On August 21, in Conference Hall 1, Pavilion 3 on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, the National Center “Russia” will host an event dedicated to modern restoration technologies and innovative methods of preserving cultural heritage - “Restoring the Lost: Restoration of Masterpieces and the Role of AI in Returning Lost Heritage.”

The event will discuss the complex restoration processes hidden from the general public, the latest achievements in digital restoration, and the prospects for using AI in cultural heritage preservation.

Today, August 20, 1721, the fountains and cascades of Peterhof were launched for the first time. They are fed by reservoirs on the Ropsha Heights, from where water flows by gravity thanks to the difference in elevation. The idea was proposed by French architect Jean-Baptiste Leblond, and the construction was supervised by hydraulic engineer Vasily Tuvalkov.

Two architects from ACM Group were recognized by the Union of Restorers of St. Petersburg for their conscientious work and personal contribution to the preservation of St. Petersburg's cultural heritage.

Today, in 1747, Vincenzo Brenna (also known as Vikenty Frantsevich Brenna) was born in Florence. He was the court architect of Emperor Paul I, the creator of Mikhailovsky Castle, as well as numerous buildings and interiors in Pavlovsk and Gatchina. The architect also worked extensively in Rome and Warsaw, and died in 1820 in Dresden.

The Committee for State Control, Use, and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (KGIOP) of St. Petersburg has recognized the complex of buildings at Warsaw Station as a cultural heritage site of regional significance. The main station building, the reservoir, the locomotive depot, and the tool shop have been granted this status.

Warsaw Station was built in 1852-1853 according to a design by architect K.A. Skarzhinsky for the railway from the capital to Gatchina. In 1857-1860 , architect P.O. Salmanovich built a new building to expand the station. The metal frame with glass filling, which covered the entire opening of the boarding platforms, corresponded to the advanced engineering trends of the 19th century, but proved to be expensive to operate and was polluted by locomotive smoke.

In 1859, a road was built to Pskov. On December 15, 1862, traffic to Warsaw was opened. It was from here that trains departed from St. Petersburg to Europe, including the Nord-Express, celebrated by Nabokov.

Restoration work has begun on the former Astoria Hotel in the center of Saratov, a cultural heritage site of federal significance, better known as the Volga.

The history of the Astoria dates back to 1911, when Dmitry Tikhomirov, a merchant of the first guild, purchased a plot of land on what was then German Street. Initially, he planned to build a residential building, but by 1913, the project had been changed: architect Semyon Kallistratov developed a plan to build a 200-room hotel with retail space on the first floor. The building was constructed in the Art Deco style, with an attic floor, open galleries, and sculptures of knights on pylons, created based on sketches by sculptor Bogoslovsky. Vladimir Mayakovsky was a frequent guest at the hotel.

Today, architects from ACM Group visited the Church of the Nativity of Christ on the grounds of the Malsky Monastery in the Pskov Region once again. They “smoothed out” the rough edges and won in the creative competition.

On September 3, the World Club of Petersburgers, the organizing committee of the Golden Trezzini International Award, and the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg in the Sovereign Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress will open an exhibition of the winners of the seventh season of the Golden Trezzini Award. And, of course, the winner in the “Best Restoration Project” category for 2024—the Harpe Tower Complex in mountainous Ingushetia—will take its rightful place in the exhibition at such a significant historical and cultural monument.

Today, in 1856, Russian architect Leonty Nikolayevich Benois was born in Peterhof. He was a master of St. Petersburg eclecticism, an academician since 1885, a professor since 1892, and a full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts since 1893, as well as an actual state councilor. It would be pointless to list all of Benois's designs, as there are more than 60 of them, and his surname speaks for itself. The main ones are the Singing Chapel, the Benois Building at the Russian Museum, the Benois House on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes on Kovensky Lane, and St. George's Cathedral in Gus-Khrustalny.

The Church of Our Lady of All Who Sorrow Joy with Pennies, recreated with the direct participation of ACM Group on Obukhovskaya Oborona Avenue in St. Petersburg, has been nominated for the 8th International Golden Trezzini Award in the category “Best Completed Restoration Project.”

The towers of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, restored according to a design by ACM Group, have been nominated for the 8th International Golden Trezzini Award in the category “Best Completed Restoration Project.”

Today, in 1710, architect Antonio Rinaldi was born in Palermo. In 1751, Rinaldi signed a seven-year contract and was invited to serve in Russia. In 1754, he became the architect of the small court, joining the inner circle of the future Emperor Peter III. At the suggestion of the heir to the throne, Rinaldi began his work in Oranienbaum, where he built the palace of Peter III, the Opera House, the ensemble of the Imperial Summer Residence with the Chinese Palace and the Catalan Hill. In addition, the architect later designed the Marble Palace, Prince Vladimir Cathedral, the Grand Palace in Gatchina, and St. Catherine's Cathedral in Yamburg in the capital.

The Moscow Kremlin Museums have presented for the first time a three-volume catalog of unique architectural drawings of the Kremlin Palace complex and the Armory Chamber.

The appearance of the Moscow Kremlin complex underwent numerous reconstructions over the centuries before becoming what we are accustomed to seeing today. The only evidence of past changes are the surviving drawings from the second half of the 18th century to the first quarter of the 20th century from the Graphics Department of the Moscow Kremlin Museums. The museum presented an unprecedented collection of 775 drawings, sketches, and drafts to the public in the publication Architectural Graphics. The Kremlin Palace Complex. The Armoury."

The greatest difficulty in the work was the volume—more than 700 sheets were drawn from the Graphics Fund alone. Historians also worked with the collection of drawings by Matvey Kazakov, stored in the Museum of Architecture, drawings from the collection of the Historical Museum, and documents from the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts and the Russian State Historical Archive. Another difficulty in the work was the ruined condition of the drawings. In some cases, it was only after restoration work—reinforcement and cleaning—that it was possible to read the signatures and establish authorship.

"Strangely enough, the most difficult drawings are those from the 1920s. They were made on very poor quality paper. Many drawings were made on tracing paper, which breaks down over time, literally crumbling in your hands. Restorers manage to piece these things together—this is the most difficult work. Even drawings from the 18th century are easier to work with, as the quality of the paper was better," said Asya Tikhomirova, curator of the Moscow Kremlin Museums' Graphic Arts Collection.

All-Russian competition for videos about cultural heritage sites and historic buildings, “Place of Power.”

The competition aims to promote Russia's architectural heritage and create a unified visual archive of historical sites that reflects both their value and the author's personal perception. Participants are invited to talk about significant architectural and historical monuments through short videos, conveying their atmosphere, significance, and role in personal or public memory.

The ACM Group library has acquired a reprint of the unique 1928 brochure “Mummification in the Caucasus Mountains” by Dr. Ivan Melentyevich Iosifov.

"I had long heard repeated reports of mummies in mountain burial mounds. To investigate this, I made several trips to Ingushetia to examine the burial mounds and mummies. As material for my examination, I took mummies from burial mounds that I had studied in 1926 in the auls of Fur-Touge, Muguchkalakh, Obeni, Lyazhgi, Arzi, Shaune, Salgi, Khani, Tumgi, Kazi, Otzyke, Leymi, Eikale, and Khairahe near Thaba Erda."

“I must mention the peculiarities of the burial mounds: on the Assa River, halfway between ... and ..., there is a hillock riddled with underground galleries and crypts. The entrances to them are not located in the usual place, but to the west. According to legend, 2,000 dead are buried here”...

This unique publication has been included in the Unified Electronic Database on the History of Ingushetia, created by the ACM Group in collaboration with the SAFMAR Charitable Foundation.

Cultural heritage sites will be sold together with investment-attractive plots of land.

Cultural heritage sites requiring restoration will be able to be put up for combined auction together with lots that are more attractive to investors, such as residential development sites. A draft law to this effect has been prepared by the Ministry of Culture. Thus, by purchasing a cultural heritage site for 1 ruble and undertaking to restore it, the investor obtains the right to build a new residential building or hotel nearby to recoup the cost.

Pros: saving abandoned monuments.

Risks: threat to the historical environment due to selective development, priority of development over restoration.

ACM Group will participate in the 22nd annual All-Russian Congress of Historical and Cultural Heritage Protection Authorities, which will be held this year in Nizhny Novgorod.

The congress is an important platform for dialogue between the Ministry of Culture, regional cultural heritage protection authorities, public and professional organizations.

The installation of temporary wooden structures by the licensed restoration company "MK Reststroy" is continuing at the cultural heritage site of federal significance, the "Tkhaba Yerdy" Temple in mountainous Ingushetia. The structures are necessary for archaeological work scheduled for September.

The facades of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University at 11 Mokhovaya Street will be restored by the end of the year. The facades of the historic building are decorated with stucco moldings depicting animals and plants. Specialists will repair the walls and white stone base, restore the stucco moldings, and replace lost decorative elements.

The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is one of the largest zoological museums in Russia. Its official founding date is considered to be 1791, when the Natural Cabinet created at Moscow University was transformed into the Natural Science Museum.

In Moscow, at 15 Mokhovaya Street, restoration work has begun on the facades of the National Hotel, a cultural heritage site of federal significance. The paint and plaster layers, stucco and metal decorations will be cleaned and restored.

In 1900, at the beginning of Tverskaya Street, where the Balaklava tavern was located, the Varvarinsky Joint-Stock Society of Landlords acquired the property. The company decided to build a new fashionable hotel on the site, commissioning the design from St. Petersburg architect Alexander Ivanov. On December 29, 1902, the grand opening of the National took place. The first floors housed restaurants, the Chuev confectionery, and the Petukhov brothers' fur store.

The hotel became a favorite place to stay for St. Petersburg residents and foreign guests. Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Zinaida Gippius, ballerina Anna Pavlova, and composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov all stayed here. In 1913, writer Anatole France was a guest, and in 1914, science fiction writer H. G. Wells.

In Kaluga, restoration work has begun on the Countess Salias House, a landmark cultural heritage site of regional significance built in the last third of the 18th century.

The early classicist-style city estate did not stand out from similar buildings until 1886, when it was acquired by its new owner, writer and countess Elizaveta Vasilyevna Salias-de-Tournemir, sister of the outstanding playwright A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin. The countess was always at the center of social life, and her son, Evgeny Andreevich Salias, went down in literary history as the “Russian Alexandre Dumas.”