An unusual treasure was found by restorers in the Yusupov Palace in St. Petersburg. A note was hidden behind the cladding of an ancient fireplace, the content of which immediately divided scientists into two camps: some believe that this is just a joke, others are sure that the message is encrypted and anticipate a scientific sensation.
An unusual treasure was found by restorers in the Yusupov Palace in St. Petersburg. A note was hidden behind the cladding of an ancient fireplace, the content of which immediately divided scientists into two camps: some believe that this is just a joke, others are sure that the message is encrypted and anticipate a scientific sensation.
Alexey Mitrokhin is a hereditary restorer. The Yusupov Palace was restored by his father, after the war. And now, together with his brother, he is restoring the Moorish living room here. In the stone panels of the 19th century, Alexey found a letter that is usually sent by shipwrecked ones.
Of course, no one expected that the heavy, almost 20 kg, onyx slabs with which the fireplace was faced would find an unusual treasure. But the restorers were most surprised by the note itself, which was hidden under a wax seal in an ordinary bottle.
“The text is suggestive. The text is surprising. There is no such direct text about any events. “In 1936, we, the famous restorers…” - the very message is suggestive, a rare restorer will call himself famous. “During the reign of the Great Comrade. Stalin “is also another mystery. One more question - "All sober, chaste and deliberately justifying the era of art …", - says Valentina Nabok, head of the department of scientific storage of the Yusupov Palace.
A real scientific battle unfolded around this bottle of turpentine: how, who and why walled up this message? Historians are wondering what the following lines mean, for example: "… worked as commander-in-chief Panov, martyr Theodore - he is 115 years old and Prince Tarakanov - he is 12 years old …".
Someone is sure that this is just a joke of the former restorers. But for such tricks in those years, one could easily end up in camps. So, most likely, historians think, this is an encrypted message. And very valuable, because no documents about the restoration work of that time have survived.
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“This is greetings from a distant time. He speaks of acceptance, makes you feel the connection of times. When you discover such things, you understand that the connection of times is not a figure of speech, but life simply consists of it,”said Valentina Nabok, head of the department of scientific storage at the Yusupov Palace.
The Yusupov Palace was nationalized in 1919. For a long time it was a club of educators. They began to really restore it only after the war - shells hit the building twice, the walls cracked from the blast wave, the ground shifted. The work is extremely difficult. The palace is being restored almost continuously, moving from room to room. Notes from previous years are often found. And sometimes they help to establish historical justice.
“When we were doing the restoration of the front porch, overlooking the front yard, we found a note indicating when it was done. And it turned out that this is the end of the 19th century, and not at all of the Soviet period, an extension,”said Natalya Pankrashkina, Deputy Director for Development and Operation of the Yusupov Palace.
Historians have yet to decipher the message that has now been discovered. But a sensation in the scientific world has already taken place: the Yusupov Palace is considered one of the most mystical in St. Petersburg. And perhaps this unusual find will reveal at least one of his secrets.