The Heraldic Council of the Russian Federation has approved of the replacement of the bass-relieves depicting the USSR state emblem at the building of the reconstructed Bolshoi Theatre with those of the historic national emblem of Russia of 1856.
      
      The official letter addressed by the state herald master Georgii Vilinbakhov to the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, reads: "such a decision meets the task of the recreation of the historical appearance of such an important cultural object as the State Bolshoi Theatre."
      
      The project has been also supported by the Moscow Cultural Heritage Committee.
      The national emblem of Russia of 1856 will take the place of the USSR state arms at the frontispiece of the building and above the tsar's box. The removed emblems will be stored as museum exhibits.
      
      Source: www.gazeta.ru