Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, situated on the shore of Lake Siverskoye in the town of Kirillov of the Vologda region, is the largest monastery in ​​Europe.

In the 15th-17th centuries, it was one of the largest and richest monasteries in Russia, the spiritual center of the Russian North. In 1924, the monastery was turned into a historical, architectural and art museum-reserve. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

fly over the monastery

Tags: Vologda oblast

Gamsutl is a picturesque Avar village located on top of Mount Gamsutlmeer, in Gunibsky district of Dagestan. This village is one of the oldest settlements on the territory of the republic.

Translated from the Avar, the word “gamsutl” means “at the foot of the khan’s fortress”, from what historians have concluded that once, in ancient times, Khan chose this place to build his fortress or tower. Gamsutl on Google Maps. Photos by: Olga Stanina.

explore the abandoned settlement

Tags: Abandoned · Dagestan Republic

Sochi is a Russian resort city located on the Black Sea coast of Krasnodar Krai. Tourism, mostly internal, is the basis for the city’s economy. Sochi is the largest resort city in Russia.

The population of Sochi is only about 400 thousand people, but every year about 6 million tourists visit the city. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Sochi

Tags: Krasnodar krai · Sochi city

The Central Air Force Museum is a museum of the history of aviation technology located in the village of Monino in Shchyolkovsky district of the Moscow region, 23 km east of Moscow.

The museum, opened to visitors in 1960, has a rich exposition of helicopters and aircraft of civil and military purposes, as well as weapons, tools, uniforms, artwork. The exhibits are located in the open air, in two hangars and six exhibition halls. Photos by: Andrey Khachatryan.

explore one of the largest aviation museums

Tags: Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast · museum

The Marian Tikhvin Assumption Monastery is an Orthodox monastery located in the town of Tikhvin in the Leningrad region, about 220 kilometers east of St. Petersburg.

Pimen, the Archbishop of Novgorod, founded the monastery by the order of Ivan the Terrible in 1560. The main relic of the monastery is the miracle-working Tikhvin Icon of the Holy Mother. Tikhvin Monastery on Google Maps. Photos by: Dmitriy Gazin.

very picturesque monastery

Tags: Leningrad oblast

Altai is a true sanctuary of wild flowers. You can easily find large flower meadows of all colors – from bright orange to sky blue.

Most of the following photos were made during a trip on the Ukok plateau located in the extreme south of the Altai Republic, on the border of Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and Russia. Photos by: Anton Petrus.

Forget-me-nots.

beautiful Altai scenery

Tags: Altay Republic

The building of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the former main imperial palace of Russia, was constructed by the Italian architect B.F.Rastrelli in magnificent Elizabethan Baroque style with elements of the French Rococo in the interiors in 1754-1762.

Since Soviet times, the palace is occupied by the main exhibition of the State Hermitage – one of the largest and most significant art and historical museums in Russia and abroad. Photos by: deletant.

luxurious historical interiors

Tags: Saint Petersburg city

In the Chukhlomsky district of the Kostroma region, hidden between forests and abandoned villages, there is a beautiful wooden palace designed by the famous architect Ivan Ropet (1845-1908).

The house was built by Martyan Sazonov for Yelizaveta Dobrovolskaya, his second wife, in the late 19th century. He was of peasant origin but that did not stop him to go to St. Petersburg and become a major construction businessman. Photos by: Vadim Razumov.

beautiful wooden house

Tags: Kostroma oblast

Vyborg, a city in Russia with a population of about 80 thousand people, is located in the Leningrad region, near the border with Finland and 120 kilometers from St. Petersburg.

The city, founded as a fortress by the Swedes in 1293, is the only historical settlement in the region.

Vyborg Castle at different times of the day

Tags: Leningrad oblast

Staritsky Holy Assumption Monastery is an Orthodox monastery located in the town of Staritsa, on the right bank of the Volga River, in the Tver region.

The ensemble of the monastery is one of the most important and interesting architectural complexes in the region. This is one of the oldest monasteries in Russia, officially founded in the first half of the 16th century, although the first monks came here from Kiev-Pechersk Lavra in 1110.

explore the monastery

Tags: churches · Tver oblast