Moscow Oblast (unofficially – Podmoskovye) is inextricably linked with the capital of Russia, despite its separate administrative status. In terms of population, it surpasses all other subjects of the Russian Federation, second only to Moscow.

This is a region not only with huge economic potential, but also a wonderful place with a rich thousand-year history, attracting travelers from all over Russia and abroad. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

The pseudo-Gothic St. Nicholas Cathedral. It was built at the beginning of the 19th century on the place where the Mozhaisk Kremlin once stood.

attractions of the Moscow region

Tags: churches · Moscow Oblast · Moskovskaya oblast

Yepifan, founded on the left bank of the Don River in 1566, is a village with a population of about 2,200 people located in the east of Tula Oblast, about 94 km southeast of Tula. This village is included in the list of historical settlements of Russia.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built here from 1680 to 1720, is one of the most picturesque churches in the region. Yepifan on Google Maps. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

beautiful church on a hill

Tags: churches · Tula oblast

Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Kulikovo Field, built in 1913-1917, is a monument-church standing on the alleged site of the Battle of Kulikovo (1380) in the southeast of Tula Oblast, about 122 km from Tula.

The architect of the church was Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev. An interesting feature of this church is that one of its towers is crowned by a dome in the shape of a helmet. The Kulikovo Field on Google Maps. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

very picturesque church

Tags: churches · Tula oblast

“Akhtyrka” is a former estate and park complex located on the banks of the Vorya River in Moscow Oblast near the city of Sergiev Posad, about 60 km north-east of Moscow. From 1734 to 1879, it belonged to the princes of the Trubetskoy family.

In 1922, the wooden palace burned down, other structures gradually collapsed. But the Church of the Icon of Our Lady of Akhtyrka (1821-1825) survived. In 1937, it was closed. In 1991, the church was returned to the community of believers, services were resumed. Today, it is a monument of architecture of federal significance. Akhtyrka Church on Google Maps. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

picturesque stone church

Tags: churches · Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast · Sergiev Posad city

Khotkovo is a town with a population of about 21 thousand people located in Moscow Oblast, about 70 km northeast of the center of Moscow and 14 km southwest of Sergiev Posad.

The town originally appeared as a settlement near the Pokrovsky Khotkov Monastery, first mentioned in 1308. Today, the picturesque ensemble of the Pokrovsky Khotkov Convent is represented by buildings of the 18th-19th centuries. Khotkovo on Google Maps. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

beautiful architectural ensemble

Tags: Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast · Sergiev Posad city

Ulakhan-Sis is a mountain range with a length of about 200 km and a height of up to 754 meters located among the endless swampy forests in the north-east of Yakutia.

Here you can see a large number of various granite pillars 25-30 meters high. This is a very inaccessible place, people don’t live here. The first tourists started visiting it only a few years ago. Ulakhan-Sis on Google Maps. Photos by: Petr Ushanov.

on the very edge of the world

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

Sviyazhsk is a historic town with a population of about 240 people located on an island at the confluence of the Sviyaga and the Volga rivers in the Republic of Tatarstan, about 58 km south-west of Kazan.

Founded as a fortress in 1551, it became the base of Russian troops during the siege of Kazan, the capital of the Kazan Khanate, in 1552. Sviyazhsk became the first Orthodox town in the Middle Volga region, the center of the Christianization of the peoples of the Volga region. Sviyazhsk on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexander Butenko.

Sviyazhsk River Station.

a very picturesque town

Tags: Kazan city · Tatarstan Republic

Rozhdestvenskaya is a stanitsa (a Cossack village) with a population of about 2,800 people located in Stavropol Krai in Southern Russia, about 35 km northwest of Stavropol. This settlement, founded in 1797, was named after the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The main architectural attraction of Rozhdestvenskaya is the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1873) – one of the few preserved monuments of wooden architecture in the region, a cultural heritage site of regional importance. Rozhdestvenskaya on Google Maps. Photos by: Fedor Lashkov.

beautiful wooden church

Tags: churches · Stavropol krai

Teriberka is a village with a population of about 900 people located in Murmansk Oblast, in the north of the Kola Peninsula on the shore of the Barents Sea.

In the European part of Russia, Teriberka is the only place that can be reached by road to see the open Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Also here you can see such a picturesque natural phenomenon as the northern lights. Teriberka on Google Maps. Photos by: Sergey Korolev.

amazing scenery

Tags: Murmansk oblast

Zelenchuk churches (Northern, Middle, and Southern) are the three oldest Orthodox churches of the Caucasus located in the valley of the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River near the village of Nizhniy Arkhyz in the central part of the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia.

Northern Zelenchuk Church, the largest of them, was constructed in the late 10th – early 11th centuries. This beautiful building, harmoniously integrated into the surrounding landscape, is built of sandstone. The basis of the construction is a cross with a dome in the center. Northern Zelenchuk Church on Google Maps. Photos by: Fedor Lashkov.

very picturesque old church

Tags: churches · Karachay-Cherkessia Republic