Regular meeting of Public Council was about new museum projects

M.N. Sharomazov, director of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve; I.A. Smirnov, deputy director of the museum; A.L. Kuznetsov, director of the National Park “Russian North”; S.V. Usov, head of the Kirillov district; A.V. Yulin, deputy head of the Kirillov District Administration; A.Y. Kotov, Mayor of Kirillov; A.N. Tyulyandin, head of the Ferapontovo rural settlement; Father Superior of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery Anastasy (Dodarchuk); Father Superior of the the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery Ignaty (Molchanov); V.Y. Pozgalyov, deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the RF; N.S. Pyankova, chief architect of projects in the LLC “Valbek-ru”; V.I. Fyodorov, deputy director general of the OJSC “PhosAgro”, colonel-general and deputy of the Cherepovets City Duma; I.Y. Ryabkova, head of the Architecture and Town Planning Department in the Kirillov District Administration; and others took part in it.

The first question on the agenda was presentation of design documentation elaborated by the Federal State Budgetary Unitary Enterprise “Central Scientific and Restoration Design Workshops” in 2016 concerning the architectural monuments of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery: the Church of St. Euthymius (1646), the Large Hospital Chambers (1643-1680), the Smithy Tower (1675-1680), the Moscow Tower (1660), the Walls of the New Town (1653-1669, 1675-1680). S.B. Kulikov, chief architect of the Federal State Budgetary Unitary Enterprise “Central Scientific and Restoration Design Workshops”, reported about design decisions and the list of proposed restoration work of each site.

According to one of the restoration variants of the Church of St. Euthymius, it is planned to restore the initial external architectural character of the tent-shaped roof by means of dismantling the later roof and its use in stone. This variant means completion of the project of restoration of the historical appearance that was started by S.S. Podyapolsky and N.V. Kamenev in the 1960s-1970s. It is also intended to restore the initial covering of the dome with aspen shingles covered with tin plated (German) iron that existed till the late 19th century. The present form and structure of the dome dates back to the 1980s. In general, it will give a complete view to the monument that is the typological basis for numerous similar buildings in the Russian North.

The restoration plan of the Moscow and the Smithy Towers includes strengthening of the foundation, bonding and injection of the cracks in the brick exterior walls of the towers, strengthening of wooden bearing beams, restoration of interior finishing and façades of the buildings and others.

It is intended to make a multi-tiered sightseeing platform with the view to the town panorama and to install heating in the first tier of the Moscow Tower.

S.B. Kulikov also told the participants of the meeting about the Master Plan of Restoration and Arrangement of the Embankment of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Special attention in it is paid to strengthening of the shore.

The second discussed issue was management problems of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Ensemble of the Ferapontov Monastery”. O.V. Voronicheva, deputy director on restoration in the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve, introduced the museum concept “School of Dionisy”. It is intended to make an up-to-date tourist centre within the framework of the concept. It gives a chance to activate and to introduce new forms of cooperation with state and public organizations, research centres, to advance to an absolutely new level of not only tourist, but also cultural, educational and exhibition work in the Kirillov district. Implementation of this project will give an opportunity to solve the tasks of preservation, study and popularization of the ensemble of the Ferapontov Monastery – the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The key topic of the meeting was the innovation Internet project “St. Kirill Belozersky”. A.I. Smirnov, head of the Department of Museum Equipment Operation, reported about its implementation.

The website about the personality and deeds of St. Kirill Belozersky, founder of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery and one of the most venerated saints of the Russian Orthodox Church, is being put up at present.

Special Internet addresses have been already registered for the project: Kirillbelozersky.ru and КириллБелозерский.рф. In January 2017, they will be available for users both in the Internet and off-line in one of the halls of the Refectory that houses the main permanent exhibition of the museum. The project will contain various multimedia information: photos, virtual panoramas, 3D models, animation, video, and audio.

On the main page of the website, you will be able to read the text and to listen to the audio recording of the prayer of St. Kirill Belozersky; to find memorable dates and a news section, information about the project and its partners, a version for mobile devices and contacts. Feedback with visitors of the site will be provided to maintain the project.

The main sections of the website are:

– Life of St. Kirill Belozersky;

– Relics (personal belongings of the saint);

– Churches of St. Kirill Belozersky;

– Images of St. Kirill in icons, frescoes, engravings, on church vestments, and articles of decorative and applied arts (about 100 images from different museums and private collections; most of them are presented as high-resolution pictures thanks to the Epos Company);

– Library (books and articles about St. Kirill Belozersky, electronic museum editions, scanned books from the archive of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve);

– Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery with its plan and archival photos;

– Cinema hall (films and video reels, animated cartoon films for children about St. Kirill Belozersky, the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery and the museum).

“We hope that this website will become an up-to-date Internet resource with topical information about St. Kirill checked by historians and theologians. It will be able to arouse interest of not only Vologda’s residents, but also citizens of other Russian regions in the historical past and spiritual experience of our ancestors, and will help them to reconsider the role of Orthodoxy in the history of our country’, underlined A.I. Smirnov.

Alexey Smirnov expressed gratitude to the organization partners for provision of St. Kirill’s images, texts and rights of their use within the framework of the project; the Foundation for Support of Humanitarian and Educational Initiatives “Sorabotnichestvo (Collaboration)”, the Internet Marketing Agency “Synapse”, the Epos Company, representatives of the regional authorities and the clergy of the Vologda Metropole and personally M.N. Sharomazov, Father Anastasy, Father Ignaty and V.A. Osipovsky.

The following decisions were made during the meeting:

– regarding the first issue: to take note of the information given by S.B. Kulikov, chief architect of the Federal State Budgetary Unitary Enterprise “Central Scientific and Restoration Design Workshops”;

– regarding the second issue: to recommend A.N. Tyulyandin, head of the Ferapontovo rural settlement, and M.N. Sharomazov, director of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve, to solve organizational questions concerning provision of a plot of land on the shore (the area of the former school) to the museum for construction of a tourist centre;

– regarding the third issue: to recommend V.A. Osipovsky, head of the Department of Culture and Tourism in the Vologda Region, to consider an opportunity of participation of the cultural institutions of the region in the Internet project, to solve the question of the project introduction at the regional level together with the Kirillo-Belozersky Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve.