Arkhangelsk is a city with a population of about 350 thousand people located in the north of the European part of Russia, at the mouth of the Northern Dvina River, 30-35 kilometers from its confluence with the White Sea. It is the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast and the largest city of the Russian North.

Founded in 1584, this city is traditionally considered the capital of Pomor’e – an original region located on the southern coast of the White Sea, distinguished by its culture and even a special dialect of the Russian language. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Volgograd is a city with a population of more than 1 million people located on the bank of the Volga River in the southeast of the European part of Russia, the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast. Until 1925, it was called Tsaritsyn, from 1925 to 1961 – Stalingrad.

This city is known in Russia and abroad as the site of one of the main battles of the Second World War – the Battle of Stalingrad. Several matches of the 2018 World Cup were held here. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Nizhnevartovsk is a city with a population of about 276 thousand people located in the east of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra in the central part of the West Siberian Plain.

The city stands on the bank of the Ob River in the immediate vicinity of the Samotlor oil field. Today, it is one of the largest centers of the Russian oil industry. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Tags: Khanty-Mansi okrug · Nizhnevartovsk city

Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, a major port on the left bank of the Volga River, one of the largest economic, scientific, educational, religious, cultural, and sports centers of Russia.

This city, often called the third capital of Russia, is one of the most popular cities for tourists in Russia. Photos by: Kirill Zdorov.

night lights of Kazan

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Astrakhan, the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast, is one of the largest and oldest cities in southern Russia included in the list of historical cities of the country.

This city with a population of about half a million people is located in the upper part of the delta of the Volga River, on 11 islands of the Caspian Lowland, about 80 km from the Caspian Sea. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Ulakhan-Sis is a mountain range with a length of about 200 km and a height of up to 754 meters located among the endless swampy forests in the north-east of Yakutia.

Here you can see a large number of various granite pillars 25-30 meters high. This is a very inaccessible place, people don’t live here. The first tourists started visiting it only a few years ago. Ulakhan-Sis on Google Maps. Photos by: Petr Ushanov.

on the very edge of the world

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

Syzran is a city with a population of about 173 thousand people located in the west of Samara Oblast, the third largest city in the region after Samara and Tolyatti.

The city is located on the right bank of the Volga River (Saratov Reservoir), at the mouth of the Syzranka River. In its central part, Syzran retained the appearance of a merchant Volga town of the 19th century. In total, there are 143 monuments of history, culture, and architecture on its territory. Photos by: Kirill Zdorov.

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Rybinsk, first mentioned in 1071, is the second largest city in Yaroslavl Oblast located on the banks of the Volga River, about 87 km northwest of Yaroslavl and 313 km north of Moscow.

During the time of the Russian Empire, it was the country’s largest grain trading center. After the construction of the Rybinsk Hydroelectric Power Station in the 1930s, the Rybinsk Reservoir located to the north-west of the city, became the largest artificial reservoir in the world of its time. Photos by: Roman Smirnov.

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Sviyazhsk is a historic town with a population of about 240 people located on an island at the confluence of the Sviyaga and the Volga rivers in the Republic of Tatarstan, about 58 km south-west of Kazan.

Founded as a fortress in 1551, it became the base of Russian troops during the siege of Kazan, the capital of the Kazan Khanate, in 1552. Sviyazhsk became the first Orthodox town in the Middle Volga region, the center of the Christianization of the peoples of the Volga region. Sviyazhsk on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexander Butenko.

Sviyazhsk River Station.

a very picturesque town

Tags: Kazan city · Tatarstan Republic

The Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo is an Orthodox church located in Basmanny District of Moscow (Spartakovskaya Street, 15). It was built by the architect Evgraf Tyurin in 1835-1845. In the area of the cathedral, there was previously the village of Yelokhovo, which became part of Moscow in the 18th century.

The cathedral was constructed in the late Empire style with a dome rotunda in the center, with some features imitating the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The height of the cathedral is 56 meters, area – 1,164 square meters, capacity – 3,000 people. Today, it is one of the most beautiful Orthodox churches in Moscow. The Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo on Google Maps. Photos by: Vladimir Dar.

magnificent church

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