CAT | History
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The ancient citadel of Naryn-Kala in Derbent
No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in History, Travel
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
2
Ivangorod Fortress – the western outpost of medieval Russia
No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in History, Travel
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.
Tags: Leningrad oblast
8
The Brianchaninovs’ Estate in Vologda Oblast
No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in Architecture, History, Regions
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
15
Advertising posters in the Russian Empire
No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in Art, History
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
25
Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier
2 Comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in History, Regions, Travel
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.
Tags: Tver oblast
6
The City of the Dead in Dargavs
No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in History, Regions, Travel
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.
Tags: North Ossetia Republic · Vladikavkaz city
17
The Final Years of the Russian Empire
No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in History, People
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
Jacques Reyne Isidore Acarie-Baron (1798-1874) was a French painter and scientific illustrator and here is one of his works – The Panorama of Moscow from the Ivan the Great Bell Tower dedicated to the Emperor of Russia and created in 1847.
This bell tower with a total height of 81 m is the tallest building of the Moscow Kremlin.
Tags: Moscow city
28
Color Photos of Smolensk in 1912
No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in History, Photos
Smolensk, the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, is one of the oldest cities in Russia. First mentioned in 863, it is located in the west of the country. In the history of Russia, it is known as the “shield city”, which for many centuries served as the defense of Moscow.
Let’s see how Smolensk looked in the last decade of the Russian Empire, in 1912. This is possible thanks to unique color photographs taken by Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky (1863-1944), a pioneer of color photography in the Russian Empire.
Tags: Smolensk city
26
Unique Color Photos of Yekaterinburg in 1909
No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in History, Photos
Today, Yekaterinburg, the fourth largest city in Russia (about 1.5 million people), is the largest administrative, cultural, scientific, and educational center of the Urals.
And here is how Yekaterinburg looked a little over a century ago with a population of about 60 thousand people. These unique color photographs were taken by Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky (1863-1944), a pioneer of color photography in the Russian Empire, in 1909.
The general views of the southern part of Yekaterinburg.
unique photos of Yekaterinburg
Tags: Ekaterinburg city · Sverdlovsk oblast