Защитники Кижей составили на английском языке обращение к друзьям из разных стран.
Dear friends,
We need your help!
We are in serious trouble.
We live in the Northwest of Russia in the Republic of Karelia. Our republic takes special pride in a remarkable monument of Russian wooden architecture called Kizhi. The monument is under UNESCO protection. The Architectural Ensemble of the Kizhi Pogost is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
But the monument is currently in danger of being turned into a business center.
We need your help, as the business center will most certainly do harm to all the wooden buildings of the museum and the whole area. The museum area is also under UNESCO protection; the construction of business centers, hotels, restaurants or concert grounds there is illegal and forbidden by UNESCO.
Nevertheless, newly appointed Director Andrey Nelidov has a so-called “concept” that envisages the island becoming an entertainment area.
Andrey Nelidov previously served as governor of the Republic of Karelia, but he was dismissed for failing to fulfill his duties. Despite that, however, he was appointed Director of the Kizhi Open-Air Museum by the Russian Culture Minister.
Andrey Nelidov and his assistant (a manager with no background in the sphere of art, history or monuments) plan to destroy that unique place, a place that boasts a great number of wooden monuments, including the main one: the Church of the Transfiguration, built at the turn of the 17th century. The church is famous all over the world and is a symbol of our republic. Every year, thousands of tourists from all over the world flock to the Isle of Kizhi to see that famous church, as well as the other monuments of Russian wooden architecture.
We will be grateful if you share this information with your friends.
To help us save this monument from destruction, leave your signature here:
http://www.democrator.ru/problem/10078/vote
http://www.onlinepetition.ru/kizhi/petition.html
http://www.change.org/ru/петиции/управделами-президен..
http://www.avaaz.org/ru/petition/Spasem_muzeyzapovedn..
Let’s make sure they don’t destroy the monument!
Thank you very much indeed,
A group of caring Karelian people
Фото Владимира Ларионова