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Information About RussiaInformation About
Russia
Acting in the Russian Federation are 25 national
parks and 84 preserves the purpose of which is to safeguard the
wealth and variety of flora and fauna as well as the unique
landscapes and objects. The Ministry of National Resources of Russia
looks after their condition. Any activity is fully prohibited in the
preserves, but for the purposes of ecological tourism, their unique
natural objects are accessible and are of great interest. The Baikal
Lake, which is the deepest lake in the world, relict cedar and fir
woods of Siberia, the world most northern lotus fields in the Volga
River delta, the most spacious Volga-mother River, the valley of
geysers in Kamchatka, the fairyland of Altai, the Valdaiskaya upland
and the mirrors of thousands of lakes of Karelia, the hoary Urals
and majestic Siberian rivers, the steppes of Taman covered with
blossoming herbage and the Black Sea health resorts of the
Krasnodarski Krai in the framework of the most beautiful Caucasus
Mountains, landscapes of the severe Russian North and many other
things as well as the abundance and variety of rivers, mountains,
lakes and forests make Russia as having rather good prospects in
developing ecological tourism and open vast possibilities in
organization of unforgettable tours in any part of the country.
Russia is the country with eventful centuries-old
history and rich culture, which is reflected in several tens of
large and hundreds of small museums. Their profile is extremely
various: all over the country there are historical museums, museums
of regional ethnography, museums of arts (collections of arts,
galleries, previews), architectural and historical-and-cultural
memorials (museums-estates, museums-preserves of arts, monasteries),
literary and memorial museums (houses-museums, studios), scientific
museums (of anthropology, zoology, paleontology, criminalistics),
polytechnic and special museums (of peoples' trades and crafts,
watches, furniture, porcelain, stained glass, vodka, automobiles,
perfumes, etc.) and the like.
The first museum of Russia was opened in St. Petersburg in 1714 on
the initiative of Peter the Great and it was called the Kunstkamera
(the chamber of rarities). Demonstrated there were the things
brought out by the enlightened monarch from the Western Europe such
as the models of ships and machinery, devices and astronomic
instruments, stuffed animals and unique collection of anatomic
specimens. As distinct from the European museums of those times,
which were essentially commercial enterprises with high admission
fees, the first Russian museum was the educational one and free of
charge for visitors. More over, Peter the Great allocated the money
annually from the treasury for their regaling.
Another noticeable museum of St. Petersburg is the Palace of Peter
the Great (Petergoff). Equally astonishing in this Palace are not
only its interiors, but also the unique park, fountains cascade and
statues. Kept in Petergoff is the collection of belongings of Peter
the Great. Also interesting for the public and loved by the public
is the Catherine Palace in Pushkin (the Tsar's village). It was
built by Peter the Great for his wife - Catherine I. In the Palace,
one can find the parquet of wondrous beauty and gold-plated walls
with mirrors in the Throne hall, wonderful tiled stoves, the picture
gallery having 130 pictures of famous western painters of the 18th
century, the golden lace of the Rastrelli's wood carving, the Bright
gallery, the Chinese hall, the amber panel (the attempt to
reconstruct the fragments of the famous, but lost, Amber room).
One more place of pilgrimage of tourists is the Hermitage.
Invaluable inheritance left to Russia by enlightened empress
Catherine II (the Great) is the collection of the works of art
founded in 1764, and only in 1852 it became open for the public. It
was emperor Nicolas I who opened this collection and presented it as
the "Imperial museum" - the first artistic museum in Russia. Among
its exhibits is the richest collection of the works of Rembrandt and
among them are the "Dania" and "Holy family", the pictures of
Raphael and Rubens, the library of Volter, the ancient cameos of
utter beauty, the Siberian collection of Peter the Great consisting
of 250 ancient gold ornaments, treasures of the Scythian
burial-mounds.
Of no less pride for St. Petersburg is the "Russian museum". This is
a gigantic collection of painters' works, sculptures, drawings and
specimens of the folk art. From its repositories there could have
been made several separate artistic museums of Pavel Filonov,
Nikolai Rerikh, or Alexander Benua. There could not be forgotten the
museums of Alexander Pushkin and Fedor Dostoevsky.
The first museum of Moscow was opened in 1791 and was called the
Cabinet of natural history of the Moscow University (now it is
Zoological museum of the Moscow University).
The most significant museums of the Russian capital are the Moscow
Kremlin, its Armoury and Faceted Chamber, the Trinity-Sergius
museum-preserve (Zagorsk historical-and-artistic museum), the
Pushkin Museum of fine arts, the Tretiakov gallery, Museum of serf
arts in Ostankino, Historical museum, Museum of theatrical arts,
Museum of arts of the oriental people, the Diamond treasury of
Russia, Museum of the ancient Russian arts, the Temple of Christ the
Saviour and Sviato-Danilov monastery, Museum of the Armed Forces of
Russia and the Museum of puppets; so, curious tourists will have no
time for being bored.
Visiting of several museums-estates is the purpose of a separate
kind of tourism, which has been recently actively developed in
Russia. The project called "Wreath of the Russian estates" has been
elaborated and starts acting in Moscow; this project amalgamates
several itineraries of visiting the Moscow estates in Kolomenskoye,
Kuskovo, Kuzminki, Ostankino, etc.
The Armoury is the repository of precious treasures and valuables
inherited by Grand Dukes and Russian Tsars from the end of the 15th
century. From the beginning of the 19th century, it is the museum of
the antique tsars' regalia and crown clothes, precious gold and
silver dishes, ancient tsars' weapons and trophies, as well as rich
hoarse harness and carriages. The most ancient weapon is represented
by two helmets of the 13th century, pishals (ancient pistols),
mortars, mushketons (ancient rifles). Exhibited here are also a full
collection of Russian orders (up to the year 1917) and banners that
accompanied the campaigns of the Russian princes and tsars in
different centuries. All the Armoury exhibits are unique and,
without exaggeration, invaluable. The museum personnel and experts
say that they are not simply valuable, but their value cannot be
merely measured by money, they are the national treasure. For
example, the hat of Monomakh received according to the legend by
Vladimir Monamakh, the Kiev prince, from his grand farther
Konstantin, the Visantia emperor, at the beginning of the 14th
century, is made of eight gold plates covered with the thinnest
pattern, topped with the gold cross and literally strewed with
precious stones - rubies, emeralds, sapphires, tourmalines and large
pearls. All the Moscow princes and tsars were crowned in the hat of
Monomakh. Available here are also some other remarkable and no less
beautiful coronals and crowns as well as the symbols of power -
scepters and majestics, thrones, including the "diamond throne" of
tsar Aleksei Mikhailovitch, as well as exquisite ambassadorial
gifts.
Meanwhile, there are museums worth visiting and not only in the
capitals. For example, located in Tula is the oldest museum of the
Russian weapons, in Arkhangelsk - the unique museum of wooden
architecture, in Kaluga - the museum of cosmonautics, in the
Murmansk region - the museum of stones, in the Vladimir region - the
museum-preserve "Aleksandrovskaya sloboda" and in Sochi - the unique
arboretum. The status of historical-and-architectural and natural
museum-preserve was assigned to the Solovetskie Islands. In each of
the towns of the Golden Ring - Vladimir, Great Novgorod, Great
Rostov, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Suzdal - there are exist several
historical-and-architectural museums-preserves.
After the period of perestroika and
disintegration of the USSR, at the beginning of the nineties many
citizens of Russia began to refuse from atheism and adopt that or
another faith orienting on the traditions of their ancestors, their
own opinions and acquired convictions. Persecutions on religious
persons widespread during the soviet period has stopped and there
began the reconstruction of old (nearly 1.5 thousand survived out of
50 thousand existed before the revolution of 1917) Christian temples
and construction of new ones. At present, each confession freely
professes its own religion and believers can visit without
restrictions the Christian churches, catholic temples, mosques,
synagogues, Buddhist temples and datsans. Traditionally, Catholicism
is slightly more spread in the western regions of Russia. Separated
out from Protestantism by the scale is the Lutheranism: the German
evangelical Lutheran church is the largest Lutheran church in Russia
(it amalgamates about 300 parishes). Muslimism is widely spread at
the places of traditional dwelling of Tatars and Bashkirs, while
Buddhism - among one of the Mongolian peoples, i.e., Buryats. For
example, in the Republic of Bashkiria where about 800 thousand
Bashkirs and the same number of Tatars are living, the total number
of Muslims is about 1.5 mln. Acting in the Republic of Buryatia are
two Buddhist monasteries-datsans left from more than 40 monasteries
and 150 temples. Synagogues are available almost in all large
cities.
The peculiarities of rites and traditions consist
in the fact that they are conveyed from one generation to another.
The rites are associated with the religious notions; these are
koliada, celebration of Easter, wedding ceremony, mystery of baptism
and some other. Traditions are related to secular phenomena and are
spread a little bit wider. Such are the charity (patronage), Russian
bath, celebration of the "old New year" and as they said in the old
times, "drinking process". Koliada is the old Christmas rite of
glorifying the celebration of the birth of Christ by way of singing
the songs and the song itself. On the night from the 6th to 7th of
January before the Orthodox Christmas, the people were usually not
asleep: they were wandering from home to home, were being treated,
were making "koliada", i.e., were singing the koliadkis - the old
Christmas and new-year ritual songs. In the times of tsarism, even
tsars went to their subjects for congratulations and making "koliada".
Children and youngsters who sang the songs under windows started the
koliada process and they received for this various fares. Before
starting for koliada, the rich, as a rule, changed their clothes
into carnival and non-ordinary ones, while the poor simply reversed
the upper clothes inside out and put on the masks of animals.
Nowadays this rite is revived: the people learn the songs, change
their clothes as in the old times, put on the masks and go to the
neighbours, relatives and colleagues both in cities and in the
countryside. Children especially like to participate in the koliada
rite because they are necessarily given fares for singing the songs.
Easter, as they said in the old times, is the "Holiday of all
holidays and celebration of all celebrations", the day of memory
about life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a custom
in Russia to congratulate each other with this holiday. The Easter
in Russia is celebrated with several rites: the all-night vigil,
christening movement around the church, "easter-kissings" procedure,
painting of eggs and baking of Easter cakes. The "Easter-kissings"
procedure is such a widespread rite in Russia that it cannot be
avoided even by practically non-believers. The procedure consists in
the exchange of kisses followed by greeting-congratulation "Jesus
Christ resurrected!" and the reply "Really resurrected!" and then,
the exchange of painted eggs. The egg that was traditionally painted
red or tinged with red became the obligatory attribute and symbol of
the Christian Easter beginning from the 12th century. Apart from
painted natural eggs, prepared for the Easter celebration were also
special gift eggs made of glass, crystal, decorated porcelain and
precious metals. The most outstanding manufacturer of such eggs was
Karl Faberge. The main and obligatory adornment of the Easter table
is considered to be the Easter cake (kulich). It is baked of short
yeast pastry, it may be of different sizes, but it should be high
and have round form. A cross of pastry is laid at the top of kulich.
The form of kulich is explained by the fact that according to the
legend, the shroud of Christ was of the round form. And it is
considered, that if the Easter cake was a success, then the success
will accompany the family. Kulich is cut into slices across rather
than lengthwise so that the top remains safe in order to cover with
it the remaining portion of the kulich.
Baptism is very old rite, which in the Orthodox and Catholic Church
is related to the sort of mysteries. It means that a man was
admitted to the lap of Christian Church. After christening the
people say: "he became the God's man", i.e., he was drawn into
divinity. In the Orthodox Church, a baby is dipped into water three
times, while in the Catholic Church, he is simply doused with water.
It is a custom to invite relatives and close friends for the
christening-party and to lay the table in celebration of the event.
Mother and farther of a baby do not take part in the
christening-party. This ritual in Russia is made the same way as it
has been made for centuries with the help of successors (godfather
and godmother). Priest pronounces a proclamation prayer, blesses the
water, puts the christening shirt on a baby, gives him the neck
cross and makes the mystery of anointment and christening. In
Russia, the godfather for the parents is "kum" and godmother, "kuma".
That day, everybody made the new baby presents, and godfather with
godmother, the most expensive presents.
Wedding ceremonies in Russia were made in certain seasons of the
year. Usually, it happened in autumn or winter, in the intervals
between large fasts. The most popular period for wedding ceremonies
in Russia was between the Christmas and Shrovetide (a week before
the spring fast). This period was called the wedding period.
Nowadays, the most popular period for weddings of young couples
became the spring, the end of summer or autumn. The ritual of church
wedding becomes more frequent now, however, according to the law, it
is possible only after the marriage is registered by the state. The
church wedding is very beautiful and touching ritual, when standing
under the crown, the young couples give the oaths to be faithful in
grief and joy. It is considered that after the wedding, they more
sharply realize their belonging to each other and get into the mood
for long joint life since, as a whole, the divorces are prohibited
by the Christian Church. Traditionally, a fiance buys for fiancee
the ring, wedding dress and shoes and the fiancee's family provide
her with dowry, i.e., linen, kitchen utensils and furniture. Present
on the wedding-ceremony table should be the dishes of birds
symbolizing a happy family life. The wedding pie in Russia is called
"kurnik". It is prepared of pancakes or short unleavened pastry
interlaid with chicken meat, mushrooms, rice and other stuffing.
When the newly married couple comes to the home of the bridegroom
parents, his mother meets them according to the Russian tradition
with bread-and-salt. All the guests watch who will break off the
larger piece of bread because who has done so, will be the head of
the home. The modern wedding party usually lasts for 2 - 3 days.
A person who disinterestedly makes good deeds and helps the poor and
ill was called in Russia a philanthropist. The founder of charity is
considered to be prince Vladimir Krasnoye Solnishko (Red Sun) - the
christener of Russia. Any stranger could enter his chambers for food
and bed and to those, who could not come there themselves, the food
was delivered on carts by the prince's servants directly to their
homes. Later on, tsars and tsarinas gave to widows and orphans for
living, to dowerless for wedding, to the children of poor people for
studying, to convicts in prisons for food and clothes, and so on.
Rich traders (merchants) gave the money near churches and gave bed,
food and clean clothes to disabled and beggars in their homes. At
the end of the 19th century, there was rapidly grown the number of
charity societies, which took care of poverty-stricken and aged
people, and treated the sick and crippled. Meanwhile, the citizens
were doing the charity personally. The Maecenases were Savva Morozov,
Konstantin Stanislavsky, Fedor Shaliapin, Pavel Tretiakov and so on.
Even peasants followed the tradition of giving alms to the poor.
According to statistics, in 1896 every peasant, on the average, gave
for rubles to the destitute. This money was enough to buy 64 kg of
bread.
Till the beginning of the 20th century, the bath was the first need
of the domestic life. The bath was visited regularly. At present,
this is more frequently amusement or the element of the healthy way
of life. The bath now is one of the best ways to associate with the
friends. It is considered that the most optimal way of visiting the
bath is once a week or once in ten days. The main accessories of the
Russian bath are the steam, switch of birch or oak twigs, fragrant
tea with herbs, kvass or beer. In the bath it is not a custom to
swear or to speak aloud. From the old times and till our days, the
people in Russia believes in the medicinal force of bath, which is
very effective for prophylaxis of catching cold and also serves as a
means of psychological relaxation and removal of stresses.
Almost all Russians celebrate the Old New year, which falls on the
13th of January. Before 1918, effective in Russia was the Julian
calendar, which was ahead the Gregorian calendar used in Europe by
13 days. According to the Decree of the Soviet power dated January
24, 1918, Russia began to live using the same calendar as others.
However, all the dates were indicated for a long time with the
notice "by new style" or "by old style". But on January 13 by new
style the majority of families continued to celebrate the Old New
Year and exactly this celebration was considered to be "real". With
the passage of time, the people got used to new calendar. But the
tradition to meet the Old New Year remained. As a rule, many
Russians celebrate the New Year at home with their families.
However, on the eve of the Old New Year, it is a custom to lay the
table and invite the friends and relatives to celebrate, and until
that day, the decorated X-tree is by all means retained in each
home. This holiday sometimes is celebrated more cheerfully and
democratically than more official meeting of the New Year under
striking of the Kremlin chime.
The chronicle says that prince Vladimir Krasnoye Solnishko, the
christener of Russia, did not choose the Christian faith at once.
Historians assert that the prince, having decided to avert his
people from paganism, first thought of making the country
Mohammedan. The eastern ambassadors almost convinced him. But when
the prince heard that the Koran prohibits "drinking", he turned them
out. He said, "Merriment of Russia is drinking" and refused to
deprive his people of the sole amusement. However, the recent
Christian priests say, while drinking the alcohol in the period of
no fast, "Not only for merriment, but for good health".
The customs change more frequently than traditions. The most widely
spread customs now are as follows: to let elder people have seats in
transport, to live together with the children who reached the age of
18 until they get married, to marry at the age of 23 - 25 years and
if the mother of children is working, to let the children under
school age stay with the grand mothers to be looked after, rather
than stay in kindergartens, to cook jam in summer and to preserve
vegetables, to have, apart from flat, the countryside small house
(dacha) and most frequently, with garden and vegetable allotment. In
Russia, it is a custom to give hand to female companions when they
step out of bus or trolley bus, to shake hands with the friends and
to kiss thrice when you meet them, to go to see friends or relatives
not only on week-ends and to bring something "for tea" and to go to
see friends or relatives without warning. The Russians usually go to
sleep late, they like to drink tea in the kitchen while talking long
tales, they do not feel shy to borrow salt or matches from their
neighbours when they suddenly finished. During parties, they always
raise their glasses to the health of the host and hostess.
Practically all the Russians read in the transport because of time
deficit and love for literature. Among the family customs is the
habit to buy the necessary things for a baby only after he is born.
The attitude of Russians to the public use of abusive words is very
negative: in the Russian language these words continue to remain
indecent as distinct from the American vocabulary where these words
almost lost the abusive shadow. It is considered that to avoid using
non-normative words means to manifest private culture and estimation
toward encircling people. It is customary for Russians to ask a
companion private questions about his family, incomes, hobbies,
health, job or business and to expect a non-formal reply to these
questions.
 Russian
folk art reflects the richness and diversity of the nation's soul.
Folk art is a complex and multifaceted branch of the Russian modern
culture. It lives together with the nation, and has its roots going
back deep into history, providing a mainstay and fertile ground for
the national culture.
 The
high artistic merits of works of folk crafts, their strikingly
balanced forms and carefully chosen subjects are attracting artists
to the folk art, an inexhaustible source of creativity. Many
generations of handicraftsmen have contributed to the Russian folk
art. It is integral in artistic structure and highly diverse in
ethnic specifics, from the choice of material to interpretation of
artistic tools.
Wood and clay, stone and bone, leather and fur, straw and twigs are
all used in a natural way by skilful hands to make articles for the
home into veritable works of art. Today, folk art in Russia lives in
two basic forms - handicrafts practised on a broad scale and works
of art created by gifted persons working at home.
 The
most popular handicrafts in present-day Russia are: wood carving and
painting (Bogorodskoye, Khotkovo, Abramtsevo-Kudrino); the Golden
Khokhloma; ceramics (Gzhel); clay toys (Dymkovo, Kargopol,
Filimonovo, Abashevo); lacquer painting (Fedoskino, Palekh, Mstera,
Kholui); decorative tray painting (Zhostovo, Troitskoye); artistic
metalworking (Velikiy Ustiug silver niello, Rostov enamel, Kazakovo
filigree); bone carving (Kholmogori, Tobolsk, Chukotka, Khotkovo);
artistic stone working (Tyva carved sculpture); lace making (Vologda,
Vyatka, Yelets); embroidery, golden thread needlework, pattern
weaving and rug making.
Russia's cultural legacy includes outstanding achievements in the
fields of literature, architecture, ballet, musical composition and
performance, which have historically occupied the most prominent
places in Russian cultural life. The country's best-known writers
are those of the 19th and early 20th centuries - Aleksandr Pushkin,
Nikolay Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Anton
Chekhov, and Maksim Gorky - their influence being felt throughout
the world.
 Among the greatest Russian composers were Aleksandr Borodin, Modest
Mussorgsky, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, and Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky.
Their legacy is evident in more contemporary music, notably that of
Sergey Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky, Sergey Prokofiev, Dmitry
Shostakovich.
The
tradition of Russian realist theatre was exemplified in the work of
Konstantin Stanislavsky of the Moscow Art Theatre. The leading
theatre company for ballet is the Bolshoi in Moscow (founded in the
middle 1770s). Russian ballet had a formative role in Western dance
through a number of figures, such as Sergey Diaghilev and Vaslav
Nijinsky.
Russia's most characteristic architectural feature is its
onion-domed churches. In the world of art, religious icons, Futurism
and revolutionary graphic art are instantly recognisable Russian
forms. Cinema has always been an important art form and leisure
pursuit, the revolutionary period best represented by Sergey
Eisenstein's iconic "Battleship Potyomkin" and "Ivan the Terrible",
the recent past in the symbolic works of Andrey Tarkovsky.
 From
icons and onion domes to the Stalin baroque, Russian art and
architecture seems to many visitors to Russia to be a rather
baffling array of exotic forms and unusual things. In fact, Russian
art and architecture are not nearly so difficult to understand as
many people think, and knowing even a little bit about why they look
the way they do and what they mean brings to life the culture and
personality of the entire country.
Icons
The tradition of icon painting was inherited by the Russians from
Byzantium, where it began as an offshoot of the mosaic and fresco
tradition of early Byzantine churches. During the 8th and 9th
centuries, the iconoclasm controversy in the Orthodox church called
into question whether religious images were a legitimate practice or
sacrilegious idolatry. Although the use of images wasn't banned, it
did prompt a thorough appreciation of the difference between art
intended to depict reality and art designed for spiritual
contemplation. That difference is one of the reasons that the
artistic style of icons can seem so invariant. Certain kinds of
balance and harmony became established as reflections of divinity,
and as such they invited careful reproduction and subtle refinement
rather than striking novelty. Although this philosophy resulted in a
comparatively slow evolution of style, icon painting evolved
considerably over the centuries.
During the 14th century in particular, icon painting in Russia took
on a much greater degree of subjectivity and personal expression.
The most notable figure in this change was Andrey Rublyov, whose
works can be viewed in both the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the
Russian Museum in St.Petersburg. Unlike the pictorial tradition that
westerners have become accustomed to, the Russian icon tradition is
not about the representation of physical space or appearance.
Icons are images intended to aid contemplative prayer, and in that
sense they're more concerned with conveying meditative harmony than
with laying out a realistic scene. Rather than sizing up the figure
in an icon by judging its distortion level, take a look at the way
the lines that compose the figure are arranged and balanced, the way
they move your eye around. If you get the sense that the figures are
a little haunting, that's good. They weren't painted to be charming
but to inspire reflection and self-examination. If you feel as if
you have to stand and appreciate every icon you see, you aren't
going to enjoy any of them. Try instead to take a little more time
with just one or two, not examining their every detail but simply
enjoying a few moments of thought as your eye takes its own course.
The best collections of icons are to be found in the Tretyakov
Gallery and the Russian Museum, though, of course, Russian churches
have preserved or restored their traditional works.
Architecture
For most of its history, Russian architecture has been predominantly
religious. Churches were for centuries the only buildings to be
constructed of stone. The basic elements of Russian church design
emerged early, around the eleventh century. The plan is generally
that of a Greek cross (all four arms are equal), and the walls are
high and relatively free of openings. Sharply-sloped roofs (tent
roofs) and a multitude of domes cover the structure. The
characteristic onion dome first appeared in Novgorod on the
Cathedral of St.Sophia, in the eleventh century. On the interior,
the primary feature is the iconostasis, an altar screen on which the
church's icons are mounted in a hierarchical fashion.
The centres of medieval church architecture followed the shifting
dominance of old Russia's cities - from Kiev to Novgorod and Pskov,
and, from the end of the 15th century, Moscow. With the
establishment of a unified Russian state, foreign architecture began
to appear in Russia. The first example of such foreign work is
Moscow's great Assumption Cathedral, completed in 1479 by the
Bolognese architect Aritotle Fioravanti. The cathedral is actually a
remarkable synthesis of traditional Russian architectural styles,
though its classical proportions mark it as a work of the Italian
Renaissance.
The Russian tradition experienced a brief period of renewed
influence under Ivan IV (the Terrible), under whose reign the
legendary Cathedral of St. Basil's was built. In general, however,
the Tsars began to align themselves increasingly with European
architectural styles. The great example of this shift was Peter the
Great, who designed St. Petersburg in accordance with prevailing
European design. His successors continued the pattern, hiring the
Italian architect Rastrelli to produce the rococo Winter Palace and
Smolny Cathedral.
Under Catherine the Great, the rococo was set aside for
neoclassicism, completing St.Petersburg's thoroughly European
topography. During the nineteenth century a fresh interest in
traditional Russian forms arose. Like the associated movement in the
visual arts, this revival of older styles participated in the
creation of an avant-garde movement in the early twentieth century.
For a brief period following the 1917 Revolution, the avant-garde
Constructivist movement gained sufficient influence to design major
buildings. Lenin's Mausoleum, designed in 1924 by Alexey Shchusev,
is the most notable of the few remaining Constructivist buildings.
By the late 1920s, the avant-garde found itself repudiated by
Stalin's increasingly conservative state. Moving away from
modernism, Stalinist-era architecture is best exemplified by seven
skyscrapers in Moscow that dominate the city's skyline. In recent
years, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there is a
great interest to different forms of architecture and art in Russia.
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