In 1466, some 30 years before Columbus arrived in America, the Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin left his hometown of Tver on a commercial trip to India. Travelling to distant countries in the middle of the XV century was actually even harder than in the "Covid months" of 2020 and it would take Nikitin a staggering three years to reach... Continue Reading →
If you haven't already done so, please read Part I and Part II of this incredible, yet absolutely true story before proceeding. No one would have ever thought to look for a deserter in a secret military base. And no one did. Pyotr slept through the day and when the sun set he again got... Continue Reading →
If you haven't already done so, please read Part I of this incredible, yet absolutely true story before proceeding. «That night - Pyotr recalls - I knew I couldn't go back to the unit. I would get maimed or killed. It was as simple as that». The celebrations, after a day's work, happened right around... Continue Reading →
Two people are enjoying a relaxed evening swim in the Black Sea. The setting sun has been warming up the water for the whole day and it is the perfect moment to enjoy it. The year is 2019 and the sea is calm, friendly and easily accessible to all. The situation was very, very different... Continue Reading →
In 1957 the USSR launched both the world's first nuclear-powered surface ship and the first nuclear-powered civilian vessel: the nuclear-powered icebreaker Lenin. Now permanently moored in Murmansk, the ship is an unmissable museum for anyone visiting the largest city on Earth above the Artic Circle. An embodiment of the technical progress of her time, the Lenin comprised 70,000 parts, with the total length... Continue Reading →
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (often anglicized as Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky), needs little introduction. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States. Born in Votkinsk, he studied in Saint Petersburg and lived both in the then-capital of Russia and... Continue Reading →
After living in Russia for over a year, I decided to start this blog to share what I see and experience every day, living in the largest country on Earth and one certainly filled with co-existing opposites. The blog is called Russia Through The Lens, not just because I publish one (or more) picture I... Continue Reading →
Who invented the lightbulb? Here's a question that will certainly spark discussion! (pun intended). In addressing this question, historians Robert Friedel and Paul Israel list 22 inventors of incandescent lamps prior to Thomas Edison. They conclude that Edison's version was able to outstrip the others because of a combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others... Continue Reading →
The town of Vyborg lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Vyborg Bay, 130 km (81 miles) to the northwest of St. Petersburg and 38 km (24 miles) south of Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland. The town has changed hands several times in history, most recently in 1944 when the Soviet Union captured it from Finland during World... Continue Reading →
Russia Through The Lens 