7,000 Churches in Ruins, in Need of Restoration, Says Russian Church

Pravoslavie ^ | 5/26/21

[marshmallow]

In Russia today, there are about 7,000 Orthodox churches and other objects of spiritual culture in need of reconstruction from complete ruins, a Russian Church representative announced recently.

“The Patriarchal Cultural Council has now identified 7,000 monuments of architecture, and in general of history and spiritual culture, which simply must be saved in some way,” Archpriest Leonid Kalinin, Chairman of the Expert Council on Church Art, Architecture, and Restoration, told RIA-Novosti.

To repair and rebuild the churches, they must first be captured in the state they are in now, Fr. Leonid added. For this purpose, it is planned to use laser and photogrammetric scanning to determine the shape, size, and other characteristics of the objects based on photo images.

Such scanning has already begun in several parts of the country, Fr. Leonid noted.

The problem of dilapidated and ruined churches was discussed during the recent International Educational Readings in Moscow. Fr. Leonid pointed out while there are many programs dedicated to restoring old churches, there is a dangerous trend of replacing ancient icons and interiors with low-quality modern work.

[Slyfox]

Putin has given back churches to their rightful owners and has paid to have some restored.

[Eska]

Standing room only, mostly young people who’s parents were atheists for several generations. People need spirituality. I have a Russian buddy, got out of Siberia in 92. He’s involved with Orthodox Church in Fairbanks.

[Zathras]

Church repair has crippled Portugal and Spain as they budget funds to keep them repaired.
When this comes to the USA in 20 years, their only resource will be to sell the property to State and Local gov.
Expect this to start in CA in 5 years.