Ancient temples turned into cowsheds and grain warehouses in Tatarstan — prosecutor's office launching case

09:00, 06.08.2021

The information that architectural monuments were turned into grain warehouses and cowsheds in the Spassky district of Tatarstan in the villages of Tankeyevka and Shcherbet has been referred to the district prosecutor's office for organising an inspection. Ruslan Galiyev, senior assistant for interaction with the media, told Realnoe Vremya about this.

The message that the ancient temples in the Spassky district of the republic are used as warehouses and cowsheds appeared in the telegram channel Artitekturasy. The activists sent a statement to the Tatarstan Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects.

“The cases are egregious and unacceptable. The churches were closed in the Soviet years. The villages where they were erected are sparsely populated, but even this does not give the right to use the former temples in this way. Not to mention that cultural heritage objects are protected by law. We are waiting for the intervention of the state," the channel said in the statement.

The test is under the control of prosecution.

“It is important that the situation is resolved quickly and without conflicts”

“I'm not running the channel alone, Adel helps me. She travels around the regions of Tatarstan, takes pictures of destroyed and dilapidated churches, mosques. She has recently returned from such trip to the Spassky district, she published a selection with these photos. When I saw this, I decided to write an application to the Tatarstan Committee for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage Objects, because these churches, where the granary and animals are located, are included in the list of cultural heritage objects," Kazan local historian and blogger Yan Gordeev told Realnoe Vremya.

At the first publication of these pictures, the news was not noticed, he complained. Taking into account the enormous work being done in the republic to maintain a balance of interests of all faiths, such use of even inactive churches can be ambiguously regarded.

“Here some people, farmers do this. Most likely, in this case, it was done without thinking, without malicious intent. Now they say that the animals could have come by themselves, escaping from the heat — I don't know. In any case, it is important that the situation is resolved quickly and without conflicts, so that the state intervenes, and at least, it is necessary to preserve these objects," says the local historian.

He did not name the farm that could have been involved in these situations. He only clarified that suspicion fell on a small farm in the neighbourhood. The investigation of the incident continues.

Tatyana Leukhina

Tatarstan