The National Trust in Northern Russia .sx Angus Stirling .sx " We will preserve you , Russian speech , from servitude in foreign chains , keep you alive , great Russian word , fit for the songs of our children's children , pure on their tongues , and free .sx " .sx ( Anna Akhmatova :sx extract from poem entitled Courage , February 1942 ) .sx The " great Russian word " of which Akhmatova writes resounds not only in the language of the people , but just as eloquently through Russia's ancient buildings and works of art , and the land itself .sx Her churches especially , caskets for the jewelled splendours of the iconostases , icons , frescoes and chandeliers within , utter a poetry of their own against the plunder and desolation of the last seventy or so years .sx It was the Russian word revealed through them that became , to a great extent , the mainspring of our journey .sx We were privileged to be in Russia at this momentous time .sx We did not , of course , know that our visit was taking place in what turned out to be the last cathartic days of Communist rule .sx The sensational course of events in Russia which took place only ten days after our return makes the journey seem already strangely distant , as if belonging to another era .sx One of the many reasons for rejoicing in the failure of the coup is that the free intercourse between peoples which made our visit possible should now prosper and grow in strength and confidence .sx It is a vital ingredient in the building of a broad , international base of understanding and support which we judge to be absolutely essential to the preservation of Russia's heritage .sx The invention of the National Trust came from the Cultural Foundation of the USSR , established in 1986 under the chairmanship of Academician Dmitri Likhachev , a distinguished literary scholar .sx The purposes of the Foundation are to preserve the cultural heritage of the country and to ensure its continuity in contemporary life .sx One important role is the encouragement of wide public participation " in the attainment of concrete aims in the cultural development of the country " .sx The Foundation's work is sensibly based on long-term programmes , and it is to promote one aspect of these that an off-shoot has been formed called the Centre for Unique Historical Territories .sx The aim of this affiliated body is to identify areas of the country where the landscape , architecture and traditions of the people together constitute an inheritance which should be preserved .sx The Centre acts as a catalyst to encourage Regional authorities to recognise the importance of these unique territories , to persuade the government of the necessity for financial support , to encourage joint ventures capable of generating funds from other sources ( including overseas ) , to promote training of craftspeople and to assist in other practical ways .sx Survivals of Russia's past are to be found throughout this vast land , but nowhere has a richer inheritance than the north-western region .sx It was to Arkhangelsk , and subsequently to three very different small historic towns in the heart of this region that our journey took us , sandwiched between two days in Moscow at the beginning and end of the visit .sx The Foundation is clearly developing innovative yet practical solutions in response to the need to provide stronger safeguards for the protection of historic buildings and sensitive landscapes than Soviet laws can offer at present .sx The poor condition of the majority of the historic buildings we were taken to see served to emphasise the enormity of the restoration tasks that lie ahead .sx The sight of crumbling monasteries at Solvychegodsk , Velikiy Ustyug and Kargopol' provided stark illustrations .sx In spite of the undoubted expertise which is brought to bear on these problems , there is a serious lack of available resources , training and , in some instances , of proper techniques .sx Arkhangelsk has suffered grievously .sx Most of its former handsome streets and squares of wooden houses and nearly all its churches were destroyed after the Revolution , to be replaced by modern blocks , mostly of mind-numbing anonymity and dullness .sx The town is a major centre for the timber industry and is surrounded by large industrial and shipping complexes in the river Dvina , stretching away to the White Sea about thirty kilometers to the north .sx In spite of its unpromising history in this century , Arkhangelsk retains both a fascination and a charm of its own .sx The 'white nights' of midsummer were over , but the majestic skies beyond the Dvina cast a clear invigorating light throughout the town .sx The streets and squares are spacious and tree-lined , and there is a feeling of quiet dignity about the place .sx Some of the contemporary architecture in the centre shares that dignity .sx It is contributed to by the people , who convey pride and a calm independence of spirit .sx Some of the vernacular wooden buildings survive and are being painstakingly reproduced in one or two streets .sx There is also the remains of an eighteenth century monastery , and some fine old buildings where sailors used to lodge .sx The Foundation is helping the Social Department of the local authority and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Monuments in Arkhangelsk to develop major programmes for the protection of wooden buildings and other aspects of the heritage .sx There is a grave lack of resources to invest in these programmes .sx The objects is , therefore , to try to generate income , especially by creating the infrastructure to attract tourists , and by participating in joint ventures with overseas interests and local industry .sx Joint ventures are one of the benefits of perestroika which are now being energetically promoted .sx The young Director of the local 'Sputnik' tourist agency is already developing productive links with Scandinavian firms , and is keen to expand them with Britain .sx Mass tourism would not be suitable for the area , so tourism is likely to be promoted on he level of high-quality tours catering for specialised interests :sx the unspoilt places we were to see have retained their character precisely because they have not been exposed to the excesses of commercial development which has blighted so many towns in Western Europe .sx The museum in Arkhangelsk is extremely interesting and well presented , with its collection of icons , wooden ecclesiastical sculpture , textiles and paintings ; the highlight of our stay , however , was a visit to the great open-air museum of wooden architecture , Malye Karely .sx It is set in 150 acres of beautiful , rolling wooded country with distant glimpses of the Dvina contrasting with the veil of smoke from the industrial complexes 45 km away .sx Here the museum has collected and sited rare wooden buildings from all Russia , large farmhouses , granaries , water-wheels , windmills , bell towers and two magnificent churches .sx These structures have all the dignity , beauty and functional efficiency of the best vernacular architecture .sx This visit threw up a number of the conservation dilemmas which we were able to discuss with our hosts at various sites during our journey , in particular the availability of suitable techniques to control the temperature and humidity in wooden buildings in such a way as to protect the works of art ( now being restored ) from damage as a result of extreme changes of climate , while ensuring that no damage results to the structure of the building .sx Leaving Arkhangelsk , our journey took us to the small town of Solvychegodsk , and to nearby Velikiy Ustyug .sx These towns at the confluence of the Sukova and Ug rivers in north-western Russia were , in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries , at the crossroads of major trade routes both from east to west and north to south .sx They were settled by rich and powerful families , in the case of Solvychegodsk by the Stroganovs , who were responsible for establishing the first monopoly in Europe , in the fur trade and in salt .sx Solvychegodsk also had the advantage of being a resort famous for the medicinal benefits of its natural springs , a major factor in its prospective revival today .sx Solvychegodsk became not only a religious centre , but a favourite habitation for rich merchants .sx It boasted no less than fourteen churches , and magnificent palaces , and was renowned for its silversmiths and textile workshops .sx All but three of the churches were razed to the ground by Stalin's henchmen .sx Two cathedrals made way for statues of Lenin .sx One street was originally known as the Inspiration of the Cross ; it became the Street of Millionaires and then , inevitably , Lenin Street .sx It is the mark of the extraordinary transformation of Russia that it is no longer entirely in the realm of the imagination that it could recover its first , and most appropriate , name .sx Solvychegodsk is an amazing place .sx Now not much more than a large village , it has two churches of towering splendour , the sixteenth century church of the Annunciation , and the Church of the Presentation , in regular use for services .sx The first of these contains one of the first iconostases in Russia of the high baroque style , richly carved and decorated with craftsmanship of the highest order ; the second has another superb iconostasis , of seven tiers set in a giltwood frame of elaborate design and virtuosity and which was inspired by Italian masters .sx The principle museum is a treasure house of golden needlework ( for which the town was famous ) of the seventeenth century , delicate icons , enamel , intaglio and filigree work .sx In the beautifully-kept Folk Museum , suitably set up in one of the surviving humble wooden houses , it is possible to obtain a clear picture of how people lived in dignity and simplicity .sx And , irony of ironies , here is the house to which Josef Stalin was sent in exile by the Tsar , from 1909 to 1911 .sx Velikiy Ustyug is in different ways equally remarkable .sx It is an ancient foundation and was the easternmost of the old Russian cities in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries .sx Its Trinity Monastery which stands today was founded in 1262 .sx The lands of Ustyug projected far into the territory of Novgorod in earlier times , and its powerful situation made it the first among 21 cities at the height of its fame .sx There were at one time 42 churches here , of which 27 are extant , so that a good impression is conveyed of the romantic splendour which this place must have possessed in its heyday .sx Ustyug has a well-preserved town plan , with wide streets graced by avenues of trees , many fine eighteenth and nineteenth century mansions , and another wonderful museum .sx Some of the objects here parallel those of Solvychegodsk , such as the icons worked with pearls .sx A lovely contrast is supplied by an adjacent room of stuffed creatures of the region , including an enormous moose and a snowy owl .sx There is an interesting history painting of Sir Edward Chancellor disembarking at Arkhangelsk in 1693 on his way to Moscow to become the English Ambassador to Russia .sx The Trinity Monastery has passed through many vicissitudes .sx Its wealth rested originally on the export of rye and barley crops in exchange for salt and fish .sx It declined rapidly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries , and since then has been a nunnery , an agricultural commune and a labour camp for juvenile delinquents .sx It is now effectively a museum .sx The buildings are of great interest , but not in a good state .sx The church contains an iconostasis which even by the standards of the region is of a breathtaking quality .sx It is truly extraordinary to find carving and painting of such delicacy and beauty in this remote and , even to Russians , inaccessible place .sx It is disturbing that in a high proportion of the churches we saw in the Arkhangelsk Region some of the principal icons made for the church have been removed to Moscow ostensibly for restoration , but with little prospect hitherto that they would be returned .sx This seemed to us to be a serious deprivation , since it removes from the iconostases in question much of the religious significance of their carefully laid-out sequences .sx Our final visit in the region was to Kargopol' , which we reached from Arkhangelsk by light plane , landing on a grass strip among the wild flowers .sx The journey gave us a good opportunity to see the vastness of the Russian forest lands , intersected by the great Dvina river , and relieved occasionally by large lakes , open areas of peat bog and clearings with the occasional settlement .sx