Experience of the Restoration of Epigraphic Monuments and Architectural Details from the Collection of Bolgar State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve

Abstract

The paper describes the experience of treatment during the preparation of stone objects from the collection of Bolgar State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, which consist of 200 storage units, for museum display. The collection includes gravestones of the 13th-14th centuries decorated with ornamental carvings, inscriptions, monochrome painting, and fragments of architectural decor made of limestone, tuff and plaster. The objects date back to the period of the Bolgar ulus being part of the Golden Horde. Most of them are in poor condition and require restoration and conservation. Besides, the museum cannot provide a complete display of the collection in the existing exposition conditions. In order to provide the conditions for collection display, a lapidarium is being constructed in the territory of the Bolgar Museum-Reserve. Preservation of cultural heri­tage sites requires joint efforts by various specialists - conservators, curators, and archaeologists. Along with the development of an exposition concept and its spatial and architectural solutions, a cycle of conservation treatment of the objects is performed, which is described in this paper.

Keywords

• archaeology
• restoration
• lapidarium
• golden horde
• natural stone objects
• epigraphic monuments
• bolgar state historical and architectural museum-reserve