The 3rd Forum of Ancient Cities took place in the Ryazan region from July 30 to August 1, 2020. Due to the global pandemic, Ryazan, which became the capital of ancient cities in 2018 and 2019, was unable to welcome guests from abroad. The forum was held online, and the settlements of the Ryazan region that are older than 500 years were at the top of the agenda.
The Ryazan region is famous for its rich historical background and unique cultural heritage, and the Forum activities were designed to remind its residents of that. To do so, the following online events were organized: a plenary meeting, round tables, an academic and practical conference, an ethnic site, a video travel to ancient cities and villages of the Ryazan region, and a cultural marathon.
The objective of the Forum was to discuss the pressing issues of the ancient settlements, the development of tourism, ethnography, economy, and volunteerism in ancient cities and villages, to share the best practices of preserving cultural heritage as well as historians’ research avenues and results, and to strengthen communication between the twin towns.
The plenary meeting discussed the issues concerning the development of ancient settlements of the region, best practices and public initiatives in preserving historical and cultural heritage, and current research activities. The meeting was attended by Nikolai Lyubimov, the Governor of the Ryazan region, Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailovsk, and by other officials and representatives of competent authorities and municipal institutions.
The Gorky Library hosted a round table on the current problems of preserving historical and cultural heritage and a panel discussion on the promotion of volunteering in the field of ancient cities’ history and culture on the basis of educational institutions, relevant challenges and effective practices. In terms of these events, the issues of volunteerism as a basis for upbringing children and youth, the harnessing of the potential of volunteerism in educational and cultural institutions as well as in non-profit organizations were addressed.
The academic and practical conference on the problems of research in the field of the historical and socio-cultural milieu of ancient settlements of the Ryazan region took place at the Ryazan State University named after Sergey Yesenin. The issues of studying, preserving and popularizing cultural heritage, opportunities and constraints relating to determining the cities’ foundation dates, and safeguarding architectural monuments were discussed during the conference.
The round table on the development of tourism in ancient towns and villages of the Ryazan region was held via videoconference. The participants compared the perception of the city through the eyes of the locals and tourists, discussed projects and new concepts for urban space development.
The participants and those who decided to follow the forum events online had a chance to visit ancient towns and villages of the Ryazan region through video tours as part of the Time Tapes project and enjoy outstanding concerts by the local creative groups in terms of the Cultural Marathon.
Source: drevniegoroda.ru