Source: RIA-Novosti
Tallinn, Estonia, December 1, 2016
Estonian Minister of Culture Indrek Saar has signed an order recognizing as cultural monuments the structures, iconostasis, icons, and altarpiece with framework of the church of St. John the Baptist in the village of Kolga-Yani, reports the portal Delfi.
The Orthodox Church was built in Kolga-Yani (near the city of Tartu) in the 1870s. At the same time it was decided how to decorate the church, including the wooden iconostasis, icons, and altarpiece with frame behind the iconostasis. In all, nineteen sacred images, surrounded by wooden decorated designs, were included as monuments.
According to the adviser for protecting monuments of antiquity, Estonian Minister of Culture Liini Yanes, it is very important that the ensemble was taken under protection as a whole. “Although the decoration of the church of St. John the Baptist in Kolga-Yani was completely typical for the 1870s, it has become a rarity by our times,” noted the adviser.
Until now, not a single iconostasis as a whole had been taken under protection. The proposal to recognize the church décor as a cultural monument was made by the department for protecting monuments of antiquity, arguing for it on the basis of its time and place, uniqueness and wholeness. The recognition of the object as a cultural monument allows the owner to apply for grants for maintenance and beautification.
