Friday’s vandalism of the famous painting of Ilya Repin, “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan, 16 November 1581” was a shocking incident, but not an isolated case. That particular painting had been both banished and slashed in the past. And other works of Russian art have been destroyed or damaged for political and religious…
Russian graduates across the whole country are celebrating the beginning of summer and the end of term, in what’s called “The Last Bell.” When classes finish, kids usually get together in restaurants, organize a boat trip, or enjoy a picnic in the forest, among other things. However, school life is not over yet. To bid…
Thousands of rowdy football fans will descend on the campus of Russia’s top university during finals. A few meters from the imposing entrance of Russia’s most prestigious university, the sound of bulldozers tearing down trees is echoing across the historic campus. In just a few short weeks, some 25,000 football fans from across the world…
The first apartments in Moscow’s iconic Narkomfin building have gone on sale ahead as part of a major renovation of the celebrated constructivist landmark. Completed in 1932, the building was designed to embody the early-Soviet ideal of communal living, with shared bathrooms and kitchens for all the building’s residents. But the apartment block and its…
If you haven’t visited Moscow’s metro, you can’t say you were in Moscow, because the underground is one of the capital’s top attractions. It’s up there with the Kremlin and Tretyakov Gallery. During this summer’s World Cup, the Moscow metro and Museum of Moscow are teaming up with tour operator “Metrotour” to offer new guided outings…
Russia’s Central Bank has unveiled new 100-ruble ($1.63) bills to commemorate the upcoming FIFA World Cup. The front side of the banknote depicts a boy admiring the legendary Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin diving for the ball. A soccer ball with an embossed map of Russia adorns the back side of the blue-and-green technicolor bill. A total…
A few kilometres from the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, there are a cluster of bizarrely-shaped rocky outcrops in the middle of the forest. These are the stolbi (literally “pillars” in English) that are visible from almost any window in the city. For centuries, they served as a hideout for criminals and revolutionaries and in the late Soviet…
You can find clips of Jose Mourinho, Manchester United’s manager, speaking Spanish, Italian and French, as well as English and his native Portuguese. While often fluent, much of the foreign contingent’s English is, to native speakers, non-standard. Pep Guardiola, the Spanish manager of Premiership champions Manchester City, says: “We are so satisfy.” Mourinho says “every…
Artists from across the globe are being invited to take part in this year’s Artmossphere biennale in Moscow. It’s the first time that international artists have been invited to apply for the street wave art festival, which made its home in the Russian capital back in 2014. Artists with a street art background are being…
Moscow’s gardens are perfect for sniffing blooms and taking selfies. Moscow’s Central Botanical Garden. This 332-hectare (820-acre) garden founded in 1945 is one of the biggest botanical gardens in Europe. Part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it has all kinds of experimental garden beds along with thematic areas, like a Japanese garden, a rose…