St. Petersburg is a city with a population of over 5 million people located in the northwest of Russia, on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, at the mouth of the Neva River.

The city was founded by the first Russian emperor Peter I in 1703. From 1712 to 1918, it was the capital of the Russian Empire. Let’s see how St. Petersburg looked like during the time of its greatest prosperity – in the late 19th century. Photos source: humus.

The Alexander Column and the Winter Palace.

back to the past

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Murmansk is a city with a population of about 300 thousand people located in the northwest of Russia, the administrative center of Murmansk oblast.

Murmansk is the world’s largest city located north of the Arctic Circle. The city stretches more than 20 km along the rocky eastern coast of the Kola Bay, 50 km from the open sea (the Barents Sea).

Murmansk from above

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Kalacheevskaya Cave, a unique structure built in the chalk hill, is located on the right bank of the Tolucheevka River (the left tributary of the Don River), in the town of Kalach, Voronezh oblast.

It is the longest cave in the region. The total length of the cave is about 1 km. The cave was probably created in the 18th-19th centuries, it was used as an underground monastery. Photos by: vmulder.

let’s go underground

Tags: Voronezh oblast

November 18, 2014, one of the mines of “Uralkali” company, located near the town of Solikamsk in the Perm region, was flooded, all workers were evacuated. A little bit later, a huge sinkhole was found on the territory, occupied by garden plots of local residents. At that time, the hole in the ground had a diameter of 30 meters.

Over the past nine months, the sinkhole greatly expanded and its current size is 120×125 meters. The following photos were taken in August 2015. Solikamsk sinkhole from space.

the sinkhole becomes bigger and bigger

Tags: Perm krai

Karabash is a small town with a population of about 12 thousand people located in the southern Urals, in the Chelyabinsk region, about 90 km from Chelyabinsk. This town is one of the largest copper smelting centers in Russia, known for its severe environmental situation.

Large quantities of pollutants, mainly gases, are generated during the production of copper from copper ore. All these gases were being released into the atmosphere without cleaning for decades.

the place of ecological disaster

Tags: Chelyabinsk oblast

Mutnovsky volcano is an active volcano (2322 meters) located in the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, 80 km south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

The area around the volcano is one of the toughest in Kamchatka. Most of the year powerful cyclones are raging here, bringing huge amounts of snow. Snow depth sometimes reaches 15 meters, and summer lasts for less than 2 months.

take a walk on the volcano

Tags: Kamchatka krai · landscapes

Yaroslavl region is a subject of the Russian Federation located in the north of European Russia, in the center of the East European Plain. The distance from Yaroslavl, the regional center, to Moscow is 282 km.

Previously, almost all the territory of the region was occupied by dense coniferous and mixed forests (spruce, pine), but, today, they are mostly substituted by birch and aspen forests, and cropland. Also, large areas are occupied by marshes. It seems to be nothing special, but these pictures tell a different story. Photos by: Andrey Grachev.

wonderful Russian nature

Tags: landscapes · Yaroslavl oblast

In the south of Gamov peninsula in the Sea of Japan (Primorye krai), there is a cape of the same name. It was named in honor of an officer of the frigate “Pallada” that arrived here in 1854.

This area, characterized by strong winds and frequent fogs, was very dangerous for navigation. That’s why it was decided to build a lighthouse here. The construction began in 1901, and the lighthouse was opened in 1906.

on the eastern edge of Russia

Tags: Primorye krai

Just look at this beautiful summer scenery found on the territory of Smolensk region located in the western part of European Russia – misty morning and afternoon on a field of lupine on the Ugra River. Photos by: Petr Ushanov.

beautiful nature views

Tags: landscapes · smolensk oblast

Smolensk is a city with a population of about 330 thousand people; administrative, industrial and cultural center of Smolensk region. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia celebrated its 1150th anniversary in 2013.

The city is located about 400 km west of Moscow, in the upper reaches of the Dnieper River. It has a favorable geographical position on the ways from Moscow to Belarus, Baltic States, Central and Western Europe.

scenic views of Smolensk

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