“This is amazing” - a Sevastopol expert accused Sevnaslediye officials of incompetence and sabotage

There is another scandal in Sevastopol with historical and architectural monuments, which officials are in no hurry to give protected status.

This time, Sevnasledie did not find any value in the building of the refectory of the Chersonesos Monastery, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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As its founder, deputy chairman of the Sevastopol branch of VOOPiK Stepan Samoshin said on the channel and in the blogs of the “Architecture of Sevastopol” community, Sevnasledie received an application for recognition of the historical and cultural value of the refectory building at the same time as another object - the former house of the abbot of the Chersonesos Monastery.

The management of the Tauride Chersonese Museum started renovations in the Rector's building, which left no trace of the historical appearance of the 160-year-old building. But Sevnasledie recognized the value of the object after the builders had completed their work. The building of the monastery refectory was even less fortunate - its significance was not appreciated.

“This is amazing: the building has obvious value - artistic, historical, and cultural,” Samoshin emphasizes. – But officials from Sevnasledie consider him unworthy of the status of OKN. The question is, how is this possible? Very simple. Previously, the identification was carried out by the first section of the Council at Sevnaslediye, which includes well-known and respected Sevastopol experts in the city. But Sevnasledie has stopped collecting it for a year now.

Instead, in November 2021, the head of Sevnaslediye, by her order, approved a commission of three of her own subordinates, as well as criteria with a point system by which this commission should consider applications. If the application scores 200 points, the object has value. To what extent these criteria are justified, objective and generally legal is a separate story, and we’ll talk about it another time. The application to identify a refectory scored 192 points. This amount was the result of a blatantly biased assessment. In my opinion, the points were underestimated according to five criteria, and the application was missing at least 60 points.”

Representatives of the protection of cultural heritage underestimated the dating of the building and its architectural and artistic value, ignored the authorship and inclusion in scientific circulation, and gave a “zero” for special social significance.

“That is, the history of the Chersonesos Museum, which has had an exhibition in this building for almost 100 years, and the history of the Chersonesos Monastery are of no value for our Northern Heritage,” states Samoshin. – The situation with this application is abnormal and unacceptable. Think for yourself, if they refused for such a building, they will refuse for any other. This cannot be left so easily.”

The coordinator of the “Architecture of Sevastopol” community considers it necessary to defend the value of the monastery refectory in court before the building suffers the fate of the Rector’s Corps. Samoshin is counting on the help of caring Sevastopol residents with experience in judicial practice. However, it also shows that it is not easy to prove damage from the inaction or connivance of officials. At the beginning of July, the My History Foundation, which oversees the restoration and construction of new objects in the Tauride Chersonese Museum-Reserve, punished a former employee for 60 thousand rubles. Restorer Anatoly Tumanov is trying to stop the transformation of the territory of the ancient city into an entertainment center.

It is not only the activities on the territory of the museum-reserve that cause claims against the My History Foundation. The appearance of the “New Chersonese” buildings being built on the site of historical buildings caused bewilderment among the residents of Sevastopol: why such a significant project was not discussed with the public and its appearance was not determined by a design competition. “New Chersonesites” behave in Sevastopol as if the city needs to be rebuilt, ignoring buildings with historical, architectural, cultural value, which, in theory, should become the dominant feature and the core of all transformations.