History and culture: The ancient temples of Russia have a chance to get into the UNESCO World Heritage List

The Ministry of Culture of Russia is preparing a proposal regarding an assessment of two Russian cathedrals, belonging to the XII-XIII centuries, for adding these to an amount of the most valuable ones for consideration for their submission to UNESCO and inclusion into the World Heritage List. Some of the oldest churches in Russia - the St. George's Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky of XIII century and Transfiguration Cathedral in Pereslavl-Zalessky of the XII century - will get a chance to widen the UNESCO list.

Currently, there are 26 names are included into the World Heritage List in the Russian Federation: 16 objects included in the list by cultural criteria, with 6 of them considered masterpieces of human genius and the 10 included basing on natural criteria, and 4 among them are recognized by natural phenomena of exceptional beauty and aesthetic meaning. 24 more objects, including the Transfiguration and the St. George's Cathedrals, are among the number of candidates for inclusion.

The Transfiguration Cathedral in Pereslavl Kremlin were founded by Yuri Dolgoruky in 1152 and completed in 1157 by Andrew Bogoliubsky. Today this is the only one extant cathedral among the five first white stone temples of the North-Eastern Russia. According to some studies, Alexander Nevskiy, who was born in Pereslavl in 1220, was baptized at this cathedral. In XIII-XIV centuries the Transfiguration Cathedral was the burial place of appanage prince. Currently, it operates as a branch of the City Museum.

St. George's Cathedral was built on the site of former white stone church of St. George, founded by Yuri Dolgorukiy in 1152. In 1230 prince Svyatoslav Dmitrievich has disassembled grandfather’s construction and after 4 years erected in the same place a cathedral, and adorned it with a rich stone carvings. St. George's Cathedral was known for its beauty for many centuries. In 1326, he was taken as a sample by the builders of the first stone church in Moscow - the Assumption Cathedral.

The temples are particularly valuable due to the fact that these are one of the oldest in Russia. Granting these monuments the titles of the most valuable objects of the World Heritage enhance the ability to finance their restoration.