The following book “Anti-Religious Alphabet” was published in Leningrad in 1933. The author of the pictures was Mikhail Mikhailovich Cheremnykh (1890-1962) – a Soviet graphic artist, cartoonist, book illustrator.

Each word in the poetic phrases accompanying the pictures begins with the corresponding letter of the Russian alphabet. Translation gives just a general meaning of these short phrases, but of course, if you know Russian, then this historical document is especially interesting. However, the illustrations themselves give some insight into the attitude to religion during the first decades of the Soviet regime. Source

1. Anti-Religious Alphabet.

godless ABC

Tags: propaganda · Saint Petersburg city · Soviet past

The private fairy-tale park-courtyard “Vikhlyandiya” in the town of Kozelsk, Kaluga Oblast, is a unique architectural work of art, born of a creative tandem of the local entrepreneur-philanthropist Vladimir Vikhlyandtsev (whose last name gave the name to the complex) and the architect-artist Vladimir Kolesnikov.

There are no analogues of such a fabulous complex anywhere else in Russia. This fairy-tale kingdom has already become one of the sights of Kozelsk. Vikhlyandiya is especially popular among families with children. Vikhlyandiya on Google Maps. Photos by: Vladimir Lipetskikh.

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Tags: Kaluga oblast