Aleksey Kharitonov, professor at the SPbGASU Department of Technology of Construction Materials and Metrology, became one of the authors of the project for the restoration of the triumphal arch in Syrian Palmyra. Aleksey Mikhailovich participated in the work of the scientific team as an expert on building materials.

The triumphal arch was erected in Palmyra in the II-III c. during the reign of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. Its ruins in the XX century became a major tourist attraction in Syria and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Triumphal arch

The arch was first restored in the 1930s. In 2015, the facility was blown up by ISIS militants (the former name of the Islamic State terrorist group, banned in Russia) and almost completely destroyed.

In 2016, the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Geoscan Group began work on a 3D model of the current state of Palmyra.

In 2021, the International Scientific Committee for Palmyra was established, which included a Russian group of experts. In March last year, a memorandum on the restoration of the triumphal arch was signed between the IHMC RAS and the General Department of Antiquities and Museums of Syria, later the Syrian Development Fund joined the agreement.

The work on the restoration project of the triumphal arch lasted more than a year. Specialists created an inventory of the preserved part of the monument using scanning and photography. They conducted archaeological excavations, dismantled the rubble, analyzed the historical stone, restoration materials and mortars.

“Any restoration should begin with an examination of the materials that were used to create the object and their current state. This is necessary to determine the methods of work, select materials and technologies that would ensure the safety of the object for many years. My colleagues and I collected and examined samples of natural stone and mortars used in the construction of the arch and in early repair and restoration work. The results formed part of the chemical and technological research of the project for the restoration of the triumphal arch,” said Aleksey Kharitonov.

The project was approved at the meeting of the academic councils of the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the State Hermitage and the Moscow Institute of Architecture in April 2023. The Syrian side and UNESCO representatives approved the project in May 2023 at an international conference in Palmyra and Damascus.

According to Aleksey Kharitonov, UNESCO makes strict demands on the restoration of damaged cultural monuments. Nevertheless, the project has been agreed upon in all instances, nothing prevents starting its implementation. The start of work is scheduled for September this year.