RUSSIA #23

The volcanoes of Kamchatka are a large group of volcanoes situated on the Kamchatka peninsula. The Kamchatka River and the surrounding central side valley are flanked by large volcanic belts containing around 160 volcanoes, 29 of them still active. The peninsula has a high density of volcanoes and associated volcanic phenomena, with 29 active volcanoes being included in the six UNESCO World Heritage List sites in the Volcanoes of Kamchatka group, most of them on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Thanks Elena!

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RUSSIA #22

Krasnoyarsky Krai, National Park Ergaki, Gornyh Duhov stream (Mountain Spirits stream)

Thanks Julia!

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RUSSIA #21 Direct Swap

List of lighthouses in Russia.

Thanks Lucy!

RUSSIA #20

One of the most beautiful Russian actresses Irina Alferova was born on 13 March, 1951, in Novosibirsk. During her fourth year studying at theatrical institute she got the role of Dasha in TV series “The Road to Calvary.” In 1976, Alferova was invited to the Moscow Theater – Lenkom. Here she meto her future husband – actor Aleksandr Abdulov, with whom she lived for fifteen years. In many films she played together with her husband, later she starred together with her daughter actress Ksenia Alferova.

Thanks Natalia!

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RUSSIA #19

Smolny Convent or Smolny Convent of the Resurrection (Voskresensky), located on Ploschad Rastrelli, on the bank of the River Neva in Saint Petersburg, Russia, consists of a cathedral (sobor) and a complex of buildings surrounding it, originally intended for a convent. The name "Smolny" derives from the location, in the early days of St. Petersburg the place at the edge of the city where pitch ("smola" in Russian) was processed for use in shipbuilding and maintenance. As a result the locale was called "smolny" - the place of pitch. The convent's main church (catholicon or sobor), a blue-and-white building, is considered to be one of the architectural masterpieces of the Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

Thanks Irina!

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RUSSIA #18

Irkutsk  is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, and one of the largest cities in Siberia. The Epiphany Cathedral, the governor's palace, a school of medicine, a museum, a military hospital and the crown factories are among the public institutions and buildings.

Thanks Olga!

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RUSSIA #17 Direct Swap

Saint Isaac's Square or Isaakiyevskaya Ploshchad, known as Vorovsky Square between 1923 and 1944, in Saint Petersburg, Russia is a major city square sprawling between the Mariinsky Palace and Saint Isaac's Cathedral, which separates it from Senate Square. The square is graced by the equestrian Monument to Nicholas I.

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RUSSIA #16

Kazan Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, is a cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg. It is dedicated to Our Lady of Kazan, probably the most venerated icon in Russia. The construction was started in 1801 and continued for ten years while being supervised by Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganov. Upon its completion in 1811, the new temple replaced the Church of Nativity of the Theotokos, which was disassembled when the Kazan Cathedral was consecrated. It was modelled by Andrey Voronikhin after the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Thanks Elena!

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RUSSIA #15

Thanks Tatiana!

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RUSSIA #14

Lena Pillars is the name given to a natural rock formation along the banks of the Lena River in far eastern Siberia. The pillars are 150–300 metres (490–980 ft) high, and were formed in some of the Cambrian period sea-basins. The Lena Pillars National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2012. The site lies less than a day's boat ride upriver (south) from the city of Yakutsk, the capital of the autonomous Sakha Republic. The pillars consist of alternating layers of limestone, marlstones, dolomite and slate of early to middle Cambrian age, which are weathered, producing the rugged outcrops. These types of rocks are commonly formed in marine environments and the horizontal layering and vertical variation indicates marine transgression/regression; with the slate representing the deep marine, slightly metamorphosed shales.

Thanks Mihail!

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RUSSIA #13

Kungur is a town in the southeast of Perm Krai, Russia, located in the Ural Mountains at the confluence of the Iren and Shakhva Rivers into the Sylva River (Kama's basin). Kungur was founded 17 kilometers above the Iren River's mouth on the banks of the Kungurka River in 1648. In 1662, it was burnt by Bashkirs. In 1663, it was rebuilt as a fortress on the place of the village of Mysovskoye. In the beginning of the 18th century, leather and footwear industries started to develop here, and in 1724, a tannery was built. By the mid-18th century, Kungur became one of the most populated areas in the Urals.Among the notable buildings in Kungur are the Transfiguration Church (1781), Nikola Cathedral, former Guest courtyard with the Burse (1865–76, architect R. O. Karvovsky), the Zyryanov Hospice (1881, now the surgical department of a hospital), the 19th century storehouses of the Kopakov merchants (now a culture center).

Thanks Nikita!

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RUSSIA #12

Completed in 1783, the beautiful and historic the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in St. Petersburg and presents a truly fascinating combination of baroque and classical architectural styles. The church is crowned with five onion-shaped cupolas, which rise into the sky above Vladimirskaya Ploschad in one of the most historic areas of the city. An impressive four-tiered bell tower stands adjacent to the church. The church is also home to one of the oldest and most elaborate iconostases in Russia. The church was built to shelter the historic Vladimir icon of the Mother of God. The icon traveled to Jerusalem, Constantinople and then Kiev, where Prince Andrey Bogolyubskiy bought it and brought it to the ancient Russian city of Vladimir after which it is named. Subsequently the icon was credited by the Orthodox Church with freeing Moscow from the control of the Mongols.

Thanks Lyudmila!

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RUSSIA #11

Ryazan Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve — a unique complex of architectural and archaeological monuments. Founded in 1884, he now includes defenses XII — XVII centuries., a complex of temples and civic buildings XV — XIX centuries. In the restored monuments of the Kremlin collections of archeology and ancient jewelry, manuscripts XV — XIX centuries., numismatics and ethnography are presented. The memorial museum collection tells of the famous Ryazan scientists, writers, artists who have made a significant contribution to the world treasury of science, art and culture.

Thanks Vladimir!

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RUSSIA #10

The Bronze Horseman is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was created by the French sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet. The name comes from an 1833 poem of the same the name by Aleksander Pushkin, which is widely considered one of the most significant works of Russian literature. The statue's pedestal is the enormous Thunder Stone, the largest stone ever moved by man. The stone originally weighed about 1500 tonnes, and was carved down to 1250 during transportation to its current site.

Thanks Alexandra!

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RUSSIA #9

The Museum of the Great Patriotic War is a history museum located in Moscow at Poklonnaya Gora. The building was designed by architect Anatoly Polyansky. Work on the museum began on March 3, 1986, and the museum was opened to the public on May 9, 1995. The museum features exhibits and memorials concerning World War II, known in Russia as "The Great Patriotic War".

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RUSSIA #8

Altai Republic (Russian: Респу́блика Алта́й, Respublika Altay; Altay: Алтай Республика, Altay Respublika is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). Its capital is the town of Gorno-Altaysk. The area of the republic is 92,600 square kilometers (35,800 sq mi). Population: 206,168.

Thanks Elena!

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RUSSIA #7

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few blocks southwest of the Kremlin.It is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world.The current church is the second to stand on this site. The original church, built during the 19th century, took more than 40 years to build. It was destroyed in 1931 during the Communist rule of Joseph Stalin. The demolition was supposed to make way for a colossal Palace of the Soviets that was never built, so the church was reconstructed in the 1990s on the same site.

Thanks Inga!

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RUSSIA #6

Nikolai Karamzin Memorial Monument dedicated to Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin (1766 - 1826) a famous Russian author and historian who resided part of his life in Ulyanovsk (then Simbirsk).

Thanks Galina!

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RUSSIA #5

This postcard shows one of the works of Natalia Rubacheva. She lives in Moscow. She is a member of International Federation of Artists & national Artist's Union of Russia department. She works in Watercolor technics more than 20 years. A lot of her works are in private collections all over the world.

The Goritsky Monastery of Dormition (Russian: Успенский Горицкий монастырь) was a Russian Orthodox monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky, Russia. It was supposedly established it early 14th century during the reign of Ivan I of Moscow (Ivan Kalita). No original architecture was preserved. The oldest parts of the current ensemble date to 17-18th centuries. The monastery was closed in 1788. In 1919 the Pereslavl-Zalessky Historical Museum was established within its territory

Thanks Nady!

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RUSSIA #4

Chelyabinsk (Russian: Челябинск) is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. The town became world famous in the February 15, 2013, after the meteorite Chelyabinsk explode over the city, throwing fireballs in the direction of Earth, breaking windows and damaging 3,000 buildings, causing more than 1,200 injuries.

Thanks Nadia!

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