Guiding lines: Alien Monuments

Monuments of architecture in the capital that in the previous two years had a "lack of attention rating" are absent. However this does not mean that town governors and constructors have learned how to preserve them more carefully. More likely it is the contrary: Turkish monuments have suffered from an earthquake and American, from hurricane Katrina and flooding. Afghan objects of culture have fallen victim to the unrest of the continuing war, which does not allow the involvement of foreign experts capable even for some time to preserve the destroyed statue of Buddha.

Russian objects of cultural heritage that have come to ruin include not only the church in Teplovo in the Nizhniy Novgorod region and the Mendeleyev tower in St. Petersburg, ordered by the great scientist of the same name, but also the architectural ensemble of the center of St. Petersburg. The authors of the report consider the construction of the Gazprom tower in St. Petersburg, which was approved recently by city the town-planning council, a threat to the architectural horizon of the city on the River Neva.

Disappearance from the List

Nobody should be misled by the absence in the current list of two capital objects that were there previously. Simply the threat of their endangerment from the face of the city became a reality. Unlike the authorities in Riga, which after WMF announced in 2005 the threat to Riga Dom Cathedral immediately found funds for its restoration, and the London mayor which suspended the construction of three skyscrapers in the capital's center after the center of world heritage UNESCO included in the "red list” the disappearing of the Tower and Westminster Abbey, Moscow's authorities have not helped masterpieces of construction of the 1920s, present in all architectural textbooks. Narkomfina House on Novinsky Boulevard has already been sold to build a hotel there, and Melnikova tower on Krivoarbatsky pereulok after unsuccessful restoration, which worsened its condition, still can't find a new owner.

Of course, modern Russian cities, especially mega cities, develop roughly. The increasing population demands adequate provision of living space, and the economic boom – new offices and warehouse terminals. Many inhabitants of mega cities want to live (and companies – to work) in the center. But construction in Moscow leads to a fundamental change in the shape of the historical part of the city. Bulldozers and excavators do not have mercy on mansions, apartment buildings, or monuments of industrial architecture.

In the 15 post Soviet years in Moscow 400 historical buildings have disappeared, of which nearly 80 were monuments of architecture. According to the Moscow society for the protection of architectural heritage, in just the last five years in the capital more than 20 objects of cultural heritage have been destroyed. Even the shocking affair of the demolition of parts of buildings of the Middle shopping rows – a monument of architecture from the 19th century near the Kremlin, and before that the Moskva Hotel did not catch the attention of the Public Prosecutor's Office or even the Federal service for the supervision of observance of legislation in the sphere of mass communications and the preservation of cultural heritage. In other buildings during pseudo-restoration historical details are replaced with concrete and plastic, which leads to the actual destruction of monuments.

The list of victories in preserving heritage in capital and other cities is shorter than the list of defeats. The efforts of the late Alexei Komchev, ex-director of the Institute of Art-knowledge, the Moscow industrial buildings on Nikolskaya street and buildings near Patriarshy ponds have been saved (we hope – for ever), and the construction of a bridge in Novgorod, which threatened many monuments of old Russian architecture has been prevented. But after the death of Komchev there remains few people capable if not of proving to the authorities then of raising their voice, to say that the preserved historical center is not just a symbol of respect for our ancestors, but is also a way of attracting tourists, which will bring to the treasury no less money, than the construction of elite residential real estate and offices.

The mayoralties of both of Russia's largest mega cities, if Gazoskreb will be constructed according to the blueprint, may find themselves in the same position as the Egyptian authorities of Luxor, which several decades ago didn't oppose the construction of the Aswan dam, and has now come back to bite them: the raised level of the underground waters threatens the existence of a lot of temples and other ancient objects, and should now be closed for visiting by tourists.

Don't sit on your hands

Perhaps it is impossible to avoid mass destruction in the construction of new office centers and houses. However Parisians and deputies of the city's assembly have rescued the center of the French capital from the construction of a complex of buildings for a business center. The Defans district with its famous 110-m high arch has been constructed at a distance from the center of Paris. Considering this experience, the state and private investors have built new office centers and Mitterand's super-modern library closer to the suburbs. There are many examples similar to this.

Alas, the reason for the disrespectful attitude towards cultural heritage is us. In 2006 a court considered the explosion of a monument to Nikolai II and the attempted explosion of a monument to Peter I by left extremist Igor Gubkin as not only destruction of historical heritage, but also an act of terrorism. Gubkin was sentenced to 19 years. 36 per cent of those questioned by the Russian public opinion research center found the verdict just, 7 per cent - unduly lenient, 28 per cent - excessively severe, and the remainder did not answer.

We, together with the government, are extremely outraged by the demolition of Soviet monuments abroad. According to the Russian public opinion research center, the affair concerning the reburial of remains and relocation of a monument to Soviet soldiers in Tallinn angered 78 per cent of respondents. But when the authorities for various reasons - from self-interest to ignorance - behave no better, only a handful try to protect historical heritage.