Saint Petersburg is located in northern Europe, in the north-west of Russian Federation, on the shore of Finnish Gulf and on Neva River. It is the only city in the world with the population over 1,000,000 located so far in the north.

Saint-Petersburg is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, being an important center of tourism in Russia. In 18th-20th centuries the city was the capital of Russian Empire.

Tags: Saint Petersburg city · time-lapse

Karelia Republic is a remarkably beautiful land of white nights, boundless forests, and blue lakes. Karelia is located on the border of Western and Eastern Europe, on the border of cultures and religions.

Severe beauty of Karelia Republic nature, the climate, not too favorable in these latitudes, the coexistence and intermingling of various peoples inhabiting this land for centuries, all that conditioned the character of the people living here: very laconic, self-assured, contemplative, and tolerant people.

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Today, after the war, Grozny is once again the administrative center of the Chechnya Republic of Russia. The reconstruction works are in process. In 2004 the railway connection with other parts of Russia was restored and the Grozny city airport, Severny, began to offer flights to Moscow in 2007.

Also, after several years of reconstruction, the beautiful Grozny city mosque (the largest in Europe) was opened in 2008. The following beautiful high-res photos of night Grozny were taken by timag82.

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December 28, 2011, just before the New Year celebrations, a new metro station “Admiralteyskaya” was opened in Saint Petersburg. The station is located on the 5th purple line between the stations “Sadovaya” and “Sportivnaya”.

For about 15 years it was in fact ghost-station, the trains passed it without stopping. Active work was resumed several years ago – escalators and platform were assembled. Today, after the opening, “Admiralteyskaya ” has become the deepest metro station in Russia – the length of the escalators is 120 meters. Photos by skydrinker.

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Pyatigorsk (“the city of five mountains”) is the oldest balneological and mud resort of Russia and the largest cultural and tourist center of eco-resort region Caucasian Mineral Waters.

On January 19, 2010 Pyatigorsk received the status of the center of North Caucasus Federal District. It is the only center of the federal district not being the capital of the subject of the federation. Photos by timag82. Click the photos for high resolution versions.

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Omsk located about 2,600 km to the east of Moscow is the second largest city in Siberia. The city is standing on the banks of Irtysh river at the confluence with Om river.

The rivers connect Omsk with various coal and other mineral mining cities and towns of Kazakhstan and with oil, natural gas and lumber rich regions of Siberia. Video by Vladimir Skorokhod and Sergey Kotov.

Tags: Omsk city · time-lapse

Vologda Kremlin is historical and architectural complex located in the central part of Vologda. It was founded as a fortress in 1567 by order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible and played the role of defensive fortification in the 16th-17th centuries.

By the 1820s the Kremlin walls and towers were dismantled. Today the territory of the Kremlin is a historical and trade center of Vologda. Several architectural monuments built at the same time as the Kremlin were preserved. They are standing on the Kremlin Square. Photos by Ilya Pokrovsky.

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Tags: churches · Vologda city

Catherine’s Palace is the former imperial palace, one of the largest in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. The palace is located in the town of Pushkin (formerly Tsarskoye Selo), 25 km south of St. Petersburg.

The architectural trends of each era the palace survived, and personal predilections of Russian rulers of the time were reflected in the history and architecture of the palace. The palace was built in 1717 under the direction of German architect Johann Friedrich Braunshtein as the summer residence of Empress Catherine I.

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Tags: Leningrad oblast · Saint Petersburg city

Yuriev-Polskiy is one of the oldest towns in Vladimir oblast. This small town with the population of about 19,000 is the part of the Golden Ring of Russia tourist route. Yuriev-Polskiy is located 68 km northwest of Vladimir and 180 km north-east of Moscow.

The town was founded in 1152 by Yuri Dolgoruky. He also ordered to build almost circular stone fort surrounded by an earthen rampart up to 7 meters height. In 1234 in the center of the fortress St. George’s Cathedral was built. It is one of the main attractions of present Yuriev-Polskiy.

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Zaraysk is a small town (23,000 people) located in the Moscow region about 145 km from Moscow. The town was mentioned for the first time in 1146. The main attraction of Zaraysk is the Kremlin constructed in 1528-1531.

It is one of the few towns in Russia which is completely preserved. Walking down the streets of Zaraysk sometimes you have the feeling that you get in a small provincial town of the late 19th century. Photos by Maxim Yashin.

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Tags: Moskovskaya oblast