Delightfully for a girl from Montana, used to equally cold, dreary winters, the early days of March have been blessed with (as every Ukrainian that I know has insisted) unusually warm temperatures, sunshine, and a lot of snowmelt. From Kyiv’s plentiful mini parks, to streets, to porches, it seems everyone in the city is basking […]
Irkutsk City Dump Museum Fifth kilometer of Aleksandrovskiy Highway Free The Irkutsk city dump museum is one of the strangest places I have ever been in my life—not just for the fact that it exists, which is weird enough in and of itself, but for what’s in it. The dump/museum is probably about a 20-minute […]
The only way to peek into Moscow’s past prior to invention of photography is through paintings and works of masters of historical reconstruction. In this article, we will compare the look of old Moscow with how we see it today. Fedor Alekseev’s painting “View of the Resurrection and Nikolsky Gates and the Neglinny Bridge from […]
This list was originally compiled by Timeout.ru. Translation was provided by SRAS Home and Abroad Scholar Michael Filitis. 1. Cosmos Hotel All these years, this building, situated next to VDNKh park, has operated according to its intended design. In 2004, it even celebrated a milestone: its 7 millionth visitor. It is impossible to not recall […]
Muzeon Where: Krimsky Val, вл. 2, Moscow Open 8:00-23:00 Free Entrence (~$3 for coffee or a snack) Muzeon is a park and open air sculpture museum located next to Gorky Park and within the Garden ring of Moscow. Opened in 1992, the park consists of huge green areas, old soviet monuments, sculptures that could not […]
Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve: Walking Seminar and Picnic Dolskaya ul., 1, Moscow, 115569 Offered as part of the SRAS cultural program – Summer, 2016 Free, but bring ~$10 if you want a snack Tsaritsyno is a park and museum complex in southern Moscow. Currently one of the largest reserves in Moscow, the land started as an aristocratic […]
Gorky Park and Garage Museum of Modern Art in Moscow Poster Child of Russia’s Urban Revitalization Open 24/7 Free Entrance, Bring Cash for Food, Bike Rentals, etc. For several years now, Russia’s federal government and the city government of Moscow have worked together in an attempt to revitalize the capital city, with a particular focus […]
Kolomenskoye Park Andropova Ave, 39 Daily 08:00-21:00 (May 1st to September 31st 07:00-24:00) Free (~$5 for drinks and ice cream) Kolomenskoye Park is definitely one of Moscow’s must-see attractions. Open year round, this former royal estate contains historic local buildings, gardens, a haunted ravine with pagan shrines, and several artifacts and parts of wooden buildings […]
The only way to peek into Moscow’s past prior to invention of photography is through paintings and works of masters of historical reconstruction. In this article, we will compare the look of old Moscow with how we see it today. Past painting: Louis-Pierre-Alphonse Bichebois. Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, Beginning of 19th Century. Present […]
The following was contributed by Renee Stillings, Program Director following her recent visit to Irkutsk to check up on SRAS programs there. Those programs include Russian as a Second Language, Siberian Studies, and more. My first visit to Irkutsk happened over twenty years ago, when I was looking to expand study abroad options for SRAS […]
The Girl with an Oar sculpture was re-introduced to Gorky Park in 2011. Originally installed in 1935, it was then a controversial piece of art, and endured criticism, a likely theft or vandalism, revision, and then destruction by Nazi bombs. Everyone associated with the statue died the year the statue was destroyed: 1941. The statue […]
Whether you’re in St. Petersburg during the sunny summer months or the wet, cold winter, the Botanical Garden and Museum on Apothecary Island provides a welcome and colorful reprieve. Read on for an overview of the garden’s tumultuous history to its current global acclaim. History Founded in 1714 by Peter the Great, St. Petersburg’s Botanical […]