The Committee of the Cultural Heritage Sites on Kazan's readiness for the BRICS Summit from cultural and historical perspective
The cultural part of the capital of Tatarstan is ready for the BRICS Summit
Kazan is ready to host the BRICS Summit, and all historical sites are ready for the world-scale event. This was announced today by Chairman of the Tatarstan Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites Ivan Gushchin. According to him, only the building of the city's Health Department and “long-term construction projects” that require a long period of restoration remain to be completed.
It became known quite recently that on 15 October the organising committee of the association will check the city's readiness for the summit.
Gushchin emphasised that the restoration of objects is not just “issuing a permit” but a whole complex of works, in which more than one person and not even one team is involved.
“We are ready to receive high and honoured guests. All the streets are in order. True, there are also objects covered with banners — they have a long-term period of restoration and renovation,” he specified.
The speaker added that in 2024, the Committee of Cultural Heritage issued permits for the restoration of 80 architectural monuments in the capital of Tatarstan. In total, there are about 500 such sites in the historical part of Kazan, so “if you count, then 20% of them were given the go-ahead for tidying up.”
“This is a complete, complex cycle: everything starts with design solutions. Any site is, first of all, an architectural appearance, and the value lies in preserving it. Therefore, renovation is a difficult process from a technological point of view. It is necessary to withstand all temperature conditions, and not just “come, plaster and leave,” professionals and restorers are involved here,” the speaker said.
“The historical part is in the zone of special attention, all services are involved in it — both construction and the city executive committee. Returning to the topic of preparation for BRICS, Gushchin recalled the recently restored Marjani Mosque. According to him, it is the oldest and the first one built in the entire city with the permission of Catherine II, and the restoration work was of great significance from both a religious and historical point of view.”
It should be reminded that the work took place in two stages: first, all the structures of the mosque were strengthened, including the foundations, walls, vaults and facades, after which the minaret was strengthened and the roof was repaired. Until recently, the historical territory was being improved with the restoration of the stone fence and four extensions.
The Chairman of the Committee of Cultural Heritage stressed that the work was not easy: “what the restorers and architects did in a year is incredible, especially because the mosque was never closed during this period.”
Problems of wooden architecture
The expert named wooden architecture sites as a problem point, even though there are very few of them left. The root of the difficulties lies directly in the wood and in the fact that the buildings are extremely exposed to the influence of nature and weather.
“We do not have time to preserve everything, since wood is extremely susceptible to atmospheric precipitation. We are trying to attract more and more young specialists,” Ivan Gushchin noted. “In general, we have counted about 150 wooden architecture sites in Tatarstan and we are primarily dealing with those buildings that have suffered the greatest damage.”
Some of them were the mosque in the village of Aybash in the Vysokaya Gora District and the church in the village of Verkhniy Bagryazh in Zainsk District.
In conclusion, Gushchin said that work on the sites does not stop for a minute and all requests and wishes of residents of Tatarstan settlements will be fulfilled as soon as possible.