Comments made by the inhabitants of Viciebsk during the public discussion of the environmental impacts on the environment of building a modern version of the St. Sophia Cathedral will not affect the fate of 206 trees and 4658 square meters of lawn.
The only thing in today's difficult economic conditions could stop the destruction of landscaped and recreational areas of the park of Partisan Glory – is the refusal of "Gazprom" to finance the ambitious project. While the reality of such a perspective has no forecasts.
Public hearings in the building of the administration of the Oktyabrsky district of Viciebsk January 18 held only by written request of the Minsk citizen Grigory Fyodorov, a lawyer of the NGO "Eco-house". An activist in a letter sent to the authorities for thirty minutes before the new year, said the need to discuss the results of environmental impact assessment on the impact of the construction of the temple on the environment.
He chaired the meeting of the Deputy Chief of Staff of Oktyabrsky district Anatoly Kondratovich. The hall besides officials and journalists gathered a dozen of concerned citizens, mainly young people and initiative. The rest of the tens of thousands of potential participants either did not hear anything about the meeting, or knew in advance that their opinion is taken into account no one is going.
As the person concerned, the rector of the parish of the Orthodox community of Viciebsk St. Sophia Cathedral, Archpriest Mikhail Martinovic spoke only about the benefits that will bring the project the city and its residents. By making the surface of the history of Połacak Sophia, he once again proved the importance of the building, noting that Sofia will be a milestone not only the object of the diocese of Viciebsk, but also all over the country. Like, in the words of His Holiness the Patriarch, Viciebsk Sofia will testify about the origins of Christianity in White Russia and the identification of statehood that has been through the ages: Sophia in Kyiv – Russia Small, Sofia in Novgorod – Great Russia and Sofia in Połacak – White Russia.
Pay attention to the fact that his approval a lot of historical distortions and substitutions, sir, of course, was not going to. Building Sofia in Połacak Vseslav Magician was not only a religious event, but also a political one. In this way, the prince claimed the independence of their state and the equality of Kiev. Besides Połacak was baptized two years before the people of Kyiv from Torvald Traveler who first proclaimed a saint and his cult which has existed for many years in Połacak. This truth no power today, not today the Orthodox Church does not want to know.
And that's what the symbolism is behind the construction of Sofia in Viciebsk – a priest with the audience did not share. But transfer it to the opposite shore of the Dźvina Połacak Sophia respect and accommodation in the arms of Suvorov Street, Uritsky, Chekhov, on the site of the Museum of Partisan Glory and a monument to Vladimir Karatkevich gives inquisitive mind much to interesting interpretations.
Deputy Head of Administration of the Oktyabrsky district Victor Galanov in charge of construction, announced the concept according to which the object is to connect into a coherent whole so-called pedestrian ring. The route, which starts from the Victory Square, along the Dźvina will be up to the future of the Cathedral and then headed in the opposite direction came on Suvorov Street. This path through the iconic objects should give some idea of the architectural and historical past of the city.
According to the official, the beautification of the area, as well as on the restoration of the former independent iconic temples of Viciebsk, the city authorities do not have the resources, and the project will equip the 1.3 hectares of land, 0.39 hectares of which will depart a cult object.
Speech environmental engineer design organization "Stroytorgservis" Evgeny Andrianov, who made environmental expertise, was surprisingly short. Noting that instead of destroying 596 trees will be planted in the neighborhood South-3 and two wasteland in other areas of the city, he stopped on the medicinal properties of the church bells, which aroused skepticism cues from the audience.
Several questions asked by the citizens, put ecology in an impasse from which he has not found a way out until the end of the discussion. For example, one member of the audience was outraged by the fact that last year, discussing the concept of the construction of the cathedral, said the destruction of all 40 to 50 trees, but now as much appetite increased to 206 and the number of trees the city will lose really? A question was raised and that 596 trees will take root there, which involve land on vacant lots, if after tree planting them there will be nobody to look after; while no one says, there have been any attempts at landscaping of wasteland before. Parents wanted to know how many years it will be possible to walk with the kids in that the equipped area near the church in the shadow of the trees grown. A father of two children said that a walk in the city center is now possible only in the botanical garden or along Vićba. Therefore, in good weather, the density of mothers with children in the botanical garden is the distance of two meters.
According to Viciebsk residents who attended the public discussion, it is also unclear why destroy the park, to 100 meters from the existing temple to build another temple. There is a paradoxical situation, where the density of the Orthodox churches in the city center is inversely proportional to the density of parks. Besides the temples of other religions at the center does not admit – that in this "cultural capital" of the country's religious tolerance.
The possibility for citizens to speak, of course, was given, but the position of the supporters of the construction for the solution of the problem turned out to be more important. The latter expressed their mercantile interests exclusively. Thus, the clergy pledged to increase its authority and influence on society, and representatives of the city government – plans to use the additional investment opportunities for urban planning. And this is exactly the case when we can say that money does not smell.
S. Horki
