World historical heritage sights in Vladimir

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During the whole history of mankind existence people created outstanding landmarks, masterpieces of painting and sculpture surviving up to nowadays from the distant past. Many of them belong to world heritage which is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage is both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seek to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972. The Convention defines the kind of natural or cultural sites which can be considered for inscription on the World Heritage List. It sets out the duties of States Parties in identifying potential sites and their role in protecting and preserving them. By signing the Convention, each country pledges to conserve not only the World Heritage sites situated on its territory, but also to protect its national heritage. The States Parties are encouraged to integrate the protection of the cultural and natural heritage into regional planning programmes, set up staff and services at their sites, undertake scientific and technical conservation research and adopt measures which give this heritage a function in the day-to-day life of the community. It explains how the World Heritage Fund is to be used and managed and under what conditions international financial assistance may be provided. The Convention stipulates the obligation of States Parties to report regularly to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of their World Heritage properties. These reports are crucial to the work of the Committee as they enable it to assess the conditions of the sites, decide on specific programme needs and resolve recurrent problems. It also encourages States Parties to strengthen the appreciation of the public for World Heritage properties and to enhance their protection through educational and information programmes. There are a total of 1092 UNESCO World.

Heritage Sites in the world (as of January 2019: 845 Cultural, 209 Natural and 38 Mixed). In the Russian Federation there are 28 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The white limestone monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The legacy embraces eight medieval limestone monuments from the late 12th and early 13th centuries. They include Russian Orthodox churches and monastery, as well as a castle and gate. This article dwells upon the limestone monuments of Vladimir, which once was a powerful political, economic and cultural centre of the ancient Russia (or Rus). There are three of them now: The Assumption (or Dormition) Cathedral, the Golden Gate and St. Demetrius Cathedral. All these buildings belong to the period of the greatest power of Vladimir princes.

Fig 1

In 1157 Andrei Bogolyubski left Kiev and went to rule in the land of Rostov and Suzdal on the invitation of local people. The first thing he did on coming to the local lands was the capital transfer from Suzdal to Vladimir. Then the prince began the construction of the white stone churches and new wooden fortifications of the town which grew a lot. According to the tradition the city should have a religious centre. For this purpose Prince built a majestic white-stone cathedral dedicated to Virgin Mary. For a long period of time this cathedral was of a great significance to Russia and was used as a model for the construction of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The Assumption Cathedral, the main cathedral of the North-Eastern Russia, was built in 1158-1160. For the construction and decoration of the cathedral Prince Andrei Bogolyubski gave the tenth part of his treasury incomes. The local builders and craftsmen were too few in number to carry out the ambitious plans for building the new capital cathedral, and chronicle tells us that The Assumption (or Dormition) Cathedral in "God brought craftsmen to Andrei from all parts Vladimirof the earth". These did not, however, include master brick layers from Kiev and the towns of the Dnieper Basin. They were expert stone masons, including Romanesque craftsmen from the West who are said to have been sent to Andrei by Barbarossa. In the Europe of the Middle Ages it was quite usual to gather craftsmen from various different countries to erect buildings of some importance. It was built of trimmed white limestone decorated with sculptural reliefs and gilded blind arcading against the background of the band of fresco painting. In 1185 the cathedral suffered a great damage during the fire. Its repair took five years. The narthexes and towers of the cathedral were dismantled and replaced with the side galleries, the walls of the old cathedral were strengthened and connected with the new ones with arches, large and small arched openings were cut in the walls of the old building forming rows of pillars in the enlarged cathedral. Instead of one dome the cathedral received five domes. The sculptures from old walls were transferred to the new facades. A special attention was paid to the northern facade facing the city. It was decorated with lion masks, an emblem of regal force, the women's masks indicating the cathedral dedication to the Virgin Mary. In the Assumption Cathedral there was the greatest Russian relic - the icon of the Holy Virgin of Vladimir, a masterpiece of the Byzantine art. The helmet-shaped domes of the cathedral and its interior decorations shined with gold.

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vladimir cultural cathedral

The only secular construction that survived from the time of Andrei Bogolyubski is the Golden Gate of Vladimir, built in 1158-1164. This structure, giant for those times, was both a triumphal arch for the festive entrance to the city and at the same time the essential element of the military defensive complex of capital city. On the left and on the right they were adjoined with powerful earthen ramparts of the fortification ring surrounding the city.

The Golden Gate in Vladimir built of white stone represents a huge cube cut with a high arch. For the defense purposes the crosspiece was made in the middle of the arch. The arch was closed with the two heavy gate folds made of thick oaks planks bound with gilded copper plates, that's why the gate became known as the Golden Gate. At the crosspiece level there was the powerful lower wooden defensive platform from which the town defenders could shoot the arrows at the enemy, throw stones at them and pour down the boiling tar. The steps built in the southern wall led to the top: to the upper defensive platform and the gate church. Time, fires, enemy sieges brought grave damages to the monument. The gate underwent many restorations and partly lost its original outlook St Demetrius Cathedral (1194-1197) was built as the palace church of Vsevolod III the Big Nest, such rare nickname this prince received either for the big progeny or for successful collecting the Russian lands. He was one of the most powerful Russian princes, and the author of “The Lay of Igor's Host” wrote about him: “For thou canst splash the Volga with thy oars, and bale out the Don with thy helmets!” Speaking about the cathedral construction the chronicler proudly remarks that by that time there was no need looking for the foreign masters to build it, there were enough local craftsmen. St Demetrius Cathedral is a single-domed four-pillar church. This cathedral is strikingly St Demetrius Cathedralmajestic and slender in its own way; it has mighty power, beautiful harmony and proportionality. St Demetrius Cathedral is a court church in luxurious decorative attire. Its walls are covered with sculptural decor. The carved ornaments entwine the columns of the blind arcading, climb up to the semicircular tops of the facades and then go up the drum. The lace-like carvings cover almost the whole building, giving it the look of a gigantic precious treasure casket. Plots of sculptural reliefs are diverse: King David, the psalm-singer, or, according to another version, the son of King David, the wise king Solomon, the biblical author of “five thousand songs”; Alexander the Great, ascending the skies; Vsevolod III himself on the throne, surrounded by his kneeling sons. And in addition to all this there are beasts, birds, the most fanciful plants, smiling lions with blossoming tails and geese with intertwined necks.

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There are many historical sites and places in the world that give us insight and evidence of the past civilizations. These sites help us learn about our ancestors, their living and culture. These sites can be called common or universal heritage of humankind and our World Heritage. Any site, building, monument, city of physical, natural or cultural significance that can be called common heritage of all the humans on earth is world heritage. As these places belong to all humans, the past, present and future generations equally so they must be conserved and protected. The event that aroused particular international concern was the decision to build the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, which would have flooded the valley containing the Abu Simbel temples a treasure of ancient Egyptian civilization. In 1959, after an appeal from the governments of Egypt and Sudan, UNESCO launched an international safeguarding campaign. Archaeological research in the areas to be flooded was accelerated. Above all, the Abu Simbel and Philae temples were dismantled, moved to dry ground and reassembled. The campaign cost about US$80 million, half of which was donated by some 50 countries, showing the importance of solidarity and nations' shared responsibility in conserving outstanding cultural sites. Its success led to other safeguarding campaigns, such as saving Venice and its Lagoon (Italy) and the Archaeological Ruins at Mohenjo-Daro (Pakistan) and restoring the Borobudur Temple Compounds (Indonesia). Consequently, UNESCO initiated, with the help of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the preparation of a draft convention on the protection of cultural heritage.

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