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Program Description for the U.S.
Participants in Russia - |
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Five U.S. participants selected for
this program traveled to Washington, DC for brief orientation, then departed as a
team for Moscow. In Moscow, the U.S participants met with their
Russian counterparts for a three-day
orientation to discuss logistical arrangements, cultural issues, and an overview of historic and cultural
preservation in Russia and the U.S. A highlight of orientation week was
the reception
at Spaso House, the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in Moscow. The U.S. participants then traveled by
train to Yaroslavl, one of the Golden Ring towns located four hours northeast
of Moscow, for the four-week exchange, while the Russian participants travel
with Washington, DC to begin their exchange in the United States. Follow the links below
to learn about:
U.S. Volunteers
in Yaroslavl, Russia (below) |
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The towns of the Golden Ring (traveling counter-clockwise from Moscow) include, Vladimir, Suzdal, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Rostov Velikiy, Pereslavl-Zalesskiy, and Sergiev Posad. While each town developed around the same time, their historic monuments and sites vary greatly and each town retains its own historical uniqueness. Located on the Volga River, numerous tourists, particularly from Europe, visit Yaroslavl each year on riverboat excursions. The historic "center" of Yaroslavl, which recently was named a World Heritage site, actually rests on the western side of the town where, at the confluence of a tributary with the Volga River, the Great Kiev Prince Yaroslavl the Wise killed a bear and ordered the construction of a fortress in the early 11th century. Today, historic Yaroslavl contains remnants of the ancient fortification (or kremlin, which was rebuilt in the 15th century), numerous cathedrals, and the Spaso-Preobrazenskiy Monastery, among numerous other historic treasures.
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The Yaroslavl regional office of the Russian Union of
Youth served as host organization for the U.S. volunteers. Olga
Pravdukhina, Chairman of the Yaroslavl RUY, arranged the preservation
program and housing for the U.S. volunteers. They stayed together in a
rented apartment in the historic center of Yaroslavl for much of the
exchange, but each one was assigned a different Russian host family to stay
with for a one week home-stay before the one-month exchange was completed.
The U.S. volunteers joined other volunteers from Russia
to assist with restoration efforts at the Cathedral of St. Peter and St.
Paul. After a period of time working at the property—a very grass-roots
effort at preservation—the U.S. team met with various preservation planning
agencies and individuals in Yaroslavl to help put together a planning
document for the restoration effort. The team worked up a schedule and
outline for publicity, planning, fund-raising, and restoration as a first
step in compiling a long-term, professional preservation plan for the
cathedral. During the exchange, the U.S. volunteers also had the
opportunity to visit other historic towns in the Golden Ring, including the
historic kremlin and cathedrals in Rostov, among others.
The initial contingent of American volunteers was
followed by a 10-week internship conducted by Edgar Garcia of Los Angeles,
California, as part of the annual US/ICOMOS International Exchange Program.
This internship was funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Trust for
Mutual Understanding, and the Keepers Preservation Education Fund. The
Russian Union of Youth (both in Moscow and in Yaroslavl) served as the
points-of-contact for this internship and assisted with arrangements for
travel and lodging. Mr. Garcia worked primarily with the Petropavloski
Sloboda, the grass-roots preservation organization that the initial five
American volunteers worked with. Mr. Garcia established a procedure for
recording basic architectural attributes for buildings (translating a
California state architectural survey form into Russian) and proceeded to
survey and record such information for more than 300 wood historic buildings
within the Petropavloski Sloboda.