MOSCOW, October 28 (RIA Novosti) — The authorities of Russia’s Arkhangelsk Region are set to apply to Russia’s Culture Ministry to include the unique objects of Russia’s Arctic culture heritage into the state culture heritage registry for further state protection, the regional Culture Ministry reported.
The initiative has been discussed at a meeting of the commission on the maritime heritage of Russia’s Marine Board within the framework of “For the Glory of the Fleet and the Fatherland” forum.
“There are many places of unique beauty in the Russian North which are of great architectural, historic and spiritual interest. Among them are lighthouses, polar hydrometeostations and a complex of defense constructions in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, a Cross on the Franz Josef Land archipelago commemorating the 1913-1914 polar expedition of Russian Arctic explorer Georgy Sedov and Russia’s first stone bastion – the Novodvinskaya fortress,” said the governor of the region, Igor Orlov.
In 2012, the region’s culture ministry initiated a state historic and cultural assessment of the above sights. The experts say many of the facilities require either large-scale reconstruction or restoration works. The remoteness of the sights and the frequent visits of Arctic tourists complicate the physical protection of the Arctic’s places of interest.
“Those facilities are evidence of Arctic exploration by Russia, and the civil feat of the researchers; many of them are truly unique. The state protection of these places is the main purpose of our work,” said regional culture minister Lev Vostryakov.
Based on the results of the expertize, the regional culture ministry is set to file a request with the Russian Culture Ministry to include the culture heritage sights on the territory of the Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land archipelagoes in the unified state registry of the country’s cultural heritage objects (historic and culture monuments).
