Archive · Faith · Cinema

The Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church marking the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', held in June 1988 in Zagorsk, now Sergiev Posad

At this council Prince Dmitry Donskoy, Andrey Rublev, Maximus the Greek, Metropolitan Macarius, Paisius Velichkovsky, the Blessed Xenia of Saint Petersburg, Ignatius (Brianchaninov), Ambrose of Optina and Theophan the Recluse were glorified among the saints. The celebration of the jubilee is shown in the 1989 documentary film “The Local Council

Archive · Education · Society

Russia's Ministry of Education plans to give marks for conduct in Years 1 to 11 from 1 September

The proposal to introduce such marks was voiced at the Human Rights Council as long ago as 2024. On a trial basis, conduct marks have been awarded since the start of the 2025/26 school year in 89 schools in seven regions of Russia, each of which has chosen one

Archive · Books

What can be said of Turgenev's works as a whole?

What can be said of Turgenev's works as a whole? That after reading them one breathes easily, believes easily, feels warmth? That one senses distinctly the moral level rising within oneself, and mentally blesses and loves the author? But these would be mere commonplaces, and yet it is

Black-and-white panoramic photograph of a large columned building with a wide staircase, with cars and passers-by in the street.

Archive · Books · Moscow

Black-and-white panorama of a colonnaded building, photographed by Alexey Alexandrov

The Russian State Library in the 1950s. Photo by Alexey Alexandrov

NB! · Archive · Moscow · Mores

Winter in Zamoskvorechye in the 1990s

Archive · Faith · Monarchies · Paris · People

Marie Antoinette wrote a farewell to her children in her prayer book before her death

15 August, 4.30 in the morning. My God, have mercy on me! My eyes have no more tears with which to weep for you, my poor children; farewell, farewell! Marie Antoinette The Queen of France wrote this line in her prayer book a few hours before her death, knowing

Black-and-white photograph of a child beside a snow-covered car, with a building with a tower behind in the falling snow.

Archive · Moscow · Mores

A child clears snow from his father's car during a heavy snowfall

Snow on Leninsky Prospekt in 1960. A child clears snow from his father's car

Coming Up · Archive · Books · Museums · People

A Museum of the Writer's Manuscripts to Open for Leo Tolstoy's Bicentenary

At present the Manuscripts Department of the Tolstoy Museum holds some 300,000 items, more than half of them sheets bearing the classic's autographs. The idea of a museum of Lev Nikolayevich's manuscripts was first voiced by Fekla Tolstaya as long ago as 2018. The writer&

NB! · Archive · Moscow · Humour

Soviet Defence Minister Dmitry Ustinov and Leonid Brezhnev Revel in the Snow on the Lenin Mausoleum Tribune in 1980

Archive · Geography · Society · Pop Culture

A set of rules on what may and may not be photographed in the USSR, issued to David Bowie and Geoff MacCormack during their Trans-Siberian journey across Russia in 1973

Moreover, for foreigners in the USSR the ban on photographing military, scientific, industrial, railway, power and transport installations applied equally to sketching them

Two children with a red sled play in deep snow on a snow-covered field, with houses and snowy trees in the distance.

Archive · Art · People

Luigi Ghirri, a pioneer of colour photography in Italy

Winter 1985. Luigi Ghirri, a pioneer of Italian colour photography

Archive · Geography · Nature

Eruptions of Mount Etna from 475 BC to the activity of early 2026

Not the gates of Hades, but a portal of lava on the stratovolcano Etna, Sicily. Photo by Franz Lazi, 1968 Among Etna's more recent notable eruptions, the one of 2 June 2025 was a palpable affair, as was the one before it, in the spring and summer of