1. Gosprom Building, Kharov, Ukraine; Sergei Serafimov, Mark Felger, and Samuil Kravets, architects, 1929.

Photograph by
Richard Pare.

62
Jean-Louis Cohen
Soviet Legal Documents on the
Preservation of Monuments

Introduction Between 1917— or rather 1922, the date of the creation of the
USSR— and its dissolution in 1991, Soviet society was charac-
terized by a steady production of legal literature. The gener-
ous principles on which the laws and regulations were based
were often undermined by the everyday exercise of the Party’s
leadership power. In this perspective, the following texts
should be considered as a legal façade behind which contra-
dictory procedures were followed by the central and local
public authorities, to which the organs of preservation and
restoration were subordinated.
The first text presented here was promulgated in 1948,
in the aftermath of the Second World War’s unprecedented
destruction. The detailed description of the architectural
monuments to be identified and protected reflects the feeling
of loss resulting from war damage. Also, the wide spectrum of
programs is an index of Joseph Stalin’s wartime policy of rec-
onciliation with the emblems of national identity, including
churches, in contrast to the “revolutionary vandalism” of the
1920s and 1930s, when thousands of monuments were razed.
The second text dates from a quarter century later and is
strikingly more sectarian in its description of monuments to
be protected, focusing on their political and ideological value,
and insisting on their contribution to the education of the
people. At the same time, the range of disciplines concerned
is enlarged. In contrast with the earlier legislation, the focus
of preservation is widened to include urban zones and pro-
tected landscape.
The interpretation of both texts should take into account
the other aspects of the situation during the Soviet regime:
the scarcity of resources allocated to restoration of buildings
not considered as the premier objects representing the nation
or major tourism magnets, and also the limited number of
specialists and craftsmen trained to complete professional
restoration.

Future Anterior
Volume V, Number 1
Summer 2008

63
Document
The USSR’s 1948 Instructions for
the Identification, Registration,
Maintenance, and Restoration of
Architectural Monuments under
State Protection

Introduction
The present instructions have been compiled on the basis of
paragraph five of the decree of the Council of Ministers of the
USSR from 14 October 1948 in approval of law number 3898,
“On the improvement of the protection of cultural monu-
ments,” extending the appurtenant “Decree on the protection
of cultural monuments.”
The aim of these instructions is to establish procedures for
the identification and cataloging of architectural monuments
and the rules for their maintenance — i.e., the provisions for
the maintenance, use, repair, and restoration of architectural
monuments.
The fulfillment of the policies described herein is obliga-
tory for all organs of the Committee of Architectural Affairs of
the Council of Ministers of the USSR, which is responsible for
the identification, cataloging, registration, and application
for approval of a list of architectural monuments to be placed
under state protection, as well as the direction and regulation
of the use, repair, and restoration of architectural monu-
ments. These policies are also binding in the planning and
construction of cities; for all architectural, scientific, and
expert councils; and for chief architects of cities and local
executive committees of the Council of Workers’ Deputies.
Observance of the policies described herein is obligatory
for all institutions, enterprises, and organizations — regardless
of bureaucratic hierarchy — as well as for individuals who
direct or use architectural monuments that are under state
protection.

Section I: Identification, Registration, and Documentation

of Architectural Monuments

1. General Regulations

(1) Architectural monuments located on the territory of the

USSR having scientific, artistic, or historical value are in-
violable national property and are under state protection.
Architectural monuments include complete buildings as
well as damaged buildings, ruins, and parts of ancient build-
ings that have been incorporated into later structures.

64
(2) Architectural monuments may be:
A. Freestanding monuments
(a) Civic buildings: palaces, castles, theaters, bar-
racks, guardhouses, universities, hospitals, shopping
arcades, schools, and other public buildings; country
estates, urban residences, peasant izbas, barns, mills,
wells, bridges, embankments, walls, summer houses,
etc.;
(b) Religious buildings: cathedrals, churches, bell-
towers, belfries, mosques, madrasahs, minarets, Roman
Catholic churches, synagogues, chapels, burial cham-
bers, mausoleums, etc.;
(c) Historical defensive structures: detached towers,
the remains of fortification walls, bastions, arsenals, etc.;

B. Monumental groups (ensembles, complexes)1

(a) Cities and settlements or portions thereof (dis-
tricts, squares, streets) that have preserved their his-
torical form or a considerable number of buildings or
structures of artistic value.
(b) Citadels, ancient fortresses, perimeter walls and
towers, ramparts, and other ancient fortifications.
(c) Monasteries and all of the structures (historically)
belonging to them, including monastic walls, and struc-
tures standing outside the walls that are related to the
monastery.
(d) Country estates that have preserved their histori-
cal form, including all of their ancillary structures; parks
and all park structures (ponds, canals, footbridges, pavil-
ions, sculptures, etc.); independent parks that have pre-
served their historical form and plantings.

(3) Works of monumental painting and applied art (frescoes,

tempura and oil paintings, mosaics, majolica, glazed tile,
etc.), sculptures (sculpture in the round, bas reliefs, etc.)
and decorative art (iconostasis, furniture, chandeliers, mir-
rors, tapestries, grillwork, wood carvings, ovens, etc.), which
are historically linked with architectural monuments and
which belong to the latter, are to be protected along with
the monument.

(4) All architectural monuments listed in sections I and II of

the present instructions that are located in the territory of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics must be identified, inven-
toried, documented, and studied.
In accordance with these instructions, the procedure for
the placement of architectural monuments under state pro-
tection requires: a preliminary inventory, registration, and
documentation of architectural monuments. . . .

65
Section II: Maintenance of Architectural Monuments

1. Use of Architectural Monuments

(38) The general provisions for the use of monuments require

their maintenance, safeguarding, and the identification of
their effective social significance for political-educational,
pedagogical, and scientific purposes.

(39) All architectural monuments, regardless of the status of

the organizations that use them, may be separated into three
groups:
(a) monuments that cannot be used for gainful purposes
(ancient fortification walls, triumphal arches, monuments,
bridges, embankments, walls, funerary monuments, foun-
tains, ruins, etc.);
(b) monuments that can be used while maintaining their
historical appearance, furnishings, and interior decoration,
though only as scientific institutions or museums (estate
museums, palace museums, monastery museums, fortifica-
tion museums, etc.);
(c) monuments that can be used for gainful purposes
without detriment to their safeguarding and without damag-
ing their historical-artistic value (common cultural and civic
buildings).

(40) The use of architectural monuments in category

(c) for gainful purposes must not harm the monuments’
integrity; that is, a building’s structural integrity or the his-
torical appearance of the monument.

Note: Architectural monuments that have murals and

other artistic finishes may be used for gainful purposes
only in exceptional cases, requiring special permission
from the Central administration for the preservation of
architectural monuments of the Committee of architec-
tural affairs of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

In addition to the above mentioned, the following uses

of designated buildings and their contiguous territory are
prohibited:
(a) for the storage or production of explosive or flam-
mable materials (kerosene, benzene, gunpowder, saltpeter,
celluloid, etc.);
(b) for the storage or production of materials that con-
taminate the ground, walls, ceilings, or vaults (motor oil, fuel,
tar, coal, charcoal, axle grease, pitch, etc.);
(c) for the storage or production of curing materials or
materials emitting harmful discharges (salt, lime, chlorine,
yeast, beer-brewing and hide-curing processes, etc.);

66
 (d) as grain storage, produce storage, pickling cellars, ice
storage, fish storage, dairies, slaughter houses, or to house
other wet processes, including: poultry farming, incubation,
pig farming; as stables, barns, etc.;
(e) as garages or parking places for tractors, automobiles,
steam shovels, cranes, combines, or other machines;
(f) as workshops, electrical stations, factories, works, or
other sites of production using mechanical power (indepen-
dent of the magnitude of the latter), or to house motor-powered
presses or large equipment that require the construction of
independent foundations;
(g) for production processes that require the maintenance
of either high or low temperatures within the building or
processes that produce a great deal of humidity, including:
drying, bread baking, candy making, tempering, founding,
ironworking, refrigeration, bathing, laundry washing, shoe-
making; or consumer services that require steam installations
for the coloring or chemical cleaning of clothing or kitchens,
wells, water basins, pump houses, etc.;
(h) the use of cultural monuments or civic structures that
were not intended to be residences as dwellings.
...

(41) The modification, alteration, transportation, or demolition

of architectural monuments is categorically prohibited. In
rare, exceptional circumstances these operations may be
authorized only by a decision of the Committee of architec-
tural affairs of the Council of Ministers of the USSR; by the
Council of Ministers of a union republic; or, in the case of an
architectural monument of union-wide significance, by the
Council of Ministers of the USSR.

(42) Organizations that obtain permission for (partial or com-

plete) demolition, alteration or transportation of architectural
monuments must, at their own expense, carry out a complete
architectural-archeological survey and inspection of the build-
ing and produce a scientific-technical description and exhaus-
tive photo documentation of the monument. A model of the
complete architectural monument is to be created and the
most valuable architectural details are to be entrusted to
a museum. All work must be conducted under the leadership
of the organs for the protection of architectural monuments.

(43) Without proper permission from the organs for the pro-
tection of monuments of the administration of architectural
affairs of union republics or the Central administration for
the protection of architectural monuments of the Committee
of architectural affairs of the Council of Ministers of the

67
USSR the following operations are categorically prohibited
within the limits of established architectural reserves;
within the protected zones of individual monuments, en-
sembles, complexes; and within architectural monuments
themselves:
(a) the construction of any sort of new structures, ex-
cluding those erected in the course of restoration of an
architectural ensemble in strict accordance with the proj-
ect’s approval;
(b) any sort of addition to, or reconstruction of, the exist-
ing buildings and structures that are not monuments, but
which are located on the territory of a reserve or protected
zone; . . .
(c) the execution of restorations, repairs, or alterations;
(d) the removal or unauthorized planting of trees or
shrubbery in the immediate vicinity of the monument or in
gardens, parks, groves, or other parts of protected territory;
(e) the cultivation of ground near the foundations of
ancient fortresses or monasteries for agricultural purposes;
the quarrying of gravel, clay, or other materials near architec-
tural monuments; the implementation of any sort of archaeo-
logical investigations (excavations and sondage);
(f) the construction of new roads or territorial modifica-
tions; the installation of new, or the covering of old reservoirs;
the digging of trenches for any type of underground communi-
cation (water lines, sewers, telephones, etc.);
(g) any changes to the exterior or interior appearance of
an architectural monument, including the addition of various
types of temporary or permanent structures such as: porches,
vestibules, pavilions, stalls, kiosks, sheds for fuel or the stor-
age of building materials; the construction of overhead cover-
ings, the construction of walls or other modifications to the
internal layout of a monument, as well as the installation of
sign boards, advertisements, various kinds of cables, brack-
ets, wires, bolts, hooks, etc.;
(h) any type of unauthorized renovations or improve-
ments to architectural monuments or to their exterior or inte-
rior paintings, mosaics, tile work, sculptures, wood or stone
carvings, grillwork or other decorative elements;
(i) the installation of new paintings or other decorative
elements; heating equipment, ventilation devices, or the
installation of electrical wires;
(j) the dismantling or modification of ruins, especially
for use as building materials.

(44) All architectural monuments under state protection

should have protective plaques of the prescribed form. . . .

68
Section III: Repair and Restoration of Architectural
Monuments

1. General Provisions

(73) For the protection and maintenance of monuments; in

order to restore their lost, distorted appearance; and for the
use of monuments, operations from the following categories
are to be undertaken:
(a) restoration procedures,
(b) repair procedures.
All work on monuments, regardless of the scale, character,
or purpose of the work, must be carried out on the basis of
exhaustive scientific research and executed in high-quality
materials with great technical skill.

(74) Work on monuments may proceed only after the appropri-

ate authorizations have been issued by:
(a) for monuments of Union-wide significance — by the
Central administration for the protection of architectural
monuments of the Committee of architectural affairs of the
Council of Ministers of the USSR;
(b) for other monuments — by departments for the protec-
tion of monuments of administrations of architectural affairs
of union republics or the cities of Moscow, Leningrad, and
Kiev. . . .

(75) The execution of work on monuments without authori-

zation is a violation of the Decree of the Council of Ministers
of the USSR of 14 October 1948 on law number 3898, and
the accused will be brought to the directorate of public
prosecutions.

(76) All work on monuments, with the exception of minor,

periodic maintenance, undertaken by scientific restoration
workshops or other organizations must be directed by experi-
enced architects who are well trained in the restoration of
monuments. The director of operations — the architect —
ensures the scientific basis of all work and is responsible for
the completion of all relevant documents, supervision, and
direction of all operations. The architect is responsible for
all operations. . . .

(77) In the execution of very important work that requires

special supervision and direction from experienced scien-
tific specialists, the organs for the protection of monuments
require institutions using a monument to arrange expert
consultations with restoration specialists in accordance
with the prescriptions of the organs for the protection of
monuments.

69
(78) All work must be inspected by local (and in special situa-
tions, republican) organs for the protection of monuments.
The organs for the protection of monuments are to regulate
the conditions of work in accordance with the pres-
ent instructions and must require the high-quality execution
of “the task of restoration.”

(79) The supervision of operations must be documented by

inspection files that are to be completed in the presence of
the leading representative of the organization executing the
work and the corresponding representatives of the organiza-
tions who use the monument. Supervisory organs are charged
with the responsibility of correcting deficiencies in a timely
manner.

(80) Upon the completion of work on a monument a transferral

commission is to be formed under the leadership of represen-
tatives of the organs for the protection of monuments and
with the participation of representatives of the organizations
using the monument and carrying out the work, and, if neces-
sary, by calling in specialists.

(81) In the event of a violation of restoration provisions during

the course of operations or during transfer, supervisory
organs maintain the right to reject all or part of the executed
work; to require the correction of defects and violations; to
give notice through the organs for the protection of monu-
ments for the cessation of work; and to inform the sponsoring
bank of the poor quality of restoration work in order to halt its
funding.

2. Restoration

(82) Restoration operations are concerned with the re-

construction and recreation of the lost, damaged, or deformed
appearance of a monument or its parts.

(83) Restoration is undertaken in order to reconstruct or recre-

ate a monument’s original form or its condition at a scientifi-
cally specified optimal date.

(84) The restoration of monuments depends on exhaustive

scientific research that is founded on both on-site inspections
and studies of all available iconographic, literary, and written
material. Preliminary exploration, cleaning, sondage, techni-
cal analyses, and other investigations are to be undertaken
during the course of operations in order to obtain the most
complete identification of the monument and for the specifi-
cation of the required restoration operations.

70
(85) Restoration operations are undertaken in two ways:
(a) through the clearing and removing from a monument,
in whole or in part, later additions that have distorted its origi-
nal form;
(b) through the reconstruction and replacement of lost
parts and elements with new material, using complete, reli-
able information on the character and form of the lost parts
(details) that are to be replaced.

(86) There are two types of restoration operations: the recon-

struction and re-creation of monuments. The difference
between the two is that the first type of work seeks to identify
and reconstruct damaged parts of a monument, while the sec-
ond seeks to create new versions of lost elements.

(87) After restoration an architectural monument must be free,

to the greatest extent possible, from later accumulations that
have no independent historical value. Restoration should
recover, through reconstruction or recreation, the ancient his-
torical structures and decorative details that have been lost
during the life of the monument.
...

(89) In the partial recreation of a monument, as a general rule,

newly constructed portions should correspond to the portions
authentically preserved, creating a unified whole. Newly cre-
ated portions, however, are to be marked and identified in
some way.

(90) In certain partial recreations of unique art works (paint-

ings, frescoes), when exhaustive information about their
original character and form is lacking, the principle of the
neutralization of lost parts (elements) is to be applied.
In these cases, lost portions are to be completed and
filled in only with the intention of masking the loss; recreated
portions should have a minimum of content and form.

(91) Restoration, whether reconstruction or re-creation, is to

be undertaken on the basis of thorough historical, archaeo-
logical, and scientific material derived from on-site studies
of monuments by scientific restoration workshops of the Com-
mittee of architectural affairs of the Council of Ministers of
the USSR or other specialized workshops that have experts
on restoration and under the leadership of specialists with
the necessary historical and archaeological knowledge.

(92) Prior to the restoration of architectural monuments, which

may have ancient paintings beneath whitewash or plaster, or
which may contain obscured monumental paintings, these
monuments must be studied by the central scientific restoration

71
workshop of the Committee of architectural affairs of the
Council of Ministers of the USSR or other specialized work-
shops, which have been authorized by the Central administra-
tion for the protection of architectural monuments of the
Committee of architectural affairs of the Council of Ministers
of the USSR to undertake operations on monumental paint-
ings. Investigations must be undertaken in order to determine
the presence and artistic value of obscured paintings as well
as to evaluate the work required for their restoration.
All restoration work on mosaics, frescoes, oil and tempura
paintings, including those on canvas (plafonds, wall paint-
ings), is to be undertaken only by qualified restorers from spe-
cialized restoration workshops who have been authorized by
the Central administration for the protection of architectural
monuments of the Committee of architectural affairs of the
Council of Ministers of the USSR.
Note
Translated by Richard Anderson
1. A group of buildings is called an architectural ensemble when a uniform artistic
system unites the structures. A group of buildings is called an architectural com-
plex when they are located in close proximity to one another and are territorially
integrated [original note].

72
1. Gosplan Garage Moscow; Konstantin Melnikov with V. I. Kurochkin, architects, 1936. Photograph by Richard Pare.

74
Document
1973 Law of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics:
On the Protection and Use of
Historic and Cultural Monuments
In the USSR, historic and cultural monuments belong to the
people. The Soviet state, implementing Lenin’s principles of
treating the cultural legacy, creates all the conditions for the
protection and effective use of monuments in the interests of
the building of communism.
The historic and cultural monuments of the USSR mirror
the material and spiritual life of the past generations, the cen-
turies-old history of our Homeland, the struggle of the masses
of people for their freedom and independence, the revolution-
ary movement and the formation and development of the
Soviet socialist state.
The historic and cultural monuments embody the out-
standing events of the Great October Socialist Revolution,
the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War, the labor exploits
of the working class, the collective-farm peasantry and the
intelligentsia, the fraternal friendship of the peoples of our
country, and the heroic struggle of the Soviet people for the
building of socialism and communism.
The historic and cultural monuments of the Soviet peoples
are an integral part of the world cultural legacy and testify to
the great contribution made by the peoples of our country
to the development of world civilization.
In the Soviet Union, monuments serve the goal of pro-
moting the development of science, education, and culture;
cultivating an elevated feeling of Soviet patriotism; and the
ideological, moral, internationalist, and aesthetic education
of the working people.
The protection of the monuments is an important task of
State and social organizations. Concern for historic and cul-
tural monuments is the patriotic duty of every citizen of the
USSR.
Soviet legislation is called upon actively to promote the
improvement of the protection and use of historic and cul-
tural monuments and the further strengthening of legality in
this field.

I. General Provisions
Article 1. Historic and cultural monuments
Future Anterior
Volume V, Number 1 Historic and cultural monuments are structures, memorable
Summer 2008 places, and objects connected with historic events in the life

75
of the people, the development of society and the State,
works of material and spiritual creation that are of historical,
scientific, artistic, or other cultural value.
All historic and cultural monuments of Soviet territory are
protected by the State.

Article 2. The tasks of Soviet legislation on the protection

and use of historic and cultural monuments
Soviet legislation on the protection and use of historic and
cultural monuments regulates social relations in the protec-
tion and use of monuments with a view to preserving them for
present and future generations and ensuring their effective
use for scientific study and popularization in the interests of
the communist education of the working people.

Article 3. Legislation of the Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics and Union Republics on the protection and
use of historic and cultural monuments
Legislation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and
Union Republics on the protection and use of historic and cul-
tural monuments consists of the present Law and, as decreed
in conformity with it, of other legislative acts of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics, laws, and other legislative acts of
the Union Republics on the protection and use of historic and
cultural monuments.

Article 4. Ownership of historic and cultural monuments

Historic and cultural monuments are owned by the State and
also by collective farms and other cooperative organizations
and their associations, social organizations, and individuals.
The sale, donation, or any other alienation of historic and
cultural monuments is allowed on obligatory preliminary noti-
fication to the State organs for the protection of monuments.
When monuments are offered for sale, the State shall have the
preemptive right of purchase.

Article 5. Types of historic and cultural monuments

In conformity with Article 1 of the present Law, historic and
cultural monuments include:
historic monuments — buildings, structures, memorable
places and objects connected with major historic events in
the life of the people, the development of society and the
State, the revolutionary movement, the Great October Social-
ist Revolution, the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War, the
building of socialism and communism, the strengthening of
international solidarity; also with the development of the sci-
ence, technology, culture and life of the peoples, with the

76
lives of outstanding political figures, statesmen, military lead-
ers, national heroes, and men of science, literature, and art;
archaeological monuments — ancient town sites, tumuli,
the remains of ancient settlements, fortifications, industries,
canals, roads, ancient burial places, stone figures, cliff draw-
ings, ancient objects, sections of cultural layers at ancient
populated sites;
monuments of town development and architecture —
architectural ensembles and complexes, historical centers,
blocks, squares, streets, and remnants of ancient planning
and building of towns and other populated centers; structures
representing civil, industrial, military, and cult architecture,
popular building art, and also associated specimens of
monumental and pictorial art, decorative and applied art,
landscape gardening, natural landscapes;
monuments of art — works of monumental, pictorial,
decorative and applied, and other arts;
documentary monuments — acts of the organs of State
power and State administration, other written and graphic doc-
uments, cinematic and photographic documents and sound
recordings, also ancient and other manuscripts and archives,
records of folk art and music, and rare printed editions.
Historic and cultural monuments may also include other
objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or other cultural value.
...

II. State Registration of Historic and

Cultural Monuments
Article 10. Classification of historic and cultural monuments
as monuments of all-Union, republican, and local significance
For the purposes of organizing the registration and protection
of historic and cultural monuments, immovable monuments
are subdivided into monuments of all-Union, republican, and
local importance.
Historic and cultural monuments are classified as monu-
ments of all-Union, republican, and local significance in
accordance with the legislation of the Union of Soviet Social-
ist Republics and Union Republics.

Article 11. State registration of historic and cultural

monuments in museums, libraries, and archives
State registration of historic and cultural monuments that are
in museums, libraries, archives and other organizations and
institutions, is carried out according to the procedure
laid down by the legislation of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics on the museum and archive funds of the USSR.

77
Article 12. State registration of historic and cultural
monuments that are in the personal possession of citizens
Antiques, paintings, and objects of decorative and applied
art, structures, manuscripts, collections, rare publications,
and other objects and documents that are in the personal
possession of citizens and are of considerable historic, scien-
tific, artistic, or other cultural value are recognized as historic
and cultural monuments and are subject of State registration
with a view to their fullest possible identification and to assis-
tance in ensuring their preservation.
Citizens who have historic and cultural monuments in
their possession are obliged to observe the rules for the pro-
tection, use, registration, and restoration of monuments.
...

III. Ensuring the Protection of Historic and

Cultural Monuments: The Order and Conditions
of the Use of Monuments
Article 18. Restoration, conservation, and repair of historic
and cultural monuments
The restoration, conservation, and repair of historic and cul-
tural monuments are carried out only with the authorization
and under the surveillance of State organs for the protection
of monuments.
The restoration, conservation, and repair of monuments
are carried out at the expense of the users or owners of the
monuments and also with the funds of State organs for the
protection of monuments.

Article 19. Protected zones of historic and cultural

monuments
With the aim of ensuring the protection of historic and archae-
ological monuments, monuments of town building and archi-
tecture, and monumental art, there shall be established
protected zones, zones of regulated building, and zones of
protected natural landscapes in accordance with the proce-
dure laid down by the legislation of the Union of Soviet Social-
ist Republics and Union Republics.
Within the limits of these zones, it is prohibited to carry
out excavation, building and other works, and also economic
activity without the permission of the appropriate organs for
the protection of monuments of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics or a Union Republic.

Article 20. Protection of historic and cultural reservations

Ensembles and complexes of historic and cultural monuments
that are of special historical, scientific, artistic, or other cultural

78
value, may, by decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR
or the Council of Ministers of a Union Republic, be declared
historic and cultural reservations, the protection of which is
carried out on the basis of a special regulation in each case.
...

Article 22. Coordination with the organs for the protection

of monuments of designs for the planning, building, and
reconstruction of towns and other populated centers incor-
porating historic and cultural monuments
Designs for the planning, building, and reconstruction of
towns and other populated centers with monuments of his-
tory, archaeology, town building and architecture, and monu-
mental art are subject to coordination with the appropriate
organs for the protection of monuments.
...

Article 25. Suspension of building and other work con-

stituting a threat to historic and cultural monuments
State organs for the protection of monuments have the right
to suspend building, land improvement, road and other work
if, in the course of this work, a threat arises to historic and
cultural monuments, or if the rules for their protection are
violated.

Article 26. The conduct of excavations and surveying of

archaeological monuments
The conduct of excavations and the surveying of archaeologi-
cal monuments are allowed only on the strength of permits /
open sheets, issued and registered in accordance with the
established procedure.
Organizations and citizens carrying out archaeological
work must ensure the preservation of monuments.

Article 27. The collecting of historic and cultural monuments

The collecting of ancient documents, paintings, and work
of decorative applied art by organizations and citizens is
allowed only on the strength of special permits issued and
registered in accordance with the established procedure.

Article 28. Prohibition of the removal of historic and cultural

monuments beyond the borders of the USSR
The removal of historic and cultural monuments beyond the
borders of the USSR is prohibited.
Exceptions to this rule are made only on the strength of
a special permit issued in each separate case in accordance
with the procedure laid down by the legislation of the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics.

79
Article 29. The procedure for the temporary removal
of historic and cultural monuments beyond the borders
of the USSR
With the aim of promoting international cultural exchanges,
the temporary removal of historic and cultural monuments
beyond the borders of the USSR is allowed with observance of
the rules and regulations specially established for each case
by the appropriate State organ of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics.

Article 30. Protection of historic and cultural monuments

brought to the USSR
Historic and cultural monuments that are the property of for-
eign states, organizations, and persons and are temporarily
brought to the USSR by way of cultural exchange on the basis
of relevant agreements are protected by the State.
Endnote
Translation from the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments in USSR.
Fifth General Assembly of ICOMOS, held in Moscow/Souzdal, 21–27 May 1978.

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