Taymyr, the largest peninsula in Russia and the northernmost continental landmass of the Eurasian continent, is located between the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea, on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, in the very north of Krasnoyarsk Krai.

The total area of ​​Taymyr is about 400 thousand square kilometers, which is larger than the area of ​​such countries as Japan (373) and Germany (357). There are no cities on the peninsula, the nearest ones are Dudinka and Norilsk located to the south of the peninsula.

The Taymyr Peninsula is located in the Arctic and subarctic zones, which determines the extreme severity of its climate. Taymyr is characterized by long cold winters with temperatures down to -62 °C and short cool summers. Snowstorms are common, sometimes lasting up to several weeks. The local population is made up of peoples of the North who roam the territory. The Taymyr Peninsula on Google Maps. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

amazing landscapes

Tags: Krasnoyarsk krai

St. George’s Cathedral, a white-stone church located in the central part of the ancient Russian town of Yuryev-Polsky in Vladimir Oblast, is an outstanding monument of ancient Russian architecture.

The cathedral was built by Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich in 1230-1234. This was the last large white-stone church built in Rus’ before the Mongol invasion. In 1326-1327, on the model of St. George’s Cathedral, the first stone church was built in Moscow – the Cathedral of the Assumption. Saint George Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky on Google Maps. Photos by: Pavel Labutin.

beautiful ancient church

Tags: church · Vladimir oblast

Ivan Alekseevich Vladimirov (1870-1947) is known as an artist of the realistic school of painting, a battle painter and the author of a series of documentary sketches from 1917-1918.

In 1917-1918, while working in the Petrograd militia (police), he made a series of unique documentary sketches of the events of 1917-1918. After 1917, he was a member of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia. Since 1932, he was a member of the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists. He painted pictures on historical-revolutionary and battle themes. Source: humus.

1. 1917. “Removal of the Royal Coats of Arms (An Eagle Down!)” The signs on the building – Pharmacy. February.

turning point in the history of Russia

Tags: Leningrad oblast · Saint Petersburg city · Soviet past

The Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum was opened in Kaliningrad in 1969. The reason for creating a museum of this type in Kaliningrad was the proximity of the largest explored amber deposit, in the village of Yantarny – more than 90% of the world’s reserves.

The museum exposition is located in 28 halls with a total area of ​​over 1,000 square meters. The Amber Museum in Kaliningrad has unique pieces of amber and more than 2,000 artistic items made from it. Here are just several examples. Photos by: Vladimir Lipetskikh.

beautiful pieces of art made of amber

Tags: Kaliningrad city

Today, Vytegra is a small town (since 1773) with a population of about 10,300 people standing on the banks of the Vytegra River, 337 km north-west of Vologda, the capital of Vologda Oblast.

This is a unique opportunity to see what this place looked like 116 years ago – in 1909. This is possible thanks to the unique color photographs taken by Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky, a Russian chemist and photographer known for his pioneering work in color photography. Source.

General view of Vytegra and the Vytegra River.

back to the past

Tags: Russian Empire · Vologda oblast

In Yakutia there is a giant thermokarst depression in the Verkhoyansk ulus (district), 10 km southeast of the village of Batagai and about 660 km north-northeast of Yakutsk. The crater is named after the nearby Batagai River.

Batagaika is about 2 km long, 1 km wide, and about 100 meters deep. Inside, remains of ancient plants, bones and tusks of mammoths, frozen bison and horses are found. This layer of ice is twice as old as the ice of Antarctica. The Batagaika Crater on Google Maps. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

very picturesque crater

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

The following album of projects of urban and rural buildings of the Russian Empire was compiled by the engineer-architect V.G.Zalessky with the participation of other engineers and architects in 1881 – an interesting document of its time with beautiful illustrations. Source with additional pictures: humus.

architecture of the Russian Empire

Tags: Russian Empire

In 1913, on the wave of the general rise of the Russian economy, the Russian Empire saw a rapid growth of the cinematographic industry. In 1913, according to incomplete data, there were 1,412 cinemas in the country, of which 134 – in St. Petersburg and 67 – in Moscow.

The heyday of Russian artistic cinematography came during the years of World War I. In 1916, no less than 150 million cinema tickets were sold in the Russian Empire. Let’s look at the movie posters of those times. Source: humus.

1. Train of Horrors (1910s).

great vintage movie posters

Tags: posters · Russian Empire

In Russia, work on cutting the largest diamond in the country’s history has been completed. The weight of the unique diamond of rare fancy color Vivid Yellow is more than 100 carats.

The diamond was named “The New Sun” – as a reflection of the history of the super-large diamond weighing more than 200 carats of a rich honey-gold color, which was mined by ALROSA at the Ebelyakh Arctic placer deposit, among the sands of an old river bed in Yakutia.

amazing diamond

Tags: Sakha Republic

As of 2025, Russia is the only country in the world that has a nuclear icebreaker fleet. Nuclear icebreakers ensure safe navigation in the Arctic and are a key link in the work on the Northern Sea Route.

Today’s Russian universal nuclear icebreakers of Project 22220 can operate without refueling for up to 7 years, and their food supplies last for more than half a year. Even the crew changes at sea when the icebreakers meet in the ice. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

clearing paths through the ice

Tags: Murmansk city · Vladivostok city