- Title: St.Petersburg residents protest against handover of landmark museum to church
- Date: 17th January 2017
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL STATUE OF SAINT PETER PEOPLE AT TICKET OFFICE TOURISTS WALKING UP STEPS DOME/TOURISTS IN CATHEDRAL TOURIST GUIDE SHOWING CATHEDRAL TO TOURISTS TOURISTS LISTENING ORNATE HOLY DOORS IMAGE OF JESUS ON STAINED-GLASS WINDOW (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) DIRECTOR OF ST. ISAAC’S CATHEDRAL MUSEUM, NIKOLAY BUROV, SAYING: "An amateur approach here will lead to a dead end and unfortunately will harm the building. I am not sure that the new declared user will be capable and professional enough. The museum is capable of it." TOURISTS LOOKING AT FRESCOES (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) DIRECTOR OF ST. ISAAC’S CATHEDRAL MUSEUM, NIKOLAY BUROV, SAYING: "I think that the doors can be opened for some time, the entrance can be made free of charge. But where to find the funds to maintain and renovate of this monument? These are sufficient funds which are accumulated by the museum from entrance tickets sales." VARIOUS OF WOMAN SELLING CANDLES AND ICONS ALTAR WOMAN WITH CHILD LIGHTING CANDLE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) HEAD OF CHURCH AND SOCIETY RELATIONS DEPARTMENT IN RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ST. PETERSBURG EPARCHY, ARCHPRIEST ALEXANDER PELIN, SAYING: "The cathedral itself was created not as a museum, but as a cathedral. And now the church activities, the services are secondary for the way it is." CROSS ON PELIN'S CHEST (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) HEAD OF CHURCH AND SOCIETY RELATIONS DEPARTMENT IN RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ST. PETERSBURG EPARCHY, ARCHPRIEST ALEXANDER PELIN, SAYING: "It is important to say that the area of confrontation, of civil war has come to an end. Someone just wants to blow it up. We should talk about peace, to say that the time has come to walk together hand in hand into a church and pray." (NIGHT) CROWD OF PROTESTERS NEXT TO CATHEDRAL VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS WOMAN WITH PLACARD READING (Russian) 'RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, LIMIT YOUR APPETITES!' VARIOUS OF POLICE NEXT TO CATHEDRAL (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ST. PETERSBURG PARLIAMENT MEMBER, BORIS VISHNEVSKIY, SAYING: "Today it is a museum. But there are two (church) services held daily on the average. No one limits the rights of the believers. The museum and religious events are getting along well. An attempt to hand over the museum of St. Isaac's cathedral to the church will lead to paralysing of the museum's work. It will lead to the city having to cover the expenses for maintaining and preserving the monument. And the church would only get the revenues. I think it is wrong and it is inflaming the situation." PROTESTERS NEAR CATHEDRAL ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL AND CHRISTMAS TREE
- Embargoed: 31st January 2017 09:02
- Keywords: Russia religion Orthodox church St.Isaac's Cathedral St.Petersburg museum protest
- Location: ST.PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
- City: ST.PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZGY7UV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The decision by the city authorities last week to hand the running of St. Petersburg's landmark St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Orthodox Church has prompted protests, with more planned, by city residents.
The 19th century cathedral - a famous tourist attraction - is run as a museum and is visited by over 3 million people every year.
The cathedral, which is periodically used for church services, currently uses its earnings to pay around $1 million towards its own upkeep, the museum director told Reuters.
"An amateur approach here will lead to a dead end and unfortunately will harm the building. I am not sure that the new declared user will be capable and professional enough. The museum is capable of it," Nikolay Burov said.
Every year the cathedral spends up to around $3 million on restoration and maintenance and urgent restoration work is needed, according to Burov and the take over by the church would lead to a significant drop in revenue.
"I think that the doors can be opened for some time, the entrance can be made free of charge. But where to find the funds to maintain and renovate of this monument? These are sufficient funds which are accumulated by the museum from entrance tickets sales."
The Russian Orthodox Church asked St. Petersburg's governor to take over St. Isaac's Cathedral last year. The request was later denied as the city authorities said that if the church would ran the cathedral, its maintenance costs would fall solely on the city budget.
City authorities announced the reversed decision last Tuesday (January 10) without explanation.
Many churches and cathedrals were destroyed or turned into warehouses by the officially atheist Soviet Union. Since the USSR's collapse many sites have been returned to church control under several laws adopted since 1991.
"The cathedral itself was created not as a museum but as a cathedral. And now the church activities, the services are secondary for the way it is," Archpriest Alexander Pelin told Reuters.
Another famous St. Petersburg cathedral - the Kazan Cathedral which also used to be a museum during Soviet times - was handed over to the church in 1991 and uses the funds from the state budget for reconstruction works.
Opponents of the handover say that current arrangement does not prevent worshippers attending the cathedral.
"The museum and religious events are get along well. An attempt to hand over the museum of St. Isaac's cathedral to the church will lead to paralysing of the museum's work. It will lead to the city having to cover the expenses for maintaining and preserving the monument. And the church would only get the revenues. I think it is wrong and it is inflaming the situation," a member of the St. Petersburg parliament, Boris Vishnevsky, said.
Pelin has called for a peaceful resolution to the impasse.
"It is important to say that the area of confrontation, of civil war has come to an end. Someone just wants to blow it up. We should talk about peace, to say that the time has come to walk together hand in hand into a church and pray."
Vishnevsky and dozens of opponents of the handover held a small protest next to the cathedral last Friday (January 13). They plan to stage a bigger event on January 28.
St. Isaac's Cathedral is St. Petersburg's third most-visited cultural site and is listed as a UNESCO cultural asset. It has the largest Orthodox basilica in the world and is considered an outstanding example of late Russian neo-classical architecture. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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