Assumption Cathedral and Monastery of the island-town of Sviyazhsk included in the World Heritage List

On July 9, by the decision of the 41st session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Krakov (Poland), the Assumption Cathedral and the Monastery located in the island-town of Sviyazhsk were included in the World Heritage List.

The nomination dossier for the cathedral and monastery was submitted to the World Heritage Committee in early 2016.

Large-scale restoration work on the island, including the monastery, and preparation for the dossier were carried out with the assistance of the Regional Foundation of Revival of Historical and Cultural Monuments of Tatarstan under the guidance of State Counsellor of the republic Mintimer Shaimiev.

The nomination discussion was presented by International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Susan Denyer, who visited the island with an advisory mission in August 2014. She briefly described the cathedral and monastery, speaking about the ongoing restoration work and the special value of the monastic complex, and noted that ICOMOS supports the nomination of the Assumption Monastery for inclusion in the World Heritage List. UNESCO members  from Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, Finland, Turkey, and other countries supported the nomination.

Russian representative to UNESCO Alexander Kuznetsov also supported the inclusion of the Sviyazhsk island treasures in the World Heritage list: “We see this as a recognition of the outstanding universal value of the historical treasures of the Assumption Cathedral with its 16th century frescoes.”

The Assumption Cathedral and Monastery have been added to another two Tatarstan objects already included in the UNESCO list: the Kazan Kremlin, and the ancient city of Bolgar, bringing the total of Russian treasures included in the World Heritage List to 29.