During the construction of a kindergarten in the park around the Stroganov Mansion in Moscow, the foundations of the earlier Repnin house were destroyed, architectural preservationists reported last week.
Builders digging two-meter deep trenches to lay communications went right through the foundation of the Repnin estate — a wooden palace from the early 19th century that once stood near the Stroganov Mansion. The Repnin property was demolished in the 1960s.
Brickwork from the early 19th century, white stone foundation and stove tiles were destroyed during the excavation and taken to a landfill, the Stroganov Mansion Defense Initiative Group reported last week.
The preservationists maintain that the work was carried out in violation of the law, which required an archaeologist to be present.
They also say the construction of the kindergarten is against the law, as it is occurring in the buffer zone of an architectural monument of federal importance and within a protected natural landscape.