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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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

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

Maslenitsa is one of favorite holidays by Russians and people from other FSU countries. The history of the Maslenitsa lies in the pagan time of Russia. The Orthodox Church could not take the Maslenitsa away from people therefor just adapted the holiday for Orthodox calender. Read more about Maslenitsa week

Arkhangelskoye, a royal collection of palaces and parkland just outside Moscow, is known for its beautiful gardens as much as for Prince Yusupov’s art collection. Although some of the statues have already been boxed up for winter, and – like so much of Moscow – there is a perpetual “work-in-progress” feel about the place, the relative peace and freedom of the surroundings more than makes up for it. Read more

The idea of an International Women’s Day arose as a day of the women’s struggle for women’s rights.

On 8 March 1857 women working in the textile industry in New York City staged a protest. Read more

Lesya Ukrainka

Again and again the words: he’s gone, he won’t return
No, he did not desert me – that belief is scared in my heart.
Can you here how the plucked string weeps?
It vibrates and trembles like a hot tear
Quivering in deep harmony with my soul
“I’m here, here always, always with you!”

And if I ease my pain by singing
If someone tenderly takes my hand
If I find myself drown into sincere conversation
If someone’s lips brush against mine
The string still sounds above me like an echo
“I’m here, here always, always with you!”

Read more about Lesya Ukrainka

Body language speaks louder than words in Leah Bendavid-Val’s new book of photographs from the album of Leo Tolstoy’s wife. Read more

The Old Arbat is a picturesque pedestrian street within the Garden Ring of Moscow. Nowadays, it is one of Moscow’s most touristy streets, with lots of entertainment and souvenirs sold.

The Arbat was first attested in 1493 as a road leading from the Moscow Kremlin to Smolensk. The origin of the name is Tatar and means suburb (the same as Rabat). During the 16th and 17th centuries, the neighborhood was graced with elegant churches.

In the 18th century, the Arbat came to be regarded by the Russian nobility as the most prestigious living area in Moscow. Read more