The Effect of the Environment on Saint Petersburgs Cultural Heritage

This book addresses the effects of the environment on Saint Petersburg’s cultural heritage. It summarizes the results of long-term, large-scale monitoring of monuments in, and the environment (air, soil, vegetation) of, the historical Saint Petersburg Necropolis. The book offers detailed descriptions of the unique collection of decorative stones in the Necropolis and discusses the deposits that were most likely used to create them. In addition, it characterizes the processes of stone and bronze monuments’ degradation in response to physical, chemical and biogenic influences. Special attention is paid to describing the monitoring methodology and the structure of the monitoring information database. Drawing on the methodologies and cases presented here, the book subsequently puts forward a strategy for the conservation and restoration of these unique monuments.