On the bank of the Volga River near the town of Tutaev (Yaroslavl oblast) you can see the remains of a very beautiful building, known as Sorokin’s dacha.

It is believed that the house in the Moorish style was bought by Yaroslavl merchant Sergei Nikolayevich Sorokin at the fair in Nizhny Novgorod. The house was built in 1868. Also there was a park with a pond, fountains and pavilions around the dacha. Photos by vj_jjic

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Tags: Abandoned · Yaroslavl oblast

Russia is rich in deposits of various natural resources, but for the most part, they are located in wild and undeveloped areas of the Far North, Siberia and the Far East.

Driving a car or even a truck in these areas is very dangerous because of the lack of normal roads; drivers have to cross numerous rivers, etc. A lot of people died on these roads, the number of lost vehicles can’t be counted.

Tags: Siberia

The sale of Alaska was a deal between the governments of the Russian Empire and the North American United States. In 1867, Russia for 7.2 million USD (about 108 million USD in 2009), sold its territories in North America (total area 1,518,800 square km or 586,412 square miles).

At the time of the sale the entire population in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands was about 2,500 Russian and approximately 60,000 American Indians and Eskimos. At the beginning of the 19th century Alaska brought income from the fur trade.

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Tags: No tags

Karelia Republic is a remarkably beautiful land of white nights, boundless forests, and blue lakes. Karelia is located on the border of Western and Eastern Europe, on the border of cultures and religions.

Severe beauty of Karelia Republic nature, the climate, not too favorable in these latitudes, the coexistence and intermingling of various peoples inhabiting this land for centuries, all that conditioned the character of the people living here: very laconic, self-assured, contemplative, and tolerant people.

Tags: Karelia Republic

Chirkeyskaya hydropower plant is located on the river Sulak in Dagestan Republic. It is the largest hydropower plant in the North Caucasus and the highest arch dam in Russia. It is built in a narrow Chirkeyskiy gorge.

The capacity of the station is 1000 MW; average annual output 2.47 billion kilowatt hours. Photos by Stepanov Slava.

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Tags: Dagestan Republic

Dagestan Republic is a federal subject of Russian Federation, part of North Caucasian Federal District, located in the North Caucasus region. The capital city and administrative center is Makhachkala.

The name of the republic is meaning “The country of mountains”. About 30 peaks in Dagestan are above 4,000 m, the highest peak Bazardyuzyu is 4,466 m. Dagestan Republic of Russian Empire was formed in 1860 after the Great Caucasus War.

Tags: Dagestan Republic · landscapes

Saratov region (oblast) is located in the southeastern part of European Russia. Main river of the region is Volga dividing the region into two parts.

Saratov oblast is traditionally an agricultural region. The oblast is the 10th among Russian regions in the amount of agricultural product. The specific feature of the region is a great number of farmers having lands under crops.

The following video showing the beautiful nature of Saratov region was made by Anton Starikov.

Tags: landscapes · Saratov oblast

Teriberka is a village located in the Kola district of Murmansk oblast. Kola Peninsula is a peninsula on the north-west of European Russia washed by the Barents and White Seas. The area of the peninsula is about 100 thousand sq. km.

The first mention of the encampment Teriberka was in 1523. At the end of the 19th century it was already a well-developed village with church, lighthouse, hydrometeostation (first on the Murman coast). In 1938 Teriberka received the status of urban settlement.

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Tags: Abandoned · Murmansk oblast

Once this place located in Moskovskaya oblast was a large estate, the family nest of Soymonov nobles. The estate was founded in the 18th century by Pyotr Alexandrovitch Soymonov. Main buildings of the estate were constructed by N.A.Soymonov including Znamenskaya church built in 1797.

Znamenskaya church is the only remaining building of the former estate of Teploye. Photos by Denis Frantsouzov.

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Tags: Abandoned · churches · Moskovskaya oblast

October 5 Grozny (capital city of Chechen Republic) with characteristic to local authorities fanfare celebrated the Day of the city. Noncircular date (193 years) has not prevented wide celebrations: such stars as Jean-Claude Van Dam, Kevin Costner and Vanessa Mae were invited to take part in the concert.

The concert was organized to celebrate the opening of Chechen financial center “Grozny-City,” but everyone knew perfectly well that in fact it was the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov. The concert was broadcasted on second federal TV channel.

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Tags: Chechnya Republic · Grozny city