150+ volunteers took part in the Tobolskiye Uzory (Tobolsk Patterns) festival

1 september 2023

Volunteers helped restore a timber house on Alyabyeva Street located in the foothill part of Tobolsk. The Tobolskiye Uzory project had been selected as the winner of the grant contest implemented uder SIBUR's social investment program, The Formula for Good Deeds.

The Tobolskie Uzory is a festival dedicated to the revival of wooden architecture. It has brought together more than a hundred fifty volunteers from the Tobolsk Volunteering Center, as well as school students, university students, and local activists. During the period from June to August, the volunteers were getting together fortnightly to restore the building's roof, façade, its wooden window trims, and apply a new coat of paint, to bring the old house back to its original appearance.

Maxim Afanasyev, Mayor of Tobolsk:

“The idea behind the project is that the members of the Goodwill Club as well all other caring residents of the city would pick a timber house that is in need of renovation and would restore it to its full glory. That way they would help to preserve the city's historical appearance and specimens of its wooden architecture dating back to different eras. I find it to be a truly admirable initiative, especially considering that children are also involved in it. The combined effort of representatives of several generations is not only about perfectly coordinated work, it is also about socializing, building cohesion and a sense of community”.

Elena Belskaya, Director of Government Relations at ZapSibNeftekhim:

«The theme of preserving one's historical heritage is always timely: after all, it is hard to build the future without remembering the past. In April 2023, our company and Tobolsk's city administration signed an agreement that helped secure funding for restoring four of the city’s cultural heritage sites. Thanks to the initiatives of local caring residents committed to preserving Siberia's unique timber architecture our past will have a great future!».

Alyabyev Street, which was included in the scope of the Tobolskiye Uzory project, is lined with staple three-window wooden houses. It is through this city's main thoroughfare that most of the tourist traffic goes starting at the Tobolsk Kremlin, through the St. John's Vvedensky Nunnery, and on to the Abalak Holy Sign Painter Monastery. Next year, the activists plan to keep on restoring the city's wooden houses.

A member of Goodwill, a local non-profit organization:

«I'd like to thank all those who worked so selflessly to restore the wooden house that will be gracing Alyabyeva Street and delighting local residents and visitors of our city with its vibrant colors. By making our city's streets more beautiful, we are preserving our common heritage!»