High alms on the bones

In Arkhangelsk, the historical center of the city is given to multi -storey buildings. Officials did not find another way to solve the problem of dilapidated housing

Arkhangelsk scientists turned to the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky with a letter about the "uncontrolled destruction of cultural heritage." According to the signatories, the Arkhangelsk construction sites are not the first to erase historical monuments from the face of the earth.

Now in the center of the city a residential high -rise building is being built - at the cost of destroying the cultural layer on the site of the monastery from which Arkhangelsk began.

The document was signed by professors of the North Arctic Federal University Mikhail Suprin, Tatyana Troshina, Vasily Matonin, Natalya Drannikova, Elena Galimova, director of the University Center "Archeology of the North" Maria Shulgina, Professor Doctor Lyudmila Popova, candidate of art history Mikhail Milchik. A copy of the document - at the disposal of "New".

The 10-story residential complex River Park according to the project of the Finnish architect of Yukki Tikkanen in 2022–2023 will grow at the intersection of the North Dvina embankment and Uritsky Street. The company’s website offers business class apartments at almost Moscow prices from 2.3 million rubles for a 27-meter studio up to 10.8 million rubles for a four-room apartment. The construction holding "Aquilon-Invest" bought the site at an open auction.

According to Portal 29.ru, at this place there were four emergency "wood", which the developer settled and dismantled for his money. The permit for the construction of the company "Businessstroy" ("Daughters" "Aquilon-Invest") was issued by the city administration on May 28 of this year on the basis of a positive conclusion from the construction examination.

The corner of the embankment of the Northern Dvina and the street of Uritsky (former bishop) is not a simple intersection of streets: it was supposedly established here in 1641 by the tsarist decree of the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk monastery. Previously, the monastery of Mikhail Archangel, dating from the 12th century, was located on Cape Pur-Navolok. After the fire, he was transferred to the tract of the naked. And then a city grew around, considering Mikhail Archangel to be its heavenly cartridge. A white -stone cathedral was built on the site of a wooden temple.

Which, however, did not prevent the respectable citizens in the 30s from destroying the monastery "to the foundation." And then - 90 years later - at the site of the foundations of the monastery buildings and traces of the necropolis, dig a pit under a living skyscraper. The craving of a Russian person is indestructible to arrange a construction on the site of the cemetery. On August 28, earthwork began.

From a letter to the Minister of Culture
“In the dumps of the trenches were monastery forged objects, bricks with stamps, building parts made of processed stone, boulders from the fence of the monastery and other elements of the monastery buildings. The archaeological object, so significant for the history of the city, is inflicted irreparable damage. ”

The developer insists: he does not violate anything, acts within the framework of the law, and the scandal only jeopardizes the construction time and violates the rights of people who have already paid for future apartments. “During earthworks in the square on the embankment of the Northern Dvina opposite houses No. 4 and No. 6, where before, perhaps, there was a complex of buildings of the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk monastery, some“ old-style bricks ”and“ forged products ”were found in the ground. Who specifically found them? It is still unknown. It is not clear, and why outsiders were in the work area, ”says the company sent to“ New ”in response to our request by a press release of the company.

The document also contains a reminder that “the site on which the construction is carried out does not apply to lands whose boundaries are approved as territories, in respect of which the bodies of the protection of cultural heritage objects have reason to assume the presence of archaeological heritage or objects with signs of an archaeological heritage object”.

True, on what the last thesis is based, it is unclear: in the letter, signed by the head of the regional inspection for the protection of cultural heritage, Ivchenko states that neither the developer nor the owner of the site with requests for the presence or absence of cultural heritage or the signs of such simply did not apply.

And the examination was not carried out. So, the conclusions of this kind could be made only by eye.

Moreover, the site on which the residential complex is built refers, as noted in the letter of scientists (does not deny this and the city hall of Arkhangelsk), to the zone of archaeological observation of category “B”. This means that any construction here should provide measures to preserve historical facilities. According to the Federal Law “On Cultural Heritage Councils”, if during excavation, something that has the signs of an archaeological heritage object is found, the customer and contractor of these works are required to immediately suspend and notify the regional Ministry of Culture, which will determine whether the discovered facility has historical and cultural value. None of this in the case of construction on Uritsky was done.

Andrei Petrov, a member of the Arkhangelsk archaeological society, says: “The first messages in the press about the allocation of the site for development appeared in winter. Since spring, in a area allotted for economic development, wooden houses began to be demolished. There was no request to the Arkhangelsk archaeologists to conduct a state historical and cultural examination. Archaeological excavations were not carried out there. At the same time, preliminary data regarding the location of the monastery has a scientific community.

All this quarter is of important historical significance, since not only inside, but also outside the fence was the infrastructure of the monastery, as well as other objects of different eras.

It is possible to reliably determine the boundaries of the alleged monument only on the basis of local earthwork (archaeological intelligence, i.e. the laying of pits). ”

In the summer, when a foundation pit began to dig in the alleged territory of the monastery, activists turned to the inspectorate for the protection of cultural heritage sites of the Arkhangelsk region, the regional and the General Prosecutor's Office, and the Federal Ministry of Culture. The inspection confirmed that the historical and cultural examination of the site was not carried out, but stated that it was not entitled to suspend the work-since the territory was not included in the list of identified cultural heritage sites.

Here you need a small explanation. The monument - historical or archaeological - is not put under the state guard immediately. Initially, the house, temple or necropolis is included in the list of allocated, then conduct an examination, which determines whether the find is really valuable. And either they enter into the register of monuments, or refuse such a status. An important nuance - all this time the object is protected by the state - until a negative decision is made regarding its value. And this is now the only legitimate way to preserve the monastery territory. But the “authorized body” can add to the list of allocated a monument.

And this is attention - the inspection for the protection of monuments, the one that cannot stop the construction, since the territory of the monastery is not included in this list. The circle closed.

However, having examined the site, the inspectors sent the developer a warning about the inadmissibility of violation of the requirements of the regime of land use within the boundaries of the protection zones of cultural heritage. The department recognized that construction without a historical and cultural examination is an administrative offense, a protocol was drawn up. And the deputy head of the Arkhangelsk administration of Shaposhnikov, who was eventually lowered to answer the Prosecutor General’s Office, did not find any violations of the law in issuing permits for the construction in the possible territory of the necropolis. And it would be strange if I found it: then it would have happened that the mayor’s office, which issued this very permission, carved herself.

The construction company question the finding of the future complex on the territory of the monastery. At the same time, they refer to the data of a geo-radar study carried out in August of this year by specialists of VNIISMI LLC (the All-Russian Research Institute of Special Research Methods). “Engineering and geophysical examination of the site between the street. Uritsky (previously bishops' street) and Severodvinsky railway bridge was held in August on the basis of the current open sheet for the right to carry out archaeological field work. In total, 76 geo -radar field survey profiles were performed.

As a result, we can draw a preliminary conclusion that the territory of the monastery, including the monastery fence, are located outside the site allotted for the construction of the River Park residential complex. At the same time, there is reason to believe that the remains of the foundation of the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Cathedral are located under houses No. 4, K. 1 and No. 6, K. 1 on the embankment of the North Dvina. Thus, it turns out that for conducting full-scale archaeological studies, according to which it is proposed to be “disclosed foundations of the monastery buildings to save under a shock-resistant glass sarcophagus”, it is necessary to resettle and disassemble at least two existing five-story residential buildings, ”the Aquilon-Investa press release said.

However, defenders of the territory refer to the study of the same institution. They argue that the research on the territory adjacent to the construction site VNIISMI specialists conducted by order of the Arkhangelsk Metropolis. “The measurements have to be processed. But the primary measurement results and the professional experience of researchers allow us to draw a certain conclusion: here, on the site of the former monastery, the rich historical cultural layer lies, the Arkhangelsk writer and local historian Mikhail Popov writes. - The same thing, without a doubt, is located on the territory of the new building, here, under a thin layer of earth, the remains of monastery buildings are preserved. The construction is closed by an impenetrable fence and is protected from prying eyes as a strategic object.

But in the bodies of KAMAZ, taking out the soil from the pit, bricks and even whole brick blocks are clearly visible - the remnants of foundations and walls. ”

“Is there a cultural layer outside the site for the construction of the River Park residential complex and what value it represents - only specialists can give the answer. As for the territory where the construction is underway, back in 2016, before its beginning, archaeological research work was performed on this site, and they did not reveal objects of cultural heritage. We received a building permit on the basis of the current legislation, ”says Alexei Popkov, Director General of the Aquilon Invest holding. “We have one task - the object should be built in normative terms and connected to all engineering networks by the time it is commissioned, and equity holders should get the keys to the apartments.”

The financial interests of the developer can be understood. But the position of the Arkhangelsk authorities that provoked the next federal scandal is more difficult to understand. In the event of the victory of the defenders of the historical heritage, the prospect of judicial claims from the investor and equity holders is obvious. In case of damage, it is possible that elite housing will appear on the site of the old cemetery and temple buildings.

The archaeological society is confident that the foundation pit has already destroyed cultural layouts on the site at the intersection of Uritsky and the embankment.

“We will never know what was there. However, you can still save the remaining, ”says Andrei Petrov. And adds: such cases entered the system.

In Arkhangelsk there is no money for the construction of social housing, and in order not to fall under criticism of the federal center, officials give questions to the resettlement of “wood” in private hands. And for this they transfer the territory of the historical center to the same private owners for development.

True, the bricks of the desecrated temple once already went “for the good of the national economy”-in the 30s it was from them that the surrounding houses were built. So it’s no wonder if the heavenly patron was indeed left by Arkhangelsk. There is, however, the probability that an influential Arkhangelsk clergy will rise against construction on the monastery land. But it is possible that it will also outweigh the business approach - a new cathedral is being built on the embankment with a quick pace, also in honor of Mikhail Archangel.