Posts

Vologda.

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   Vologda is the main city in Vologda oblast, situated 400 kilometers from Moscow. I have been there for several times, and despite its poor condition I like it very much. Vologda is one of those places where many features of Russian culture have been preserved. It's good that in 2000s--a time of big prices for oil and a rise of the Russian economy--Vologda had no great influx of money. Therefore, beautiful historic buildings of Vologda were not demolished and replaced by ugly shopping malls and apartment blocks. So, Vologda is a place where the spirit of old Russia remains, however ruined its condition may be in some parts of the city.        This time I arrived there by train. When I travel by the train I like the night trains. You can spend the night sleeping and arrive at your destination in the morning, around sunrise. I wrote "sunrise" just formally, since actually Russia cannot boast of many sunny days during wintertime. Usually the sky has a ...

Belopesotsky Convent and nearest lands.

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Belopesotsky Convent is a Russian Orthodox Convent. It is the preeminent landmark of Stupino, the town 99 kilometers south of Moscow. The monastery in that place was found in the end of XV century by Vladimir Belopesotsky (former boyar from the town Rzhev, the monk of Khytun monastery near Novgorod). It was found near Oka river, which was the border of Russian lands in that time. Along the river were built many fortresses which protected Russian lands from devastating raids of Krimean tatars. The new monastery also had defensive meaning and could serve the role of fortress it it was necessary. In the second half of XVII century the monastery lost its military significance and became poor. It lost all its lands because of Secularization decree during the reign of Catherine the Great. However Belopesotsky monastery continued to exist until October revolution. 50 monks lived there in 1916. The part of monks was shot in 1918 and in 1924 the monastery closed. F...

Kimry.

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Kimry is a town in the south of Tver Oblast, Russia.  It’s located at the junction of the Volga and Kimrka Rivers, 133 kilometers east of Tver.  It’s railway station, Savyolovo, is on the Moscow – Kalyazin line.  Kimry also has a river port on the right bank of the Volga.  In every street in the center of the town, there are unique, incomparable, small houses and mansions.  Many of them are in very bad condition now, and some are completely abandoned.  It is interesting that Kimry got the status of a town only after 1917, so all these architectural monuments can be considered as stunning "rural" housing.  Unfortunately, during the Soviet period the town’s architectural integrity was badly damaged.  In 1936, authorities demolished the cathedral complex on the central Troitsky Square, where Pokrovskaya Church (built 1816-1825) and Troitskaya Church (built in 1829) stood on the bank of the river junction. . The remaining Ascension Church (1814),...