Tomsk (Russia) (AFP)

By a coincidence of history, they escaped the Soviet bulldozer: the venerable wooden houses in the city of Tomsk, in Siberia, are still an architectural treasure.

But he is threatened.

If some are colorful, lovely and pampered, many appear dull, shaky, or even abandoned.

These urban houses - not to be confused with the isbas of the villages - are however the symbol of one of the oldest Siberian cities, founded in 1604 on the banks of the river Tom, 2,900 kilometers east of Moscow. .

In the center of Tomsk, it is still possible to admire their intricately carved decorations and door frames that contrast, like lace, on the massive pine trunks that make up the walls.

At the dawn of the 20th century, this city was the beating heart of Siberia, an important commercial crossroads on the route to Asia.

Traders, craftsmen, saddlers and blacksmiths then built hundreds of wooden houses - an abundant resource at the time - to show their success.

But this golden age was short-lived.

From the 1910s, Tomsk lost its status as regional capital in favor of a small municipality, Novonikolaïevsk, 265 kilometers to the southwest, which had the advantage of being located on the Trans-Siberian route, then in full expansion.

Now the third largest city in Russia under the name of Novosibirsk, this vast agglomeration now stands in sharp contrast to Tomsk with its Soviet appearance made of concrete buildings.

In Tomsk, many wooden houses have been preserved because the inhabitants "were forced to live in what already existed", notes the local historian Sergei Maltsev, 46, interviewed by AFP.

He currently recents nearly 2,000 of these century-old dwellings.

An exceptional number, in Russia, for a city of 575,000 inhabitants.

However, less than a hundred of them are classified and maintained by the State as historical monuments, regrets Mr. Maltsev.

The others remain exposed to real estate appetites and can be razed by decision of the Town Hall.

Since 2016, a project has aimed to demarcate a historic area within which they could no longer be destroyed.

But this delimitation has still not been established because of discrepancies.

So much so that Vladimir Putin ordered last year to settle the matter.

For Sergei Maltsev, this slowness may be linked to "lobbying by construction companies" or "the usual bureaucratic procrastination."

At the same time, a conservation program allows these residences to be rented at a symbolic price in exchange for renovations.

"This program works but it has saved less than ten houses in three years. It takes a long time, there are few investors given the economic situation," explains Sergey Maltsev.

The historian believes that it would take "political will" to protect these treasures.

And cites the ongoing restoration of the charming town of Plios, on the Volga.

According to Kremlin critics, this city would be particularly appreciated by the former Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who would have a residence there.

“Alas, none of the great chefs come from Tomsk,” jokes Sergei Maltsev.

© 2020 AFP