Deputy of the Russian State Duma: the KFU observatory will be renovated for popularization and attraction of tourists

The facilities became the first scientific venue of Tatarstan to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List

It is planned to carry out a large amount of renovation work at the KFU (Kazan Federal University) observatories for popularization, and attraction of tourists. This was stated by Deputy of the Russian State Duma Tatyana Larionova yesterday at a briefing in the Tatarstan Cabinet of Ministers.

In September, the astronomical observatories of KFU were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, after the Kazan Kremlin, Bolgar, Sviyazhsk. Thus, four Tatarstan facilities are now under special protection status. According to this indicator, the republic is the leader in Russia. At the same time, the KFU observatories became the first scientific facility in Tatarstan to be included in the list.

The proposal to include the facilities in the UNESCO World Heritage List was announced at one of the scientific conferences back in 2009, and in 2018-2019, the leadership of Tatarstan and KFU decided on the need to nominate the observatories of KFU. An application was prepared in 2019.

Work on the inclusion of sites in the UNESCO World Heritage List has been carried out since 2019 with the assistance of the Republican Renaissance Foundation under the leadership of the State Councilor of Tatarstan, Goodwill Ambassador of the world organization Mintimer Shaimiev.

In December 2020, thanks to the painstaking work of KFU scientists, the observatories were included in the preliminary UNESCO Heritage list. “After that, a team was created, which included scientists from KFU, the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as architects and restorers,”- said the Deputy Director for Scientific Activities of the University.

The best scientists of the republic worked on nomination dossiers. “We have an outstanding team– these are world-renowned scientists, our greatest value, the value of the republic. They are now invited not only to the regions of Russia, but also to other countries to help promote new sites for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List,”- said the Tatarstan Minister of Culture Irada Ayupova.

The ceremony of including the observatory of the University in the list took place at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) in September 2023.