Renovation of the historical centre of Zaraysk

The project for the renovation of the historical city center of Zaraysk has been completed. It won the 2018 All-Russia competition for the best projects in developing a comfortable urban environment in small cities and historical settlements. In 2019, the Zaraysk city center renovation project by Basis Architectural Bureau was included in the list of the ten best public spaces in Russia for 2019, according to independent Russian urban blogger Ilya Varlamov. It was important for the architects to create not only a comfortable environment for local residents and tourists but also to emphasize the historical significance of the city and reveal its uniqueness. Zaraysk is an ancient small town that still retains the comfort and warmth of bygone eras. The city is associated with the names of Governor Pozharsky, merchants the Bakhrushins, Yartsevs, and Sholokhov, and Fyodor Dostoevsky was born here. Although the city's culture declined over the years, today it looks much as it did in Dostoevsky's time—and that is its charm. The water tower and church bell towers remain the primary landmarks, the marketplace is still on the same site as two hundred years ago, and Krasnoarmeyskaya Street was laid out during the reign of Catherine the Great. The project consolidates the historical center into a large pedestrian and tourist district, with new attractions organized around historical monuments. Ivan Okhapkin, founder of Basis, observed that to preserve the atmosphere of a Russian provincial town, even solutions that work elsewhere cannot simply be applied here. The concept developed by Basis is organized around the Kremlin and the historic trade square, creating a continuous pedestrian route that connects landmarks while respecting the small-scale, intimate character of this ancient town.