Contemporary Issues of the Cultural Heritage Protection in the Republic of Crimea

Abstract

The Crimean Peninsula has combined within its borders more than 130 ethnic groups with their specific cultural traditions. For historical reasons, the process of formation of the Crimean culture passed through the contact of different ethnic groups, assimilation of their traditions, and, as a result, their mixing. This fact enabled the development of the unique Crimean identity and creation of the cultural heritage which stands on the crossroad of cultures. This raises the following question: is it possible to keep the cultures in their original forms? On the one hand, the contact of cultures is a unique phenomenon, on the other - it comes more difficult to highlight and protect the places which must be put in the list of cultural heritage. The article deals with the above mentioned problems and presents a comprehensive study of the problem of the cultural heritage protection in the present world. The basic point is that without past there is no future. The research deals with the specifics of protection of the Material Cultural Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Crimea. It is the author’s opinion that the special attention should be given to the problem of depoliticization of the cultural heritage protection in the Republic of Crimea. These problems are really important in terms of the specific acts of the international society, caused by the integration of the Crimea to the Russian Federation, and the necessity of support of the vanishing nationalities, such as the Karaites and the Krymchaks, whose cultures are considered to be unique on the Crimean Peninsula.