Identity of the Russian Small Historical Towns as the Object of Study and Preservation

Abstract

The issues related to the identity of small historical towns have become particularly relevant in Russia over the past decade. In accordance with the Quebec Declaration, the identity pertains to the relations between population and a town or a village, appearing when the inhabitants perceive the settlement as something of their own, as a place, with which they have become intimately linked by their life style, memorial sites, various material and nonmaterial ties. Given that the identity is based on both material, and non-material heritage, a threat to its preservation is posed by both the substantial changes in daily life, and the loss of valuable cultural heritage. The identity is psychologically important for the population; it determines the consolidation of the inhabitants, the stability of social structures. The anthropological studies show that, as in many small towns of eastern and southern Europe, the identity of settlements is quite high in the Russian small towns, despite the unfavorable living conditions existing in many of them. The specific problem of the small historical towns in Russia consists in a great deal of deteriorating wooden stock of valuable housing development, the loss of which, and the respective change in the town structure, imply the dispersion of the settlement’s