ABOUT RUSSIA

Russia is a democratic federate republic (the Russian Federation) with presidential government & two –chamber parliament.

The capital of the Russian Federation is the administrative, cultural & historical centre of Russia. Moscow will impress you by the unique combination of the past & the present – the bright colors of ancient monasteries & churches go along with the buildings of communist era & the modern architecture of banks & office buildings. Besides two major cities of Russia, Moscow & St. Petersburg, there are many other cities & villages with a splendid architectural & cultural tradition: Kazan, Omsk, Samara & others.

Russia attracts visitors from all over the world with its enigmatic charm & the unique things it has to offer. Russia is a country of very rich history. Some of architectural, historical and cultural monuments in the territory of Russia are included in the list of Universal Objects of UNESCO(38% of world objects), including Moscow Kremlin& Red Square, historical center of St. Petersburg, & palace & park complexes of its suburbs, white stones monuments of Vladimir-Suzdal land &cities of «Russian Golden ring», Troitse-Sergieva Lavra in Sergiev Posad, Ascension Church in Kolomenskoe & others.Russian territory is very vast so there are a lot of native zones that are very multifarious. Russia occupies 11.5 % of the total world’s dry land, including a part of Eastern Europe & about one third of north Asia.

• over 100 preserves and national parks
  
• the Volga, Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Amur rivers, Baikal lake, Black sea resorts, the peaks of Caucasus mountains and Caucasian Mineralnye Vody resorts, Teletskoe lake in Altai mountains, geysers and volcanoes of Kamchatka
  
• in Moscow: the Kremlin, Red Square, Lenin Mausoleum, Armory, Vasily the Blessed Cathedral, Tretyakov Arts Gallery, Borodino Panorama Memorial, Andrey Rublyov Museum, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Kuskovo, Kolomenskoye, Ostankino, Tsaritsino, Arkhangelskoye Estate Museums
  
• in Saint-Petersburg: the Hermitage, Russian Arts Museum, St. Isaac`s Cathedral, Peter and Paul Fortress, Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Peterhoff, Pavlovsk, Tsar Selo (Pushkin), Gatchina Palace and Garden Ensembles
  
• ancient Russian towns of the Golden Ring: Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov Veliky, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Suzdal, Vladimir, Sergiev Posad, Yuriev
  
• Historic and Architectural Museum preserve in Smolensk
  
• the Kremlin and Ivan the Terrible Palace in Vologda
  
• Kizhi wooden Architectural Museum
  
• the Kremlin and Historical Monuments of Veliky Novgorod
  
• Solovetsky Monastery on the White sea
  
• Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery and Pushkinsky Gory Museum preserve in Pskov
  
• the Kremlin in Kazan
  
• Historical and Architectural Museum preserve in Tobolsk
  
• Stalingrad Battle Panorama-Museum (1942) in Volgograd

The total area of Russia is 17 millions sq.km. But these parameters are riddled with diversity & a first –time visitor will be amazed at the seemingly endless possibilities to explore this country & the desire to return.

Russia is the only country with all the climatic patterns present but equatorial. Climate is moderate. Polar nights & days & the eternal frost contrast with heavy rainfalls. Russia is beautiful when bloomy & also smothered with snows.

The state Language is Russian, national languages & dialects in the regions. About 100 ethnic groups live in Russia, speak more than 10 languages.

Russia has an original cultural heritage. Here cutting edge technologies meet old traditions , ceremonies, art-ware, architectural miracles, strong artistic tradition make Russian culture one of the most significant worldwide.

The excellent products on offer & the unique combination of programs tinged with the exotic make Russia one of the world’s most attractive destinations today

Stores may be open on for fewer hours on some of these days. Sometimes it can be a little complicated figuring out which days the country shuts down. If the holiday falls on Monday or Friday, then everything is simple — it`s a day off. If it falls on a weekend, then Friday or Monday will also be a day off. If it falls on Tuesday or Thursday then the weekend will be shifted a day in the right direction and Saturday or Sunday becomes a working day, with the three days off being Sunday-Monday-Tuesday or Thursday-Friday-Saturday. If the holiday falls on Wednesday then there is no long weekend.

Like any other nation the Russians are famous for their own peculiar customs and traditions kept through the centuries.

Peter the Great, an outstanding Russian monarch, introduced many changes to the life of Russia and the Russian calendar. For instance, he brought in European chronology in Russia which started with the birth of Christ.
The New Year is first on the calendar and in popularity. Many celebrate it twice, on January 1 and 14, which corresponds to January 1 in the Julian calendar used in Russia before 1918.

Church holidays have been reborn. Christmas, one of the main Christian holidays in Russia, is celebrated on the 7th of January in compliance with the Russian Orthodox calendar. The festive and merry days of Christmas are called Christmas-tide in Russia. There is no any other holiday celebrated in compliance with so many traditions, ceremonies, etc.

One of the ceremonies is called "Kolyadki". The ceremony includes wishing of wealth and happiness to everybody. During the ceremony a snow-lady is made with a carrot nose, eyes of prunes and teeth of green beans. Lady Kolyada comes to the holiday to congratulate people and enjoy merry games and fun. Lady Kolyada is accompanied by some people bearing stars. They sing and dance in a ring on the snow with fired torches and push the festive wheel.

At the end of winter Shrovetide (a pancake week) comes. In Russian Pancake week is called "Maslyanitsa". Shrovetide is an ancient festival dating from pagan times. The Christian historians say that those were really "mad" days in the past. People wore funny masks and costumes, sometimes, men wore women`s clothing and vice versa. Such masquerade anticipated a merry festival, when delicious food and a lot of wine were consumed. At first it was a festival that celebrated the arrival of spring and the start of work on the land. It included many rituals (burning a man of straw symbolizing winter, lighting fires, leaving festival food on the ancestors` graves) and feasts, the main food at which were bliny. The feast fighting was one more great fun that helped to get warm on cold winter days. Later, the Orthodox Church included Shrovetide among its festivals. Shrovetide has lost its ritual significance and has become a symbolic festival of saying good-bye to winter and welcoming spring. At present special performances are held during Pancake week. Throughout the whole week people cook pancakes (bliny).

Easter (in Russian "Paskha") is celebrated in all Christian countries and in Russia as well. Special round-shaped sweet breads (Easter cakes) are baked. Moreover, eggs are painted in different bright colors. The colored egg, most often red, is the main symbol of Russian Easter. It symbolizes eternal life, birth and perpetual renewal.

The next Sunday, which comes right after Easter is called the Red Hill holiday. This day is considered the best for wedding ceremonies.

The folk holiday called Troitsa (Green Yule-tide) is also celebrated in Russia. In old times houses were decorated with green branches. Young birch-trees were covered with girlish clothes. People sang songs and danced round the birch-trees. The garlands made of birch branches and flowers were put into water for fortune telling.