Petersburg city defenders proposed to turn the Okhta Cape into a landscape park

If it is not possible to find funding for the creation of a historical and archaeological museum-reserve on the Okhtinsky Cape, it is necessary to mothball the excavations and arrange a landscape park on this site. This conclusion was reached by the participants of the meeting of the Discussion Club of Daniil Kotsyubinsky “Why is everything wrong?”, which took place in the St. Petersburg art space mArs (Marsovo Pole, 3).

At the meeting, the St. Petersburg historian Daniil Kotsyubinsky insisted that it was impossible to build an office of Gazprom on the site of the discovered ancient fortress Nyenschantz – and called on the organization to finance the creation of a full-fledged museum-reserve.

His opponent, historian Lev Lurie, objected that this task looked unrealistic, although he agreed that the miraculously preserved lower part of the wooden donjon tower of the Landskrona fortress built in 1300 must be preserved. At the same time, the expert confirmed, within the framework of the current project of the Gazprom office, it is impossible to leave it intact.

An alternative was proposed by the discussion participant Tamara Zheglova, a teacher and archaeologist. She agreed that a huge number of examinations confirmed the value of archaeological sites, and they must be preserved for future generations. The expert expressed confidence that in the future it will be possible to demonstrate the ancient layers of the Okhtinsky Cape to St. Petersburg residents as a relief – from the Neolithic site and ancient Novgorod settlements to the fortifications of the 17th century, “after all, it is important for human consciousness to feel oneself in a historical relief.”

“So let’s just conserve the finds. Let’s leave a green field, lay paths, plant flowers. So the wooden tower will be preserved for many years to come – this was possible until now thanks to the special soil. Yes, in Belarus there is Berestye, in Italy there is the Big Circus, they have been dug up and are not being built up. Well, since we don’t have money, we will have a green park, ”Zheglova suggested.

Let us recall that earlier Gazprom planned to build the Lakhta Center tower at the Okhtinsky Cape, which was eventually moved to the Primorsky district of St. Petersburg. Later, the company decided to erect a large-scale office building on this site. In December 2021, Vladimir Putin supported the idea of ​​creating an archaeological reserve throughout the cape.