Days of Historical and Cultural Heritage End in Moscow

Days of Historical and Cultural Heritage were successfully held in Moscow in April-May 2017 with active assistance of GlavUpDK under the MFA

In April-May 2017, Moscow hosted the Days of Historical and Cultural Heritage, an annual city event which invites residents and visitors to unique cultural heritage sites inaccessible in other periods for a number of reasons. Traditionally, Muscovites are keen to visit old mansions housing foreign diplomatic missions.

This year GlavUpDK under the MFA arranged visits to 19 historical buildings occupied by foreign embassies. The diplomatic missions of Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, the Vatican, the United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Indonesia, Italy, Cyprus, Norway, Palestine, the United States, Uruguay, France, Chile and Switzerland welcomed Muscovites to their premises. All tours were given in strict compliance with the principle of inviolability of official and residential quarters of diplomatic missions laid down by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

A visit to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Reception House, the Morozov Mansion built by outstanding Fyodor Shekhtel in the late 19^th century, was arranged with the ministry’s consent.

The total number of ‘embassy program’ participants topped 2,000 this year. The Moscow public had a chance to see gems of city architecture, which constitute an important part of the historical and architectural legacy of the country. The buildings occupied by embassies were created by remarkable Russian architects and engineers, such as A.S. Kaminsky, F.O. Shekhtel, I.V. Zholtovsky, N.G. Lazarev, R.I. Klein, I.I. Rerberg, P.S. Boitsov, and A.N. Zeligson. Thanks to the efforts of GlavUpDK under the MFA, the priceless cultural heritage sites under its management are maintained in the perfect condition and add to the beauty of Russia’s modern capital city.

Photos provided by Yelena Krizhevskaya