Holy Mission

In Moscow on Borovitskaya Square, a monument was opened to the holy Equal -to -the -Apostle Prince Vladimir. This was reported by the Kremlin press service.

The ceremony was led by actor director Fedor Bondarchuk. Vladimir Putin took part in it. "The new monument - a tribute to our outstanding ancestor, especially revered by the saint, the statesman and the warrior, the spiritual founder of the Russian state, - said the president." It was strong moral support, cohesion and unity that helped our ancestors overcome difficulties, live and win the glory of the Fatherland, from generation to generation to strengthen its power and greatness - today our debt is to confront modern The challenges and threats, relying on the spiritual covenants, on the priceless traditions of unity and consent, go forward, ensuring the continuity of our millennium history. "

The monument was consecrated by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill. “The monument to Prince Vladimir is a symbol of the unity of all the peoples whose father is. And these are the peoples of historical Rus', now living within the boundaries of many states. The monument to the father can be everywhere where his children live, there is no contradiction in this, but if children forget that they have one father,” the patriarch noted.

At the opening ceremony, the widow of Alexander Solzhenitsyn Natalia also performed. The Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the heads of both chambers of the Russian parliament Valentina Matvienko and Vyacheslav Volodin, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin attended Borovitskaya Square.

The monument to Prince Vladimir was built on the initiative of the Russian Military Historical Society and the Government of Moscow. Work on the improvement of Borovitskaya Square and the installation of the monument was carried out at the expense of the city.

The authors of the monument are sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov and architect Igor Voskresensky. The height of the figure of the monument is 16 meters, the height of the pedestal is two meters.

In January 2016, the International Council for the preservation of monuments and landmark places - the UNESCO advisory body - did not recommend the Russian authorities to erect a monument on Borovitskaya Square. Even then it was noted that this "can have negative consequences" for the Kremlin as an object of the World Heritage.

Nevertheless, in the spring it was stated that the monument would still be erected on Borovitskaya . At the same time, officials assured, UNESCO recommendations would be taken into account.

On October 18, the director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center Mehtild Rössler demanded that the Russian authorities inform how the recommendations of this structure were taken into account when installing the monument. Russia's report in an international organization is expected no later than December 1. The member of the Coordinating Council of Archnadzor, as well as the Presidential Council for Culture and Art, Konstantin Mikhailov called it possible that after the installation of the monument the Kremlin would be expelled from the list of World Heritage.