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# You will probably remember that I wrote about Khmelita, and that I know Viktor Kulakov, the architect of its revival
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/vy-navernoe-pomnite-chto-ia-pisal-o-khmelite-i-znakom-s-arkhitektorom-ee-vozrozhdeniia-viktorom-kulakovym/
- Published: 2019-08-08T07:09:27.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:43:42.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Architecture, Museums, Observations, Heritage, Society

You will probably remember that I wrote about [Khmelita](https://theparnassian.com/postroennaia-v-xviii-veke-usadba-perezhila-nashestvie-napoleona-revoliutsiiu-natsionalizatsiiu-kollektivizatsiiu-i-velikuiu-otechestvennuiu-no-ne-perezhila-pianogo-muzhika/?ref=theparnassian.com) and that I know its revival's architect, [Viktor Kulakov](https://theparnassian.com/pustoi-stol-v-direktorskom-kabinete-gosudarstvennogo-istoriko-kulturnogo-i-prirodnogo-muzeia-zapovednika-a-s/?ref=theparnassian.com). Hardly any time has passed since the death of the creator of the Griboyedov museum, and the Ministry of Culture has decided to dispose of the museum's fate as suits its own convenience: to fold it into the Smolensk Federal Museum-Reserve, that is, in effect to abolish it as an independent cultural institution.

The idea, as usual, is presented as a worthy intention: to unite Khmelita, Katyn and the Smolensk fortress wall into a single museum complex. The museum community is, to put it mildly, in shock, and the Union of Museums of Russia has no idea who drew up this concept; none of its members was invited to take part in the discussion.

My question, as an admirer of the Griboyedov museum: why drag Khmelita into this affair, located as it is 220 km from Smolensk, with 15 monuments of federal significance of its own and 3 branches? Katyn, moreover, is already a branch of the State Museum of Political History. The thought of including these sites in such an association sounds rather absurd, all the more so when the author of the concept, Kodin, himself declares that the fortress wall is for Smolensk "brand number one".

Which museum would wish to play second or third fiddle? The wall genuinely demands a great deal of attention and can give the city the standing of one of the oldest centres of Russian statehood.

BUT! Look at the restoration and supplementary design plan for the Smolensk wall alone: it is an enormous document, and the works described in it are scheduled years ahead, from strengthening and waterproofing the foundations to repairing the walls, restoring the crenellations and replacing the tent roofs of the towers. There is simply no counting all the works. In a word, it is a volume that naturally implies astronomical funding and the full administrative attention to every detail, which certainly cannot be reconciled with an equal and differentiated coexistence with large museums already in operation, each with its own distinct subject matter and its own ways of being managed and run.

Particular astonishment is caused by the very attempt to tie into one structure themes as different as the life of Griboyedov, Katyn and a fortification of the sixteenth century. Why not unite the Smolensk wall with the Gnezdovo Historical, Archaeological and Natural Museum-Reserve, for example, which lies right beside Smolensk and is akin to it in theme?

Why might the authors of the idea need a union with Khmelita and Katyn? Very simply: in order to obtain for their partly adventurous undertaking, with its indefinite horizons of realisation, the status of a Federal museum. Let me remind you that Khmelita is the only museum in the Smolensk region that has Federal rank. This whole activity of merging is overseen by the Military Historical Society, whose aims and ways of operating are, on the whole, clear enough.

What is in fact happening is this: a museum created by the devotion and lifelong labour of one man, and become the jewel of the region, has, after the death of its creator and defender, turned into a choice morsel for various interested parties. And now there are those who wish to gain, through a merger with Khmelita, a status, and to exploit its level, which, believe me, is considerably higher than the usual regional one, in order to raise the importance of their own venture. The reason, of course, is the moratorium on the creation of new Federal museums, which must naturally be lifted. And the process is being launched regardless of the utterly different themes of the museums falling under the merger: where, after all, are the manor-house life and the literary exhibition, the very name of Griboyedov, and where is political history (like Katyn), and above all, where is the Smolensk fortress wall!