Due to Cold War complications, Soviet specialists had very limited involvement with the development of the Venice Charter. Instead, they developed an independent system of rules and regulations in the preservation and restoration of cultural heritage in the Soviet Union and its republics.2 This methodological system was mainly built on the subordination of preservation practice to the rules of a planned economy, the necessity of ‘‘folk economics,’’ and the role of monuments in the ideological and aesthetic education of the people. That led to a priority being placed on the restoration and renovation of architectural objects, which was a massive necessity after the destruction of World War II.

The Venice Charter principles were first published in a short article entitled ‘‘Restoration (in Architecture and Arts)’’ by E. Mychaylovsky for the Big Soviet Encyclopedia (1969– 78). This allowed a wide audience to become acquainted with the latest international achievements. Only in 1974 was the whole document translated into Russian and published in the digest ‘‘Methodology and Practice of Preservation of Architectural Monuments,’’ and only one thousand brochures were published exclusively for professionals.3

Even though the publication of the document took a decade, the professional community in the Soviet Union was acquainted with its main principles through seminars and conferences. For example, in 1964, the scientific conference devoted to the conservation of stonework was held in Moscow. In 1966, a special meeting on the problems of the preservation of ruined structures took place in the State Archeological and Historic Reserve of Chersonese in Sevastopol.4

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