Preserve the Pulse of the People: Belarus Strengthens Oversight of Cultural Heritage

Historical and cultural heritage is the heritage of the Belarusian people and an integral part of world culture. Its preservation and enhancement are among the fundamental national interests, and therefore under the special control of the President.

Today, the list of tangible immovable historical and cultural assets of Belarus includes more than 5,000 objects. These include monuments of archeology, architecture, urban development, and art history.

Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus:

"It is especially important to understand that the words 'spirituality' and 'culture' are closely interconnected, and one is impossible without the other; one does not exist. And culture is the pulse of the life of the Belarusian people. If the people preserve the material, creative, and spiritual heritage of their ancestors, the country will certainly have a history. If there is something to preserve, then there are people, and then there is a state—simple truths."

Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus

One can talk about spiritual revival as much as one wants, but without a material foundation, it is indispensable. Restoration is a complex process that requires considerable expenditure. As audits by the State Control Committee have shown, government expenditures are sometimes unreasonably high, and there is significant scope for reducing restoration costs.

"Pre-project surveys of such sites are often poorly conducted, which subsequently leads to the identification of a significant amount of additional work and a significant increase in the cost of restoration. For example, during the restoration of the Ruzhany Palace, 101 additional reports were drawn up, which increased the cost by 1.8 times. For the Kossovsky Palace, 96 additional reports resulted in additional expenses of 300,000 rubles," explained Alexander Bychkovsky, Head of the State Control Committee of the Brest Region.

Head of the Department of the State Control Committee of the Brest Region

It is noteworthy that this year's Presidential Prize for Spiritual Revival was awarded to the team of "Belrestavratsiya." This unique enterprise has restored approximately 70 sites to life, including symbols of national pride—the Nesvizh and Mir castles, Victory Square, and the Puslovsky Palace.

Every year, estates, churches, chapels, and other historical buildings are restored from ruins. When the state takes a site under protection, it doesn't mean simply hanging a plaque on the building and forgetting about it; it means specific measures guaranteed in various aspects—legal, financial, organizational, informational, and control.

Inspections by the State Control Committee revealed a number of issues in the way government agencies handle sites of historical and cultural value. For example, according to the Culture Code, archaeological research must be conducted on such sites, yet their cost is, for some reason, determined by construction standards.

Vera Matsulevich, Deputy Head of the Department for Construction Supervision in Housing and Utilities and in Minsk, State Control Committee of Belarus:

"We need to determine how much this work costs. To do this, we need to consider the cost per person-day for a specialist. But the cost per person-day used was not for an archaeologist, but for some reason for an architect, even though these are completely different fields of activity, with completely different qualifications, and this shouldn't be the case."

Vera Matsulevich, Deputy Head of the Department for Construction Supervision in Housing and Utilities and in Minsk, State Control Committee of Belarus

According to current legislation, properties classified as historical and cultural heritage sites may be privately owned. However, the owner is obligated to ensure the preservation of the structures. However, there are many examples of private owners overestimating their capabilities, and properties that could be revitalized continue to deteriorate, not to mention the creation of additional infrastructure and services.

"In 2024, only after the Committee's intervention, a property acquired more than 10 years ago—fragments of the Sapieha-Potocki estate and park complex in the town of Vysokoye, Kamenets District, Brest Region—was confiscated from a private enterprise for failing to comply with the terms of sale. Currently, local authorities are ultimately responsible for restoring this property," said Alexander Bychkovsky, Head of the Brest Region State Control Committee.

There are other examples: the Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life near Minsk is a unique open-air exhibition that transports tourists back to the 1920s and 1930s. The collections contain over 22,000 exhibits. Here, visitors can learn about the lives of their ancestors from the Poozerie, Dnieper, and Central Belarus regions.

Each exhibition showcases regional features of folk architecture, everyday life, crafts, and natural and landscape conditions. Here are real objects used by the ancestors of Belarusians: furniture, dishes, clothing, towels, and icons.