Astrakhan, the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast, is one of the largest and oldest cities in southern Russia included in the list of historical cities of the country.

This city with a population of about half a million people is located in the upper part of the delta of the Volga River, on 11 islands of the Caspian Lowland, about 80 km from the Caspian Sea. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over the center of Astrakhan

Tags: Astrakhan city

Syzran is a city with a population of about 173 thousand people located in the west of Samara Oblast, the third largest city in the region after Samara and Tolyatti.

The city is located on the right bank of the Volga River (Saratov Reservoir), at the mouth of the Syzranka River. In its central part, Syzran retained the appearance of a merchant Volga town of the 19th century. In total, there are 143 monuments of history, culture, and architecture on its territory. Photos by: Kirill Zdorov.

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Tags: Samara oblast · Syzran city

Rybinsk, first mentioned in 1071, is the second largest city in Yaroslavl Oblast located on the banks of the Volga River, about 87 km northwest of Yaroslavl and 313 km north of Moscow.

During the time of the Russian Empire, it was the country’s largest grain trading center. After the construction of the Rybinsk Hydroelectric Power Station in the 1930s, the Rybinsk Reservoir located to the north-west of the city, became the largest artificial reservoir in the world of its time. Photos by: Roman Smirnov.

fly over the center of Rybinsk

Tags: Rybinsk city · Yaroslavl oblast

Sviyazhsk is a historic town with a population of about 240 people located on an island at the confluence of the Sviyaga and the Volga rivers in the Republic of Tatarstan, about 58 km south-west of Kazan.

Founded as a fortress in 1551, it became the base of Russian troops during the siege of Kazan, the capital of the Kazan Khanate, in 1552. Sviyazhsk became the first Orthodox town in the Middle Volga region, the center of the Christianization of the peoples of the Volga region. Sviyazhsk on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexander Butenko.

Sviyazhsk River Station.

a very picturesque town

Tags: Kazan city · Tatarstan Republic

Cheboksary (Shupashkar in the Chuvash language) is a city in Russia with a population of about half a million people standing on the bank of the Volga River, the capital of the Chuvash Republic.

Located about 671 km east of Moscow, it is one of the cleanest and most comfortable cities in Russia. Photos by: Kirill Zdorov.

Dawn in the historic center of Cheboksary. The sign says: “Cheboksary – the pearl of Russia!”

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Tags: Cheboksary city · Chuvashia Republic

Yoshkar-Ola, one of the cultural centers of the Finno-Ugric peoples, is a city with a population of about 283 thousand people located about 50 km north of the Volga River and 862 km east of Moscow, the capital of the Republic of Mari El.

The Malaya Kokshaga River flows through the city and divides it into two almost equal parts. Yoshkar-Ola is traditionally considered one of the greenest cities in Russia. Photos by: Kirill Zdorov.

fly over Yoshkar-Ola

Tags: Mari El Republic · Yoshkar-Ola city

The Moscow Kremlin is a fortress located in the center of Moscow. The oldest part of the city, it is the main socio-political and historical-artistic complex of the capital of Russia.

The fortress has a triangle shape with an area of 27.5 hectares. The southern wall faces the Moscow River, the northwestern – Alexander Gardens, the eastern – Red Square. In 1990, the Moscow Kremlin was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Photos by: Alexander Lipilin.

walk around the Moscow Kremlin

Tags: churches · Moscow city · museum

“Tsvetnik” (meaning “flower garden” in Russian) is the oldest park in the resort-city of Pyatigorsk. It was laid out on the site of a swamp formed by water from hydrogen sulfide sources in the 1820s. By 1850, this place became the recognized center of the resort life of Pyatigorsk. In June 2019, it was reopened after restoration.

In the background you can see the metal-glass building of the Lermontov Gallery (1901) – one of the main historical monuments and symbols of Pyatigorsk, as well as a concert and exhibition complex. The photos were taken by Fedor Lashkov at the end of October.

fly over the park

Tags: Pyatigorsk city · Stavropol krai

Galich, founded in the middle of the 12th century, is a town with a population of about 17 thousand people located in Kostroma Oblast, about 122 km northeast of Kostroma. This is one of the oldest towns in Russia included in the list of historical settlements.

The rich historical and cultural heritage of Galich makes it an interesting town-monument, which original townscape has been relatively well preserved since the times of the late Russian Empire. Galich on Google Maps. Photos by: Vasiliy Nikitinskiy.

picturesque provincial old Russian town

Tags: Kostroma oblast

Tomsk is a city with a population of about 575 thousand people located in the east of Western Siberia on the banks of the Tom River, the capital of Tomsk Oblast.

This city is the oldest educational and scientific center in Siberia. There are a lot of preserved monuments of wooden and stone architecture of the 18th-20th centuries here. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

The House of Merchant Kukhterin (1900). Lenin Avenue, 73.

fly over Tomsk

Tags: Siberia district · Tomsk city