Yelets, first mentioned in chronicles in 1146, is one of the oldest cities in Russia. This city with a population of about 100 thousand people is located in the Lipetsk region, about 82 km west of Lipetsk.

It is the only city of the Lipetsk region included in the list of Russian cities with ensembles and complexes of urban development, natural landscapes, examples of old town planning, as well as an archaeological cultural layer, which are valuable in historical, artistic and town planning terms. Photos by: Vladimir Mulder.

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Tags: Elets city · Lipetsk oblast

The Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the main church in Stavropol, was originally built in 1843-1847, the bell tower – in 1858-1873. In the 1930s, the cathedral was destroyed and the bell tower was used as a radio mast, and then – a parachute tower. May 11, 1943, the bell tower was blown up by order of local party leaders.

The cathedral was restored on the old foundation in 2004-2012. April 25, 2019, the main dome with a cross was installed on the bell tower of the Kazan Cathedral of Stavropol. It was on this day that the cathedral finally found its original appearance. Photos by: Fedor Lashkov.

beautiful cathedral

Tags: churches · Stavropol city

Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery is a monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church located in the city of Dzerzhinsky in the Moscow region, about 26 km south-east of the center of Moscow. The monastery was founded by the Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy in 1380, in the place of the appearance of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

According to legend, it was in this place that his army stopped to rest on the way to the Kulikovo field. The appearance of the icon strengthened Dmitry Donskoy with faith and hope. He said “Siya vsya ugresha serdtse moye” (“This has warmed my heart”). Since then, this place is called Ugresha, and the monastery itself was named Nikolo-Ugreshsky. Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery on Google Maps. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

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Tags: churches · Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast

Tutayev is a historic town with a population of about 40 thousand people located on both banks of the Volga River in the Yaroslavl region, about 35 km north-west of Yaroslavl. This is one of the twelve places included in the Golden Ring of Russia – a popular tourist route passing through the old towns of North-Eastern Russia.

The churches of Tutayev, picturesquely scattered on the hilly banks of the Volga, are the main sights of this town and attract tourists and architecture lovers. The photos were taken in March when Tutayev was still covered with snow. Photos by: Roman Smirnov.

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Tags: churches · Yaroslavl oblast

Oleg Dmitriyevich Kononenko is the 102nd cosmonaut of Russia and the 473rd cosmonaut of the world. As of April 2019, he is on the International Space Station and during the three previous flights he already spent 533 days in space.

From the ISS, he took a lot of photographs of various regions of the Earth. Let’s see how the cities of Russia look at night from orbit. Source: Roscosmos.

Moscow – the capital of Russia.

Russian cities from space

Tags: Angarsk city · Astrakhan city · Grozny city · Irkutsk city · Krasnodar city · Moscow city · Novorossiysk city · Orenburg city · Saint Petersburg city · Samara city · Saratov city · Tolyatti city · Tver city · Vladivostok city · Volgograd city

“Vitoslavlitsy” is an open-air museum of folk wooden architecture located on the shore of Lake Myachino a few kilometers south of Veliky Novgorod, near the St. George’s (Yuriev) Monastery. The name “Vitoslavlitsy” comes from the village of Vitoslavlitsy, which existed here from the beginning of the 12th to the 18th centuries.

The museum was opened on May 16, 1967. The exhibition includes the oldest Russian wooden architectural monuments of the 16th century, as well as residential and outbuildings of the 18th-19th centuries. Vitoslavlitsy Museum on Google Maps. Photos by: Stanislav Konstantinov.

picturesque old churches and houses

Tags: museum · Novgorod city

Murmansk is a city with a population of about 295 thousand people located in the northwest of Russia, the administrative center of the Murmansk region. It is the largest city in the world located above the Arctic Circle.

The city stands on the rocky east coast of the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea. This is one of the largest ports in Russia. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Tags: Murmansk city

Barnaul is a city with a population of about 632 thousand people located in the south of Western Siberia at the confluence of the Barnaulka and the Ob rivers, the administrative center of the Altai Krai.

It was founded as a settlement at the Akinfiy Demidov silver smelting plant in 1730. The blast furnace on the city’s coat of arms reminds of those times. Today, it is a large industrial, cultural, medical, and educational center of Siberia. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Tags: Altai krai · Barnaul city

Yaroslavl is a city with a population of about 609 thousand people, the administrative center of the Yaroslavl region. Founded in the 11th century, Yaroslavl is one of the oldest Russian cities, which reached its peak in the 17th century. In 2010, tise city celebrated its millennium.

The historic center of Yaroslavl, located at the confluence of the Volga and Kotorosl rivers, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yaroslavl claims the status of the “capital” of the Golden Ring of Russia. Photos by: Roman Smirnov.

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Tags: Yaroslavl city

Salekhard is a city with a population of about 49 thousand people, the administrative center of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. It is the only city in the world located directly on the Arctic Circle.

It was founded as a Cossack fort of Obdorsk in 1595. At the beginning of the 19th century, the fortifications were demolished, and Obdorsk turned into a village. In 1933, it received a new name – Salekhard, which in translation from the Nenets language means “settlement on a cape”. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Tags: Salekhard city · Yamalo-Nenets okrug