heritage register but was never entrusted to actually manage it. In 1974 government of the RSFSR produced a wider, and stable, version of the national register, reversing the reductions of 1960s. In 1978 new practices of monitoring the national heritage were formulated in a new national and republican laws "On protection and usage of monuments of history and culture".
In reality, all landmarks were informally split into two groups. The most conspicuous ones, the tourist showcases, were largely untouchable and barely maintained; the rest were left to rot without proper maintenance. Sometimes these dilapidated buildings fell prey to one-off "cleanup" campaigns like those that preceded the 1972 state visit by Richard Nixon
or the 1980 Summer Olympics
, sometimes to the urban renewal programs inherited from Stalin's master plans. Between 1965 and 1984, Moscow’s preservation budget increased from 2 to 25 million roubles, or still less than 0.5% of the city’s capital construction budget. Meager financing forced the authorities to lock down the heritage register in its 1974 version. In Moscow it stabilized at about 1,200 buildings (1974) while about 1,100 new applications were rejected. 2,200 Moscow landmarks (mostly unlisted) disappeared during Leonid Brezhnev
’s tenure (although only three of them were Orthodox churches).
In June 1978 Party executive Mikhail Solomentsev
attempted to appease public opposition, declaring preservation of heritage a high priority for the Party, and voiced full support for VOOPIK. The message fell on deaf ears amidst everyday examples of neglect and ruin; Soloukhin wrote: "My book could have contained not four essays but twenty four. I suspect, however, that the effect would have been the same". The policy of empty declarations continued in 1982, when Dmitry Likhachev
reported in Ogonyok
that actual RSFSR heritage register must be expanded three times, to at least 180 thousand items. The Ministry of Culture immediately concurred with the new estimate and ordered restoration of the buildings pinpointed by Likhachev, yet no actual work was done. Last years of the Soviet Union brought no improvement; in 1986 even hard-line communist Yegor Ligachev
had to admit in public that "destruction of central Moscow has become a political issue" and praised the efforts of preservationists.
The brief period of perestroika
that preceded the fall of the Union did not change the situation radically, apart from the fact that the Church was gradually allowed to repossess its former properties. Takeover incited conflicts, especially where the churches were occupied by public institutions (as was the case of Yaroslavl
Museum of Art, subject of a bitter public campaign of 1990–1993). First modernist
buildings were listed on the register in 1987; by 1990 protection was granted to all Moscow buildings designed by Konstantin Melnikov
.
approved a new, expanded federal heritage register. The new version suffered from inconsistencies influenced by regional politics: for example, numerous residential buildings in Kirov Oblast
were granted federal protection, while similar buildings elsewhere were considered local, or at best regional, places of interest. It also inherited most of errors already present in the 1974 register.
Public affection to surviving heritage remained strong: "Any American preservationist would be jealous of the importance assigned to historic preservation by contemporary residents of Yaroslavl
", but failed to check the rapid construction boom that destroyed thousands of historical buildings. Moscow losses of 1900–2006 are estimated at over 640 notable buildings (including 150 to 200 listed buildings, out of a total inventory of 3,500) – some disappeared completely, others were replaced with concrete
replicas while still listed as genuine historical buildings. Only a few cases of destruction (not backed by local authorities) reached the court the law; wherever possible, interested developers succeed in delisting target buildings prior to demolition. As "ethical reference points were swept aside by a torrent of money", former Minister of Culture Alexander Sokolov described the situation as "bacchanalia
of uncoordinated construction".
City of Moscow reduced restoration budget from 150 million pound sterling
in 1989 to barely 8 million in 2004 and at the same time elevated replacement of old buildings with modern replicas to a policy level. In May 2004 mayor Yury Luzhkov defended the policy in Izvestia
, saying that "In Moscow culture, the notion of a replica sometimes has no lesser meaning than the original had. Meaningful historical and cultural 'load' carried by the replica is frequently richer and wider than the original architect's solution." . Rebuilding is cheaper than restoration and increases rentable space. The same attitude of the decision-makers has been recorded in other towns and studied in Yaroslavl
by Blair Ruble. Ruble identified growing social separation between advocates of preservation and the decision-makers: the latter are "among the least identified with the need to preserve", not in the least because the affluent ruling class chooses suburban lifestyle, out of touch with the city.
Federal law "On the objects of cultural heritage (monuments of culture and history)", enacted in June 2002, defines these objects as either standalone buildings or monuments with adjacent territories, or ensembles of buildings, or "notable places" (cultural landscape
s, including historical urban districts and major archaeological sites). A registered object (or a historical event that is key to object's notability) must be at least forty years old; memorial home of a notable person may be registered immediately upon that person's death.
Depending on their significance, objects of cultural heritage are assigned to either federal, regional or local (municipal) level (archaeological sites are automatically assigned to federal level). Top priority federal objects (including all World Heritage Site
s) form a special subset of "most valuable" objects. They are listed in a separate State Code of Particularly Valuable Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Russian Federation which, in addition to immovable properties, also includes active institutions (theaters, museums, universities, libraries and archives). "Particularly valuable" objects, by definition, are federal state properties, however, in December 2008 Pavlovsk
and Gatchina
palaces, part of a World Heritage Site
, became municipal property of the city of Saint Petersburg. Privatization
of lesser landmarks controlled by the federal government, put on hold in early 1990s, was finally allowed in 2008. However, privatization auctions did not catch investors' interest and only about 250 objects changed hands in 2008. Regional listed properties were regularly privatized throughout the 1990s.
New properties are listed through a two-tier procedure. In case of regional and local properties, the regional branch of Rosokhrankultura
collects all relevant information and issues a recommendation to the regional government; then, actual listing is promulgated by a decree of regional government. Professional preservationist organizations, usually, have significant influence at the early stages of the process, but are barely mentioned in the law. Regional legislators and municipal authorities are excluded from the loop altogether. The federal register was intended to track and incorporate any changes in regional registers, but in real life (as of 2009) it still has to happen.
Lower-level authorities have very limited rights, for example, municipalities cannot declare their own objects of cultural heritage; instead, they must apply to Rosokhrankultura representatives. Federal authorities can reclassify any object of regional or municipal significance as a federal landmark.
Perhaps worse for the actual heritage is the fact that regional governments can not legally finance restoration of federal-level buildings unless they are specifically mentioned in jointly-financed federal target programs. The law allows financing "preservation" which, in Russian legalese, excludes capital investment in restoration. Until January 1, 2008 even this "preservation" was not allowed; at best, regions were allowed to set up independent charities and rally for private donations. This is particularly important for the city of Saint Petersburg
and its suburbs, where an overwhelming majority of notable buildings are rated at federal level. Municipal authorities are still not allowed to finance restoration of regional and federal properties, but under the present Tax Code
they don't have funds for it anyway.
. Local zoning
regulations, once imposed by municipal authorities, can be just as easily lifted in favor of "important" projects. In Saint Petersburg, city heritage commissioner attempted to enforce demolition of an addition to a building on Moika Embankment that wrecked the skyline of this protected neighborhood. However, the building itself was not listed, and the no sanctions were ever imposed; city architect and other involved executives upheld the developer's interests. Meanwhile, the city governor has approved construction of Gazprom
's 400-meter Okhta Center
while the outline of Palace Square
has been deformed by highrise built behind the former General Staff building
; the latter incursion against a World Heritage Site
has also been supported by city architect. In Moscow, the southward view from Red Square
was similarly deformed in 2005 by a 162 meter tall Swissotel
tower.
printshop) reduce them to ruins.
and Smolny Palace) as federal property and 243 as city property; ownership of Peter and Paul Fortress
was split. The last batch of 90 buildings (the most potentially profitable, rentable properties) were split in May 2009. As a result, after 680 objects were assigned to the city and 424 to federal authorities, at the end of May 2009 Saint Petersburg has only 13 listed buildings, all former churches, including Saint Isaac's Cathedral
and Church of the Savior on Blood
, in legal limbo
. But the city also has over 3,000 "newly found" historical buildings on the waiting list of local heritage commission; they will be either listed or demolished.
Moscow, as of July 2009, has around 2,500 historical buildings waiting for inclusion into the heritage register, including five buildings by Fyodor Schechtel
and St. Andrew's Anglican Church
. Around 500 buildings on this list are expected to be denied protection of any kind.
advocates; general public identifies the bulk of avant-garde architecture with bland Soviet industrial past devoid of Russian national character and is indifferent to its future. According to Anna Bronovitskaya, "Modernist aesthetics
have never recovered from Stalin's denouncement... the public remains very conservative in its tastes." Russian restorators have no experience in handling concrete structures, making restoration itself is a threat to their survival, unless the investor hires German restorators. Prejudice against real or perceived poor construction quality of interwar period
favors radical rebuilding initiatives. As a result, far more avant-garde buildings perished in modern Russia than in socialist Soviet Union; the art of 20th century "have proved to be the most vulnerable and poorly defended".
Moscow Heritage Commission is split on the heritage value of mainstream constructivist and rationalist architecture
. Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov denounced the "flat-faced architecture"; chief architect of Moscow has spoken against preservation of functional midrise housing built in 1920s and 1930s, saying that "they are doomed"; some of these blocks have been condemned for demolition. Nevertheless, in 2008 Moscow alone has listed 114 "newly identified" buildings of this period.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
is a data bank
Data bank
In telecommunications, a data bank is a repository of information on one or more subjects that is organized in a way that facilitates local or remote information retrieval. A data bank may be either centralized or decentralized...
of historically or culturally significant man-made immovable properties
Immovable property
Immovable property is an immovable object, an item of property that cannot be moved without destroying or altering it - property that is fixed to the Earth, such as land or a house. In the United States it is also commercially and legally known as real estate and in Britain as property...
– landmark buildings, industrial facilities, memorial homes of notable people of the past, monuments, cemeteries and tombs, archaeological site
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
s, and cultural landscape
Cultural landscape
Cultural Landscapes have been defined by the World Heritage Committee as distinct geographical areas or properties uniquely "..represent[ing] the combined work of nature and of man.."....
s – man-made environments and natural habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s significantly altered by humans. Current federal register continues a tradition established in 1947 and is governed by a 2002 law "On the objects of cultural heritage (monuments of culture and history)" (Law 73-FZ). The register is maintained by the Federal Service for Monitoring Compliance with Cultural Heritage Legislation
Rosokhrankultura
Rosokhrankultura , full name: Federal Service for monitoring compliance with cultural heritage protection law , is a state agency of Russia responsible for keeping the national register of cultural heritage, enforcing preservation of listed properties through monitoring compliance with preservation...
(a branch of the federal Ministry of Culture); publicly available online database is hosted by the Ministry of Culture. Its primary purpose is to aggregate the inventory of regional heritage registers maintained by the federal subjects of Russia
Federal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...
, monitor present state of the heritage objects and compliance with relevant laws.
Legal framework of the register, as of May 2009, remains incomplete, and the register itself is not yet matched to lists of protected buildings maintained by regional and municipal authorities. It includes around 100 thousand items while the local lists sum up in excess of 140 thousand. 42 thousand listed properties are rated as federal (national) landmarks, the rest are of regional or local significance. Ministry of Culture admits the fact that many items on federal and regional register have already been destroyed.
Natural landmarks and reserves (apart from cultural landscapes), movable art, archives, museum and library collections are not part of the register and are governed by different laws and government agencies. A different listing, State Code of Particularly Valuable Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Russian Federation, created in 1992, includes the most conspicuous man-made landmarks as well as operating institutions: museums, archives, theatres, universities and academies.
Early records (1805–1861)
Local heritage registers in the Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
go back to 1805, when Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
demanded state protection of archaeological sites on the recently conquered
Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca
The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed on 21 July 1774, in Küçük Kaynarca , Dobruja between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the...
Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast. These Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, Genoan
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
and Tatar
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
relics in sparsely populated steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
s were regularly looted by treasure hunters
Treasure hunting
Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure which has been a notable human activity for millennia. -In modern times:In recent times, the early stages of the development of archaeology included a significant aspect of treasure hunt; Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Troy, and later at...
. In 1821 minister Alexander Golitsyn limited the scope of protection to Greek and Genoan heritage and denied protection to Tatar and Ottoman buildings. Requirements for a thoroughly scientific heritage reqister were formulated in 1823 by Ivan Stempkovsky, and effectively enforced by governor Vorontsov
Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov
Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov , was a Russian prince and field-marshal, renowned for his success in the Napoleonic wars, and most famous for his participation in the Caucasian War from 1844 to 1853....
.
In 1826 emperor Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
decreed compilation of Russia's first nation-wide register of architectural "antiquities". The decree prohibited demolition of historical "castles, fortresses and other ancient buildings", imposed local governors' responsibity for their preservation, and required them to compile lists of notable local properties, backed by archive research, and where qualified architects were available, by proper architectural drawings of their facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s and floorplans. Churches were omitted from the decree, – Nicholas at that time did not want to interfere with clergy; a similar but less strict decree on religious heritage was issued in 1828.
Nicholas did not explain what, specifically, constitutes protected buildings, so initial responses from the provinces listed both pre-petrine
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
buildings and contemporary neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
landmarks. Within the 1830s official and public understanding of "antiquities" was narrowed to Russia's "indigenous" art of pre-petrine periods; baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and neoclassicism of the 18th century, regarded as recent foreign influence, were exempt from state regulations. Recognition of these styles as national heritage did not occur until the Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival was a trend in Russian culture, mostly pronounced in architecture, that briefly replaced eclecticism and Art Nouveau as the leading architectural style between the Revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of World War I, coexisting with the Silver Age of Russian Poetry...
of early 1900s.
The first regional register (album) of listed buildings was published in 1830 in Novgorod (including the relics of Belozersk
Belozersk
Belozersk , known as Beloozero until 1777 , is a town and the administrative center of Belozersky District of Vologda Oblast, Russia, situated on the southern bank of Lake Beloye, from which it takes the name...
). In 1839 Andrey Glagolev published "Russian Fortresses", in 1844–1846 Ivan Pushkarev published four volumes on the Northern Russian heritage. Professional studies of ancient architecture did not gain momemtum until the 1840s, when the country accumulated a critical mass of architects trained in restoration projects in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
at the expense of the Imperial Academy of Arts
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, was founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, completed 25 years later in 1789...
. Materials on Kievan Rus relics collected in 1820s–1834, compiled by Konstantin Thon
Konstantin Thon
Konstantin Andreyevich Thon, also spelled Ton was an official architect of Imperial Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. His major works include the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow....
, contributed to the formulation of the official Russo-Byzantine style of 1830s–1850s. Eventually the compilation duties were delegated to the Russian Archaeological Society, established in 1846–1849.
The building code
Building code
A building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. The main purpose of building codes are to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the...
of 1857 separated responsibility for preservation of historical buildings (17th century and earlier) depending on property type. State properties were now governed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, their restoration financed by local taxes. Restoration of churches in the cities had to be approved by the Holy Synod
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod...
, restoration of country churches by local bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
, with prior consent of a civilian city architect. Private properties remained largely unregulated. An Imperial Archeological Commission, established in 1859, was tasked with maintenance of the national heritage register; however, it was never properly financed to do the job.
Societies and Commissions (1861–1917)
During the reign of Alexander IIAlexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
(1856–1881) the dominant policy shifted from preservation of buildings to recreation of their perceived, frequently illusionary, "original" looks. The change was influenced by Western European experience, particularly works by Jonathan Smith and Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was a French architect and theorist, famous for his interpretive "restorations" of medieval buildings. Born in Paris, he was a major Gothic Revival architect.-Early years:...
, as well as domestic political unrest. After the 1863 uprising in Poland
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
Alexander launched a campaign of reintroducing Orthodoxy
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
into Western provinces, including restoration of ruined Orthodox churches. To help formulate the new canon, Grigory Gagarin
Grigory Gagarin
Prince Grigory Grigorievich Gagarin was a Russian painter, Major General and administrator.-Noble youth:Grigory Gagarin was born in Saint Petersburg to the noble Rurikid princely Gagarin family. His father, Prince Grigory Ivanovich Gagarin , was a Russian diplomat in France and later the...
(vice-president of the Archaeological Society) instituted a special commission for "the studies of Russian, and Orthodox in general, monuments of the Western Territory". In less than ten years the commission catalogued the Orhodox heritage of western Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
, paying special attention to churches initially built as Orthodox and later converted to Catholicism
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
; these were repossessed and eventually rebuilt to Orthodox canon.
In the second half of 1860s Gagarin and count Alexey Uvarov finally solved the problem of managing the national register; in particular, Uvarov is credited with establishment of the non-governmental Moscow Archaeological Society (1869), a professional institution that literally "kept the nation's records" and was the public watchdog for preservation until the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. It also tried to secure an exclusive right to approve or veto
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
any changes to listed buildings, but failed; in 1874 these rights were granted to an Imperial Commission composed of members of Archaeological Societies, the Holy Synod, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
and the Academy of Arts. In the same year the state finally formulated the legal meaning of architectural landmark and ensured equal protection for church and civil properties.
Register compiled by Archaeological Societies was augmented by regional catalogues published by amateurs like Nikolay Naidenov, author of the four-volume "Moscow Cathedrals, Monasteries and Churches" (1883–1888). Amateurs were not bound by the official borderline between "antiquities" and modernity
Modernity
Modernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance...
, and thus preserved all-inclusive snapshots of their period. In the 1890s protection was gradually extended to selected buildings of the 18th century, however, their classification as heritage remained debatable until the 1900s. Empire style buildings of late 18th and 19th century were placed on the register shortly before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
through the efforts of Ivan Mashkov
Ivan Mashkov
Ivan Pavlovich Mashkov was a Russian architect and preservationist, notable for surveying and restoration of Dormition Cathedral of Moscow Kremlin, Novodevichy Convent and other medieval buildings. His best known extant building is Sokol luxury Art Nouveau apartment building in Kuznetsky Most...
, Ilya Bondarenko
Ilya Bondarenko
Ilya Yevgrafovich Bondarenko was a Russian-Soviet architect, historian and preservationist, notable for developing a particular style of Old Believers architecture in 1905-1917, blending Northern Russian revival with Art Nouveau.-Education and early works:...
of Moscow Architectural Society and the Saint Petersburg school of Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival was a trend in Russian culture, mostly pronounced in architecture, that briefly replaced eclecticism and Art Nouveau as the leading architectural style between the Revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of World War I, coexisting with the Silver Age of Russian Poetry...
.
Denial of heritage (1917–1941)
In the years immediately after the October RevolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
administration has not yet forged its policy on culture; it was outwardly hostile to religion and "alien" classes, at the same time allowing preservationists to have a say in daily life of Soviet cities. The same person, Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, decreed destruction of tsarist monument and looting of church properties, and at the same time authorized maintenance of cultural heritage registers. In the early 1920s the government supported conversion of significant historical buildings into public museums. Notable preservationists like Petr Baranovsky
Petr Baranovsky
Pyotr Dmitrievich Baranovsky was a Russian architect, preservationist and restorator who reconstructed many ancient buildings on the territory of Soviet Union...
, Ilya Bondarenko and Petr Sytin took over nationalized landmarks for museums of local "people's heritage" and managed to delay their destruction and keep the record of surviving local heritage.
However, in the second half of 1920s the policy reversed to outward denial of the heritage and shutting down "redundant" local museums. With the change in values imposed by communist ideology
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, tradition of preservation was broken. Independent preservationist societies, even those that defended only secular landmarks, like Moscow-based OIRU, were disbanded by the end of 1920s. A new anti-religious campaign, launched in 1929, coincided with forced collectivization
Collective farming
Collective farming and communal farming are types of agricultural production in which the holdings of several farmers are run as a joint enterprise...
of peasants; destruction of churches in the cities peaked around 1932.
Rise of stalinist architecture
Stalinist architecture
Stalinist architecture , also referred to as Stalinist Gothic, or Socialist Classicism, is a term given to architecture of the Soviet Union between 1933, when Boris Iofan's draft for Palace of the Soviets was officially approved, and 1955, when Nikita Khrushchev condemned "excesses" of the past...
had dual consequences. On one hand, gigantic reconstruction plans demanded demolition of anything caught in the way. In Moscow, the new plans resulted in reducing the heritage register from 474 items in 1925 to just 74 in 1935; national RSFSR register shrunk from 3 thousands to 1,200. On the other hand, establishment of the Academy of Architecture marginally improved attitude towards the heritage; the Academy provided a new, politically correct forum for the preservationists. In 1940 the Academy compiled its own list of top priority landmarks and assessed the damages, but comprehensive national or even regional heritage registers did not reapper until after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The few landmarks set aside by the planners of 1930s remained protected and restored until the German invasion
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
.
Post-war recovery (1945–1959)
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, conservatively estimated at 3,000 landmarks, and a wartime shift in favor of nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
raised the politicians' attention to the problems of surviving national heritage. In 1947 Council of Ministers of the RSFSR approved the new comprehensive list of more than 600 top priority buildings and ensembles. Detailed legal instruction on recordkeeping and protection followed in 1948.
The 1947 decree limited the scope of protected buildings to "ancient Russian" art, although the register also included singular objects of Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
culture (Khan's Mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
of the Bakhchisaray Palace
Bakhchisaray Palace
The Khan's Palace or Hansaray is located in the town of Bakhchisaray, Crimea, Ukraine. It was built in the 16th century and became home to a succession of Crimean Khans. The walled enclosure contains a mosque, a harem, a cemetery, living quarters and gardens. The palace interior has been decorated...
and the fortress of Derbent
Derbent
Derbent |Lak]]: Чурул, Churul; Persian: دربند; Judæo-Tat: דארבּאנד/Дэрбэнд/Dərbənd) is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, close to the Azerbaijani border. It is the southernmost city in Russia, and it is the second most important city of Dagestan...
), and many 19th century buildings. More than half of listed buildings were located in the historical northern lands of the former Novgorod Republic
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic was a large medieval Russian state which stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains between the 12th and 15th centuries, centred on the city of Novgorod...
and Vladimir Rus, with a substantial share of vernacular
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
wooden architecture. Novgorod and Pskov
Pskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
, largely destroyed during the war, were rather successfully restored.
Registers for the other republics of the Union and the cities of Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
were developed independently (Moscow, in particular, benefited from its 800 year anniversary celebrated in 1947). Religious buildings dominated the registers, a consequence of a "conciliatory" policy toward Russian Orthodox Church that was practiced in the last decade of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's tenure.
Khrushchev's offensive (1959–1964)
Between 1951 and 1955, 37 buildings (mostly churches) were struck off the list. In 1960 the government approved a larger, purportedly all-inclusive register of more than 30 thousand buildings. However, shortly before the list was finalized, Nikita KhrushchevNikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
launched his own anti-religious campaign of 1959–1964. By 1964 over 10 thousand churches out of 20 thousand were shut down (mostly in rural areas), many demolished. Of 58 monasteries and convents operating in 1959, only sixteen remained by 1964; of Moscow's fifty churches operating in 1959, thirty were closed and six of them demolished. As a consequence, the 1960 register also suffered reductions, notably in 1963 when authorities struck Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about 70 km to the north-east from Moscow by the road leading to Yaroslavl, and currently is home to...
and other landmarks. Destruction reached into Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
when the Palace of Congresses
State Kremlin Palace
The State Kremlin Palace , formerly and unofficially still better known as the Kremlin Palace of Congresses , is a large modern building inside the Moscow Kremlin....
replaced the "old" buildings of the Kremlin Armoury
Kremlin Armoury
The Kremlin Armory is one of the oldest museums of Moscow, established in 1808 and located in the Moscow Kremlin .The Kremlin Armoury originated as the royal arsenal in 1508. Until the transfer of the court to St Petersburg, the Armoury was in charge of producing, purchasing and storing weapons,...
. In an unrelated move, in 1956, Khrushchev shut down the Academy of Architecture, an established venue for restorators
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
and historians of architecture, literally pushing professionals out into the streets.
Khrushchev's campaign backfired with an unexpected result, a rise in public attention to national, particularly religious, heritage and to dismal state of ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
. In March, 1962 a group of intellectuals published a bitter article on the destruction of old Moscow in Moskva monthly; official Pravda
Pravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
responded with harsh criticism in May. A public call to establish an independent watchdog society was just as harshly rejected. Two years later and six months before Khrushchev's fall from power, the first truly independent preservation society, Rodina, was founded in Moscow by Petr Baranovsky
Petr Baranovsky
Pyotr Dmitrievich Baranovsky was a Russian architect, preservationist and restorator who reconstructed many ancient buildings on the territory of Soviet Union...
; barely tolerated by authorities, Rodina survived into early 1970s.
Formal protection (1965–1991)
In 1965 Pavel KorinPavel Korin
Pavel Dmitriyevich Korin was a Russian painter and art restorer. He is famous for his preparational work for the unimplemented painting Farewell to Rus.-Life and career:...
, Sergey Konenkov
Sergey Konenkov
Sergey Timofeyevich Konenkov was a famous Russian and Soviet sculptor. He was often called "the Russian Rodin".-Early life:...
and Leonid Leonov
Leonid Leonov
Leonid Maximovich Leonov was a Soviet novelist and playwright. He has been dubbed the 20th-century Dostoyevsky for the deep psychological torment of his prose.-Early life:...
published a call to stop destruction of churches and, literally, "preserve our sacred places". Two months later, in an apparent reversal of Khrushchev's past, the state announced creation of VOOPIK - a national preservation society controlled by the state. However, preparation to its founding congress demonstrated that the state actually intended to create a helpless front. It subordinated VOOPIK to Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
bureaucrats and denied it the right to publish own journal. Disillusioned preservation advocates (Vladimir Soloukhin
Vladimir Soloukhin
Vladimir Alexeyevich Soloukhin was a Russian poet and writer. Born in Alepino, a village in what is now Vladimir Oblast, he was raised in a peasant family.Soloukhin was educated in a mechanical technicum, where he studied to be a mechanic....
, Ilya Glazunov
Ilya Glazunov
Ilya Glazunov , contemporary Russian artist from Saint Petersburg, born in 1930. He holds the title of People's Artist of Russia, and serves as a rector at the Fine Arts Academy in Moscow...
) moved to a public forum of Molodaya Gvardiya
Molodaya Gvardiya
Molodaya Gvardiya is a monthly Russian magazine focusing on literature and politics, founded in Moscow in May 1922 as an organ of the Komsomol....
magazine, shaping a new, nationalist, version of Russian history
History of Russia
The history of Russia begins with that of the Eastern Slavs and the Finno-Ugric peoples. The state of Garðaríki , which was centered in Novgorod and included the entire areas inhabited by Ilmen Slavs, Veps and Votes, was established by the Varangian chieftain Rurik in 862...
that sharply contradicted the official doctrine
Doctrine
Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
.
Nevertheless, VOOPIK provided forum to preservationists; discussions inside VOOPIK eventually led to legitimisation of previously suppressed nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
issues; the dues paid by 15 million of "mandatory volunteers" financed actual restoration projects. The society contributed to the heritage register but was never entrusted to actually manage it. In 1974 government of the RSFSR produced a wider, and stable, version of the national register, reversing the reductions of 1960s. In 1978 new practices of monitoring the national heritage were formulated in a new national and republican laws "On protection and usage of monuments of history and culture".
In reality, all landmarks were informally split into two groups. The most conspicuous ones, the tourist showcases, were largely untouchable and barely maintained; the rest were left to rot without proper maintenance. Sometimes these dilapidated buildings fell prey to one-off "cleanup" campaigns like those that preceded the 1972 state visit by Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
or the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
, sometimes to the urban renewal programs inherited from Stalin's master plans. Between 1965 and 1984, Moscow’s preservation budget increased from 2 to 25 million roubles, or still less than 0.5% of the city’s capital construction budget. Meager financing forced the authorities to lock down the heritage register in its 1974 version. In Moscow it stabilized at about 1,200 buildings (1974) while about 1,100 new applications were rejected. 2,200 Moscow landmarks (mostly unlisted) disappeared during Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
’s tenure (although only three of them were Orthodox churches).
In June 1978 Party executive Mikhail Solomentsev
Mikhail Solomentsev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Solomentsev was a high-ranking Soviet politician. He was born near Yelets and graduated from the Leningrad Technological Institute in 1940. Solomentsev was a leading Communist party functionary in Kazakhstan in 1962–1964 and was in charge of the Rostov-on-Don obkom in 1964–1966...
attempted to appease public opposition, declaring preservation of heritage a high priority for the Party, and voiced full support for VOOPIK. The message fell on deaf ears amidst everyday examples of neglect and ruin; Soloukhin wrote: "My book could have contained not four essays but twenty four. I suspect, however, that the effect would have been the same". The policy of empty declarations continued in 1982, when Dmitry Likhachev
Dmitry Likhachev
Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachov was an outstanding Soviet Russian scholar who was considered the world's foremost expert in Old Russian language and literature. He has been revered as "the last of old St Petersburgers", "a guardian of national culture", and "Russia's conscience".-Biography:Likhachov...
reported in Ogonyok
Ogonyok
Ogoniok is one of the oldest weekly illustrated magazines in Russia, issued since . It was re-established in the Soviet Union in 1923 by Mikhail Koltsov....
that actual RSFSR heritage register must be expanded three times, to at least 180 thousand items. The Ministry of Culture immediately concurred with the new estimate and ordered restoration of the buildings pinpointed by Likhachev, yet no actual work was done. Last years of the Soviet Union brought no improvement; in 1986 even hard-line communist Yegor Ligachev
Yegor Ligachev
Yegor Kuzmich Ligachev is a Russian politician who was a high-ranking official in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . Originally a protege of Mikhail Gorbachev, Ligachev became a challenger to his leadership.-Early life:...
had to admit in public that "destruction of central Moscow has become a political issue" and praised the efforts of preservationists.
The brief period of perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
that preceded the fall of the Union did not change the situation radically, apart from the fact that the Church was gradually allowed to repossess its former properties. Takeover incited conflicts, especially where the churches were occupied by public institutions (as was the case of Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...
Museum of Art, subject of a bitter public campaign of 1990–1993). First modernist
Russian avant-garde
The Russian avant-garde is an umbrella term used to define the large, influential wave of modern art that flourished in Russia approximately 1890 to 1930 - although some place its beginning as early as 1850 and its end as late as 1960...
buildings were listed on the register in 1987; by 1990 protection was granted to all Moscow buildings designed by Konstantin Melnikov
Konstantin Melnikov
Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov was a Russian architect and painter. His architectural work, compressed into a single decade , placed Melnikov on the front end of 1920s avant-garde architecture...
.
Independent Russia (1991–present)
In 1995 Boris YeltsinBoris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
approved a new, expanded federal heritage register. The new version suffered from inconsistencies influenced by regional politics: for example, numerous residential buildings in Kirov Oblast
Kirov Oblast
Kirov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Kirov. Population: -History:In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Vyatka remained a place of exile for opponents of the tsarist regime, including many prominent revolutionary figures.In 1920, a number of...
were granted federal protection, while similar buildings elsewhere were considered local, or at best regional, places of interest. It also inherited most of errors already present in the 1974 register.
Public affection to surviving heritage remained strong: "Any American preservationist would be jealous of the importance assigned to historic preservation by contemporary residents of Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...
", but failed to check the rapid construction boom that destroyed thousands of historical buildings. Moscow losses of 1900–2006 are estimated at over 640 notable buildings (including 150 to 200 listed buildings, out of a total inventory of 3,500) – some disappeared completely, others were replaced with concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
replicas while still listed as genuine historical buildings. Only a few cases of destruction (not backed by local authorities) reached the court the law; wherever possible, interested developers succeed in delisting target buildings prior to demolition. As "ethical reference points were swept aside by a torrent of money", former Minister of Culture Alexander Sokolov described the situation as "bacchanalia
Bacchanalia
The bacchanalia were wild and mystic festivals of the Greco-Roman god Bacchus , the wine god. The term has since come to describe any form of drunken revelry.-History:...
of uncoordinated construction".
City of Moscow reduced restoration budget from 150 million pound sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
in 1989 to barely 8 million in 2004 and at the same time elevated replacement of old buildings with modern replicas to a policy level. In May 2004 mayor Yury Luzhkov defended the policy in Izvestia
Izvestia
Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...
, saying that "In Moscow culture, the notion of a replica sometimes has no lesser meaning than the original had. Meaningful historical and cultural 'load' carried by the replica is frequently richer and wider than the original architect's solution." . Rebuilding is cheaper than restoration and increases rentable space. The same attitude of the decision-makers has been recorded in other towns and studied in Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...
by Blair Ruble. Ruble identified growing social separation between advocates of preservation and the decision-makers: the latter are "among the least identified with the need to preserve", not in the least because the affluent ruling class chooses suburban lifestyle, out of touch with the city.
Current legislation
| Geographical distribution of listed properties |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal districts of Russia The federal districts are a level of administration for the convenience of the federal government of the Russian Federation. They are not the constituent units of Russia . Each district includes several federal subjects and each federal district has a presidential envoy... |
inventory |
|
|
| Federal | Regional and municipal |
||
| North-Western Northwestern Federal District Northwestern Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. It consists of the northern part of European Russia. Its population was 13,583,800 according to the 2010 Census, living on an area of... |
43% | 39% | 61% |
| Central Central Federal District The Central Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. The word "Central" is of political and historical meaning; geographically, the district is situated in the extreme west of Russia. The district spans an area of , with a population of 38,438,600 according to the 2010... |
37% | 17% | 83% |
| Volga Volga Federal District Volga Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. It forms the southeastern part of European Russia. Its population was 29,900,400 according to the 2010 Census, living on an area of... |
8% | 10% | 90% |
| Southern Southern Federal District Southern Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. Its territory lies mostly on the Pontic-Caspian steppe. Its population was 13,856,700 according to the 2010 Census, living on an area of... |
7% | 4% | 96% |
| Urals Urals Federal District Ural Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. The district was established on 13 May 2000 by a decree of the President of Russia. The district is mostly located in the geographical region of Ural, but also includes some parts of the Volga Region; its extent is different... |
2% | 7% | 93% |
| Siberian Siberian Federal District Siberian Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. Its population was 19,254,300 according to the 2010 Census, living on an area of... |
2% | 8% | 92% |
| Far Eastern Far Eastern Federal District The Far Eastern Federal District is the largest of the eight federal districts of Russia, while being also the least populated, with a population of 6,291,900 . The Far Eastern Federal District was established in 2000 by then-President Vladimir Putin and is currently being governed by presidential... |
1% | no data | no data |
| Total | 100% | - | - |
Federal law "On the objects of cultural heritage (monuments of culture and history)", enacted in June 2002, defines these objects as either standalone buildings or monuments with adjacent territories, or ensembles of buildings, or "notable places" (cultural landscape
Cultural landscape
Cultural Landscapes have been defined by the World Heritage Committee as distinct geographical areas or properties uniquely "..represent[ing] the combined work of nature and of man.."....
s, including historical urban districts and major archaeological sites). A registered object (or a historical event that is key to object's notability) must be at least forty years old; memorial home of a notable person may be registered immediately upon that person's death.
Depending on their significance, objects of cultural heritage are assigned to either federal, regional or local (municipal) level (archaeological sites are automatically assigned to federal level). Top priority federal objects (including all World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
s) form a special subset of "most valuable" objects. They are listed in a separate State Code of Particularly Valuable Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Russian Federation which, in addition to immovable properties, also includes active institutions (theaters, museums, universities, libraries and archives). "Particularly valuable" objects, by definition, are federal state properties, however, in December 2008 Pavlovsk
Pavlovsk Palace
Pavlovsk Palace is an 18th-century Russian Imperial residence built by Paul I of Russia near Saint Petersburg. After his death, it became the home of his widow, Maria Feodorovna...
and Gatchina
Gatchina
Gatchina is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov...
palaces, part of a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, became municipal property of the city of Saint Petersburg. Privatization
Privatization in Russia
Russian privatization was the reform consisting in privatization of state-owned industrial assets that took place in Russia in the 1990s, during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin, immediately after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, where private ownership of enterprises had been illegal for a long...
of lesser landmarks controlled by the federal government, put on hold in early 1990s, was finally allowed in 2008. However, privatization auctions did not catch investors' interest and only about 250 objects changed hands in 2008. Regional listed properties were regularly privatized throughout the 1990s.
New properties are listed through a two-tier procedure. In case of regional and local properties, the regional branch of Rosokhrankultura
Rosokhrankultura
Rosokhrankultura , full name: Federal Service for monitoring compliance with cultural heritage protection law , is a state agency of Russia responsible for keeping the national register of cultural heritage, enforcing preservation of listed properties through monitoring compliance with preservation...
collects all relevant information and issues a recommendation to the regional government; then, actual listing is promulgated by a decree of regional government. Professional preservationist organizations, usually, have significant influence at the early stages of the process, but are barely mentioned in the law. Regional legislators and municipal authorities are excluded from the loop altogether. The federal register was intended to track and incorporate any changes in regional registers, but in real life (as of 2009) it still has to happen.
Lower-level authorities have very limited rights, for example, municipalities cannot declare their own objects of cultural heritage; instead, they must apply to Rosokhrankultura representatives. Federal authorities can reclassify any object of regional or municipal significance as a federal landmark.
Perhaps worse for the actual heritage is the fact that regional governments can not legally finance restoration of federal-level buildings unless they are specifically mentioned in jointly-financed federal target programs. The law allows financing "preservation" which, in Russian legalese, excludes capital investment in restoration. Until January 1, 2008 even this "preservation" was not allowed; at best, regions were allowed to set up independent charities and rally for private donations. This is particularly important for the city of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and its suburbs, where an overwhelming majority of notable buildings are rated at federal level. Municipal authorities are still not allowed to finance restoration of regional and federal properties, but under the present Tax Code
Russian Tax Code
The Russian Tax Code is the primary tax law for the Russian Federation. The Code was created, adopted and implemented in three stages.The first part, enacted July 31, 1998, also referred to as the General Part, regulates relationships among taxpayers, tax agents, tax-collecting authorities and...
they don't have funds for it anyway.
Unsolved problems
Definitions
Russia has no legal or otherwise generally accepted definition of cultural landscapeCultural landscape
Cultural Landscapes have been defined by the World Heritage Committee as distinct geographical areas or properties uniquely "..represent[ing] the combined work of nature and of man.."....
. Local zoning
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
regulations, once imposed by municipal authorities, can be just as easily lifted in favor of "important" projects. In Saint Petersburg, city heritage commissioner attempted to enforce demolition of an addition to a building on Moika Embankment that wrecked the skyline of this protected neighborhood. However, the building itself was not listed, and the no sanctions were ever imposed; city architect and other involved executives upheld the developer's interests. Meanwhile, the city governor has approved construction of Gazprom
Gazprom
Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
's 400-meter Okhta Center
Okhta Center
Okhta Centre , known before March 2007 as Gazprom City , is a construction project of a business centre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It will include the first supertall skyscraper in the city, museums and a concert hall...
while the outline of Palace Square
Palace Square
Palace Square , connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersburg and of the former Russian Empire...
has been deformed by highrise built behind the former General Staff building
General Staff Building (Saint Petersburg)
The General Staff Building is an edifice with a 580 m long bow-shaped facade, situated on Palace Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in front of the Winter Palace.The building was designed by Carlo Rossi in the Empire style and built in 1819-1829...
; the latter incursion against a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
has also been supported by city architect. In Moscow, the southward view from Red Square
Red Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...
was similarly deformed in 2005 by a 162 meter tall Swissotel
Swissôtel
Swissôtel Hotels and Resorts is a group of hotels pitched at the higher end of the hotel market. The chain currently includes 28 properties in 15 countries....
tower.
No independent watchdog
None of Russian independent preservation groups have sufficient influence to intervene into the plans of city authorities and property developers. Legislation leaves matters of preservation in hands of federal and municipal heritage commissions, neither sufficiently independent to check these plans. As a result, listed buildings are easily delisted, or their listing is delayed until the wrecking crews (Voyentorg building) or fire (El Lissitsky's OgonyokOgonyok
Ogoniok is one of the oldest weekly illustrated magazines in Russia, issued since . It was re-established in the Soviet Union in 1923 by Mikhail Koltsov....
printshop) reduce them to ruins.
Property title
A significant share of state-owned landmarks actually has no legal owner due to disputes between federal and regional authorities and the legal ban on registering title for such properties (lifted in 2008). Saint Petersburg alone, as of April 2008, had 1,200 listed objects without registered title ownership. Only in 2008 did the authorities agree to register 393 buildings (including Hermitage MuseumHermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
and Smolny Palace) as federal property and 243 as city property; ownership of Peter and Paul Fortress
Peter and Paul Fortress
The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706-1740.-History:...
was split. The last batch of 90 buildings (the most potentially profitable, rentable properties) were split in May 2009. As a result, after 680 objects were assigned to the city and 424 to federal authorities, at the end of May 2009 Saint Petersburg has only 13 listed buildings, all former churches, including Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor in Saint Petersburg, Russia is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the city...
and Church of the Savior on Blood
Church of the Savior on Blood
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood Khram Spasa na Krovi is one of the main sights of St. Petersburg, Russia. It is also variously called the Church on Spilt Blood and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ , its official name....
, in legal limbo
Limbo
In the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other...
. But the city also has over 3,000 "newly found" historical buildings on the waiting list of local heritage commission; they will be either listed or demolished.
Moscow, as of July 2009, has around 2,500 historical buildings waiting for inclusion into the heritage register, including five buildings by Fyodor Schechtel
Fyodor Schechtel
Fyodor Osipovich Schechtel was a Russian architect, graphic artist and stage designer, the most influential and prolific master of Russian Art Nouveau and late Russian Revival....
and St. Andrew's Anglican Church
St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Moscow
St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Moscow is the sole Anglican church in Moscow, and one of only three in Russia. It continues the tradition of Anglican worship in Moscow that started in 1553 when Tsar Ivan the Terrible first allowed the English merchants of the Russia Company permission to worship...
. Around 500 buildings on this list are expected to be denied protection of any kind.
Recognition of modernist architecture
Addition of yet unlisted avantgarde buildings to the register remains controversial. Western authors noted that preservation of these buildings has very narrow support base, limited to architects' heirs and selected intelligentsiaIntelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
advocates; general public identifies the bulk of avant-garde architecture with bland Soviet industrial past devoid of Russian national character and is indifferent to its future. According to Anna Bronovitskaya, "Modernist aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
have never recovered from Stalin's denouncement... the public remains very conservative in its tastes." Russian restorators have no experience in handling concrete structures, making restoration itself is a threat to their survival, unless the investor hires German restorators. Prejudice against real or perceived poor construction quality of interwar period
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
favors radical rebuilding initiatives. As a result, far more avant-garde buildings perished in modern Russia than in socialist Soviet Union; the art of 20th century "have proved to be the most vulnerable and poorly defended".
Moscow Heritage Commission is split on the heritage value of mainstream constructivist and rationalist architecture
Constructivist architecture
Constructivist architecture was a form of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. It combined advanced technology and engineering with an avowedly Communist social purpose. Although it was divided into several competing factions, the movement produced...
. Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov denounced the "flat-faced architecture"; chief architect of Moscow has spoken against preservation of functional midrise housing built in 1920s and 1930s, saying that "they are doomed"; some of these blocks have been condemned for demolition. Nevertheless, in 2008 Moscow alone has listed 114 "newly identified" buildings of this period.