Creative legacy

St. Petersburg and Moscow are finishing dividing the cultural monuments of the northern capital

City and federal authorities have distributed among themselves responsibility for cultural heritage sites located on the territory of St. Petersburg. 155 architectural ensembles were transferred to the ownership of the northern capital, and 119 remained with the Russian Federation. Within three months, Smolny must present a project to delineate ownership rights to the last 114 disputed cultural monuments.

Let us recall that after perestroika, some of the architectural masterpieces (namely 1052 real estate objects) were simultaneously recorded in both the city and federal property registers. Such dual power interfered with the management of this property. It was not even about claims to ownership and not about priorities of use, but about the mechanism and technology of control. From a purely legal standpoint, it was often unclear how to carry out and distribute funds for repairs or even banal sanitary maintenance of premises - who should pay, how much and when, whose contract is the main one, who works with contractors. Therefore, in the early 2000s, a federal law was adopted, according to which the constituent entities of the federation had to study cultural objects for which ownership rights were not registered by Rosimushchestvo, and submit proposals to the government of the Russian Federation, which architectural masterpieces should remain the property of the municipal authorities, and which go to the federal center.

St. Petersburg is the first subject of the federation that has almost completed this process. First, in May last year, 22 architectural ensembles were transferred to the city, and 58 to the federal level. On December 31, 2008, in accordance with Russian Government Decree No. 20-57, the city received ownership of another 155 cultural monuments, and 119 remained in the possession of the Russian Federation. (The numbers we mentioned above and used in the decree of the government of the Russian Federation do not correlate with each other, since at first it was real estate objects that were counted, and the orders of the federal government speak of architectural ensembles, which include both real estate objects, namely buildings, and movable property, namely embankment fences, park gratings, etc.).

At the same time, a decree of the Russian government obliged the city authorities to deal with the remaining 114 disputed cultural heritage sites within the next three months, including the ruins of old palaces and architectural monuments used for commercial purposes, and temples of various religious denominations.

Chairman of the City Property Management Committee (KUGI) Igor Metelsky told Vremya Novostei that the principle by which property was distributed is quite simple. The buildings housing city organizations and institutions, as well as residential buildings, were transferred to St. Petersburg. Among them are the Mariinsky Palace, the Peter and Paul Fortress (with the exception of the Mint buildings, which were transferred to the Russian Federation, and the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which is on the list of disputed objects), Mikhailovsky (Engineers) Castle, Elagin Palace on Elagin Island, Mariinsky Hospital, Smolny Monastery, Anichkov Palace , Ensemble of the Spit of Vasilievsky Island, Kamennoostrovsky Palace, Oreshek Fortress, Pavlovsk and Gatchina palace and park ensembles, etc.

The palaces where federal institutions and federal executive authorities were located remained the property of the Russian Federation. These, in particular, included the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the Hermitage and the Winter Palace, the Admiralty, the Stock Exchange, the Tauride Palace, the Summer Garden and all its sculptural groups, the Naval Cadet Corps, the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve, the State Artistic and Architectural Palace park museum-reserve "Tsarskoe Selo".

The resolution also included two objects on the principle of shared ownership. These are houses No. 1/3 and No. 2 (Vaganova Choreographic School) on Zodchego Rossi Street, since city and federal structures are located in these premises at the same time.

The 114 disputed objects can be divided into three types: religious objects currently used by state cultural institutions of St. Petersburg - St. Isaac's Cathedral, Sampsonievsky Cathedral and bell tower, Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Savior on Spilled Blood) with a chapel and sacristy, etc.; real estate objects used by non-governmental organizations - Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor, Maly Gostiny Dvor, St. Andrew's Market, Baron von Stieglitz Palace, buildings of the Yusupov Palace; unused objects (damaged and ruined buildings).

As Igor Metelsky explained to Vremya Novostey, treasury income from the delineation of property rights will increase, but only slightly, so the city is forced to fight for certain buildings not by greed, but by completely different motives. It is more convenient for the full owner to manage - to look for investors or to service residential areas located in architectural monuments. By the way, for St. Petersburg residents who, by the will of fate, have apartments in cultural heritage sites, according to Mr. Metelsky, nothing will change. Their property will remain their property, but the city will become the owner of premises that do not belong to anyone and with this right will be able to become a member of the HOA, if one is organized.

Also, the head of KUGI assured journalists that in three months local officials will have time to submit proposals on the controversial list to the Russian government, since two years of work on the remaining cultural objects made it possible to establish constructive interaction between the city administration and federal authorities.

Mikhail TELEKHOV, St. Petersburg