"The Time of Amber. Culture, Science, Tourism"

On 22–23 September 2016, an international seminar "The Time of Amber. Culture, Science, Tourism" was held in the Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum.

The seminar was organized by the Amber Museum in cooperation with the Atlantic Branch of the P.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS and has become the next stage of the project "Amber Route from Past to Future" project realization.

The subject of discussion were amber routes as a theme for elaboration of cultural and educational tours.

The following persons participated in the seminar:: international projects curator of Palanga Amber Museum Regina Makauskienė and museum collection curator Sigita Baguzaite-Talackiene, Senior Research Associate of the Institute of Archeology RAS Konstantin Skvortsov, Chairman of the History Department of the Institute of Humanities of the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Ilya Dementyev, director of the Kaliningrad Regional Public Cultural Foundation Nina Peretyaka, director of the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization "Museum of City Life" Alexander Bychenko and creative team of the project "Amber Road. From the Baltic to Aquileia", director of the LLC "Sea Venture Bureau" Alexander Krek, head of the Information and Public Relations Service of the JSC "Kaliningrad Amber Combine" Anna Monakhova, representatives of travel agencies, team members of the Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum's and the Atlantic Branch of the P.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS.

Organizers of the event – director of the Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum Tatiana Suvorova and director of the Atlantic Branch of the P.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology Vadim Sivkov – addressed their welcoming speeches to the seminar participants.

A report "The Cultural Enhancement of the Territories as the Basis for the Tourism Promotion and Development" was delivered by Pier Luigi Cellarosi (San Marino), Secretary General of the International Research Center for Ancient Roads and the Ways of Communication among Peoples (CIVIA). He shared the experience of CIVIA's work and brought forward a proposals on cooperation with scientific and research, cultural and educational institutions of Kaliningrad region within the project "Amber Roads".

Mr. Cellarosi gave letters with welcome addressed to the organizers and participants of the seminar by officials of the State Congress of the Republic of San Marino – Secretary of State for Education, Culture and University Giuseppe Morganti and Secretary of State for Industry, Crafts and Trade Marco Arzilli.

There were projects of tour routes presented by the Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum and the Atlantic Branch of the P.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS (Chief Research Associate I.Polyakova), also by the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization "Museum of City Life" (R.Shiroukhov) at the seminar. Konstantin Skvortsov shared  results of his researches made in course of the archeological expedition nearby the settlement of Putilovo, Zelenogradk district (2016). He distinguished the most important and high-potential for the futher research finds.

Ilya Dementyev conducted a sightseeing tour for the seminar participants having told about the complicated destiny of Königsberg / Kaliningrad and its role in the European culture. Mr Cellarosi accompanied by Vadim Sivkov, Tatiana Suvorova and Project team "Amber Route from Past to Future" visited places related to origination, extraction and working of amber, he visited the Baltic coast – one of the stations of the cultural and educational tour. The guest was impressed with the geological outcrop of the Neogene-Paleogene Period by the settlement of Donskoye, which demonstrates the surroundings, where amber is found. He was also interested  in works of valuable wood species with amber inlays produced at the Emelyanov and Sons Amber-Redwood Manufactory, where the guests were welcomed warmly. At the excavations of the ancient burial by the settlement of Putilovo, excursion partakers got an opportunity to see artifacts found by the archeologists – evidences of amber trade in our territory in the ancient times.

The seminar was concluded with elaboration of recommendations on development of the amber routes theme, its implementation to educational programs and touristic practice within the cooperation between institutions and organizations of Kaliningrad, Palanga and San Marino.

Seminar Curator,
Chief Research Associate
of the Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum,
Dr. Irina Polyakova