Heritage Defenders in Kazan Oppose Delisting Vakhitov's Birthplace
The house at 70 Peterburgskaya Street in Kazan, where the Leninist revolutionary Mullanur Vakhitov was born, is set to be removed from the register of cultural heritage sites. The corresponding expert assessment was published on the website of Tatarstan«s Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites. Kazan»s heritage defenders and cultural workers are outraged by this decision.
The building«s value assessment was conducted by Alexander Martynov, an expert from the State Historical and Cultural Expertise (GICE). In the document, he noted that the building has lost its historical appearance and interiors since it was renovated into an office building. Therefore, the expert believes the house no longer holds cultural and historical value.
Kazan«s heritage defenders, guides, and activists have spoken out against this decision.
«I note that in the Sukonnaya Sloboda area, after the implementation of the dilapidated and emergency housing demolition program, there are very few authentic objects left, each of them is valuable. It»s clear that the GICE expert from Ivanovo Oblast may not see the symbolic and memorial value of the building and its territory, but the professional conclusion here is also questionable,« responded Kazan heritage defender Marya Leontyeva on her Telegram channel.
She called on Kazan residents to influence the decision of Tatarstan«s Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites by leaving comments on the expert assessment on the department»s website.
Moreover, according to Martynov, the name Mullanur Vakhitov is not historically valuable for «memorialization,» nor is his revolutionary activity. This wording has greatly outraged the staff of the V.I. Lenin House Museum.
«Any expert familiar with the issue would say that Vakhitov»s personality is very important for the global process of assimilating socialist ideas by Muslim peoples, which affected not only Russia but many countries in Asia and Africa. His figure is equally important for telling about the ideological searches of the Tatar intelligentsia at the beginning of the 20th century. In the expert community, there is no place for ignorance, especially when expertise affects issues of historical memory and urban environment,« they stated in the official Telegram channel of the museum.
Urbanists have also joined the discussion.
«How plausible is the scenario that, since there is no interested party for such a decision in our city, experts from other cities are systematically undermining the tourist and historical potential of other cities? What do you think?» the urbanist community questioned on the Telegram channel Kazan Urbanchy.
Local historian Ruslan Bikuev also questioned the conclusion that Vakhitov«s personality is not important for history.
«This conclusion raises questions. After all, quite recently, in 2020, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Tatar ASSR), and Mullanur Vakhitov is rightly considered one of the founding fathers of modern Tatarstan. It is important that he stood on the platform of national self-determination, which Lenin supported in contrast to Stalin,» he wrote in his Telegram channel «Historical Kazan | Ruslan Bikuev.»
The two-story building on Peterburgskaya Street was built in the second half of the 19th century. It belonged to the homeowner Filimonov and is better known as «Filimonov»s House.« The building currently houses the Kazan Committee for Children and Youth Affairs. A memorial plaque is installed on the house with the inscription: »Here on August 10, 1885, the Leninist revolutionary Mullanur Vakhitov was born.«
Previously, Kazan activists demanded measures to preserve Kazan«s historical houses after a two-story wooden house from the early 20th century burned down on December 28, 2025, at 2 Khadi Atlasi Street. Local residents are convinced it was arson.
