TASS, November 18. About 100 objects of Belgorod’s Great Zasechnaya Cherta or the Great Abatis Line, a defense line established in the XVII century to protect the southern borders, are preserved in Russia. Experts have conducted an inventory, Konstantin Mogilevsky, Executive Director of the History of the Fatherland Foundation, they include fragments of shafts, earth fortifications and fortresses said on Friday at the all-Russian scientific and practical conference "The Belgorod Defense Line - 2022" in Belgorod.

"We have an instruction from President Vladimir Putin to study, promote and introduce the Belgorod Zasechnaya Cherta and other defensive lines into the tourism industry. We have made an inventory; about 100 objects have been preserved in the country. These are fragments of ramparts, earth fortifications, fortresses. They have different protective statuses: some of them are registered as objects of cultural heritage and are subject to protection, others are only in the process of obtaining the status. There's a lot of work to be done," the Department of Information Policy of Belgorod State National Research University (BelSU) quoted Mogilevsky.

According to Mogilevsky, inventory should become the basis for further educational work, development of tourist routes and "intellectual historical tourism." BelGU, which is one of the largest Russian scientific and educational centers, will profile a high-quality scientific basis in implementing these plans, Mogilevsky said.

"The forum is dedicated not only to the history of the Belgorod land, but also to a complex, difficult, and in many ways heroic time period - the XVII century - when the historical fate of Russia was decided on the southern outskirts of the country. The construction of Belgorod's Great Abatis Line, which stretched almost 800 kilometers, allowed to successfully fight nomadic invasions from the steppes and resist the Polish-Lithuanian state, which wanted to seize Russian lands. It was then, becoming the center of the Belgorod Line, that the fortified city of Belgorod acquired national significance," noted the rector of Belgorod University, Oleg Polukhin.

The Belgorod Defense Line - 2022

The all-Russian scientific and practical conference "The Belgorod Defense Line - 2022" in Belgorod, devoted to the study of unique defensive construction of XVII century in the south of Russia, is held on the premises of National Research University "Belgorod State University" on November 18-19. The conference participants - more than 50 researchers from the federal research centers, museum workers and representatives of the regional authorities - will share their experience, coordinate research on the history of the Belgorod Zasechnaya Cherta and will extend practical cooperation in the organization of cultural and educational activities in the field of military history of Russia in the XVII century. The conference includes the following sections: "Armed forces and the system of management on the Belgorod defense line", "Historical development of the area of the Belgorod defense line", "Historical education and historical tourism based on the events of the XVII century", "Genealogy and prosopography in the context of the history of the Belgorod line" and "The Belgorod defense line: young researchers".

The conference was organized by the Russian Military Historical Society, Ratnik Historical Society, the regional branch of the Russian Historical Society in the Belgorod region, the National Research University.