Vakhitov House in Kazan Finally Recognized as Cultural Heritage

After a wave of dissatisfaction from concerned Kazan residents, the house on Petersburg Street, where revolutionary Mullanur Vakhitov was born, will be included in the register of cultural heritage monuments. The positive expert conclusion was published by the Tatarstan Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects.

The same expert, Alexander Martynov, revised his decision, and the house will indeed be recognized as a cultural heritage object.

Notably, Martynov had previously stated that the house carries no cultural-historical value, and Mullanur Vakhitov himself is not historically valuable for «memorialization», nor is his revolutionary activity.

Kazan urbanists, city defenders, and cultural workers were outraged after this statement, accusing the expert of incompetence. They sent an official document disagreeing with his conclusions.

Following the wave of dissatisfaction, the Republic of Tatarstan Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects intervened and sent the expertise for revision.

The building on Petersburg Street from the second half of the 19th century is also known as the «Filimonov House», because it belonged to the homeowner Filimonov. Currently, the building houses the Kazan Committee for Children and Youth Affairs. A memorial plaque is installed on the house with the inscription: «Here on 10 August 1885, the Leninist revolutionary Mullanur Vakhitov was born.»

Earlier, Kazan residents also expressed concern about the Gurevich House at the corner of Astronomicheskaya and Ostrovsky Streets. This building might also not be recognized as a cultural heritage monument due to the expert«s opinion. City defenders wrote a letter to the Republic of Tatarstan Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects. Kazan residents noted that this is not the first or even the tenth negative conclusion from this expert.