The Petrovsky Palace was built as stopover palace at the entrance to Moscow from St. Petersburg. It is an example of Russian neo-Gothic architecture.

The palace was built by the order of Catherine II in 1776-1780 after the victory in the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774 as a residence for nobility to rest after a long journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Photos by av_otus

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Tags: Moscow city

Built in 1580-1620, Astrakhan Kremlin is a fortress in Astrakhan located on the place where new city was founded by the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible who captured Astrakhan in 1556.

On the territory of the fortress you will find such architectural monuments as Assumption Cathedral (1698-1710, cubic, with five domes and a rich decor of the facade), Trinity Cathedral (16th-18th centuries), Bishop’s House (16th-18th centuries) with the home church, St. Cyril Chapel (17th-19th centuries), Prechistinsky gate (the bell tower), and others. Photos by Alexander Lipilin

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Tags: Astrakhan city

Omsk with the population of 1.154 million is the second largest city in Siberia and the seventh in Russia.

The city is a major transportation hub and industrial center (light, food, printing, chemical, petrochemical and aerospace industries).

The architecture of Omsk is presented mainly by Soviet-built multi-storey buildings and the private sector. Photos by Stepanov Slava

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Tags: bird's eye views · Omsk city · Siberia

The following unique bird’s eye views of Grozny city at night time were taken by timag82. The scenery is really beautiful but the second thought is the amount of funds spent to construct all these buildings even without taking into account possible significant corruption component.

Some think that as the city was destroyed during the war the federal center had to rebuild Grozny from ruins. Others believe that the funding level is too high especially comparing to the central regions of Russia.

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Tags: bird's eye views · Grozny city

The following video was captured during the helicopter tour (Mi-8) of Saint Petersburg. You can see the beauty of this city known for its architecture, straight streets, large squares, gardens and parks, rivers and numerous canals, embankments, bridges, and monuments.

There are captions that help to identify several sights but unfortunately they are shaking because of YouTube stabilization feature.

Tags: Saint Petersburg city

Kazan is one of the largest cities in Russia with the population over 1 million people. The city attracts a lot of tourists from all over the world. It is the center of Tatar people culture, the capital city of Tatarstan Republic.

Today Kazan looks like one large construction site – the city will host the 27th World Summer Universiade in 2013. Nevertheless the city is looking beautiful especially from bird’s eye view. Photos by Stepanov Slava

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Tags: bird's eye views · Kazan city

The branch of the Novgorod State Museum-Reserve “Vitoslavlitsy” is located near Yuriev Monastery (about 5 km from Veliky Novgorod), on the shores of Lake Myachino.

Various wooden buildings (churches, peasants houses, mills, barns, etc.) that have architectural and historical value are moved here from all the districts of Novgorod oblast. At the present time around 30 buildings are gathered in the museum.

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Tags: museum · Novgorod oblast

Pochozersky church complex built in the 17th-18th centuries is unique architectural ensemble consisting of two churches and bell tower – one of five remaining in the Russian North, and one of only three in Arkhangelsk oblast.

The complex is of significant historical and architectural value due to the fact that it has extremely rare in the Russian wooden architecture diagonal three-dimensional composition, which is unique in Russia. Photos by Constantin Voutsen

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Tags: Arkhangelsk oblast · churches

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

This mosque was officially opened in Saint Petersburg on February 22, 1913, on the second day of celebrations to mark the 300th anniversary of the reign of the Romanovs. The building of the mosque was constructed in 1909-1920.

The design of the mosque was based on Gur-Emir Mausoleum located in Samarkand. From 1927 to 1930 and from 1940 to 1956, the mosque was closed. In 1956 the mosque was returned to the Muslims. Photos by Yura Osinin.

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Tags: Saint Petersburg city