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Features
- Rostov Veliky
- Yuri Gagarin
- Russian ice swimming
- Russian Souvenirs
- Volga Dream Cruise
- Soviet Disneyland
- The Russian Banya
- Russian Spring Pancakes
- Poor, paranoid Paul
- The secrets of Russian caviar
- Modern Russian Women
- Fabulous Faberge
- How Russians Say I do
- Caucasian cuisine – A taste of the South
- The History of Russian Railways
- Stalin's Seven Sisters
More features:
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Soviet Disneyland
Soviet DisneylandIf there were such thing as a Soviet Disneyland, Moscow’s VDNKh (pronounced VDN-hah) district would be it.... -
Volga Dream Cruise
All AboardModern cruising is all about the size of your ship, with ocean-liners becoming small cities filled with casinos, swimming pools, bowling alleys and bars.... -
Stalin's Seven Sisters
Poor old Stalin. After the defeat of the Nazis in 1945, legend has it he was convinced that everyone in the world would now want to visit Moscow.... -
Rostov Veliky
A hidden gem of the Golden RingText and photos by Louise Whitworth This tiny lakeside town, around three hours from Moscow along the route between Sergiev Posad and Yaroslavl, is a far too often over-looked gem of Russia's Golden Ring of medieval towns and villages.... -
Fabulous Faberge
Today Faberge eggs are without doubt the most famous and expensive Easter eggs in the world.... -
The secrets of Russian caviar
Female tennis players are Russia’s eye-catchers nowadays. But long before Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva and the others started strutting their stuff on the courts, caviar was one of Russia’s most wanted pearls.... -
Russian Spring Pancakes
Maslenitsa (Pancake week) is the only purely Russian Holiday that dates back to the pagan times. This is the time when people say goodbye to the long-annoying winter and welcome in the long-awaited spring.... -
The History of Russian Railways
If Russia had no trains, what would Tolstoy have done with Anna Karenina? How would Lenin have returned to Russia in April 1917, sent back, as Churchill said, in ‘a sealed train like a plague bacillus’? On October 30 Russia celebrates the 170th anniversary of the opening of the first public railway.... -
Russian Souvenirs
MatrioshkasRussian dolls are the quintessential Russian souvenir. Usually painted with the cute faces of a Russian girl or stylised family, you can also get them painted with dictators of the world, former US presidents or even just left plain to paint yourself.... -
Russian ice swimming
It’s minus 15 degrees outside on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Some Russians may take this time to enjoy a nice warm cup of tea in a café or perhaps a bracing walk in the park to enjoy the sunshine.... -
Yuri Gagarin
One of the most important heroes of modern times, the first man in space, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, spent a large part of his life as a hardworking student, before being thrust into international superstardom when he was launched into space on April 12 1961.... -
How Russians Say I do
As a tourist in St. Petersburg, it is sometimes difficult to avoid falling over the brides hovering around the city’s tourist sights posing for photos.... -
The Russian Banya
With winter arriving late, the In Your Pocket Editors hunt for indoor winter entertainment and recommend ice-skating and the essential experience of the Russian banya.... -
Caucasian cuisine – A taste of the South
One of the unquestionable pluses of St. Moscow's Soviet past is the sprinkling of restaurants serving cuisine from former USSR republics....
Poor, paranoid Paul
Directed by Russian director, Vitaly Melnikov and based on the 1908 novel by Dmitry Merezhkovsky, the film’s portrayal of Russia’s mad militarist Tsar’ is sympathetic and ultimately positive. In fact considering the eccentricities of other Russian rulers, for instance Peter the Great at one stage banned his noblemen from wearing beards, Paul’s fondness for things military now do not seem so over the top.
Despite being the heir apparent to the Russian Empire, Paul’s life wasn’t easy. His father, Peter III, was removed in a coup orchestrated by his wife and Paul’s mother, Catherine II in 1762. Catherine has now gone down in history as Catherine the Great was one of the most able and canny rulers in Russia’s history. Rumoured as a less than perfect mother, the amount of lovers she took lead to further rumours that Paul wasn’t even the son of Peter III.
However, when Paul’s wife presented the Russian Empire with an heir, Catherine did give them the estate of Pavlovsk. Paul’s decision to tear down his childhood home of the Summer Palace, and build the fortress of Mikhailovsky Castle in its place has long been interpreted by many as an attempt to erase his awful childhood. Reality showed that the desire for this new castle was motivated by paranoia. He wanted a hideout, and the castle even had secret passageways. Not Poor Paul, but Paranoid Paul.
Following Catherine’s death in 1796, in sharp contrast to his mother, Paul didn’t pander to the nobles. His intention of reforming the treasury and abolishing the 25 year mandatory army service of the peasantry angered them and a plot was sprung. His days numbered, Paul was surprised in his newly built castle, hiding behind some drapes dressed in his nightshirt and cap. Suddenly the lights went out and … he was strangled. It seems his fears were justified.
Dead at just 46, Paul had fathered no less than ten children by his second wife and followed in the Romanov tradition of untimely, violent deaths. It seems he was his father’s son after all. Poor, poor Paul.