While federal and regional officials shift responsibility to each other, the estate of the Vasilchikovs and the Stroganovs in the village of Volyshovo has been perishing

Press Release, 20.05.2020

Photo: Here and below are the photos of the manor house of the Vasilchikovs-Stroganovs in the village of Volyshovo is perishing

In February 2020, Lev Shlosberg, deputy of the Pskov Regional Assembly from the Yabloko faction, sent an appeal to the Public Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov, asking him to conduct an extraordinary check on the fulfillment by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Federal Agency for State Property Management of their responsibilities to preserve and use the cultural heritage site of the federal importance – the ensemble of buildings of the Vasilchikovs and the Stroganovs estate located in the village of Volyshovo, the Porkhov district of the Pskov region, which is a unique monument of town-planning and architecture of the 1600s – 1800s.

In his appeal, Shlosberg indicates that the process of destruction of the site has been rapidly developing and urgent measures have to be taken. Unfavourable weather conditions, high humidity have a detrimental effect on the decoration fragments of the estate. Brick walls suffer from oversaturation with moisture and constant freezing and thawing, and lose their strength. The risk of complete loss of the monument is extremely high.

According to Shlosberg, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Federal Agency for State Property Management have not taken any actions to preserve the cultural heritage site, including the lack of federal funding for the conservation, phased restoration and adjustment of ensemble objects.

In the response, signed by Deputy Public Prosecutor of the Pskov region Viktor Borisenko, it is reported that the Public Prosecutor General’s office of the Russian Federation sent an appeal to the region, and the regional Public Prosecutor’s Office provided the deputy with a detailed description of the events around the site.

Commenting on the responses he received from officials, Lev Shlosberg said, “Only the authorities are to blame for the tragic fate of the Vasilchikovs-Stroganovs estate in Volyshovo. They unreasonably removed an excellent secondary school from the estate, failed to find a new user of the object, did not make efforts to return the property with the necessary compensations and benefits to the rightful owners, from whom it was seized after the Bolshevik coup [of 1917].

The state turned out to be the worst owner of all – indifferent and bungling. The authorities do not perceive Volyshovo as an integral part of the Motherland, part of the national idea of the ​​Russian culture. These are someone else’s ruins. This is precisely the main reason for the disastrous ruining condition in which the estate is now. Such negligence reflects the real “patriotism” of the authorities.

If Volyshovo completely perishes, none of these formally responsible, but in fact irresponsible people will cry.

We will continue the struggle so that to save Volyshovo, but unfortunately every day we have less time and less chances.”