The second part of unique photos taken by Major Martin Manhoff, who spent more than two years in the Soviet Union in the early 1950s as an assistant to the military attache in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

The first part of the photos.

View of the Kremlin from Moskvoretskaya Embankment.

Moscow in the early 1950s

Tags: Moscow city · Soviet past

Yakutsk is the capital of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the third city of the Far Eastern Federal District in terms of population (after Vladivostok and Khabarovsk) and the largest city in the world located in the permafrost zone.

Because of the severe climate, Yakutsk is often called one of the “coldest” cities on Earth. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Yakutsk

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

Major Martin Manhoff spent more than two years in the Soviet Union in the early 1950s. He worked as an assistant to the military attache in the U.S. Embassy, ​​located near Red Square.

Manhoff, being a gifted photographer, shot hundreds of scenes from everyday Soviet life – both in Moscow and in other regions of the USSR.

Construction of the hotel “Ukraina” from the roof of the U.S. Embassy on Novinsky Boulevard. On the left you can see the Church of the Nine Martyrs of Cyzicus (1954).

Moscow in the early 1950s

Tags: Moscow city · Soviet past

Khanty-Mansiysk, the capital of Khanty-Mansi autonomous okrug – Yugra, is located on the territory of the West Siberian Plain, on the right bank of the Irtysh River, 20 kilometers from the confluence with the Ob River; in the natural area of the taiga.

Yugra is the main oil and natural gas region of Russia and one of the largest oil producing regions in the world. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Khanty-Mansiysk

Tags: Khanty-Mansi okrug · Khanty-Mansiysk city

Church of Elijah the Prophet, standing on Sovetskaya Square in the center of Yaroslavl, is an outstanding architectural monument of Yaroslavl school of architecture of the 17th century. This church almost completely preserved its original appearance.

The church was built in 1647-1650-ies at the expense of citizens of the town, the Yaroslavl merchants Vonifatiy Skripin and Ioannikiy Skripin who traded in furs, church utensils and precious stones. Photos by: Vladimir Dar.

beautiful church

Tags: churches · Yaroslavl city

Blagoveshchensk is the fifth largest city in the Russian Far East, the capital of the Amur region.

This city, located on the left bank of the Amur River, is the only administrative center in Russia standing on the state border. Chinese city of Heihe is located on the right bank of the Amur, at a distance of half a kilometer. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Blagoveshchensk

Tags: Amur oblast · Blagoveschensk city

Today, Vytegra is a small town (since 1773) with a population of about 10,000 people standing on the banks of the Vytegra River, 337 km north-west of Vologda, in the Vologda region.

You can see how this place looked like 108 years ago, in 1909. It is possible due to unique color photographs made by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky. Source.

General view of Vytegra and the Vytegra River.

back to the past

Tags: Russian Empire · Vologda oblast

Church of the Intercession at Fili is an Orthodox church located in Filevsky Park district, in the western administrative district of Moscow (Novozavodskaya Street, 6).

This architectural monument of federal importance is a fine example of early Moscow baroque. The church was built by the boyar Lev Kirillovich Naryshkin, the uncle of Peter I, in 1690-1694. Photos by: Pavel Labutin.

beautiful church

Tags: churches · Moscow city

Smolensk is a city with a population of about 329,000 people located in the west of the European part of Russia, the capital of the Smolensk region. This is one of the oldest cities in the country founded more than 1,150 years ago.

The city is located 378 km south-west of Moscow, in the upper reaches of the Dnieper River, on the way from Moscow to Belarus, Baltic States, the countries of Central and Western Europe. Photos by: Denis Mukimov.

explore the ancient Smolensk

Tags: Smolensk city

Murmansk, located in the northwest of Russia, is the largest city in the world in the Arctic Circle. The city stands on the rocky east coast of the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea.

This is one of the largest ice-free ports in Russia and in the world built during the First World War, in 1915, to deliver military supplies from the allies because of the blockade of the Black and Baltic Seas. Photos by: Konstantin Antipin.

snow-covered Murmansk

Tags: Murmansk city