Traditional Russian dolls dressed by popular fashion designers have gone on display in Moscow. The 31 dolls, known as Matryoshkas, had previously been auctioned for more than 700,000 euros to raise money for charity. The event drew hundreds of fashion lover

The doll has become a muse for some of the world’s most renowned fashion designers, including Roberto Cavalli, Ralph Lauren and Prada.

The designer-dressed Matryoshka stands 50 centimeters tall

Thanks to the designers’ creativity the nesting doll has undergone a major makeover: she’s lost weight and gained height. Now dressed for success, the Matryoshka has every chance of becoming a role model for fashionable women.

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The modelling business, like no other business, has a Russian face. In more ways than one, the beauty of Russian women has conquered the world.

Beauty in Exile

The world’s first models appeared at fashion boutiques in the late 19th century. The owners of these shops started inviting pretty, well mannered girls to demonstrate the latest fashions to rich patrons. A fashion model at that time was not a walking doll: she had to communicate with visitors, telling them (oftentimes in several languages) about the apparel that she was displaying.

In the early 20th century, Russian aristocratic women who became emigrés – the princesses, baronesses and countesses who found themselves in dire straits and had to make a living – set a new standard. Strikingly beautiful and well educated, they were in great demand in Europe’s most famous fashion houses. By 1930, about one-third of Paris models were Russian.

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But the joy for those just returned from a European vacation, or longing to be, is that the capital has some nice Art Nouveau surprises: tucked away amongst Moscow’s characteristic architectural cacophony is a rich bounty of Art Nouveau. Spotting it only requires a stroll through some of the city’s quietest streets and a bit of squinting at the skyline.

Moscow’s Art Nouveau hot spot is unquestionably the Gorky Museum (Malaya Nikitskaya Ul., 6). Unlike some house-museums of famous Moscow writers, this one has no chance of boring even those who cannot name a single title of Maxim Gorky’s works. With a bulging marble staircase that looks perpetually as if it is melting, wood paneling etched with spindly roses, monstrous stai­ned-glass windows, and more, the mansion offers a fair number of surprises, a dreamy confectionery of Art Nouveau’s best that Gorky himself, who was settled in the house by Stalin, absolutely despised.

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National Altai holiday El-Oiyn -”national games, national celebration” – sprang up at the end of 1980s in a wave of the revival of national culture as a direct heir of the meetings of ancient Altai tribes. Absorbed the best elements of ancient national traditions the El-Oiyn is a young holiday at the same time, that meets modern conception about a national festival.

Initially the El-Oiyn was intended not only as a peculiar local “Olympic games”, a championship for national sport games, but as a national festival that contributes to revival of cultural-historic traditions.

The first El-Oiyn took its place in 1988 near a village Elo of Omgudai region, and it included such national sport games as “kuresh” (sash wrestling), “shatra” (national Altai checkers), “kodurger tash” (rock lifting), archery, equestrian sport, theatrical show, and performance of national singing and dancing bands.

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The State Hermitage is one of the world biggest art and culture museum.
Founded in 1764, the Hermitage comprises eight departments: the Primitive Culture, the Culture of Antiquity, the Culture of the East, the History of Russian Culture, the Numismatics, the West European Culture, the Department of Science and Education, and the Restoration Department.
There are over 350 halls in Hermitage. The museum keeps about 3 million monuments of culture and art. Empress Catherine II initiated the collection of the Hermitage. In the end of the 19th century the museum was opened to public.
Paintings of such great masters as Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Raphael, Rembrandt, Poussain, Manet, Renoir are in the ownership of the Hermitage. The Hermitage is famous its collection of Scythian golden articles.

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St Petersburg has been the cradle of three revolutions: one in 1905 and two in 1917 (in February and October)

In the Soviet period November was considered to be the month of the Revolution, and 7 November (25 October old style) was a red-letter day in the calendar. Hundreds of thousands of people joined in demonstrations, meetings and parades in honor of the Great October Socialist Revolution…

These days 7 November has been renamed the Day of Harmony and Reconcilation, and causes few palpitations. However the memory of those revolutionary days is preserved.

7 November Parade in 1984

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Writers of the Golden Age of Russian prose were, as a rule, born and brought up in their family estates. Leo Tolstoy, who reached pan-European popularity as a novelist and philosopher, was not an exception: a count himself, he was an heir of the noble Volkonsky family. The grandfather from his mother’s side, Prince Nikolay Volkonsky, once bought an estate near Tula, about 200 km from Moscow; this large estate later became the home of the Tolstoys, most famously among them, Leo. The estate was maintained until the 1917 revolution. But its value for our generation is not limited to a model prosperity; what impresses and even intrigues is how Tolstoy implied his philosophical views here, from the position of landlord. Moreover, several rooms can be described as real sanctuaries of literature, the very places where Tolstoy wrote most of his novels. Read more and view photos

Women’s Day is this Saturday, of course; so here is a walk that celebrates a few of the many talented women who have called Moscow home. Our journey ends at the striking Novode­vichy Convent, which was a refuge or prison for many influential noblewomen in the 18th century while the cemetery next door remembers women from every field (If you wish to take a trip just to Novodevichy, take the number 15 trolley – tickets are 25 rubles from the driver – passing close to the houses of a number of Moscow’s famous females). Read more and view photos

Today the town’s name is Volgograd – Uncle Joe’s namesake disappeared in the late 1950s when the anti-Stalin campaign was in full swing. However, the town itself, built after the Master Plan of the late 1940s, still remains Stalingrad – the influence of the dictator can be discovered in every architectural ensemble. Read more

A great trip to cheer up a gloomy weekend or celebrate a sunny one, is a journey by monorail to the incredible All-Russia Exhibition Center (Vserossiyskiy Vystavochny Centr, VVTs), packed with colorful Soviet-era pavilions to explore, followed by a brisk walk through the Botanical Gardens beyond. You can also start from the VDNKh Metro Station, of course, which commemorates the park’s old acronym, “The Exhibition of Economic Achievements.” Read more and view photos