UNESCO Secretary-General Koichiro Matsuura to visit Kazan

UNESCO Secretary-General Koichiro Matsuura is arriving in Kazan on June 2, the press service of the President of Tatarstan reports.

Koichiro Matsuura will inspect the Kazan Kremlin, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. A theatrical performance, including mediaeval tournaments and the local lore game: "the Kazan Kremlin Through Centuries" will be held specially for the high guest in the Kremlin.

After that, President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiyev will hold in his residence in the Kazan Kremlin a meeting with Koichiro Matsuura. During the meeting the parties are expected to sign a communique on the implementation of joint projects with the UNESCO, including the project of the UNESCO's participation in the celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Kazan (to be celebrated on August 30, 2005).

On Tuesday the UNESCO Secretary-General will continue his visit to Kazan. In the morning he will visit the historical town ensemble of Sviyazhsk to inspect the Sviyazhsk Dormition Monastery for men.

Koichiro Matsuura and Mintimer Shaimiyev are expected to participate in the work of the all-Russian students' forum "The Youth and the World Heritage", which will be opened on June 3 at Kazan State University. The session will be devoted to the 1,000th anniversary of Kazan. The UNESCO Secretary-General will visit the history museum of Kazan State University and the section of rare books and manuscripts of the library named after the great Russian mathematician, the creator of non-Euclidean geometry Nikolai Lobachevsky (1792-1856), who worked and lived in Kazan.

In the evening of June 3 the UNESCO Secretary-General will go from Kazan to Moscow.