Atheism, as a worldview denying religion, without being formally declared in the USSR as an element of state ideology, was actively supported by the Communist Party and state bodies until 1988.

Propaganda was actively used for these purposes. Here are examples of anti-religious posters that you could see in the times of the USSR.

1. There is no God!

religion is poison?

Tags: posters · propaganda · Soviet past

Krutitskoye Podvorye (Krutitsy Patriarchal Metochion) is a picturesque preserved fragment of old Moscow located almost in the very center of Europe’s largest metropolis.

This is an excellent example of when the natural landscape allowed to preserve the look of a street of the 18th-19th centuries. Krutitskoye Podvorye on Google Maps. Photos by: Kirill Moiseev.

walk around old Moscow

Tags: Moscow city

The State Historical, Architectural, Art, and Landscape Museum-Reserve “Tsaritsyno” is one of the largest museum and exhibition institutions in Moscow and the largest museum-reserve in the city.

The museum includes Tsaritsyno palace and park ensemble with a complex of palace buildings, Tsaritsyno ponds and a landscape park. Tsaritsyno on Google Maps. Photos by: Vladimir Dar.

stroll through the museum-reserve

Tags: Moscow city

Izborsk, a village with a population of about 700 people located in the Pechora district of the Pskov region, 30 km west of Pskov, is one of the oldest Russian towns first mentioned in the chronicles in 862.

Today, this historical-cultural and natural-landscape museum-reserve is a popular tourist destination. Photos by: zhzhitel.

walk around Izborsk

Tags: Pskov oblast

The Astrakhan Kremlin is a historical and architectural complex, which is an integral ensemble of monuments of defense architecture, cult and civil architecture.

Today, it is not only a monument of Russian architecture. There is an ethnographic museum with a very rich collection of exhibits. Photos by: Dmitry Gazin.

take a stroll in the Astrakhan Kremlin

Tags: Astrakhan city

Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps located in St. Petersburg is one of the largest military museums in Russia. In total, the collection includes over 850 thousand exhibits.

The exposition was started by Peter I, who founded Zeughaus – a place for storing historical, unique and experimental artillery pieces. Today, the exposition covers the time from the 15th century to the present day. Photos by: deletant.

explore the museum

Tags: museum · Saint Petersburg city

The second part of unique photos taken by Major Martin Manhoff, who spent more than two years in the Soviet Union in the early 1950s as an assistant to the military attache in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

The first part of the photos.

View of the Kremlin from Moskvoretskaya Embankment.

Moscow in the early 1950s

Tags: Moscow city · Soviet past

Soviet propaganda was diverse and influenced the minds of people all the time. Let’s see how the image of a woman was used and gradually changed on Soviet posters. Source: humus

Woman! Learn to read and write!
Oh, mother! If you were literate, you could help me! (1923)

Soviet propaganda posters

Tags: propaganda · Soviet past

Major Martin Manhoff spent more than two years in the Soviet Union in the early 1950s. He worked as an assistant to the military attache in the U.S. Embassy, ​​located near Red Square.

Manhoff, being a gifted photographer, shot hundreds of scenes from everyday Soviet life – both in Moscow and in other regions of the USSR.

Construction of the hotel “Ukraina” from the roof of the U.S. Embassy on Novinsky Boulevard. On the left you can see the Church of the Nine Martyrs of Cyzicus (1954).

Moscow in the early 1950s

Tags: Moscow city · Soviet past

Kolomna is a city with a population of about 143 thousand people located about 113 km southeast of Moscow. This is one of the oldest (the first mention in 1177) and the most beautiful cities of the Moscow region.

One of the main attractions of Kolomna is a partially preserved rare monument of ancient Russian defensive architecture – the grandiose Kolomna Kremlin (1525-1531). Photos by: maximus101.

magnificent fortress

Tags: Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast