This series of eight futuristic postcards from 1914 was created by an unknown artist for the Moscow confectionery factory “Einem.” The illustrations on the cards depict what the artist envisioned Moscow to look like in the 22nd and 23rd centuries. The postcards were included in a package of candies entitled “Moscow of the Future” and were distributed as a supplement to the confectionery.

They depict such famous landmarks as Red Square, Teatralnaya Square, Lubyanka Square, and Petrovsky Park. Notably, one of the cards featured an image of Moscow’s Central Station, which was proposed for construction in the early 20th century but subsequently lost its relevance.

Moscow of the Future

Tags: Moscow city · Russian Empire

It seems you can find everything in Russia. For example, this unusual concrete ship found its final resting place in the lower reaches of the Volga in (Astrakhan Oblast), a few kilometers from the Caspian Sea.

The ship’s hull is made of reinforced concrete. Those parts of the hull where concrete was unsuitable were made of iron. This ship is not unique. Several countries designed and built various reinforced concrete ships during periods of severe metal shortages. Photos by zhgalin_photo.

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Tags: Abandoned · Astrakhan oblast · Soviet past

Alexander Mikhailovich Rodchenko (1891-1956) was a Russian and Soviet painter, graphic artist, poster artist, sculptor, photographer, theater and film designer, and correspondent. He was one of the founders of constructivism and a pioneer of design and advertising in the USSR.

Rodchenko is perhaps the most famous Russian photographer; almost everyone in Russia has seen at least a couple of his photographs. Let’s take a look at some of his works. Source: humus.

On the corner of Myasnitskaya Street in Moscow (1920s).

people in the early Soviet Union

Tags: Soviet past

It is widely believed that Stalin’s Soviet Union was a country almost completely closed to foreigners. However, advertising for “Intourist” (the organization responsible for foreign tourism in the USSR), founded in the 1930s, offers a somewhat different assessment.

The country desperately needed foreign currency for industrialization, so every means possible was used to attract wealthy foreign tourists to the USSR. And this wasn’t limited to the major cities of Moscow and Leningrad.

Welcome to the USSR

Tags: Moscow city · posters · propaganda · Saint Petersburg city · Soviet past

During the Soviet era, a widespread myth circulated that Russia (the Russian Empire) before 1917 was a backward peasant country without developed industry or technology. However, the situation was not so clear-cut, and here is one example.

Russia was one of the first in the world to begin developing a submarine fleet. On March 19, 1906, by decree of Emperor Nicholas II, the Russian Navy received a new type of weapon – military submarines. By August 1914, the fleet had approximately 15-22 combat-ready submarines. By 1916-1917, the total number reached about 50-60 units (including those under construction).

An AG-class submarine on one of the Baltic Shipyard’s piers.

unique photos of the first Russian submarines

Tags: Russian Empire

Kutkhiny Baty, a bizarre curtain of pumice rocks, is a unique natural monument located approximately 4 kilometers from the source of the Ozernaya River (Kuril Lake) in Kamchatka.

According to legend, Kutkh – a powerful spirit, the creator of the world, people, and nature – lived in Kamchatka and traveled its rivers and seas. One day, he prepared to leave, and so he placed his “baty” (traditional pumice boats) on the banks of the Ozernaya River, intending to return for them later.

The legend imbues this place with sacred significance and makes it special in the eyes of the indigenous peoples of Kamchatka. “Kutkhiny Baty” can be translated as “The Boats of the God Kutkh.”

Kamchatka never ceases to amaze

Tags: Kamchatka krai · Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky city

Today, if you ask Russians what a “belyana” is, it’s unlikely anyone would be able to answer. But these giant ships plied the Volga and Vetluga rivers just about a hundred years ago.

Belyana is a wooden, unpainted, flat-bottomed barge used for rafting timber along the Volga and Kama rivers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These ships were perhaps the most unique river vessels in the world.

unique giant Russian wooden ships

Tags: Astrakhan city · Volgograd city

Darashkol (in the Altai language “Dyarash Kol” means “beautiful lake”) is a glacial high-altitude lake (2,133 meters above sea level) located in the Altai Mountains in the southern part of the Altai Republic in Western Siberia.

The lake is situated on the territory of the Belukha Nature Park, which also includes the Kucherlinskoye and Akkemskoye lakes, and is a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site. Lake Darashkol on Google Maps. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

amazingly picturesque lake

Tags: Altay Republic

Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky (1863-1944) was a Russian photographer, chemist (a student of Dmitri Mendeleev), inventor, publisher, teacher, and public figure. He made significant contributions to the development of photography and cinematography. He was a pioneer of color photography in Russia and the creator of the “Collection of Landmarks of the Russian Empire.”

Between 1909 and 1916, Prokudin-Gorsky traveled across a significant portion of the Russian Empire, photographing old churches, monasteries, factories, towns, villages, and a variety of everyday scenes.

The town of Zubtsov (Tver Oblast) on the Volga River (1910).

the last years of the Russian Empire

Tags: Russian Empire

Major Martin Manhoff spent more than two years in the Soviet Union in the early 1950s. He served as assistant military attaché at the US Embassy, ​​located near Red Square.

Manhoff, a talented photographer, captured hundreds of scenes from everyday life in the Soviet Union, both in Moscow and in other regions of the USSR.

The construction of the hotel “Ukraine” from the roof of the US Embassy on Novinsky Boulevard. The Church of the Nine Martyrs of Cyzicus (1954) is visible on the left.

Moscow in the early 1950s

Tags: Moscow city · Soviet past