Parus (Sail) Rock is a natural monument located on the Black Sea coast, 17 km southeast of the resort town of Gelendzhik in the Krasnodar region.

The rock is a sandstone monolith standing vertically on the beach, separated from the main rock mass by a gap. The shape of the rock resembles the shape of a quadrangular sail, hence its name. Parus (Sail) Rock on Google Maps. Photos by: Andrei Kireev.

magnificent monument of nature

Tags: Gelendzhik city · Krasnodar krai

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (1832-1898) was one of the greatest Russian landscape painters, who created very photorealistic pictures.

In his paintings he depicted the nature of the middle part of the East European Plain also known as Russian Plain, one of the largest plains in the world.

Rye (1878).

beautiful pictures of Russian nature

Tags: Russian Empire

Valdai is a picturesque lake located in the territory of the Valdai National Park in the Novgorod region. The area of the lake is about 20 square kilometers, the average depth is 12 meters (the maximum depth – 60 meters).

On an island in the center of the lake, there is a historical and architectural monument of the 17th-18th centuries – an ensemble of buildings of the Iversky Monastery. On the western shore of the lake the town of Valdai is located. Lake Valdai on Google Maps. Photos by: Konstantin Antipin.

fly over Lake Valdai

Tags: Novgorod oblast

Today, in the world there are only about 800 representatives of the indigenous Siberian nation of the Tofalars. Once nomads, most of them live compactly in three villages in the Nizhneudinsky district of the Irkutsk region.

This very beautiful and isolated mountainous region located in the Eastern Sayan mountain system in the south of Siberia is called Tofalaria. You can get to it only by air. Tofalaria on Google Maps. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Tofalaria

Tags: Irkutsk oblast

Geyzernoye Lake, also known as Blue Lake, is a unique body of water in Siberia located in the Ulagan district of the Altai Republic, near the village of Aktach.

The main feature of this clean and ice-free lake is thermal springs that bring the blue silt to the bottom forming colorful and bizarre pictures – various concentric circles. Geyzernoye Lake on Google Maps. Photos by: Andrei Kireev.

lake with geysers at the bottom

Tags: Altay Republic

The Northern Urals is one of the most hard-to-reach areas of the Urals, but it gradually becomes more popular among tourists primarily thanks to two main attractions: the rock formations on the Manpupuner Plateau and the Dyatlov Pass.

Both of these places are covered with legends. Although one of them was created by nature, and the second – by human tragedy that is still an unsolved mystery. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over the Northern Urals

Tags: Komi Republic · Perm krai · Sverdlovsk oblast

Dombay is a resort village located at an altitude of about 1,600 meters above sea level in the intermontane basin at the northern foothill of the Main Caucasian Range in the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia.

The word “dombay” in translation from Karachai means “bison”. In the past, the local forests were inhabited by herds of bison. The settlement arose in connection with the development of tourism in the region in the 1920s. Dombay on Google Maps. Photos by: Konstantin Antipin.

picturesque mountain resort

Tags: Karachay-Cherkessia Republic

Iturup is an island of the southern group of the Kuril Islands, the largest island of the archipelago and part of the Sakhalin region.

The nature of this island is amazingly picturesque. On the coast you can see beautiful contrast of white pumice cliffs and black hexagonal pillars of volcanic magma. Iturup on Google Maps. Photos by: Sergey Dolya.

natural beauty of Iturup

Tags: Sakhalin oblast

The state nature reserve “Stolby” (“Pillars”) is located on the north-western spurs of the Eastern Sayan and from the north-east adjoins the city of Krasnoyarsk.

The reserve was founded on the initiative of the city residents to preserve natural complexes around picturesque rocks in 1925. Today, the area of the reserve is 47,219 hectares. Picturesque rocks are the main attraction of the reserve. Photos by: Sergey Filinin.

great place for hiking

Tags: Krasnoyarsk city

The tract of Akkurum (Ak-Korum) is located on the right bank of the Chulyshman River, about 15 km from its confluence with Lake Teletskoye, in the Ulagan district of the Altai Republic.

Akkurum, meaning “white rockslide”, is a very picturesque place which main attraction is the group of so-called “stone mushrooms” – stone pillars formed as a result of wind and water erosion and reaching a height of 7 meters. Akkurum on Google Maps. Photos by: Andrei Kireev.

beautiful nature monument

Tags: Altay Republic