The Presidential Library — together with the “Open city”

In the upcoming year, the Presidential Library will continue to participate in the “Open City” large-scale cultural and educational project. The head of the research and educational department of the library Oleg Abramkin announced this at a meeting dedicated to summing up the second season of the project.

Chairman of the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments Sergey Makarov pointed out that every year more and more volunteers are joining the ranks of the adepts and the defenders of the city. A fragment of the movie was demonstrated at the meeting: young volunteers help to set in order the Mikhailovka estate — a UNESCO World Heritage site. The leaders of the “Open City” project highlighted that by joining the movement of the project volunteers get a unique chance to get familiar with closed for visiting private mansions and palaces of St. Petersburg, to learn more about the history and architecture of the city from the best lecturers and guides, to get involved with a saving and a protection of the national heritage.

One of the main priorities of the Presidential Library is a preservation of historical and cultural heritage. That concerns, apart from the materials of library stock, the other issues. The Presidential Library, the largest information and cultural cluster of Russia, is located in the historical center of St. Petersburg, in the building of the Holy Synod, built in the second quarter of the XIX century upon the project of an outstanding architect Carlo Rossi. That is why the Presidential Library participates in the “Open City” project. This is a long-term program including free sightseeing tours for city residents and guests across the historical places of St. Petersburg with visiting the objects of cultural heritage.

During the time of participation in the project (since September 2016), 29 groups — overall 629 tourists — visited the Presidential Library.

It is expected that eventually, besides the interiors of the Synod, the library specialists will be introducing residents of St. Petersburg and its guests to the entire ensemble of the Senate Square: to the architectural masterpiece of Rossi — the complex of buildings of the Senate and the Synod, as well as the monument of Peter the Great by Falcone.

The “Open City” is a joint project of the St. Petersburg City Department of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments and the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, which is being implemented with the support of the Government of St. Petersburg.