Only one gilder for the whole of Tatarstan

Last year was BRICS, this year is the 80th Anniversary of Victory

In the foyer of the fourth floor of the Tatarstan Ministry of Culture building, where the board meeting took place, a small exhibition showcased the results of excavations that uncovered 10 new archaeological sites in the region. The most interesting is the Novobiksinteevsky burial ground in the Menzelinsky district, where burials with various items were found: for example, jewelry made from the phalanges of a hare.

“This is the oldest monument in Tatarstan, 5,000 years before our era," Ivan Gushchin, the head of the committee, immediately noted, hurrying the archaeologists, who soon moved on to excavations in Kazan — 97 Tukaya Street, 103 Ostrovsky Street, 33 Narimanov Street (for example, a 1791 coin was found at the last address and a matrix for clay icons).

“We communicate so often and fruitfully that it is difficult to find new words," admitted Leonid Kondrashev, the president of the National Committee of the International Council for the Preservation of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) of Russia, after issuing an aphorism: “We have our own “Hazel Tree” in the humanitarian sphere — this is [Tatarstan State Adviser] Mintimer Sharipovich [Shaimiev] with his own sense of humour.

As Guschin noted, the main topic for the committee was the preparation of the historical centre of Kazan for BRICS Summit. Work was carried out on 112 buildings, of which 17 were completely renovated, and 36 had roof and facades repaired.

This year, one of the main topics will be the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. In 2024, 11 cultural heritage sites related to this event were added to the Unified Register, and part of the defensive territory of the “Kazan Line” in the Kaybitsky District was placed under state protection. The Ministry of Culture of Russia approved a simplified procedure for repairing monuments of the Great Patriotic War, in 2025 the republican committee will work on 55 objects, 31 require repairs.

In total, according to Guschin, 5.8 billion rubles were spent on design and restoration in 2024, of which 4.8 billion rubles from the regional and local budgets, 197.3 million from the federal budget, as well as 827 million rubles from philanthropists. These funds were allocated, among other things, to the poet Kamenev's house, the Alafuzov Theatre, the wing and service buildings of the Sapogultsev estate, the Iske Tash and Urta Tash mosques (also known as the White Mosque), and the Rodigins' felting factory in Kukmor...

In 2025, after restoration, a memorial temple to fallen soldiers, a mosque in the village of Maskara in the Kukmorsky district, a merchant's house in Chistopol (it will be adapted for a Centre for psychological and pedagogical assistance to children and youth), the Trinity Church in the village of Verkhny Bagryazh in the Zainsky district, a mosque in the village of Aybash in the Vysokogorsky district, the factory office of the P.K. Oshkov and Co partnership in Mendeleevsk will open. . Work will begin in the Mendeleevsky district at the factory school building in the village of Novy Kokshan, and ongoing work will continue at the Petropavlovsky Cathedral and four sites of the Bogoroditsky Women's Monastery (the abbot's house, the nuns' building, the Church of St. Nicholas of Tula, and the church school).

As for the register of Cultural Heritage Sites, in 2024, an expert examination was conducted for 203 identified cultural heritage sites, 156 of them were included in the Unified Register, and 20 documents were submitted to the Ministry of Culture of Russia for a decision on assigning them the status of federal significance. Currently, there are 1,888 such facilities in Tatarstan (446 — federal, 1,074 — regional, 386 — local), and let's not forget the 3,421 identified Cultural Heritage Sites.

Historical settlements are in no hurry to limit

If we talk about the problems, then one of them, Guschin noted, is the development of borders, the subject of protection and urban planning regulations for historical settlements.

“The situation here is not so rosy. Of the 13 settlements, documents have been approved only for Bilyarsk," said the head of the committee. “Last year, an interdepartmental commission chaired by the rais of the Republic of Tatarstan approved design solutions for the sustainable development of the historical settlements of Chistopol and Yelabuga. The documents are being finalised and will be submitted to the Federal Scientific and Methodological Council in the near future.”

Updating of documents is required for seven historical settlements. In Laishevo, Sviyazhsk, and Tetyusham, the committee suggests starting to develop project documentation this year.

“Given the construction activity and investment potential, the lack of approved documents on historical settlements is a deterrent and a definite problem," Guschin added.

Natalia Monodnikova, the director of the Museum of the History of the Tetyushi Region, spoke enthusiastically about Tetyshi. There are 70 Cultural Heritage Sites, of which 32 are located in the city itself with a population of 10,000 people.

“At the beginning of the 2000s, the picturesque Volga city was slowly fading away," Monodnikova described the beginning of the work. “After analysing our own resources, we decided to unleash our internal potential, positioning Tetyushi as a territory with a special atmosphere and socio-cultural environment.

She also spoke about the Molostov estate, a “unique place of power”. Theatre labs, wedding ceremonies and much more are held here.

“Our long-term dream, Leila Rinatovna is to actively use all the squares, use the entire territory, and turn this place into a creative summer residence, because in the 1930s the entire creative elite of the country worked and rested here," she addressed Deputy Prime Minister Fazleeva.

Fazleeva admired her energetic speech:

“You have perfectly presented the image of an ideal specialist in the system of preservation and protection of heritage monuments, because you are not indifferent.

They charge little for a ruble

Gushchin also spoke about the situation with the sale of objects in poor condition at a discounted price of one ruble in Chistopol, Yelabuga and Kazan.

In two years, 16 (10+6) were sold, but there are still 23 in the “collection”. .

“From Tatarstan, taking into account the opinion of local governments, only 16 were proposed. It's a negligible number," Guschin said of the second site. “I see reserves here for our joint work.

According to the head of the committee, this is also influenced by the simplification of work with Cultural Heritage Sites (for example, when repairing engineering systems, design documentation and permits for such work are not required).

“Already today, it is proposed to reduce the time for submitting accounting documents from 90 to 60 days, and the time for issuing permits from 30 to 10 business days. Dear Roman Alekseevich!” said Gushchin, addressing the head of the Department of State Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture of Russia Roman Rybalo. “Undoubtedly, these are positive changes. But I would like to ask you to approach such innovations carefully, taking into account the limited staff of regional security agencies and the insufficient level of digital maturity of the industry.

By the way, Rybalo was remembered by journalists for his proposal to make chak-chak an object of protection for the historical settlement of Kazan: “This is half a joke, but at the same time, it is half serious.”

“There is a complete lack of artists-restorers for easel and monumental painting”

Meanwhile, the cost of restoring Cultural Heritage Sites is high, and due to the cost of restoration materials (special compounds, waterproofing and anticorrosive materials for protection), there are problems with the availability of restoration bricks and tiles, Guschin noted and again raised the problem of qualified workers, highlighting that there are currently 245 in Tatarstan.

“Of these, 18 are for stone architecture, 16 for wood, nine for roofing, and one for gilding. There is a complete lack of artists-restorers for easel and monumental painting," he said.

By the way, Guschin himself completed the professional retraining course “Reconstruction and Restoration of Architectural Heritage” at the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage last year.

“Maybe we should not increase something, but transform something, make changes, because we have specific admission figures?” Leyla Fazleeva wondered, concluding that a methodological resource centre could appear in the republic.

“These are scales, small ones," commented Rybalo. “On one side, there is a shortage of specialists, and on the other side, there are instances where the Ministry of Culture certifies specialists, but they are trading in the market and not involved in restoration because they are not needed by restoration companies.

Gushchin agreed: “There is a problem when our contractors and customers attract specialists from other regions — Yaroslavl, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vologda. He outlined the request that an educational process is needed in Kazan. Journalists recalled that discussions about the centre have been going on for five years, since the formation of the committee.”

“Kazan State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering trains main specialists," Guschin replied. “There are attempts at the KFU, there is the department of architecture and design, the rector and I have been working on these issues. We need to address the issues of targeted recruitment, state-funded places, and financing. It is impossible to make a centre somewhere in the field, without a base, without objects of wooden architecture. There are attempts to create restoration areas, but these are just attempts. There is a need for a comprehensive professional site where issues of education and production of materials would be solved. Unfortunately, Tatarstan does not produce much for restoration.