Gamsutl is an abandoned village located at an altitude of about 1.5 thousand meters above sea level in the southern mountainous part of the Republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus.

Translated from the Avar language, the word “gamsutl” means “at the foot of the khan’s fortress.” It is likely that the khan, the founder of Gamsutl, lived on the top of the mountain, and his troops were stationed on its slopes. The approximate age of the village is 2 thousand years.

very picturesque abandoned village

Tags: Abandoned · Dagestan Republic

In the USSR, a personal car was a luxury, and for only a few, it was a common means of transportation. Even if you had enough money, you still could not freely buy it at a car dealership like today.

To do this, you had to wait your turn for several years, since the number of cars produced at the factories was significantly lower than the potential demand. Until the early 1970s, the main priority was given to trucks, in particular, army multi-axle tractors and four-wheel drive dual-use trucks.

1961. ZAZ-965 “Zaporozhets”.

Soviet advertising in all its glory

Tags: Soviet past · Tolyatti city

Gambling has always been of interest to the people of Russia, but they have found it hard to access for most of history. For many years, casinos were banned throughout the country, and residents who wanted to stake on table games had to travel elsewhere to do so.

Indeed, this was the premise of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Gambler in 1887, which was set in the fictional city of Roulettenberg in Germany. Nowadays, it is possible to travel to Russia for a gambling holiday, as there are some casinos in certain areas of the country. But there are some things you need to know before you visit.

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Derbent is a city located on the shores of the Caspian Sea in the Republic of Dagestan in southern Russia. It is located in the most strategically vulnerable place of the Caspian Gates, where the Greater Caucasus Mountains come closest to the sea, leaving only a narrow 3-km strip of plain.

The Derbent fortress was part of a large defensive system constructed to protect the peoples of Transcaucasia and Western Asia from the invasions of nomads from the north. The system included the walls, the citadel of Naryn-Kala, sea walls, and the Dag Bara Mountain Wall. Naryn-Kala Citadel on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexandr Lipilin.

one of the oldest fortresses in Russia

Tags: Dagestan Republic · Derbent city

Ivangorod is a town with a population of about 9.5 thousand people located in the very west of Leningrad Oblast in the northwest of Russia. It stands on the right (eastern) bank of the Narva River opposite the Estonian city of Narva and is part of the Russian state border area (entry only with passes, foreign passports, or with local registration).

The Ivangorod fortress was built on the right bank of the Narva in the summer of 1492. It was named after Ivan III Vasilievich, who reigned at that time. The purpose of the construction of the fortress was to protect the Novgorod land of the Tsardom of Russia from its western neighbors.

picturesque old castle

Tags: Leningrad oblast

The Brianchaninovs’ Estate is a noble estate of the early 19th century located in the village of Pokrovskoye in Vologda Oblast, about 25 km south of Vologda. Built in the style of early classicism, it is a historical and cultural monument of federal significance and a monument of landscape gardening art of regional significance.

The estate includes the main house with wings and galleries (1809-1810), the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos (1811), the Brianchaninovs’ necropolis (the 19th century), a park with a pond (the early 19th century), a stable (the second half of the 19th century), and a cellar (the second half of the 19th century). The Brianchaninovs’ Estate on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexandr Lipilin.

beautiful preserved noble estate

Tags: Russian Empire · Vologda oblast

From the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, advertising posters began to quickly gain popularity in the Russian Empire. Artists often depicted scenes from fairy tales. The first advertising posters used the element of hyperbole, exaggerating the properties of the advertised product.

Despite the fact that there was significant economic growth in the Russian Empire at that time, it did not cause an increase in the purchasing power of the majority of the population (peasants). Most of the advertising targeted the rapidly emerging Russian bourgeoisie. Source.

Perfumes of Russian boyars.

pre-revolutionary advertising posters

Tags: posters · Russian Empire

On June 30, 2020, about 7 km south-west of the city of Rzhev and 200 km north-west of Moscow, the Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier was opened. It was installed in the place where the Battle of Rzhev took place from January 5, 1942 to March 21, 1943 – one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War.

The losses of the Soviet side amounted to more than 1 million people killed, wounded and missing, the German side – more than 390 thousand people. The Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier on Google Maps. Photos by: zavodfoto.

very soulful memorial

Tags: Tver oblast

Dargavs is a small village located in the Republic of North Ossetia – Alania, about 36 km southwest of Vladikavkaz. The area where the village is located has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. A large number of archaeological sites have been discovered here.

The village is very rich in various architectural monuments. The main one is the so-called “City of the Dead” – an old necropolis consisting of 97 stone memorials, which from afar resemble a small mountain village. It is the largest surviving burial of this type in Russia. Dargavs on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexey Zhirukhin.

unique necropolis

Tags: North Ossetia Republic · Vladikavkaz city

Carl Oswald Bulla or Karl Karlovich Bulla (1855-1929), a portraitist and master of documentary photography, was the owner of a photo studio in St. Petersburg. He became known as “the father of Russian photo reporting.”

In 1886, he received from the Ministry of Internal Affairs “permission to carry out all kinds of photographic work outside his home, such as: on the streets, apartments and in the vicinity of St. Petersburg.” In 1897, Karl Bulla’s photographs began to be published in the popular magazine “Niva”. Since that time, his name became known throughout the Russian Empire.

In total, his legacy is about 230 thousand photographs of the late 19th – early 20th centuries. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Tsarskoselsky (Vitebsky) railway station in St. Petersburg.

unique photos of the Russian Empire

Tags: Russian Empire · Saint Petersburg city