William Carrick (1827-1878) was a Scottish-Russian artist and photographer. In 1859, in St. Petersburg, he opened the first photo studio in the Russian Empire.

Carrick quickly gained fame, capturing the daily life of the country and became the first Russian ethnographer-photographer. Let’s look at some of his works. The second part. Source: humus.

Musician playing a balalaika.

faces of the Russian Empire

Tags: Russian Empire

Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy of the Russian Orthodox Church was founded by Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia in Moscow in 1909. Today, it is located in the center of the city on Bol’shaya Ordynka Street, 34.

The main attraction of the convent is the Intercession Cathedral built by the famous architect Alexey Shchusev in 1908-1912. This is a unique example of the Neo-Russian style in church architecture. Marfo-Mariinsky Convent on Google Maps. Photos by: Vladimir Dar.

majestic church

Tags: churches · Moscow city

The Russian North is a collective name for the northern regions of the European part of Russia, where a lot of folk traditions have been preserved since the times of Kievan Rus.

In the 16th-17th centuries, a peculiar northern culture developed here with its northern “schools” of painting, bone and wood carving, wooden architecture.

beautiful wooden church

Tags: Arkhangelsk oblast · churches

Kazan is a city with a population of more than 1.2 million people, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, and a large port on the left bank of the Volga River located about 800 km east of Moscow.

The city is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Russia. From June 16 to July 6, 2018, 6 matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup will be played here. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Kazan

Tags: Kazan city · Tatarstan Republic

Yelets, first mentioned in 1146, is a city with a population of about 100,000 people located in the Lipetsk region, 82 km west of Lipetsk. In total, there are more than 200 monuments of history and culture here.

However, the general architectural ensemble of the city is its main attraction. Let’s stroll through the old streets of Yelets and look at the beautiful buildings and estates, colorful houses, museums and feel the magic of Yelets. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

explore the streets of Yelets

Tags: Elets city · Lipetsk oblast

Vladimir, the administrative center of the Vladimir region, is one of the largest tourist centers in the European part of Russia included in the popular tourist route Golden Ring of Russia.

This city, located mainly on the left bank of the Klyazma River, about 180 km east of Moscow, was the capital of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir in the 12th-14th centuries. The city has a lot of architectural monuments including three white stone monuments built before the invasion of the Mongols. Photos by: Vasiliy Nikitinskiy.

walk on the snow-covered Vladimir

Tags: Vladimir city

In 1913, on the wave of the general rise of the Russian economy, the rapid growth of the cinematographic industry began in the Russian Empire. In 1913, according to incomplete data, there were 1,412 movie theaters in the country, of which 134 – in St. Petersburg and 67 – in Moscow.

The heyday of the artistic Russian cinematography occurred during the First World War. In 1916, at least 150 million tickets to movie theaters were sold in the Russian Empire. Let’s look at the movie posters of these times. Source: humus.

1. Train of Horrors (1910s).

great vintage movie posters

Tags: posters · Russian Empire

The Tula State Weapons Museum, founded in 1775, is the oldest museum of weapons in Russia and one of the main attractions of Tula. In 2012, a new building in the form of a medieval Russian helmet was constructed for the museum (Oktyabr’skaya Street, 2).

Near the building there is an exhibition of Russian military equipment of the second half of the 20th century. Inside you can learn about the history of firearms and cold steel from the 14th century to the present. Photos by: babs71.

1. The building of the museum.

guns, guns, and more guns

Tags: museum · Tula city

Samara is the 9th largest city in Russia with a population of about 1.2 million people. It is a major economic, transport, scientific, educational, and cultural center of the country.

The capital of the Samara region, this city is located on the left bank of the Volga River (Saratov Reservoir) at its confluence with the Samara River (hence the name of the city). Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Samara

Tags: Samara city

Atheism, as a worldview denying religion, without being formally declared in the USSR as an element of state ideology, was actively supported by the Communist Party and state bodies until 1988.

Propaganda was actively used for these purposes. Here are examples of anti-religious posters that you could see in the times of the USSR.

1. There is no God!

religion is poison?

Tags: posters · propaganda · Soviet past