Nerchinsk state prison was a part of penitentiary system of the Russian Empire, the main place in Eastern Siberia for state convicts sentenced to hard labor. It was located on the territory of present Zabaikalsky krai.

The prison system in Eastern Siberia appeared in the beginning of the 18th century as a place of serving sentences for the most serious criminal offenses. The first lead-silver mines and Zerentuyskaya penitentiary began operating in 1739.

By the beginning of the 19th century, it was a system of prisons, mines, factories and other economic facilities managed by the Mining Department. The convicts were working in the mines, foundries, salt plants, construction sites.

The significance of Nerchinsk prison for the ruling system was great. During the 19th century more than one million people were exiled to this place. After the Revolution of 1905-1907 the number of political prisoners increased significantly. After the February Revolution of 1917, all political prisoners were released.

Tags: convicts · Nerchinsk · prison · Zabaikalsky krai

Catherine’s Palace is the former imperial palace, one of the largest in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. The palace is located in the town of Pushkin (formerly Tsarskoye Selo), 25 km south of St. Petersburg.

The architectural trends of each era the palace survived, and personal predilections of Russian rulers of the time were reflected in the history and architecture of the palace. The palace was built in 1717 under the direction of German architect Johann Friedrich Braunshtein as the summer residence of Empress Catherine I.

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Tags: Leningrad oblast · palace · Saint Petersburg city

Interesting set of original black&white and color photographs of the cities and towns of the Russian Empire taken in 1890-1912.

Tags: Russian Empire

Transpolar railway (Gulag construction sites #501 and #503) is a railroad running on the way Chum – Salekhard – Igarka. The construction of the railway began in 1947. Among the most likely reasons of the construction were the developing of infrastructure of Russian North, the simplification of supply of Norilsk, as well as improving the supply of the Northern Fleet.

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Tags: Abandoned · railway · Salekhard city · Yamalo-Nenets okrug

Moscow Palace of Soviets is one of the most famous unfinished architectural projects in history. The huge (the biggest and tallest in the world) building would have become the symbol of the victory of socialism, the symbol of a new country and new Moscow. This project is still amazing in our day.

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Tags: Moscow city · Palace of Soviets

June 22, 1941 is one of the saddest dates in Russian history – the beginning of Nazi Germany invasion. This day reminds of all those who died in battles, were captured and died of hunger and deprivation. People grieve for all those who gave their lives to fulfill the duty of defending the Motherland. Eternal memory to the fallen heroes.

Tags: World War II

A lot of monuments of ancient architecture were preserved in Velikiy Novgorod. The oldest of them is St. Sophia Cathedral, which construction started in 1045. The cathedral is located inside the Kremlin - the historic center of the city (the present day walls were erected in the 15th century). The photos were captured by Petr Ushanov.

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Tags: Kremlin · Novgorod city

One of the most interesting events of recent Kaliningrad city Christmas fair was the reconstruction of assault of ancient Russian fortress Izborsk happened in 1349. The photos were captured by Andrey Rumyantsev.

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Tags: assault · Christmas fair · fortress · Kaliningrad city · reconstruction

The first post about Borodino battle reconstruction was devoted mainly to the preparations for the re-enactment.  The following pictures were captured during the “battle” itself (photos by Frederick Taer, clickable).

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Tags: Borodino battle · Moskovskaya oblast · reconstruction

Borodino battle or Moscow river battle was the largest battle of Patriotic war of 1812 between Russia and France. The battle took place September 7, 1812 near Borodino village about 125 km to the west of Moscow city. Borodino battle is supposed to be one of the bloodiest one-day battles in history with Russian casualties of about 45,000 and French – 30,000. The following nice photos were captured during the recent reconstruction of the great battle by Frederick Taer (all the photos are clickable). The second part of the photos – Borodino battlefield sceneries.

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Tags: Borodino battle · Moskovskaya oblast · reconstruction