Current work sites: St. Petersburg, Kiev, Chernigov
Head of expedition: Oleg Ioannisian
The Expedition was launched by the State Hermitage Museum and the Institute of History of Material Culture (USSR Academy of Sciences) in 1975 to conduct systematic archaeological investigations of ancient Russian architecture. In the first 15 years, several units of the Expedition, headed by P.A. Rappoport, V.A. Bulkin, M.V. Malevskaya, O.M. Ioannisyan and L.N. Bolshakov, performed exploratory works in Polotsk, Grodno, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Volodimir-Volynsky, Galich, Lvov, Lutsk, Smolensk, Roslavl, Yaroslavl, Novgorod Veliky and Staraya Ladoga.
During the economic crisis of the late 1980s – early 1990s, the State Hermitage Museum committed to provide full funding for the Expedition; O.M. Ioannisian was appointed the new head of the team. From the 1990s onwards, the Expedition has focused on the studies of ancient architectural monuments across the northeast of Russia (Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov Veliky).
Since 2005, the Expedition, jointly with Ukrainian research centres, has explored the earliest monumental structures of Ancient Rus - the Church of Our Lady the Tithes in Kiev (in conjunction with the Architectural-Archaeological Expedition of the National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine; Supervisor: G.Yu. Ivakin) and the Cathedral of Our Saviour in Chernigov (jointly with the expedition of the Chernigov National State Pedagogical University; Supervisor: Е.Е. Chernenko).
In 1999 the Expedition focused on a new field of research involving the archaeological study of historical architecture in St. Petersburg. The team has explored several architectural sites including the Hermitage courtyards, Palace Square and the New Holland and conducts scientific surveillance of ground and construction works on the territory of the Hermitage.
Contact details:
E-mail denis.jolshin@gmail.com
