On 19 November 2020, the city of Derbent in Daghestan was the venue for an international conference on “The Mystery of the Cross-Domed Structure on the Territory of the Naryn-Kala Fortress. The History of Christianity in Derbent” that was organized by the Russian Federation’s Commission for UNESCO Affairs and the city’s administration.
A paper on “The purpose and function of the cross-domed structure in the Naryn-Kala fortress in Derbent at various times in its existence” was co-presented to the conference by Natalya Solovyeva, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Deputy Director of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute for the History of Material Culture for Organizational Matters, Head of the Department of Preservation Archaeology. Senior Researcher, and Victor Myts, Leading Researcher in the State Hermitage’s Architectural Archaeology Sector.
Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage and President of the Union of Museums of Russia, addressed the conference participants and the general public with a “Derbent Appeal”, in which he proposed creating an international organization to monitor the state of the cultural and architectural monuments of the Caucasus, having in mind, among other things, the gravity of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The complete text of Mikhail Piotrovsky’s Derbent Appeal is as follows:
“On the soil of ancient Derbent, which preserves monuments of a host of ancient cultures, in the presence of people and organizations that have devoted their lives to the study and preservation of those monuments, and for the sake of that have gathered here today, I want to address an appeal for the uniting of efforts towards the monitoring and study of the state of monuments in the Caucasus, and especially in the south, in Transcaucasia.
“The Caucasus is an amazing part of the world, where the Lord has gathered together monuments and symbols of different cultures, civilizations, eras, religions and denominations. This unique and instructive complex is the heritage of the whole world, and the whole world should not only preserve that heritage, but also learn from its example the beauty of the world’s diversity.
“Part of the centuries-long history of the Caucasus is the diversity of ethnic, religious, establishment and state formations that, as we well know, come into at times inevitable conflicts that threaten not only people’s lives, but also the preservation of monuments, and that means of humanity’s memory.
“Proceeding from the interests of the world community today and in the future, I propose creating an international system for monitoring the condition of these fortresses, cemeteries, places of worship, memorial places and archaeological sites, for the study and discussion of the inherited and acquired problems appertaining to them, connected both with their state of preservation and with the world’s perception of their spiritual and aesthetic significance.
“This is an issue of respect for the autonomous rules of culture about with Nicholas Roerich and Dmitry Likhachev wrote, for the sake of which UNESCO and other international organizations exist. The uniting of efforts beneath the aegis of UNESCO would be an effectively and publicly striking mechanism for the introduction of the cultural heritage existing in the Caucasus into humanity’s cultural self-perception to a greater degree than has previously been done. Museum workers and archaeologists from Russia who have much experience of practically implementing a dialogue of cultures are prepared to take part in this, both in the form of field-work, to record and study, and in the form of scholarly and public discussions.
“In early December, the Hermitage will be holding a Day of Palmyra, based around plans for the restoration of the ancient site and also around the discussion of its role in world culture at different times. The theme of ‘Two Palmyras’, Northern and Southern, will become key as an example of the life of both the monument and its image. And the practical topic, besides three exhibitions, will be talk about the reconstruction of the Palmyra museum that should bring life back both to the site and its memory and to the present-day town that needs jobs, visitors and a meaning for its existence. There too, we will be presenting patterns of modern-day monitoring – a unique 3D model of the Palmyra site, of material intended for observation and assessment of the situation, for study and for admiration, for the discussion and planning of restoration and tourism. That will be a demonstration of what we are capable of doing. Let me remind you that in the Hermitage we have also shown splendid 3D reproductions of the remarkable, hard-to-reach necropolis of the Usmi [rulers of Kaytak] at Kala Kureish in Daghestan.
“At the Hermitage, in the Caucasian section, we present together such diverse symbols of the region’s history as bowls from Karmir-Blur, reliefs from Kubachi, tiles from the mausoleum of Pir-Hussein, frescoes from Ani, a khachkar from Jrvezh, silver from Bori, the capital of a column from the Temple of Garni. They are all parts of a single world that we should preserve in its unity.”
Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky
General Director of the State Hermitage
President of the Union of Museums of Russia
Dean of the Eastern Faculty of Saint Petersburg State University
Actual Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Actual Member of the Russian Academy of Arts
