Features - Russia blog

19 July 2008 English | На русском языке

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The Russian Ballet: A Requiem

All praise for Russian ballet is justified, but the charms of its primordial forms may be lost in the countryside for ever. We associate Russian ballet with the great cities of the Soviet Union, not all of which remain in the present configuration of Russia. Odessa for example, has always been a major center for the exposition of this graceful form of the performing arts, but is now a treasured part of the Ukraine.

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Russia’s Nature Reserves

Few countries can match Russia when it comes to the rarest jewels of nature. This is an amazing land where you can be transported back well beyond the reaches of human history. Russia has an incredible collection of zapovedniks or nature reserves, where eco-systems are preserved in their pristine states.

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Kaliningrad - Russia’s Western Outpost

Kaliningrad is the most western oblast, or province of Russia and it has been such since it became a Soviet possession following Germany’s defeat in World War II. It is located on the Baltic Sea coast between Poland and Lithuania. Kaliningrad has gone by many names in its 750-year history, most recently being known as East Prussia when it was part of Germany. Before that it was the home territory of the Teutonic Knights, a militaristic monastic order that spearheaded the Catholic Church’s Northern Crusade to Christianize the Baltic tribes in the 13th and 14th centuries. One of these pagan tribes was the Prussians, who had settled the area as far back as 300 BC. In 1255, King Otakar II of Bohemia established the city of Konigsberg on the ruins of an Old Prussian settlement called Tvangste.

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The Trans-Siberian Railway: Russia’s Orient Express

The Trans-Siberian Railway must be ranked as one of the 10 wonders of the modern age. Even today, just over 100 years after its completion, the railway is the main transportation method for travelers and cargo to cross the vast expanse of Russia. To put things into perspective, the Trans-Siberian Railway runs from Moscow to Vladivostok over a distance of 5,772 miles, crossing 8 time zones and arriving in an average 7 days!

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The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

It would be most unusual to visit Russia without Moscow in the itinerary. Russian attractions are dispersed far and wide, but even so most trips to the rigors of Siberia, or to the salubrious climes bordering the Black Sea, include a sojourn to the capital city. It is not that Moscow needs any crutches to attract visitors! Few other cities can match its architecture, history, and character. The Russian economy has not shed its Soviet centralization as yet, so everyone who wants to do business with Russia has to visit Moscow.

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