Moscow · Museums · Observations · Education · Society

Back in my postgraduate days I noted with vexation that the overwhelming majority of Moscow museums did not count a postgraduate card as a student one, and not only denied free entry, although one would think that a history faculty should be able to visit

Back in my postgraduate days I noted with vexation that the overwhelming majority of Moscow museums did not count a postgraduate card as a student one, and not only denied free entry (although one would think that a history faculty should be able to visit at least the historical museums

Monarchies · Observations · Mores · People

In fairness, let us recall that the myth of the Potemkin villages became quite popular in the West from the very moment of Catherine II's legendary Tauridan journey, when a pamphlet on Potemkin-Tavrichesky appeared in Europe, in which…

Other sources also report on the Potemkin villages, but the notorious villages of painted plywood did not lead Catherine astray: this was the ordinary practice of adorning a monarch's route, just as was the building of sumptuous wayside pavilions for the Russian empress's halts. To begin

NB! · Observations · Society

Why America Lives in a Potemkin Autocracy, or a Few Words on the Life of Russian Idioms in the English-Speaking World

Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage · Society · Reportage

In my view, the trouble with events of this kind, where people try to stand up to commercial giants backed by the authorities at every turn, lies not even in the futility of such undertakings in our country, but in the fact that the camp of the defenders…

In my view, the trouble with events of this kind, where people try to stand up to commercial giants backed by the authorities at every turn, lies not even in the futility of such undertakings in our country, but in the fact that the camp of defenders of the righteous

Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage · Society

It turns out that, besides building yet another office Palmyra of loot and woe in the protected zone on Ivanovskaya Hill, they also plan to remove all the fences and make the territory barrier-free (really?), to protect the century-old poplars from the Zh

It turns out that, besides building yet another office Palmyra of loot and woe in the protected zone on Ivanovskaya Hill, they also plan to remove all the fences and make the territory barrier-free (really?), to protect the century-old poplars from the Zhilishchnik state budgetary institution, even to

Architecture · Observations · Heritage · Humour

Another representative of the developer, Yaroslav Katsuba, head of the management company, explains what an ornament to the district their splendid building will be

Another representative of the developer, Yaroslav Katsuba, head of the management company, explains what an ornament to the district their splendid building will be. Touching digressions are not avoided: “We managed to find a descendant of Ludwig Knoop, Andrea Knoop. She is a descendant of Knoop through her husband; her

Architecture · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Heritage · Society

The Museum of Architecture Hosts a Debate on Demolition and Construction in the Historic Zone of Ivanovskaya Gorka in Moscow

The Museum of Architecture has provided a venue for a debate on the demolition and construction of buildings in the historic zone of Ivanovskaya Gorka in Moscow. The background is as follows. On Kolpachny Lane, within a protected zone, a five-storey business centre is planned, complete with glazed attic,

Architecture · Faith · Moscow · Observations · Heritage · Society

I am simply horrified: under the guise of "restoration", the necropolis of the Novodevichy Convent has been literally destroyed

I am simply horrified: under the guise of "restoration", the necropolis of the Novodevichy Convent has been literally destroyed. See for yourselves. Levelling hundreds of burials to the ground and dismantling monuments, gravestones and the remains of crypts is now what passes for restoring a cemetery. If any

Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations

Exhibition “Masterpieces from Kazan” for Tatarstan’s centenary at the Tretyakov Gallery until 1 November

I suggest a visit to the exhibition marking the centenary of the Republic of Tatarstan, "Masterpieces from Kazan. From Roerich to Kandinsky", at the Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val, which runs until 1 November and presents works by artists of the Silver Age and the Russian avant-garde

Books · Monarchies · Observations · Mores

In light of the note on Leo Tolstoy, I recalled a passage from Daniil Granin's book "Evenings with Peter the Great", which unambiguously points to an intimate relationship between Peter Alexeyevich and Alexander Menshikov

In light of the note on Leo Tolstoy, I recalled a passage from Daniil Granin's book "Evenings with Peter the Great", which unambiguously points to an intimate relationship between Peter Alexeyevich and Alexander Menshikov. I remember well the strong impression this episode made on me, all

Archaeology · The East · Museums · Observations

I propose a comparison of expensive footwear from two different eras: a pair of velvet men's shoes with gold trim from Italy in the 1730s, in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and a woman's boot from a Scythian burial in the Altai, 2

I propose a comparison of expensive footwear from two different eras: a pair of velvet men's shoes with gold trim from Italy in the 1730s, in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and a woman's boot from a Scythian burial in the

Aristocracy · Art · Books · Observations

The most interesting thing about this child's portrait, in my view, is that the child is reading a primer, and he is three years old

The most interesting thing about this child's portrait, in my view, is that the child is reading a primer, and he is three years old. The count's son Ivan Alexeyevich Musin-Pushkin was painted by an unknown artist of the Yaroslavl school around 1786. The boy&