Architecture · Faith · Geography · Observations · Heritage · Nature

Having visited Kolomna, it would be foolish not to see the place where the Moskva flows into the Oka, all the more so as it lies practically within the town limits

Having visited Kolomna, it would be foolish not to see the place where the Moskva flows into the Oka, all the more so as it lies practically within the town limits. The surroundings are very picturesque. If you go, the road will take you past the Old Golutvin Monastery, founded

Geography · Art · Nature · Ethnography

The Susitna mountain image was made by a digital artist, and Nancy Lash invented its legend

An image of the "Sleeping Lady" mountain, photographed by drone in Canada, 30 km north-west of Anchorage, is gaining popularity online. The story of Mount Susitna is bound up with an Indian legend about a girl who suffered from unhappy love: her beloved did not return from

Archive · Geography · Science

French 1804 illustration of Napoleon's invasion of England by Channel tunnel and balloons

What are Napoleonic plans? Take, for instance, this illustration of Napoleon's forthcoming conquest of England, from the French press of 1804. The victorious invasion was to proceed beneath the earth and above the water: troops and guns cross through a tunnel under the Channel, accompanied by an attack

Geography · Maps

Map of the Roman provinces and the location of European and Asian Sarmatia

A useful and simple thing: a map of the Roman provinces. Should it happen that school never quite made it clear that Mesopotamia lies just between Armenia and Syria, a little south-east of Cappadocia, while Mauretania is on the opposite side from Rome. As for Sarmatia, marked north-west

The East · Geography · Maps · Observations · Nature

The Kapchagay Reservoir, created in 1969, on a map of Alexander the Great's empire

The map of Alexander the Great's empire caught my interest for its easternmost part. If one looks at the north-eastern frontier of Alexander's conquests, where they run up against the unsubdued Massagetae and Saka, one notices an amusing thing: the Central Asian lakes Issyk-Kul

Archive · Geography · Maps · Science

Runiverse website opens free access to reference materials on medieval Russian lands

The cultural-historical site Runivers has posted consolidated reference materials on the medieval Russian lands: complete lists of the ruling princes, specially drawn maps of the principalities, and more. All of the materials are freely accessible.

Coming Up · Geography · Science · People

The lecture can be watched on YouTube and VKontakte

Today at 18:30 the website of the Russian Geographical Society will host a lecture marking the 110th anniversary of the legendary explorer of the World Ocean, Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The lecture can also be watched on YouTube and VK.

Architecture · Geography · Cinema · Museums

Orava Castle: a medieval fortress in Slovakia on a 112-metre rock above the River Orava

Orava Castle is a medieval fortress in Slovakia, perched on a 112-metre rock above the little River Orava. It was here that the 1922 film "Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror" was shot. True, in the plot the castle stands in Romania. In 2015 the castle, which had

Geography · Science · Nature

The 1816 Year Without a Summer, the Tambora eruption and a theory about the bicycle

Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death, or The Year Without a Summer: such is the name under which 1816 entered history, when snow fell every month in Western Europe and parts of the USA, temperatures stayed at winter levels, and rain and hail never ceased. A century later, climatologists explained

NB! · Geography · Maps · Pop Culture · Humour

Reddit has produced a rather splendid and, oddly enough, fairly accurate map of France in the style of Super Mario

Reddit has produced a rather splendid and, oddly enough, fairly accurate map of France in the style of Super Mario. True, part of Lake Geneva has nonetheless been ceded to the Confederation

Geography · Observations · Science · Nature

Rutile, first found in the Central Urals, and the value of its crystals

There is a very beautiful mineral called rutile, which, incidentally, was first found in Russia, in the Central Urals, and is now mined in many countries of the world. Rutile tends to form long crystals in the shape of needles and bundles of needles, mostly golden or straw-coloured. Its

NB! · Archaeology · Geography · Science · Nature

Incidentally, elephant dung is still found on the Alpine passes, and it is this that allows the route of Hannibal's fifteen-day advance to be pinned down more precisely