Managing the UNESCO world heritage serial property in Russia

The focus of the present study is on managerial organization employed for serial properties registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The research examines a specific type of cultural heritage, precisely the sites, which combine architecture and landscape design, such as princely estates, palace and park ensembles or villas. Widely spread in Europe, they reflect upon historical past of the countries, evoking ideas of a nation state and identity. The research examines former Imperial residences turned museums located in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. Six palace and park ensembles are included into the UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS): ‘Historic Center of St. Petersburg and related groups of monuments’ [WHS №540bis]. On one hand, these estates are uniformly perceived as a whole, due to their association with the Russian Imperial family, their uniform inscription as a serial property within a single UNESCO world heritage site and a brand of ‘the Golden/Emerald/Green Necklace/Ring of St. Petersburg’. On the other hand, disproportionate differences in administration, territorial subordination, state of conservation, services and offers, promotion and visibility demonstrate the residence museums to be separate parts of a disintegrated system. Consequently, the research aims to analyse the model of St. Petersburg suburban residence museums’ in its functioning, taking into consideration multiple aspects, such as legal status, administration, management, visitors, services, etc. Accordingly, to provide a comprehensive study of the St. Petersburg model and to examine some of its components in depth, an extensive analysis of relevant European practices is implemented. The examples selected in Germany and Italy comprise: Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin [WHS N. 532ter, 1990], Residences of Ludwig II in Bavaria (nomination resubmitted); The Residences of the Royal House of Savoy [WHS N.23bis, 1997], Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany [WHS N.175, 2013].