Published: 7 October, 2009, 17:49
Edited: 8 October, 2009, 09:00
An 18th century Russian church has been placed on the international watch list of threatened heritage released by the World Monuments Fund to guard sites of high cultural value which are under threat of decay.
It’s said to be one of the most significant historical monuments of its epoch in Russia.
The Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign is situated in the outskirts of the city of Podolsk, some 40 kilometers away from the Russian capital.
Completed in 1704 by order of Boris Golitsyn, Peter the Great’s former tutor, the church is praised for its rare architectural style, unique for the times during which it was built.
Shut down in the 1930s, the church had fallen into disrepair in the last 80 years and is among 93 sites from 47 countries from around under serious threat, including the church of Saint-Martin-des-Puits in France and “machiya” townhouses in Japan.