A dangerous precedent of “vandal overhauls” of ancient buildings has been created in Chersonesos
Sevnaslediye officials insist on the universality of their system for assessing the historical and cultural value of buildings and see no reason to revise the status of the monastic refectory of the Chersonesos monastery. Employees of the department for the protection of cultural heritage do not need to resort to expert advice in order to recognize any object on the territory of Sevastopol as a monument, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The First Sevastopol TV channel received a response from Sevnaslediye regarding the refusal to recognize the monastery refectory as an object of cultural value. The basis was a system of criteria according to which the building scored 192 points out of 200 required to consider the issue of protective status. At the same time, Sevnasledie does not deny that the employees themselves set the scores.
“By the management order dated November 3, 2021, a management commission was created to determine the historical and cultural value of objects that have signs of cultural heritage objects located on the territory of the city of Sevastopol in order to avoid subjective decision-making by one management specialist. The commission includes the deputy chief and heads of all departments,” the department clarified.
Sevnasledie did not comment on the experts’ claims that the assessments were underestimated by at least five criteria. And this, for the deputy chairman of the Sevastopol branch of VOOPiK Stepan Samoshin, indicates the dubiousness of the procedure for recognizing the value of buildings and structures in Sevastopol, invented in the bowels of the department.
“This issue is very important with this refectory, not only in terms of the fate of this particular building, but in general the fate of the historical architectural heritage of Sevastopol. Because if they refused for such a building, they will be able to refuse for any other,” Samoshin believes. – There are not many historical buildings left in Sevastopol, and some ordinary people think that they are probably protected - all that remain with us and survived the defense of Sevastopol. But that's not true. “A lot of old, beautiful and valuable houses do not have any protective status, therefore they are defenseless against demolition and vandal overhaul.”
This is not the first time that Sevnasledie has devalued the significance of city buildings, hiding behind an invented system. The expert council that could help resolve the situation has not met for a year now.
Let us remind you that another scandal with the historical and architectural monuments of Sevastopol affected the building of the refectory of the Chersonesos Monastery, where the Antique Department of the Tauride Chersonesos Museum-Reserve is now located. In Sevnaslediye they did not find any value in the refectory, excluding the presence of the author of the object, its mention in scientific works, and multiplying the special social significance by “zero”.
Similarly, the management did not see the value in the former house of the abbot of the Chersonesos monastery exactly until the moment when major renovations were completed, which made serious changes to the historical appearance of the 160-year-old building.
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