Kazan to Revise Vakhitov House Heritage Assessment After Activists' Outrage

The Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites responded to the outrage of urban preservationists over plans to exclude the house where Leninist revolutionary Mulla nur Vakhitov was born from the register of cultural heritage sites.

The committee stated that expert Alexander Martynov«s argument that »the revolutionary Vakhitov is not a unique and historically valuable personality, and his revolutionary activity does not require memorialization« puzzles them. In this regard, after public discussion, the committee plans to return the examination for revision. The client of the examination is the committee itself.

«Certified expert Martynov is the executor of the act of state historical and cultural examination. The act is public and subject to mandatory public discussion procedures (public discussions, according to the regulatory deadline, end on 26 January 2026). Accordingly, any citizen can express comments and suggestions on this document,» added the committee.

They also reminded that in Kazan there are two cultural heritage sites associated with Vakhitov. These are the house where he lived and «the house where the Muslim Socialist Committee was created and Mulla nur Vakhitov worked.»

«These objects are under state protection by decree of the Council of Ministers of the Tatar ASSR dated 30 October 1959,» reported in the official group of the committee.

Recall that the corresponding examination act was published on the website of the committee for the protection of cultural heritage sites. The assessment of value was conducted by expert of state historical and cultural examination Alexander Martynov. In the document, he also noted that the building has lost its historical appearance and interiors, as it was converted into an office.

Urban preservationists, guides, and activists opposed this decision, emphasizing that Vakhitov«s personality is of great significance in history.