Head of the cathedral

The famous St. Petersburg actor exchanged the administration of Valentina Matvienko for Isaac

A “cult” appointment took place in St. Petersburg. People's Artist of Russia, actor Nikolai Burov, voluntarily leaving the position of chairman of the St. Petersburg Culture Committee, which he had held for the last three and a half years, moved to the chair of director of the State Museum-Monument (GMP) "St. Isaac's Cathedral". This place was vacated after the sudden death of Nikolai Nagorsky, who had been in charge of this museum complex for the last six years.

In fact, Nikolai Burov received a serious inheritance, and a huge responsibility fell on his shoulders. GMP "St. Isaac's Cathedral" is the so-called "cathedral ring", which, in addition to St. Isaac's Cathedral, includes the Smolny and Sampson Cathedrals, as well as the Savior on Spilled Blood. And Nikolai Nagorsky, being a highly qualified specialist, put the work in these museums at the highest level, assembling a team of the best specialists. Now Mr. Burov, in a completely new capacity for himself, will have to not lose face in front of the museum community. After all, all his life he was engaged in theatrical activities and only in recent years became an official.

As Nikolai Burov told Vremya Novostei, he took the position of director of the museum-monument precisely as a manager. According to Nikolai Burov, this is a conscious decision: “In the theater, I decided to give way to the young people. And after three years in the “trenches” of the museum’s cultural committee, this is a new and interesting job for me. Any such organization is a living organism. And if I cannot imagine the State Hermitage without the scientist Mikhail Piotrovsky, then I see that an experienced manager can work in St. Isaac’s Cathedral.”

Calling himself an “experienced manager,” Nikolai Burov nevertheless admitted that he will have a lot to learn. Moreover, Mr. Burov is not at all sure that he will be suitable for his position. And if it doesn’t, he will honestly admit defeat and submit his resignation. At the same time, the head of the St. Petersburg Culture Committee explained that the transition to a new job was not his initiative. The museum community invited him to this post, and he is infinitely happy about it.

Mr. Burov will have to test himself in his new position in the next few days. June 12 marks the 150th anniversary of the consecration of St. Isaac's Cathedral, this masterpiece of Auguste Montferrand. Therefore, there is a whole program of festive events ahead, as well as a scientific conference dedicated to the legacy of the famous architect.

In addition, the museum staff will undertake a complex of research and restoration work in the coming years. Recently, rumors have been spreading in the media that the temple, whose foundation is supported by 11 thousand wooden piles, is gradually falling into the ground, and this leads to the destruction of supporting structures. The museum's management denied these rumors. But, as Boris Podolsky, deputy director of the St. Isaac’s Cathedral state museum for the operation of buildings and structures, told Vremya Novostey, in order not to be unfounded, the museum’s management decided to order the relevant specialists to study the soil, foundation and load-bearing structures. On June 25-26, a meeting of the competition commission will take place, which will select the performer of these works. The research itself will begin on July 5, and the results will be presented to the public in mid-summer 2009.

Mikhail TELEKHOV, St. Petersburg