In Kemerovo, they protest against the installation of a 24-meter statue of St. Barbara

The inhabitants of Kemerovo, among whom are architects, well-known scientists and cultural figures, protest against the plans of the authorities and the Church to establish a 24-meter statue of the patroness of the miners of St. Barbara on a specially protected territory. A large -scale construction is supposed to be deployed in the Rudnic Bor - where even during the war, not a single tree was cut down.

In the summer, the Kemerovo authorities held a sketch competition, the victory was won by sculptor Konstantin Zinich. He proposed this option: a 24-meter statue of Barbara with an Orthodox cross in his right hand. The Russian Orthodox Church turned to the population of the mining region with a request to support the project with donations. Barvara is considered the intercessor of the miners because, according to legend, her father pagan Dioskor pursued a daughter - a Christian, and once she disappeared from him in a mountain, who parted and hid Virgin. And now, in Kemerovo, they plan to hoist Barvara in a beloved by many Bor.

The Holy Barbara, meanwhile, is one of the many heroes of the church epic, in fact, most likely not existing. The stories of the Church are known to the cults of such saints, but these personalities of the history of the Church themselves are not known. In the process of reform in 1969, St. Barbara was excluded by the Roman Catholic Church from the Liturgical calendar along with several dozens of other saints, in respect of which there is no sufficient evidence of their actual existence. The Orthodox Church, despite this, honors the liturgical tradition of St. Barbara, although in theological circles to its cult with doubt.

However, the history of the Kemerovo St. Barbara, of course, is not related to theological discussion. The regional authorities made the decision to build the monument without consulting with the townspeople: the head of the City Council, a member of the United Russia party, Nikolai Senchurov, said he did not see the need to hold a public hearing. The townspeople began to protest.

With an open letter to the governor Sergei Tsivilev, famous people in Kuzbass turned. They ask to "abandon the plans for the construction of a giant monument in the Rudnic Bor, as well as from plans for further" cultivation of the "city taiga".

To the left of it there will be a power power line, and on the right there is a mobile tower. The wires will pass over their heads, and the forest that will be knee -deep

- There is an slope section where red -hot plants grow, ” says Andrei Egorov, candidate of biological sciences. -There are also unique areas on the territory of Bor where any influences are not desirable at all. Biologist Andrei Egorov - one of the 12 authors of an open letter with a request not to establish a statue of St. Barbara on the territory of the mining boron.

“ How all this will look: to the left of it there will be a power power line, and a mobile tower on the right, ” says the biologist. - The wires will pass over their heads, and the forest that will be knee -deep.

Experts are sure: the installation of a statue on the territory of the mining boron will damage nature.

“ There are rare birds there, proteins live - the noise effect can supplant part of the fauna from there, ” says Andrei Egorov. - After some time, the surrounding territory will begin to degrade.

At the next session, the local council made a decision according to which, on the territory of the entire mining boron, “the use of equipment, mechanisms and vehicles for placing and maintenance of objects”, as well as “placement of objects and elements of improvement: dry -pointed containers, small architectural forms, sculptures” is allowed. Civil activists are sure: the deputies deliberately changed the regulations on specially protected natural territories in order to legitimize the installation of the statue of St. Barbara. However, in their opinion, the authorities still do not have the right to establish a 24-meter monument to the authorities.

“Rudnic Bor is assigned to a specially protected natural area of local significance, ” says Alexander Konovalov , a doctor of historical sciences, laureate of the Kuzbass Award, one of the authors of the letter. - And in recent days, by the decision of the deputies of the City Council, changes have been made related to the possibility of building small architectural forms and sculptures in a specially protected natural territory. And our main claim is that the sculpture of Saint Barbara, the height of which should be 24 meters according to the sketches (and this is an 8-story house) with a chapel at the base, does not fit under a small architectural form. It more resembles the object of capital construction (although in the city council they deny this), the construction of which requires environmental examination and the conclusion of supervisory authorities.

According to the definition, the small architectural form is only an auxiliary structure that complements the overall composition of the architectural ensemble of development.

“Such sculptures do not relate to small architectural forms,” says Yuri Zyuzkov , a member of the Union of Russia, a member of the Union of Architects of Russia. - This is a large building, like Mamaev Kurgan. I think you can’t put it there.

At one time, Yuri Zyuzkov worked on the project of one of the main Kemerovo Orthodox shrines, the chapel of the icon of the Mother of God of "all mourning joy", however, the construction of the statue of St. Barbara, without coordination with the Kemerovo residents, considers the mistake.

“She will not be in that place (on the bald grief of the Rudnic Bor. - Approx. S.R.) to be perceived,” Yuri Zyuzkov is sure. - There are no close roads. It is necessary to put all this for discussion. And then there will be claims, as with a children's railway: they spent 300 million rubles, and now it must be removed, because no one travels on it, and it also cuts off the city from the river.

If there is a statue, then the pilgrims will go there, which will require additional infrastructure: dry closets, shops for souvenirs, access conditions

To install the sculpture, you will need a foundation based on piles-strokes, which will be about a hundred, as well as heavy construction equipment. According to the city, the equipment will have to be transported through the entire Bor. And this can lead to a violation of the vegetation, soil and simply destroy unique pines that have grown there for centuries.

“If there is a statue, then the pilgrims will go there, which will require additional infrastructure: dry closets, strokes for souvenirs, access conditions, since now there is simply a trodden path,” says Alexander Konovalov. - Saint Barbara is a starting point for the development of tourist infrastructure in Bor, and it is very worried about everyone: businessmen have been trying to stretch out their hands to Bor for a long time.

A press conference was held in Kemerovo with the participation of city deputies and those architects and biologists who support the idea of installing the monument to St. Barbara. The main argument - in Kemerovo, you need to attract tourists. Architect Oleg Razhev at this press conference said that the installation of the sculpture of St. Barbara on the territory of the ore boron is technically possible, and the spiritual symbol of Kuzbass will attract tourists. Moreover, a unique sculpture will make its casting - the great martyr Barbara will be made of whitened bronze.

“In addition to organizing a place of rest of the population, mandatory actions to protect the ecosystem of the ore boron will be taken. Then the territory will become a more close and pleasant place of rest,” the official website of the administration of the Kemerovo region quotes the opinion of the doctor of biological sciences of Yuri Manakov. In an interview with one of the local publications, the same biologist claims that the place of installation of the statue is no longer a value in the botanical sense - the vegetation cover is destroyed there. And they promise to deliver the statue itself in a helicopter to prevent a negative effect on Bor. However, these words seemed unconvincing to readers.

heh hey

People do not want a statue! You understand do not want !!! Regardless of environmental influence!

Anonymous07.

Well, why to tear #PU so much?)) A helicopter is worth a lot of money, and everything is at our expense of the Lord (((

Alexey Borisov

Well, the logic of this incomprehensible "ecologist": if it is broken, then it is not necessary to save. It would be better to think that if it was broken, then how to restore and save! The authorities were completely rinsed with this idol. What are they doing, "barbarians"?

Don Pedro

Yes, tomorrow they will be told from the administration that the grass is blue they will prove it with foam at the mouth. They will also write a doctoral on this subject. It’s better than working.

There are more and more requests and requirements to cancel the project in the networks.

The mine was in the center of the scandal not for the first time. According to Biologist Egorov, there was a time when local officials, on the contrary, advocated the purity of the Kemerovo forest.

“First, the deputies of the City Council told everyone that this is a very valuable section of the city of Kemerovo, banned all activities there,” says Andrei Egorov. - The children there were engaged in winter sports orientation - they kicked them out of there, deputies of the City Council. They removed just a few weeks ago from the territory of the Dyuschor Tea, into which, after ski absenteeism, one could go and relax. They recognized her activities illegal and kicked them out of there. And at the same time, the same deputies want to deploy large -scale construction work on the installation of a saint in a specially protected natural area.

According to Alexander Konovalov, no public hearings regarding the installation of the statue of St. Barbara and the Temple in the pine forest were carried out.

“And this is outraged by many people,” the expert claims. - This kind of idea requires the widest public discussion. After all, our society is polyconfessional, we are a secular state. Why exactly St. Barbara is taken as such an image, few people understand. In fact, this is a split in society. I carefully look at the discussion in the networks. Already now there are unpleasant splashes associated with the transition to personality, with mutual insults: "you are an atheist" or "you have an Orthodoxy of the brain."

The correspondent of Siberia. Reali turned to several deputies of the Kemerov City Council, trying to find out in connection with which it was decided to allow the installation of "small architectural forms" in a specially protected territory and why the project to install the statue did not go through public hearings. Not a single comment was obtained.

“Now Kemerovo sets an example that if it is not possible, but I really want to, we are changing in hindsight,” says Biologist Andrei Egorov. - A decision was made, and then the existing regulatory framework is adjusted under this decision. Moreover, this local adjustment is contrary to regional and federal laws on specially protected natural territories.

A survey on the streets of Kemerovo showed: the project of the authorities in the city does not have a single support.

Evgeny Shishkov, 37 years old, entrepreneur:

- For me, it would be better if the authorities threw all their forces to clean the roads from snow. Every year - everything is worse. On Friday they saw what was going on? I was driving home for six hours, although I usually get in 20 minutes. Transport did not go from the Kirov region at all, even the taxi drivers refused to go to the center - 100 people at the stops froze.

Alexander Belov, 42 years old, engineer:

- I don’t understand at all how a religious object can prescribe a symbol of the region?! For example, I don’t want my children and grandchildren, walking along the embankment, from where this barbarian will be very clearly visible, they constantly greeted her with a look. Religion is everyone’s personal file, and the church is separated from the state by law. And if the authorities urge to establish a religious object in such a place, it means that this is a violation of the rights and freedoms of us local residents.

Alexandra Morozova, 34 years old, seller :

- An interesting project. Perhaps the tourists will reach here. Only for this it is necessary to develop the tourist infrastructure as a whole, and not in one place. It is unlikely that people for hundreds of kilometers will come for the sake of one barbarbar. But I would not build a temple there, because we have them around the city and so the darkness is a darkness.

Zulfiya Akhmetova, 64 years old, pensioner:

- This is a disrespect for my faith. Here "either to everyone or anyone." Yes, and in the most prominent place in the city there will be, as if there are no other problems in Kuzbass.

Oleg Pavlovich, 67 years old, pensioner:

- Of course, I would like to have pensions to be raised by the elderly. Surely this statue costs a lot of money. I do not believe that everything is on donations. Have you seen someone voluntarily donated millions to church? So I have not seen.

Konstantin Lobanov, 21 years old, student:

- I don't care at all. I do not believe in anything. It seems to me that against the backdrop of all these "grandiose construction projects", such as the buildings of the Cassation Court, a branch of the Mariinsky Theater, interested parties simply want to "fuck us."

Christina, 24 years old, accountant :

- We have a law to protect the feelings of believers. Then why is there no law to protect the feelings of non -believers? What are these double standards? You look at what is happening in the world. How many religious wars on this basis? Some love Allah, others-Jesus, others still someone else. So let's "love" in silence, and no one will be offended.

Maxim Afanasyev, 35 years old, machine -building :

- Every weekend we go to the boron with the family, skiing. This is the only place in the city, beloved by many, where you can breathe fresh air. You look at how many people come there every weekend! And with children and with dogs. And the pupils of the children's ski school run there, and there are lifts for adult skiers. In the summer you can ride bicycles, someone is engaged in running, sports walking. How many years they wanted to make the cable car from that shore by Tomi - they said that there was no day. And then on the statue and on the church they found in a few days! I think that touching boron is a crime against the Kemerovo residents. I hope that there, upstairs, to change their minds.

So far, the authorities do not react to the protests of the townspeople. If the situation does not change, in the near future activists are going to contact the prosecutor's office. Meanwhile, on December 10, the Central District Court of Kemerova wrote out a fine of 20 thousand rubles to the pensioner Evgeny Artemyev for the fact that on November 22 he intended to collect signatures against the installation of the statue of St. Barbara in the Rudnic Bor. The court found that this action falls under the article of the Code of Administrative Offenses 20.2, part 2 "Violation of the established procedure for the organization or holding a meeting, rally, demonstration, procession or picket." On the Internet there is a collection of money for the payment of a fine, since it is twice the amount of the pension that Evgeny Artemyev receives.