Posthumous adventures of architectural monuments in Cheboksary. JSC "Chuvash Book Publishing House" Are there any World Heritage Sites in Chuvashia?

Natalya Samover, historian

Cheboksary is one of the interesting historical cities of the Volga region, which once had a large number of historical and architectural heritage sites. Until the last quarter of the twentieth century, it survived well preserved, with dense historical buildings, among which there were many interesting objects of architectural heritage, but as elsewhere in Russia, this heritage was little studied. A few Cheboksary monuments, including several objects of civil architecture, were placed under state protection.

View of Cheboksary from Yarilina Mountain. 1907

Panorama of Cheboksary. 1930s

Cheboksary from Yarilina Mountain. Photo from the 1930s.

At the turn of the 1970-1980s. A crushing blow was dealt to historical Cheboksary, physically destroying a significant part of the architectural monuments. But today their story continues - in an equally sad, caricatured form. And partly at the expense of the state budget. But first things first.

Flood victims

This incredible story began with Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR dated August 30, 1960 No. 1327 “On further improvement of the protection of cultural monuments in the RSFSR”, according to which an object called “ Zelenshchikov's house of the 17th century." Later, in the late 1970s, based on field studies, the dating of the house was clarified, and it was attributed to the 30s of the 18th century.

Zelenshchikov's house. Zavodskaya st. Photo from the 1930s.

Researchers paid attention to the preserved historical layout and such an interesting detail as small octagonal windows above the doorways on the ground floor. The house probably originally had a high hip roof, typical of the Baroque style.

Zelenshchikov's house. Zavodskaya st. Measurements P.A. Teltevsky 1954 - 1956

The monument was named after one of the last owners, the tradesman Zelenshchikov (more precisely, Zeleyshchikov, as the Cheboksary residents themselves say), however, as we now know, this house was built by order of Alexei Kadomtsev, one of the richest local merchants.

The state recognized the value of Cheboksary's heritage reluctantly and very gradually. Only on December 4, 1974, by Decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR No. 624, two more objects, which were destined to play important roles in the future development of events, were placed under state protection as monuments of national significance. These were, firstly, House on the basement (Salt office building) 1746, located at the address: Soyuznaya Street, on the descent to the Volga (in local history and historical-architectural literature, this building is sometimes called the House of Merchant Igumnov or is described without specifying the owner as one of two historical houses on Soyuznaya Street, 20).

Salt office. Photo from the 1970s G.

Salt office. Measurement drawing P.A. Teltevsky. 1954-1956

And secondly -Ensemble of houses of the first halfXVIIIV. at the address: st. Kalinina, 6, 6a (in the courtyard), consisting of two one-story residential buildings with cut brick decor on the facades. The latter complex was also known to local historians as the houses that belonged to Kozma Kadomtsev, one of the representatives of the merchant family who owned several stone houses in Cheboksary, including the baroque Zelenshchikov House.

House on Kalinina Street, 6. Photo from the 1950s.

House on the street Kalinina, 6a. Photo 1930

All these historical and cultural monuments were, as expected, provided with passports: the Zelenshchikov House even twice - in 1964 and 1972, the Salt Office - in 1972, the ensemble of houses on Kalinin Street - in 1972. However, racing against the leisurely process the study of monuments fled, stepping on his heels, a terrible threat: in accordance with the plans for the construction of the Cheboksary hydroelectric power station, most of the historical center of the city, unfortunately located in the lowland at the confluence of the Cheboksary River with the Volga, was to go under the water of the future reservoir. In fact, the architectural heritage of the capital of Soviet Chuvashia was studied and recorded as a farewell, before inevitable destruction.

When it came to megaprojects in the field of electric power, the laws of the USSR and the RSFSR in force at that time on the protection of historical and cultural monuments were not able to protect monuments. What about monuments when dozens of historical villages and hamlets and thousands of hectares of land were doomed to flooding! The banks of the Volga, inhabited for centuries, inseparable from the cultural memory of the Chuvash, Mari and Russian peoples, were supposed to disappear forever.

At the end of the 1970s, in order to prepare the bed of the future reservoir, the entire historical part of Cheboksary, located in the area of ​​the proposed flooding, was demolished - along with all the monuments of church and civil architecture that had the misfortune of being there. The only buildings that survived were those located on the high bank - the so-called Yarilina Mountain, or Western Slope, where the city citadel was located in ancient times. It was a small fragment of the former city. Old Cheboksary ceased to exist. All that was left to remember them was a stack of photographs and several historical and architectural passports.

Zelenshchikov's house before demolition. Photo 1979

Preparation of the bed of the future reservoir. The Cheboksary building has already been demolished; Zelenshchikov’s house, which has not yet been dismantled, is highlighted on the right side of the frame. Photo from the late 1970s.

Flooding of Cheboksary. Early 1980s

Bay on the site of the historical city

However, while destroying its own heritage, the state simultaneously showed a kind of concern for it. In view of the inevitable loss of Cheboksary monuments that fell into the flood zone, then, in the late 1970s, it was decided to recreate three monuments of national significance in a new location: the Zelenshchikov House, the House on the Basement and the Ensemble of Houses on Kalinin Street. For this purpose, three plots were reserved on the edge of the Western slope at Mikhail Sespel Street, 13, 15 and 17. There, copies of monuments that were historically located far from each other were to form, as it were, a fragment of a “historical city” that never existed in reality.

Location diagram of the original (lost) monuments of Cheboksary and the “remakes”.

This idea, the artificiality of which is striking in our time, lay in line with the then ideas about open-air museums as protective reservations for old architecture, which for various reasons was being forced out of their homes. True, usually monuments of wooden architecture were subject to such transfers, but here stone houses, or rather replicas of their new buildings, had to be moved. As a sign of the seriousness of intentions, fragments of decor and masonry blocks preserved during the demolition of the original buildings were transported to the site of the proposed reconstruction, but the matter did not go further than this. Reconstruction did not begin soon after the demolition, nor ten years later, and the forgotten piles of old bricks continued to freeze, get wet and overgrown with nettles in abandoned lots on Sespel Street until, having fallen into complete disrepair, they were taken to a landfill along with various city garbage.

Thus, three architectural monuments of national significance perished irretrievably - the Zelenshchikov House, the House on the Basement (Salt Office) and the Ensemble of Houses of the First Half XVIIIV. However, oddly enough, this not only did not become the point at the end of the sad story, but on the contrary served as the starting point for a completely unexpected development of events. Lost the monuments were not removed from state protection and continued to exist in the form of some ethereal accounting units. The state officially recognized the death of only the smaller of the two houses that were part of the Ensemble (Kalinina St., 6a); almost twenty years after its actual death, it was removed from protection by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 452 of May 5, 1997 “On clarifying the composition of objects of historical and cultural heritage of federal (all-Russian) significance.” As for the rest of the Cheboksary ghost monuments, in 2002, in accordance with the Federal Law “On objects of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation,” they successfully acquired the status of objects of cultural heritage of federal significance, in which they remain this day.

Meanwhile, the city itself was experiencing no less amazing metamorphoses. The dissatisfaction of the authorities and the public of the Gorky region, the Chuvash and especially the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was threatened with the loss of a third of its territory, led to the fact that the planned rise in the level of the Cheboksary reservoir to the design level of 68 m in 1987 never took place. The mirror of the reservoir froze at a level of 63 m. As a result, the water did not reach the territory of the former historical part of the city, which had already been cleared of buildings. The destruction of old Cheboksary with all its monuments turned out to be completely pointless.

Old Cheboksary. Drawing by A. and L. Aktsynov. 1960s In the center is the Assumption Church, which in the late 1970s will be on the shores of the “man-made sea”, and a few years later - on an artificial island.

Cheboksary center before flooding. Early 1980s

The huge wasteland gaping in the middle of the city was finally eliminated only in the second half of the 1990s. In its place arose the so-called Bay - a picturesque artificial reservoir at the foot of the Western slope, the beauty and pride of modern Cheboksary.

The beginning of the flooding of the center of Cheboksary. 1981. On the left side of the frame is the Assumption Church - now restored, it stands on an artificial island in the middle of the Bay. Its lower - concreted - tier is forever hidden underground.

Cheboksary center. Photo 1981

Cheboksary Bay. Modern photo. On the left side of the frame is a surviving fragment of the historical city.

Thus, in the last quarter of the twentieth century, the urban planning situation of Cheboksary changed radically. This is emphasized, in particular, in the modern General Plan of the Cheboksary Urban District. Summarizing the changes that have befallen the city, this document speaks of the creation of “a new volumetric-spatial structure and functional system of the center, which is essentially globally different from previous historical stages of development.”

In the same years, in the State Program for the Preservation and Development of Culture and Art of the Chuvash Republic for 1994-2000. there was a mention of plans to create a certain “Museum of Stone Architecture of the 18th Century in Cheboksary on the street. M. Sespel". In accordance with this program, it was planned to recreate at the expense of the budget only two monuments - the Salt Office and the Zelenshchikov House. The third ghost object, which continues to be called the Ensemble of Houses, despite the fact that only one house is listed under state protection, was destined to be at the center of a special, unique story.

"Recreation" twenty years later. Episode one. Imposter House

While the state was just planning the creation of a museum of modern architecture of the 18th century on Mikhail Sespel Street, 13 and 15, an ever-growing private initiative was already in full swing developing the site at number 17, once intended for recreating the Ensemble of Houses. There, with funds from the Eleon Production and Commercial Company LLC in the second half of the 1990s. an object was built, called “The House of the Merchant Kozma Kadomtsev” or simply “The House of Kadomtsev”. A large volume with a high roof, which grew on the edge of the hill, obscured the view from the Gulf of the Vvedensky Cathedral - a genuine architectural monument of the 17th century, which previously played the role of the main urban landmark of Cheboksary for three hundred years.

"Kadomtsev's House", built in 1998.

As is easy to see, this building had no resemblance to the original houses of Kozma Kadomtsev, which at one time made up the ensemble on Kalinin Street, 6, 6a. The source of inspiration for the author of the project of the newly-minted “Kadomtsev House” R.S. Bashirov was inspired by the appearance of an outstanding monument of civil architecture in Cheboksary, lost at the end of the 19th century, from the late 17th to early 18th centuries, known as the Zelenshchikov House. These magnificent ancient Russian chambers should be distinguished from the later baroque Zelenshchikov House, which survived until the late 1970s. Both houses, located next to each other on the left bank of the Cheboksary River, in the former Kozhevennaya Sloboda, at the end of the 19th century. belonged to one owner. For convenience, we will designate the chambers as the “early Zelenshchikov House”.

Zelenshchikov's "early" house, dismantled in the 1880s. Measurements by B. Veselovsky and L. Dahl. The wooden upper part of the building is presented in a hypothetical reconstruction by B. Veselovsky.

Measurements and graphic reconstruction of the facades of the early Zelenshchikov House were published in the book “Monuments of Ancient Russian Architecture” (Issue 1. St. Petersburg, 1895) ed. V.V. Suslova. The wooden parts of the building - the high roof and the magnificent “barrel” crowning the porch - represented a hypothetical recreation, that is, the architect’s imagination, since at the time of the inspection the house was in very poor condition, in fact it was a semi-ruin. Suslov's book was published when Zelenshchikov's early house no longer existed; it was dismantled back in the 1880s. However, be that as it may, thanks to this publication, its spectacular appearance entered the history of Russian architecture, as well as scientific and local history literature about Cheboksary.

The early Zelenshchikov House had, of course, nothing to do with the modest Ensemble of houses of Kozma Kadomtsev, but either this is the charm of its image, or for some other reason, only its erroneous identification with the main house of the Ensemble - a cultural heritage site of federal significance “Residential House, first half of the 18th century." not only widespread in tourism and local history literature, but also contained in official documents. This is what made it possible, under the guise of recreating the monument, to erect on a site allocated for this purpose in the prestigious Cheboksary district a building that significantly exceeds the original in volume and is decidedly different from it in appearance. And now the confusion embodied in brick and reinforced concrete takes on the meaning of an immutable fact. For example, in the explanatory note to the General Plan of the Cheboksary Urban District in the section dedicated to cultural heritage objects, entitled “Residential House, 1st floor. XVIII century." a description is given that corresponds to the early Zelenshchikov House, and the existing building at the address: st. Mikhail Sespel, 17 is interpreted without hesitation as a recreated monument.

Meanwhile, it is quite obvious that the facility, built in the 1990s. on the street Mikhail Sespel, 17 and now known as the “Kadomtsev House” cannot in any way be considered a recreation of the monument that stood under state protection - the Ensemble of Houses of the first half XVIIIc., or at least one of them. If it can be considered anything, it can only be a monumental illustration to the immortal maxim of Kozma Prutkov “If you read the inscription “buffalo” on an elephant’s cage, do not believe your eyes.”

"Kadomtsev's House" 1998 "Details" and "interiors".

Today, the self-proclaimed “Kadomtsev House” is privately owned and registered as a non-residential property. The building has a total area of ​​2069 sq. m, has four floors, including an attic and a basement with a garage and a swimming pool, as well as a basement, a terrace - an observation deck overlooking the Bay, with an area of ​​348 sq. m. m, and a fenced area with a separate guardhouse. The interior layout is modern, the exterior decor is eclectic. The area of ​​the land plot registered in the cadastral register, including the built-up area, is 1,668 sq. m. m. The value of this property can be judged by the fact that at the beginning of 2013 the owner put the property up for sale for 45 million rubles (about 1.5 million dollars at the then exchange rate). It is not surprising that in the 2000s. it became the subject of raids and litigation several times.

Announcement about the sale of "Kadomtsev's house".

And now, for further observations of the amazing features of the “Kadomtsev House”, let’s move from the shores of the Cheboksary Bay to the virtual bureaucratic space. The building we are interested in predictably does not have a passport of a cultural heritage object, however, in the database “Immovable Monuments of History and Culture” on the website of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation we find an entry about a cultural heritage object of federal significance called “Kadomtsev House”, located at the address: Chuvash Republic , Cheboksary, st. Sespelya, 17. Its dating is also indicated there - the first half of the 18th century, and the unique code of the monument is 2110009000.

The origin of this entry in the official database is as mysterious as its content. How did the impostor house even get there? It was not possible to find any information that any government body would issue an act giving the building of a modern structure called “Kadomtsev House” the status of a cultural heritage site, much less a monument of federal significance. Although the same database claims that the “Kadomtsev House” was placed under state protection by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR dated December 4, 1974 No. 624, this information, as well as the false dating, was clearly borrowed from the genuine Ensemble of Kozma Kadomtsev’s houses. But if the Kadomtsev House was never officially put under security, then where did the code for the monument come from? Maybe this is just a copy of the code of one of the Ensemble of houses? But no, the code of the “Kadomtsev House” does not coincide with any of the codes assigned to the “Ensemble of Houses of the First Half of the 18th Century.”

It remains to be stated that the fake, although quite real, “Kadomtsev House” coexists in the database of the Russian Ministry of Culture on an equal footing with the genuine, although dematerialized thirty-five years ago, Ensemble of Houses. It looks like we are dealing with the fact that monuments of federal significance are multiplying by budding. It is curious that the budding object inherits from the parent only some characteristics, the most important of which is the land plot assigned to the latter.

Such a miracle, unprecedented within the framework of administrative procedures, however, confused the monument protection authorities of the Chuvash Republic. They preferred the more traditional belief in the transmigration of souls to the belief in the budding of monuments and simply recognized the four-level mansion of a modern building with a garage and a swimming pool as the true reincarnation of Kozma Kadomtsev’s one-story house. As a result, in the list of objects of cultural heritage of federal significance of the city of Cheboksary, posted On the official website of the Government of Chuvashia, the object with the name “Kadomtsev’s House” is completely absent, but at the address: st. Mikhail Sespel, 17 mentions “Ensemble of houses, 1st half of the 18th century.” with a note that one of the two monuments that made it up has been lost. The second, therefore, exists and is observed with the naked eye. If, of course, you believe your eyes.

"Recreation" twenty years later. Episode two. False porch and unsuccessful vacant lot sale

While around a private house on the street. Mikhail Sespel, 17, the paranormal phenomena described above occurred, the state, for its part, also made a feasible contribution to the development of the anomalous zone on the Western slope. As a result, the second ghost monument took on flesh - House on the basement (Salt office). It was recreated in 2005 at the expense of budgetary funds of the Chuvash Republic on the site at the address: st. Mikhail Sespel, 13 according to a project developed back in 1980 by the Spetsproektrestavratsiya institute. (According to the heads of local structures for the protection of monuments, during the reconstruction, authentic bricks were used that had survived by this time from... Zelenshchikov’s house - Red.).

The reconstruction was declared as scientific, based on research materials from the lost original. In particular, restorers reproduced the historical layout of the building and even the vaults of the interior. But at the same time, the recreated House on the Basement acquired a pseudo-historical porch, which the real monument never had. The “appendage” distorted the composition of the facade, obscured two of its six windows, and one of them completely turned into a door. Unfortunately, the building, located in a very advantageous location - on a high bank above the Gulf, faces the Gulf with a blank end wall, which does not allow Cheboksary residents and city guests walking along the shore to admire this example of a creative approach to preserving cultural heritage.

Salt office. Photo from the 1970s.

Salt office in a new location and with a new porch. Photo 2005

All this, however, does not prevent the object, which is a modern inaccurate recreation of a monument lost at the turn of the 1970s - 1980s, from having the status of an object of cultural heritage of federal significance and, as if nothing had happened, dating back to 1746.

The Government of the Russian Federation, by its Order No. 1543-r dated October 17, 2009, classified the federal monument “House on the Basement” as the property of the Chuvash Republic. There were plans to place a museum there, but the building turned out to be not connected to utility networks and, accordingly, unsuitable for use. The house was empty for several years, and only in 2013 it was transferred to the Cheboksary-Chuvash diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church for free use.

Meanwhile, at the site at the address: st. Mikhail Sespel, 15, located between the House on the Basement and the Kadomtsev House, events slowly unfolded around the third ghost monument - Zelenshchikov's Houses. The same baroque one, which at one time was located next to the chambers of the same name, now magically embodied in the “Kadomtsev House”. The first attempt to recreate it was made back in the 1990s. At the expense of extra-budgetary funds, a reconstruction project was developed, but work did not progress beyond laying the foundation.

In 2008, Nikolai Muratov, director of the State Center for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture of Chuvashia, said in an interview with the REGNUM news agency: “The design of the building is already ready. There are investors who are ready to invest considerable funds in this... Subject to privatization.” It was in this condition that the main problem turned out to be.

In 2009, a virtually non-existent monument - the Zelenshchikov House (with a new address at 15 Sespelya Street) was registered as the property of Chuvashia by the same Order of the Government of the Russian Federation as the House on the Basement. This paved the way for privatization, and in the same year it was listed as an “unfinished facility” with a total area of ​​296.6 square meters. m is included in the Forecast plan (program) for the privatization of state property of the Chuvash Republic for 2010.

In accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Property of Chuvashia dated October 26, 2010 No. 900-r “On the conditions for the privatization of state property of the Chuvash Republic - an unfinished construction site - the foundations of an architectural monument of the 18th century - the Zeleishchikov house, moved from the flood zone, located at the address: Chuvash Republic, Cheboksary, st. M. Sespelya, 15, and the land plot occupied by it and necessary for its use,” the initial price of the property was set at 607,700 rubles. (including value added tax), and the cost of a land plot with an area of ​​376 sq. m - in the amount of 3 million 230 thousand rubles.

However, privatization failed.

A year later, the Ministry of Property of Chuvashia attempted again and issued Order No. 584-r dated June 30, 2011, according to which the initial price of the property was reduced to 277 thousand rubles, and the cost of the land plot - to 1 million 465 thousand rubles .

However, even after the price reduction, privatization did not take place.

On September 20, 2013, Minister of Culture, Nationalities and Archives of the Chuvash Republic V.P. Efimov in his speech mentioned the need to include the Zelenshchikov House in the Forecast Plan (program) for the privatization of state property of the Chuvash Republic for 2014, but this time the matter did not move forward.

Project for recreating the Zelenshchikov House in the panorama of the Western slope. View from the Gulf.

Subject of protection of a non-existent architectural monument

The opportunity to build on such a prime location in the city center, with superb views of the Bay, is certainly attractive to private investment. What was the matter? The reason, apparently, lay not in the stinginess of Cheboksary investors, but in the lack of documentation for the non-existent monument necessary for its reconstruction and for formalizing the security obligation of the future new owner. First of all, an established subject of protection of a cultural heritage site of federal significance was required.

And on November 5, 2014, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation issues Order No. 1864 “On approval of the subject of protection of the cultural heritage site of federal significance “Zelenshchikov House”, 17th century.” (Chuvash Republic) and its registration in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Objects (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation.” Like this: Bye thousands of authentic monuments in all cities and towns of Russia do not have approved items of protection, the federal Ministry of Culture issues an order on the subject of protection of a non-existent cultural heritage site.

The subject of protection is not a cheap thing. The lack of funds for their development is usually used as an excuse by owners and monument protection authorities in response to accusations of insufficient care for the heritage entrusted to them. There is a similar problem in Chuvashia, but funds were found for the sake of the Zelenshchikov House.

The nameless author of the subject of protection of the Zelenshchikov House (and the law clearly requires that the developer of the project of the subject of protection be a certified expert of the state historical and cultural examination) managed to create an absolutely amazing document. Guided by the principle of “mix, but not shaken,” he combined in one text the characteristics of a long-lost monument with the characteristics of a new plot of land, and even seasoned it all with a factual error. First of all, what is striking is the preservation of the name of the object, which contains a dating from the 17th century, which was refuted more than thirty years ago. Along with the historical layout, vaults, large bricks, external plaster, “eared” platbands and octagonal second-light windows, which once constituted a distinctive feature of Zelenshchikov’s original house, the new subject of protection included such urban planning characteristics as “the location of the building on the site located in the historical part of the Western slope, in the center of the former Kremlin, on the street. Sespel". Reading this, a person unfamiliar with the situation may think that the monument, safe and sound, is safely in its historical place in its native architectural and natural environment. The order of the Ministry of Culture does not contain the slightest hint that we are talking about a non-existent object that is to be recreated in a completely new landscape situation.

However, you can’t hide an awl in a bag. Everything falls into place when Zelenshchikov’s house in the text of the subject of protection is called “an important component of the emerging building on the street. Sespel architectural ensemble of cultural heritage sites."

“An emerging ensemble of cultural heritage sites” is not an oxymoron, it is a reality that is already partially reflected in the waters of the Gulf. This ensemble is outstanding; it includes exclusively monuments of federal significance: the false Kadomtsev House, the newly built House on the basement with a fantasy porch, and the still non-existent Zelenshchikov House.

Needless to say, the very question of the advisability of recreating a monument that was lost more than thirty years ago, and even in a new place, in a fundamentally different landscape situation, from the point of view of modern heritage science, is, to put it mildly, very debatable and precedent-setting? However, while approving the subject of protection of the future Zelenshchikov House, the Ministry of Culture did not consider it necessary to submit its project for consideration by the Federal Scientific and Methodological Council for Cultural Heritage. And this is true: if this document had fallen into the hands of specialists in a timely manner, it would have had no chance. And the “emerging ensemble of cultural heritage sites” on the Western slope itself would attract unwanted attention.

So what should we do now?

First of all, we must admit the obvious: the original monuments are irretrievably lost, and what now appears under their names cannot even pretend to be called a “remake”, since it does not meet the criteria of scientific and authentic reconstruction.

Let's imagine that glass was found among the diamonds in the diamond storeroom of Gokhran. How should the leadership of this institution behave? And now let’s replace Gokhran with the Ministry of Culture...

In order to avoid falsification of the cultural heritage of Russia, the status of monuments of federal significance should be removed from the Zelenshchikov House, the House on the Basement (Salt Office building) and the Ensemble of Houses of the first half of the 18th century - due to loss, as well as from the so-called "Kadomtsev House" - due to with the fact that such a monument never existed. The Ministry of Culture of Russia, as a state body responsible for preserving the unique cultural heritage of our country, may take the initiative to issue a corresponding Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation.

Obviously, the federal Ministry of Culture will also need to cancel its own order of November 5, 2014; Order of the Ministry of Culture, National Affairs and Archival Affairs of the Chuvash Republic dated October 28, 2014 No. 01-07/440 “On approval of the boundaries of the territory and the legal regime of land plots within the boundaries of the territory of a cultural heritage site (historical and cultural monument) of the federal meaning "Zelenshchikov's House, 17th century."

By the way, the authorities for the protection of the cultural heritage of Chuvashia back in the late 1990s. planned to remove the Zelenshchikov House from protection due to loss, but this could not be done due to the fact that work on removing monuments from the register was suspended while the new Federal Law “On Objects of Cultural Heritage” was being prepared.

To prevent similar stories in the future, two more Cheboksary cultural heritage sites of federal significance, also lost at the turn of the 1970s-1980s, should be removed from protection. - “Residential building of the mid-18th century.” at the address: st. Soyuznaya, 18 and “Residential building of the first half of the 18th century.” at the address: st. Chernyshevsky, 6.

This will allow the list of Cheboksary cultural heritage sites to be brought into line with reality. Bitter, but reality.

One cannot, of course, ignore the complexity and delicacy of the situation. Remembering the tragic history of Cheboksary, the mass extermination in the late 1970s. historical buildings of the city, including the most important architectural monuments of the 17th – 18th centuries, one can understand the desire of the republican and city authorities to restore the historical image of at least some buildings. The only thing is that, while solving one problem, do not create another.

Glasses in themselves can be beautiful and sparkle no worse than diamonds, but placed in a storeroom along with diamonds, they devalue real stones and abolish the very concept of “precious”. A copy, even the most accurate one, can never compare with the original, because it is a copy. Cultural heritage can only be authentic; everything else is fake. The proximity of the tower with the pool in the same list with the ensemble of the Vvedensky Cathedral of 1651 with its unique, unlike anything else, paintings is insulting to the historical memory of Cheboksary, Chuvashia, and Russia. Insulting to all of us.

Our heritage cannot be falsified, deliberately new constructions cannot be added to the register, and buildings that in good conscience should be ashamed cannot be called monuments of federal significance.

However, if there is not and cannot be any heritage on Mikhail Sespel Street, this does not mean that a building in a historical style cannot be built there, as long as there is the desire of the republican and city authorities and the consent of the investor. It’s not scary if a new house in the Russian Baroque style appears on the edge of the slope, above the mirror of the Gulf, reminiscent of the lost Zelenshchikov House. The main thing is to stop deceiving yourself. In general, let the cloud of absurdity finally dissipate over Sespel Street, and everything will be fair.

Instead of a comment. Director of the State Center for the Protection of Cultural HeritageChuvash RepublicNikolai Muratov V two recent interview REGNUM news agency made the following assessments of the events of the late 1970s. and current “re-creations” in Cheboksary :

“It was 1978 - 1979. All the objects that were demolished were not included in the register of monuments, what’s the problem. I can’t understand why this happened... Entire blocks - mansion after mansion - were all demolished, and everything turned out to be “not monuments”... When the historical part of Cheboksary was being demolished and the bed of the Cheboksary reservoir was being prepared, there was a big debate about what to preserve and how to save. As a result, the main objects that are of value at the federal level were identified - merchant mansions of the 18th century - the Kadomtsev House, the Zeleyshchikov House and the Salt Office (Igumnov House). These buildings were cut into blocks and moved to Sespel Street. According to the General Plan, they were to be restored on the site of dilapidated wooden houses that were demolished. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save the blocks of monument houses - after lying on Sespel Street for a couple of decades, the masonry crumbled into rubble. The best bricks from the rest were used to restore the Salt Office. Through the efforts of the investor, the Eridan company, without attracting budgetary funds, the Kadomtsev House was restored.

Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in Cheboksary on the shore of the reservoir. Early 1980s

A fragment of a wall with a window and the head of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross were also kept. By the way, it was blown up in 1989, on the anniversary of the Chuvash autonomy, so as not to spoil the view of the surrounding area - when the reservoir was filled, the bell tower protruded from the water... They also wanted to recreate this church in a new place - near the Church of the Archangel Michael (corner of K. Ivanov and Bondarev ), which was then a book depository. No one could have imagined that it would soon become a functioning temple again. Now there is no place to build there. There were attempts to restore it near the former place where the river port is now - the Cossacks became interested in the temple, but the issues of location of the facility and financing could not be resolved.

The initial decision - to recreate the objects of civil architecture on Sespel Street - was wise. After all, this slope is the historical center of Cheboksary. It was supposed to become a “highlight”, a tourist place where it was possible to show what Cheboksary was like in the 18th century and what mansions were built by rich merchants. Tell us that this was the heyday of stone construction...

To be fair, I will say that the restoration of these houses really took different paths. For example, we now see the Kadomtsev House exactly as it was historically, as seen in ancient engravings - with an attic floor. But even during the negotiations, the new owner set the condition that he would give the house only an external appearance, and make the layout the way he needed. Or he won’t build anything at all... Nothing can be done. Private property. There is not a budget ruble there. And, in fact, the current Kadomtsev House is really just a reminder that in the 18th century there was such a building in Cheboksary.

There is a point (to maintain the protective status of such monuments - Ed.). Another issue is the category. Maybe it’s not worth protecting it at the federal level, but it’s enough to make it regional and even municipal. On the other hand, according to Law 73-FZ “On objects of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation,” buildings that are of architectural value can become monuments 40-50 years after construction. So, for example, the same Kadomtsev House will again have every right to be called a monument in fifty years.

But, fortunately, they managed to restore the Salt Office using the original material. True, all the more or less intact bricks of the dismantled Zeleyshchikov House went into its masonry. But it is also planned to be restored. Just recently, the Zeleyshchikov House was registered in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation in order to recreate the external appearance and layout. The reconstruction project was made thanks to the surviving photographs of the expedition of the famous history professor Nekrasov, who worked in Cheboksary in the 30s. twentieth century and revealed this most valuable object. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, the restoration of the Zeleyshchikov House today has frozen at the stage of the foundation and 115 cubic meters of masonry.”

To a direct question from a journalist: Kadomtsev’s House is an actual remake. However, it is presented to tourists as a monument of civil architecture of the 18th century. Do we have the moral right to consider it a monument? – Nikolai Muratov answered like this:

"Yes, from the point of view of restoration work, this is immoral and is no good. But what if life forced you to use such a method?”

Application

to the republican target
program “Culture of Chuvashia:
2010–2020"

Subroutine
"Cultural heritage in the Chuvash Republic"

I. Characteristics of the problem
which the subroutine is aimed at solving

There are 776 cultural heritage sites in the Chuvash Republic. The List of cultural heritage objects (historical and cultural monuments) located on the territory of the Chuvash Republic includes 681 objects (54 objects of federal significance, 627 regional), 95 objects are included in the list of newly identified historical and cultural monuments. There are 5 historical settlements (cities) in the republic - Cheboksary, Alatyr, Tsivilsk, Yadrin, Mariinsky Posad.

At the present stage, a set of activities is being carried out aimed at identifying, studying and preserving objects that are valuable from the point of view of history, archaeology, architecture, urban planning and monumental art.

Repair and restoration work in 2005–2008 was carried out at 22 cultural heritage sites, of which 9 monuments of federal significance: Vvedensky Cathedral (Cheboksary), Peasant's House (Cheboksary), Solovtsov House (Cheboksary), Efremova (Cheboksary), Efremova (Cheboksary), Tikhvin Convent (Tsivilsk), Teachers' Seminary (Poretskoye village), Ascension Church (Semenovskoye village, Poretsky district), Lobachevsky House (Kozlovka), and on 13 monuments of regional significance: the building of the Chuvash State Puppet Theater (Cheboksary), the building of the first university of Chuvashia (Cheboksary), Efremova (Cheboksary), the Assumption Cathedral (Cheboksary), the Kiev-Nicholas Convent (Cheboksary). Alatyr), former school building (Alatyr), house No. 66, a monument of wooden architecture
(Alatyr), House of the merchant Sapozhnikov (Mariinsky Posad), House of the merchant Sosnin (Mariinsky Posad), Intercession Church (Pokrovskoye village, Mariinsky Posad district), House of Baron Zhomeni (Kozlovka), residential house (village Poretskoye), Trinity Church (village Bolshiye Shemerdyany, Yadrinsky district). The volume of funds spent on repair and restoration work during these years amounted to 100.8 million rubles, including 22.3 million rubles from the republican budget of the Chuvash Republic.

At the same time, a number of unresolved problems remain in the field of conservation, use and state protection of cultural heritage sites. A significant part of cultural heritage objects that are important for the history and culture of the Chuvash Republic need restoration, conservation, restoration and adaptation for modern use. 14 architectural and urban planning monuments are in disrepair, among them the Church of St. John the Baptist (Bolshoi Sundyr village, Yadrinsky district), St. Nicholas Church (Chiganary village, Yadrinsky district), a complex of buildings of the Alatyr spiritual hermitage (Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, chapel, Church of St. John Voina), St. Nicholas Church (Nikolskoye village, Yadrinsky district), Church of the Nativity of the Virgin (Alatyr), house at the St. Nicholas Church (Alatyr), the house in which Chuvash writers lived (village of Karachevo, Kozlovsky district), House of composer A. Togaev (Mariinsky Posad), residential house with basements (village Yalushevo, Alatyrsky district), Church of the Intercession
(Akhmatovo village, Alatyrsky district), Alekseevskaya Church (Yadrin city).

One of the most important areas of the subprogram is the formation of a system of state registration of cultural heritage objects. It is necessary to conduct monitoring studies in order to identify complete information about the quantity, condition, nature of use, owners, tenants and users of cultural heritage objects. Monitoring data and systematized registration of its results on digital media will create an electronic database for state protection of cultural heritage sites. It is planned to complete the process of concluding security obligations, producing passports of historical and cultural monuments in accordance with the Federal Law “On objects of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation.” The activities of the subprogram also include the preparation and publication of a Code of Cultural Heritage Objects located on the territory of the Chuvash Republic.

The problem of preserving cultural heritage sites located in the territories of historical settlements (cities) is particularly acute. The historical appearance and originality of the city is being lost. Cheboksary, Alatyr, Tsivilsk, Yadrina, Mariinsky Posad as a result of the demolition and reconstruction of historical buildings without taking into account its specifics, the construction of new buildings without taking into account the existing appearance of the historical zone. The most valuable monument buildings located on the territory of the Poretsky district require priority emergency work.

The total amount of funds for the entire period of implementation of the subprogram is 0 thousand rubles.

Financing of the subprogram's activities is reflected in table. 2.

table 2

Subprogram funding volumes

Will the churches of Sviyazhsk be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List?

Tatarstan has once again submitted a “Sviyazhsk” application to UNESCO. After an unsuccessful attempt in 2013, the republic did not take risks and nominated for inclusion in the World Heritage List not the entire island-city, but two of its 16th-century objects: the wooden Trinity Church and the stone Assumption Cathedral. The application will be considered no earlier than 2017. At the same time, experts from “Evening Kazan” believe that this time Sviyazhsk’s chances are slim.

Let us recall that in 2013 Sviyazhsk, founded in 1551 by Ivan the Terrible for the siege of Kazan, was already nominated for inclusion in the UNESCO list along with the ancient city of Bolgar. However, due to critical assessments of foreign experts on the protection of monuments, who discovered a large number of remodels on the territory of ancient settlements, Tatarstan decided not to risk it and at the last moment withdrew the application. And then he threw all his efforts into pushing Bolgar into the World Heritage List - in June 2014, the attempt was a success.

And just the other day, the Republican Foundation for the Revival of Historical and Cultural Monuments, which is headed by Mintimer Shaimiev, submitted an application to include two churches in Sviyazhsk on the UNESCO list. These are the Trinity Church (1551), which is the only monument of Russian wooden architecture of the 16th century in the Volga region, and the Assumption Cathedral (1560), built by Pskov architects. The cathedral has preserved unique frescoes; images of Ivan the Terrible and St. Christopher with a dog's head are of particular interest.

– Many people think: we’ll get on the UNESCO list, and the money will flow. This is wrong. The UNESCO sign for Sviyazhsk is a matter of prestige. It will increase interest in cultural monuments. In addition, the mechanism of international control over attractions will be activated, we will become more careful about what we have,” Artem Silkin, director of the Sviyazhsk Island-Grad museum-reserve, explained to “Evening Kazan” the meaning of the idea. According to him, last year the island was visited by 260 thousand tourists, and if Sviyazhsk ends up under the wing of UNESCO, the tourist flow will begin to grow exponentially.

Meanwhile, a number of experts believe that Sviyazhsk, as well as its individual sites, still has little chance of being included in the world heritage list.

“There is no chance for the Trinity Church,” a member of the Union of Architects of Russia, professor of the International Slavic Academy, deputy is convinced. Head of the group of developers of the Concept for the revival of Sviyazhsk as a historical small town of Russia, author of the preliminary design of the general plan and development project for Sviyazhsk Evgeniy Ignatiev. – The reconstruction of the church is not completed yet. But what has already been done in 2011–13 can only be called a recreation of the previous image, a remake. For example, covered walkways or verandas, hypothetically recreating the previous image of the church, can be classified as a remake. By and large, only individual architectural elements of the Trinity Church can qualify for inclusion in the UNESCO list. Namely, the temple part, dating from the 16th century, and the refectory with an octagon ( octagonal log house.- “VK”) of the 18th century.

But as for the Assumption Cathedral, according to Ignatiev, its chances of being included in the UNESCO list are 90 percent. The Assumption Cathedral was least damaged by restoration work.

When asked by Vechernaya Kazan what other historical sites on the island could in the future qualify for inclusion in the UNESCO list, the professor answered categorically: “There are none worthy.” Although he did not rule out that the objects of the former convent of St. John the Baptist would someday be put on the waiting list: the St. Sergius Church of the early 17th century and the Cathedral of Our Lady of All Who Sorrow the Joy of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Their restoration is not complete.

“In general, the restoration of Sviyazhsk objects is carried out with serious shortcomings, which have significantly changed the appearance of the city,” says Evgeny Ignatiev. – Personally, I have questions for the restorers of the archimandrite and fraternal buildings on the territory of the Mother of God Assumption Monastery. Many elements were roughly destroyed during the restoration work. For example, the white stone foundation of the locker porch near the northern wall of the fraternal building was destroyed. Only two porches leading to the second floor have survived to this day. We determined that there was once a third one by signs that were barely noticeable to the eye when examining the building. As a result, the contractors simply tore out the remains of the foundation. Or take the south side of the building, where during restoration, elements of the mental hospital toilets that were added to the building in the 20th century disappeared. These fragments, of course, did not represent cultural value, but were part of the historical appearance of the fraternal corps. And restoration involves careful preservation of all the cultural layers of the object, all traces of time. In addition, as a result of restoration work, all the interiors inside the case were greatly distorted. What kind of authenticity can we talk about?

According to the restorer, new pseudo-historical buildings also contributed to the destruction of the historical appearance of Sviyazhsk.

“Sviyazhsk is being turned into a training ground for wooden and stone “sheds”,” Evgeniy Ignatiev is critical. – Meanwhile, the concept of 1996 implied the revival of Sviyazhsk as a small historical city with a full-blooded life. However, over time, the republican authorities brought to the fore the creation of a museum-reserve. A museum is a kind of conservation, a ban on the development of the territory. It turns out that the residents of Sviyazhsk are not needed in the reserve in principle. And what do we have today? Young families are leaving Sviyazhsk due to lack of work, schools and kindergartens. The island-city is turning into a nature reserve with monasteries and monks as exhibits, into an elite summer cottage Rublyovka, where there are twice as many summer residents as permanent residents.

Moreover, the restorer is convinced that the status of a UNESCO monument can only be detrimental to Sviyazhsk. It will be possible to safely give up on the development of the city. After all, then every new building on the island will have to be approved in Paris!

This reference guide contains information about historical monuments that are under state protection. Catalog by Nikolai Muratov " Objects of cultural heritage of the Chuvash Republic"presented at the National Library.

The manual was published by the Chuvash Book Publishing House. The first volume, published in 2011, told about the history of the formation and development of Cheboksary, Alatyr, Yadrin, the new, second book presents the historical and cultural heritage of Mariinsky Posad and Tsivilsk. But even two volumes do not cover the entire cultural heritage of Chuvashia.

Nikolai Muratov: “Not all the monuments reflected in this book exhaust the entire cultural heritage of Chuvashia; there are much more of them. Currently, about a hundred objects have been identified that are of significant historical and cultural value, but have not yet been declared monuments or accepted under state protection. But soon this issue will be resolved, and a number of monuments will need to be popularized.”

Similar catalogs are today compiled in recognized cultural centers - Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Yekaterinburg. The benefits of such publications are recognized, first of all, by the scientific community, which understands that without such books it is almost impossible to assess the significance of what was created by the people and determine its place in the global cultural space.

Mikhail Kondratyev, head of the department of art history at the Institute of Humanities: “These books are a sign that the Russian periphery, the province, the outback, as they often say, is kind of waking up. We try to understand, classify, initiate ourselves.”

There are more than one and a half thousand architectural and 682 cultural heritage sites in Chuvashia. Buildings for various purposes, buildings associated with the lives of famous people, monuments to those who left their mark on history - you can learn about all this from the book of Nikolai Muratov. The result of intense research work was a publication that, in terms of the volume of information, can only be equated to an encyclopedia. But there is something that the scientist still only dreams of telling the reader about.

Nikolai Muratov: “There is an idea - to create a section or volume dedicated to lost historical and cultural monuments. We are thinking about this topic, preparing photographs, and will work on it.”

Latest news from the Chuvash Republic on the topic:
The catalog “Objects of Cultural Heritage of Chuvashia” was released

The catalog “Objects of Cultural Heritage of Chuvashia” was released- Cheboksary

This reference guide contains information about historical monuments that are under state protection.
20:06 04/01/2013 State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Chuvashia

15:47 Presentation of the catalog (second book) of Nikolai Muratov “Objects of cultural heritage of the Chuvash Republic” took place- Cheboksary

Original image March 28 this year. The presentation of the catalog (second book) of Nikolai Muratov “Objects of the cultural heritage of the Chuvash Republic” took place at the National Library of the Chuvash Republic.
17:14 29.03.2013 Administration of the President of the Chechen Republic

Petr Krasnov congratulated the author of the catalog "Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Chuvash Republic" on the premiere of the book- Cheboksary

On March 28, the National Library of Chuvashia hosted a presentation of the catalog (second book) by Nikolai Ivanovich Muratov, “Objects of the Cultural Heritage of the Chuvash Republic,” published in 2012 by the Chuvash Book Publishing House.
14:59 29.03.2013 State Council