http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/ en 2012-05-15T04:35:23-05:00 hourly 6 2012-05-15T04:35:23-05:00 http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/the-sparrow-hills-of-moscow 2012-05-15T04:35:23-05:00 en Editor Features Located on the right bank of Moscow's Moskva River, the highest point of Sparrow Hills is between sixty and seventy meters above the level of the river. An observation platform allows visitors to view the city and a number of notable landmarks from a height of eighty-five meters above the Moskva River. The name Sparrow Hills, is believed to be a reference to the village Vorobyovo which the Grand Duchess Sophia Vitovtovna of Lithuania acquired in 1451 from a priest named Vorobey (Воробей), meaning 'sparrow'. The Grand Duchess was married to Vasiliy I Dmitriyevich – the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1389 to 1425. http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/take-a-stroll-along-nevsky-prospekt 2012-05-01T04:27:16-05:00 en Editor Features The main thoroughfare in St Petersburg, Nevsky Avenue, stretches from the distinctive Admiralty building with its landmark steeple, to the Moskovsky Rail Terminal, before taking a turn at Vosstaniya Square and ending at St Alexander Nevsky Lavra – the monastery founded in 1710 by Peter the Great. Most of St Petersburg's shopping and nightlife options are found either along Nevsky Avenue, or close to it, as are some of the city's most expensive and luxurious apartments. In addition to being the center of modern living and entertainment, Nevsky Avenue features a host of historical and cultural attractions worth visiting. http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/church-of-the-savior-a-memorial-to-tsar-alexander-ii 2012-04-17T02:53:19-05:00 en Editor Features Built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built as a memorial to his father by Alexander III, starting in 1883 and completed in 1907 during the reign of Nicholas II. Richly decorated, and featuring a number of onion domes in varying sizes, the church is an architectural marvel and one of the most popular attractions in the city of St Petersburg. While the historic architecture of St Petersburg is mostly in the Neoclassical and Baroque styles, the church, which is also referred to as the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ or Church on Spilt Blood, resembles the 16th century St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/tauride-palace-in-st-petersburg 2012-04-03T04:14:56-05:00 en Editor Features Built in the late 18th century, Tauride Palace is one of St Petersburg's largest and most historically significant palaces. The palace was commissioned by Prince Grigory Potemkin of Tauride (Crimea), and designed by Ivan Starov – the celebrated Russian architect who created the layout for the cities of Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Pskov, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk, among others. The construction of the palace took six-years and it was considered at the time to be the grandest residence of a nobleman in 18th-century Russia, becoming the building upon which other manors were modeled. http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/museum-of-the-defense-and-siege-of-leningrad 2012-03-20T04:00:27-05:00 en Editor Features Located in St Petersburg, the State Memorial Museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad commemorates the blockade of the city, then known as Leningrad, which took place from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944. This 872-day siege of the city by joint German, Italian and Finnish forces has been recorded as one of the longest sieges in history. It was also one of the most destructive, resulting in huge numbers of casualties, with Russian losses recorded as one million Red Army soldiers being killed, captured or missing; almost 2.5 million soldiers wounded or ill; and civilian deaths being estimated at more than a million. http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/the-majestic-mariinsky-theater-in-st-petersburg 2012-03-06T02:05:51-06:00 en Editor Features Dedicated to promoting opera and ballet in the Russian city of St Petersburg, the majestic Mariinsky Theater opened in 1860 and soon became the venue of choice for theater performances in the late 19th century. Named in honor of the wife of Tsar Alexander II, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the theater is home to the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Mariinsky Opera and the Mariinsky Ballet, under the direction of Russian conductor and opera company director Valery Gergiev. http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/travel-the-historic-circum-baikal-railway 2012-02-21T01:41:40-06:00 en Editor Travel Running along the shoreline of Lake Baikal from the town of Slyudyanka to the Baikal urban settlement on the left bank of the Angara, the Circum-Baikal Railway is considered to be a significant engineering accomplishment, particularly in light of the fact that it was constructed at the turn of the 19th century. At that time it was one of the seven sections forming the Trans-Siberian Railway, stretching from Irkutsk to what is now the town of Babushkin (previously Mysovaya wharf) on Lake Baikal's southeastern shore. http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/russias-charming-chuvash-republic 2012-02-07T01:37:39-06:00 en Editor Travel The Chuvash Republic of Russia lies in the heart of the spectacular Volga-Vyatka region, between Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. With a number of the Volga River valley reservoirs found in the north, and the Sura River flowing along the republic’s western boundary before joining the Volga, together with vast stretches of forested territory, the Chuvash Republic is very picturesque and rich in natural resources. Its natural beauty, together with a moderate continental climate, makes Chuvashia a popular leisure destination choice, and boat trips along the Volga often include a stop at the republic's largest city, Cheboksary. http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/ivan-bunin-russias-first-nobel-laureate-for-literature 2012-01-24T01:54:16-06:00 en Editor Features Earning his place in history as the first Russian writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin (1870-1953) was acclaimed among his peers for his ability to remain true to the literary tradition of the time, while being innovative in artistic expression and clarity. At the turn of the century, liberal Russian magazine, Vestnik Evropy noted that Bunin had no rivals among Russian poets when it came to artistic precision, calling him a true 'artist' with poetic language. Although the Nobel Prize in Literature was presented to Ivan Bunin in 1933 for his book The Life of Arseniev, it is widely agreed that this autobiographical novel is a small sample of this Russian writer's literary genius. http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/discover-the-splendor-of-yugyd-va-national-park 2012-01-10T02:50:43-06:00 en Editor Travel Covering an area of close to nineteen thousand square kilometers, the Yugyd Va National Park is the largest national park in both Russia and Europe. The park is located in the Komi Republic of Russia and incorporates the northern Ural Mountains and the surrounding foothills and plains, providing a range of natural habitats supporting diverse wildlife and vegetation. More than fifty percent of the park is covered in taiga boreal forest characterized by different species of conifers, and the rest of the terrain features alpine meadows, river valleys and high-elevation tundra.