Iturup is an island of the southern group of the Kuril Islands, the largest island of the archipelago and part of the Sakhalin region.

The nature of this island is amazingly picturesque. On the coast you can see beautiful contrast of white pumice cliffs and black hexagonal pillars of volcanic magma. Iturup on Google Maps. Photos by: Sergey Dolya.

natural beauty of Iturup

Tags: Sakhalin oblast

The state nature reserve “Stolby” (“Pillars”) is located on the north-western spurs of the Eastern Sayan and from the north-east adjoins the city of Krasnoyarsk.

The reserve was founded on the initiative of the city residents to preserve natural complexes around picturesque rocks in 1925. Today, the area of the reserve is 47,219 hectares. Picturesque rocks are the main attraction of the reserve. Photos by: Sergey Filinin.

great place for hiking

Tags: Krasnoyarsk city

Volokolamsk, a small town with a population of about 20 thousand people, is located in the Moscow region, 123 km north-west of Moscow.

One of the oldest Russian towns, it was founded on an ancient waterway from Novgorod lands to the Volga-Oka basin. For the first time Volokolamsk was mentioned in chronicles in 1135. Photos by: Dmitry Gazin.

explore the Volokolamsk Kremlin

Tags: Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast

Rostov-on-Don, with a population of more than 1.1 million people, is the largest city in the south of Russia. It is unofficially called “the Gates to the Caucasus”, the southern capital of Russia, “Rostov-Papa”, or simply Rostov.

This city, founded in 1749, is located in the southeast of the East European Plain, on the banks of the Don River, 46 km from its confluence in the Azov Sea, 1,074 km south of Moscow. Rostov-on-Don will host several matches of FIFA World Cup 2018. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Rostov-on-Don

Tags: Rostov-on-Don city

The Volga Bulgaria was a state that existed in the Middle Volga and the Kama basin in the 10th-13th centuries. The capital of the state was located on the bank of the Volga River in the town of Bulghar, about 140 km from Kazan in the present Republic of Tatarstan.

Today, the Bulgarian Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve is opened on the site of this ancient town. Bulgarian museum on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexander Lipilin.

explore the museum

Tags: Kazan city · museum · Tatarstan Republic

Tutayev (until 1918 – Romanov-Borisoglebsk) is a historical town with a population of about 40,000 people located in the Yaroslavl region. It is one of the towns included in the famous tourist route known as the Golden Ring of Russia.

This town, standing on both banks of the Volga River, appeared as a result of the merger of two towns – Romanov and Borisoglebsk located on opposite banks. You can visit Tutayev during a cruise on the Volga River. Photos by: Sergey Rubtsov.

stroll around Tutayev

Tags: Yaroslavl oblast

The Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life, located on the bank of the Kamenka River on the outskirts of Suzdal in the Vladimir region, is one of the most visited museums in the town.

Here you can see rare monuments of wooden architecture of Vladimir-Suzdal land. The museum is not large, it has only 17 wooden buildings: churches, a merchant’s house, peasant houses with interiors of the peasant way of life, windmills, granaries, wells.

stroll around the museum

Tags: museum · Suzdal city · Vladimir oblast

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, in Russia, a real boom in the construction of new Orthodox churches has begun. Most of them are quite similar, without interesting architectural solutions. However, there are some exceptions.

For example, take a look at the Church of the Holy Igor of Chernigov in Novo-Peredelkino – a district of Moscow located 30 km from the Moscow Automobile Ring Road (MKAD). Church of the Holy Igor on Google Maps. Photos by: Vladimir Dar.

amazing church in the new Russian style

Tags: churches · Moscow city

Kolomna is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities of the Moscow region, located 113 km southeast of Moscow. It is a major industrial center and transport hub, a river port on the Oka River.

According to the latest archaeological excavations, Kolomna was founded in the middle of the 12th century. One of the main attractions of the city is the Kolomna Kremlin, a partially preserved rare monument of the ancient Russian defensive architecture. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

fly over Kolomna

Tags: Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast

Nilo-Stolbenskaya Pustyn (Nilova Pustyn) is an Orthodox monastery located on Stolbnoy Island on Lake Seliger, 10 km north of the town of Ostashkov in the Tver region. The distance from Ostashkov to the monastery by road is about 25 km.

Founded in 1594, it was one of the largest and wealthiest monasteries in the Russian Empire. At the end of the 1980s, a significant part of the buildings were either lost or in a dilapidated state.

fly over the monastery

Tags: Tver oblast