Hermitage Centre in Nalchik aims to revive North-Caucasian archaeological school

The "Hermitage-Caucasus" Cultural and Educational Centre, which is planned to open on the basis of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University (KBSU), will allow reviving its own archaeological school in Northern Caucasus, said Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director General of the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg.

According to Mr Piotrovsky, one of the missions is to create an office for the Hermitage archaeologists in the above Centre – the North-Caucasian Archaeological Expedition of the Hermitage is already working in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR).

The creation of the Centre will have positive consequences even for the KBR's and Caucasus' "average resident", Professor Rashid Alikaev from the KBSU is sure.

"The very fact alone that here we have a branch of the Hermitage with its great traditions is a very significant phenomenon," Mr Alikaev has stated.

According to his story, the work of the Centre will help focusing the residents' attention, including the youth, on cultural values.

Professor Alikaev also believes that the creation of an archaeological school in the republic will make ordinary people more attentive to history.

He has also highlighted the problem of the so-called "black diggers", which can be solved through a broader education of people in the field of history and archaeology.

According to Madina Ezaova, the head of the Adyg Culture Centre of the KBSU, the new Centre will be of great cultural importance for ordinary KBR residents.

In her turn, Sofia Kodzova, an editor of one of Saint Petersburg's publishing houses, believes that the Caucasus lacks mechanisms for implementation of large-scale cultural projects, which makes the idea of creating the above Centre unviable.