List of UNESCO world cultural heritage sites in Russia

St. Petersburg is among the most beautiful and artistically integral cities in the world. The scope and Olympic calmness of the water landscape of the northern capital of Russia, its horizontal silhouette with rare “selected” dominants, ensembles of embankments, spaces of wide squares – all this is the basis of the “imperial” image of St. Petersburg. However, the historic city center is only one of 36 components of the World Heritage Site, which covers the entire historic St. Petersburg agglomeration, the embodiment of the Petrine idea of a “European bridgehead” in northwestern Russia. The components of this system are geological ledges and heights, the full-flowing Neva River and its delta, the historical center of St. Petersburg spread on its banks and islands, imperial residences and noble estates – Peterhof, Oranienbaum, Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo), Pavlovsk, Gatchina, Strelna, Ropsha, Gostilitsy, palace towns, “prospective roads” that cut through well-maintained fields and parks, fortresses and forts of Kronstadt and Shlisselburg…. A significant part of these components are now protected as part of museum-reserves or have the status of a monument or ensemble, but many are in urgent need of restoration. Cultural and natural landscapes, which are losing their value every day under the onslaught of mass construction, are in particular danger.

Kizhi Pogost, or Spaso-Preobrazhensky Pogost, is located in the north of the European part of Russia, in Karelia, on one of the islands of Lake Onega. The modern Kizhi pogost is a small space fenced with a wooden wall, inside which there are unique monuments of wooden architecture, two churches and a bell tower. These buildings, different in height and outline, nevertheless form a unified and extremely picturesque ensemble, which is also perfectly blended into the harsh northern landscape. These tall wooden buildings, located on a high place, not far from the shore of the island, look especially well from the water – from the board of cruise ships, which visit these places regularly. The “core” of the whole ensemble is formed by the Transfiguration Church (erected in 1714) – obviously, the most complex in construction of all the monuments of northern wooden architecture. The Church of the Intercession, built in 1764, is lower in height, smaller in size and simpler in architecture than the neighboring Transfiguration Church. It has nine heads – one central, plus eight on the circumference, and all together they form a kind of “crown”. The tent bell tower is located between the two churches. Although it was built much later (in 1874), i.e. in the era of the decline of northern wooden architecture, it fits very well into the general landscape of the pogost. Its height is almost the same as that of the Transfiguration church, and the roof has the form of a high tent-cone.

The Moscow Kremlin and Red Square were included in the World Heritage List in 1990. The components of the site are historical and architectural monuments of the XIV-XVII centuries, Among them are “Kremlin fortress walls and towers”, “Archangel Cathedral”, “Annunciation Cathedral”, “Ivan the Great Bell Tower”, “Assumption Belfry and Filaret’s annex”, “Armory”, “Assumption Cathedral”, “Patriarchal Chambers with the Church of the Twelve Apostles”, “Church of the Resurrection”, “Frontal Place”, “St. Basil’s Cathedral”, “Historical Museum”, “Faceted Chamber”, “Kremlin Museum”, “Golden Tsaritsyn Chamber”, “Lenin Mausoleum. Lenin Mausoleum”, “Arsenal”, “Senate”.

The managers of the World Heritage Site are the Federal Security Service of Russia, OJSC “Trade House GUM”, FGBUK “State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve “Moscow Kremlin”, FGBU “Department for the operation of buildings of higher authorities” Department of Affairs of the President of the Russian Federation, State Historical Museum.

Veliky Novgorod is one of the oldest Russian cities (first mentioned in the 1st century), which prospered due to its location on the ancient trade route connecting Northern Europe with Byzantium and Persia. The old part of the city, well preserved to this day, is located on both banks of the Volkhov River flowing here. On the left bank there is the so-called Sofia side with the Kremlin (called “Detinets”) and Sofia Cathedral, and on the right bank there is the Trade side with Yaroslav’s Court, Trade and Gostiny Dvor. The World Heritage Site includes 37 individual monuments and entire ensembles, as well as the archeological cultural layer of the X-XVII centuries on the territory of about 350 hectares. Nowadays the Novgorod Kremlin and other valuable monuments are part of the most famous museum-reserve, which was organized in 1925 on the basis of one of the oldest museums of Russia, established in 1865. The Novgorod State United Museum-Reserve is famous not only for its architecture, but also for its rich collections of ancient icons, decorative and applied arts, and the treasures of the Faceted Chamber.

The Solovetsky archipelago, consisting of six islands with a total area of more than 300 square kilometers, is located in the western part of the White Sea, about 150 km south of the Arctic Circle and 250 km west of Arkhangelsk. Many different archaeological monuments have been discovered on the archipelago, the oldest of which date back to the II-III millennia BC: these are sites of primitive man, stone labyrinths, burial mounds, dolmens. Over 200 monuments of history and culture belong to the monastic period, which began in the first half of the XV century, when monks Zosima and German founded a monastery in the western part of the Great Solovetsky Island. It was named Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, but more often it was and is called Solovetsky Monastery. The central place in the historical and architectural ensemble is occupied by the majestic Solovetsky Kremlin, surrounded on all sides by powerful stone walls with eight towers and seven gates (erected in the late 16th century). In 1992 the historical and cultural complex of the Solovetsky Islands received the status of the World Cultural Heritage Site. However, according to many experts (in particular, specialists of the Russian Research Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage, Moscow), this site should also include the surrounding natural landscape, which forms a single and indissoluble whole with the monastery buildings.

The ancient cities of Vladimir (founded in 1108) and Suzdal (known since 1024), which stood in the XII-XIII centuries at the head of the mighty Old Russian Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, are located in the center of the European part of Russia, about 200 km east of Moscow, and at a distance of 30 km from each other. During the existence of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality there was formed its own architectural and artistic school, which was characterized by: masonry of white limestone slabs (hence the name – “white stone” monuments), refinement of proportions, fine stone carving on various natural subjects (animals, plants), arcature belts, external lightness of buildings and the ability to fit them into the surrounding natural landscape. The true masterpieces of this school are those monuments (more precisely, eight separate monuments plus two ensembles) that make up this nomination. Some of them are located in the center of Vladimir (Assumption and Dmitrievsky cathedrals, Golden Gate), others – in Suzdal (Nativity Cathedral and Bishops’ Chambers of Suzdal Kremlin, Spaso-Evfimiev and Pokrovsky monasteries). These are also monuments located in the suburbs: the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, the palace of Andrei Bogolyubsky in Bogolyubovo, as well as the Church of Boris and Gleb in the village of Kideksha. Now all these monuments (as well as a number of other sights of the Vladimir-Suzdal land) are part of the State Vladimir-Suzdal Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve (established in 1958).

The architectural ensemble of the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993, was created gradually over almost six centuries and includes more than 50 different buildings, including the Trinity Cathedral (1422-1423), the Assumption Cathedral (1559-1585), fortress walls and towers (XVI century), the church in honor of St. Zosima and Savvatiy of Solovetsky (1635-1637), the church in honor of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (1693-1699) and other monuments. The managing World Heritage Site is the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra.

The Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994. The church was laid on the orders of Grand Duke Vasily III in 1529-1530s as a prayer church for the granting of a son and heir. The Church of the Ascension is one of the first tent temples in Russia.
The facility is managed by the State Budgetary Institution of Moscow “Moscow State United Art Historical, Architectural and Natural Landscape Museum-Reserve “Kolomenskoye-Lefortovo-Izmaylovo-Lublino”.

The historical and architectural complex of the Kazan Kremlin was included in the World Heritage List in 2000. It includes unique objects of cultural heritage, such as “Walls and Towers, 1555-1568”, “Annunciation Cathedral, 1562”, “Tower of Suyumbike, mid XVII century”, “Palace Church, early XVIII century”, “Governor’s Palace, mid XIX century”.

The Kazan Kremlin is an outstanding example of synthesis of artistic styles, demonstrates the interpenetration of different cultures (Bulgar, Golden Horde, Tatar, Russian) and reflects the originality of successive historical epochs.

Most of the objects are managed by the State Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve “Kazan Kremlin”.

The architectural ensemble of the Ferapontov Monastery, compared to many other monasteries in the north of Russia, is characterized by compactness and very small size, and it was formed mainly in the period of XV-XVII centuries. This complex includes six main stone buildings enclosed by a low wall: the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin (1490), the Church of the Annunciation with a refectory (1530-1534), the Treasury Chamber (the middle of the XVI century), the Church of St. Martinian (1640-1641), the Holy Gate with two gate churches (1649-1650) and the bell tower (1680s). The oldest building of this ensemble is the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God – a traditional for the Russian North one-domed church with a dome and a covered gallery. The monastery itself is a perfectly preserved example of an Orthodox monastery complex of the XV-XVII centuries, i.e. the period of great importance for the formation of the Russian state and the development of its culture. Nowadays, the Ferapontov Monastery houses the Dionisy Frescoes Museum, which is a branch of the Kirillo-Belozersky Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve.

The site “Citadel, Old Town and fortifications of Derbent” was included in the World Heritage List in 2003.

The formation of Derbent is associated with the Persian king of the Sassanid dynasty – Yezdigerd II (435-457 AD), who erected the city on the northern border of his possessions, on an elevated and strategically important place – between the mountains and the Caspian Sea. In 2015 the ancient city of Derbent celebrates its 2000th anniversary.

By the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 153 dated February 6, 2014 the historical and cultural monuments located in the territory of the World Heritage Site were granted the status of the cultural heritage site of federal significance “Sightseeing place “Citadel and historical city in the fortress walls of Derbent” (Derbent, Republic of Dagestan), the boundaries of which coincide with the boundaries of the territory of the World Heritage Site.

The ensemble of the Novodevichy Monastery was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004. The monastery was founded in 1524 by Prince Vasily III in honor of the greatest Orthodox shrine – the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, as well as to commemorate the liberation of Smolensk from the Poles and its return to the Russian lands. For several centuries the monastery was closely connected with the main events and characters of the political, religious and cultural life of the Russian state: Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Most of the monastery’s buildings were built in the Moscow (Naryshkin) Baroque style, characterized by the abundance of decorative details of white stone on the facades of brick buildings, symmetry and gracefulness of architectural elements. The Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church is the manager of the World Heritage Site.

The historic center of Yaroslavl was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005. The site consists of outstanding historical and cultural monuments of federal and regional significance and is remarkable for its layout and panoramas. By the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 813-r dated May 21, 2012, these monuments were granted the status of a cultural heritage site of federal significance “The Historical Center of the City of Yaroslavl” (landmark site), the boundaries of which coincide with the boundaries of the World Heritage Site.

The Struve Geodetic Arc, a chain of triangulation points stretching for 2820 km across the territory of ten European countries and representing a unique monument of science and technology, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005. The site is a transboundary nomination, the components of which are located on the territory of Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Moldova, Russia, Sweden and Ukraine.

The Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2014. Ancient Bolgar in the Republic of Tatarstan is the world’s northernmost monument of medieval Muslim architecture, a unique and the only example of Bulgarian-Tatar architecture of the middle of XIII-XIV centuries. It has no analogues in the world as a valuable historical monument testifying to the disappeared states (Volga Bulgaria, Golden Horde), and is also the place of the official adoption of Islam by the Volga Bulgars – ancestors of the Kazan Tatars in 922. The object is managed by the State Budgetary Institution of the Republic of Tatarstan “Bulgarian State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve”.

Sviyazhsk is a village in Zelenodolsky District of the Republic of Tatarstan, located at the confluence of the Sviyaga River into the Volga River at the top of the former Kruglaya Mountain.

Since the middle of the XX century. Sviyazhsk is located on an oval-shaped island (about 900m across), stretching from southwest to northeast. The history of Sviyazhsk began in 1551, when Ivan the Terrible was looking for a place for an outpost. Then the Kremlin was built, of the buildings of which only the Trinity Church, the oldest wooden church in the republic, has survived. From that time until the 20s of the twentieth century. Sviyazhsk was a district monastery town.