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Welcome to the website: Disappearing Masterpieces

This website is dedicated to unique wooden architecture in Russia. Historically, the wooden buildings were prevailing in the majority of Russian cities and villages, characterizing their skyline. Famous city forts ‘kremlins’, all religious buildings and houses were initially made of wood. Over the time, wood was replaced by other construction materials and most of this architectural heritage gradually disappeared, either was destroyed by natural forces (aging and fire) or torn down to give place to modern buildings. In pure statistics, over 80 % of all churches and chapels known before the October Revolution disappeared. Nowadays, only limited number of old wooden buildings remains and many of these remaining wooden monuments are under threat of disappearance. With their loss, we lose the gist of the authentic Russian historical heritage for ever.

This website strives to provide relevant information to those who wish to learn about the subject, to inform decision-makers and restoration professionals about the critical issues and the most suitable restoration techniques. The authors of this website, which has been created within the project ‘Disappearing Masterpieces’ supported by European Union, sincerely wish to help reversing the gradual loss of wooden monuments and support suitable activities which help preserving unique cultural heritage embodied in wooden architecture of Russia. We hope you will enjoy reading the information provided on this website.