VERY ENJOYABLE DAY ONE....
The largest country in the world, Russia, is associated in the minds of many people with the onion domes of Orthodox churches and the massive walls of the Moscow Kremlin. But besides the unique architecture, Russia offers many more unusual and exciting attractions. Highlights of Russia are:
Orthodox churches - a kind of Russian architectural trademark with their onion-shaped domes. By far the best known is Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, but not less impressive are others, including the miracle of wood construction - Transfiguration Church in Kizhi.
Kremlins and historical cities - Moscow is not the only place where is Kremlin. These medieval fortifications are found in several more Russian cities and may include other interesting architecture monuments. Some Russian cities, such as Rostov or Kostroma, have preserved their historical architecture and their skyline has no analogues in the world.
NATURAL LANDMARKS
Popigai crater, Russia
POPIGAI CRATER / NASA, PUBLIC DOMAIN
IMPACT CRATERS
Lake El'gygytgyn - Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. 12 km wide lake in 18 km wide impact crater, which formed fairly recently - 3.6 million years ago. In the lake live endemic species of fish.
Popigai crater - Krasnoyarsk Krai. One of the largest impact craters in the world, with a diameter of 100 km. This crater contains unique, very hard diamonds.
VOLCANOES
Atlasov Island, Russia
ATLASOV ISLAND / NOAA, PUBLIC DOMAIN
Atlasov Island - Sakhalin Oblast, Kuril islands. Beautiful volcano (Alaid), which rises from the sea 2,339 m tall and has a perfect cone shaped form.
Ebeko - Sakhalin Oblast, Kuril islands. 1,156 m tall volcano which contains green lake of acid.
Klyuchevskaya Sopka - Kamchatka Krai. 4,750 m high volcano with fine, conical form.
Kronotsky - Kamchatka Krai. 3,527 m tall volcano with symmetrical conical form.
Maly Semiachik - Kamchatka Krai. 1,560 m tall volcano with 500 metre wide, light green, acid lake.
Patomskiy Crater (Kolpakova Cone) - Irkutsk Oblast. Unusual crater - up to 40 m tall and 160 m wide mound/ring of limestone blokcs with a smaller mound inside. Most likely it was created by gaseous eruption some centuries ago.
GEOTHERMAL FIELDS
Mutnovsky geyser valley - Kamchatka Krai. Group of geysers. There are known some more geysers in Kamchatka and Kuril islands.
Valley of Geysers - Kamchatka Krai. Second largest concentration of geysers in the world, contains some 90 geysers and many other geothermal landmarks. Velikan Geyser erupted up to 40 m high.
Krasnoyarsk Stolbi
KRASNOYARSK STOLBI / G.RACHER, FLICKR / CC-BY-SA-2.0
CLIFF FORMATIONS
Krasnoyarsk Stolbi - Krasnoyarsk Krai. Columnar granite cliffs which rise up to 90 m tall.
Manpupuner cliffs - columns - Komi Republic. Seven spooky, up to 42 m tall hoodoos on the top of Ural mountains.
CAVES
Berelech mammoth cemetery - Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, New Siberian Islands. Site which testifies that mammoths some 10,000 - 110,000 BC were living next to human settlements.
Botovskaya cave - Irkutsk Oblast. 60,8 km long cave. Skeleton of cave bear has been found inside.
Kungur Ice cave - Perm Krai. Beautiful show caves with spectacular ice formations. Length of caves is 5,700 m.
WATERFALLS
Ilya Muromets waterfall - Sakhalin Oblast, Kuril islands, Iturup. 141 m tall waterfall which falls directly into the ocean.
Kinseluk Falls - Krasnoyarsk Krai, Eastern Sayan mountains. 328 m tall waterfall.
Talnikowy Falls - Krasnoyarsk Krai, Putoran mountains. Tallest waterfall in Russia, total height of cascades is 600 - 700 m. None of cascades though is very tall.
Uchar (The Big Chulchinsk Falls) - Altai Republic. Unusual waterfall, where the stream falls from 160 metre high stone aggregations which sealed the Chulcha river valley some 200 years ago.
Zeygalan - Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. Some 600 m high waterfall.
ECOSYSTEMS
Ary-Mas and Lukunsky grove - Krasnoyarsk Krai, Taymir Peninsula. Northernmost forests in the world, consist of low stands of Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr.). Lukunsky grove grows up to 72°31' latitude.
Samur River Delta - Republic of Dagestan. Relict stand of subtropical vegetation in othervise arid region. Contains remnants of broadleaved forest rich with lians.
MAN MADE LANDMARKS
The vast area of Russia is today home to some 160 ethnic groups with extremely diverse histories and cultural backgrounds, which often developed in comparative isolation. Due to this heritage Russia is rich with diverse, unique monuments of architecture and archaeology.
Por-Bazhyn fortress before the excavations, Tyva in Russia
POR-BAZHYN FORTRESS BEFORE THE EXCAVATIONS / OSCHTAN, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / PUBLIC DOMAIN
ANCIENT AND PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENTS
Narin-Kala fortress - Republic of Dagestan, Derbent. 40 km long Sassanid fortress from the 6th century.
Por-Bazhyn (Por-Bashyn) - Tyva Republic. Enormous quadrangular fortress, built by Uigurs on an island in Tere-Hol Lake, possibly in the 8th century AD.
Bolghar and Bilär - Republic of Tatarstan. Ruins of the former Volga Bulgaria.
Arkaim settlement - Chelyabinsk Oblast. Ancient, ring-shaped settlement of Sintashta-Petrovka culture from the 17th century BC. Many Russians consider that this place has an aura of mystery.
MOUNDS - KURGANS
On the Russian steppes there are numerous ancient burial hills - kurgans, which can be found from the Amur region in the east to the countries west of Russia. These hills were created by numerous diverse cultures over many thousands of years, from the 4th millenium BC up to the 10th century AD. In spite of looting, lots of valuable (scientifically and monetarily) artefacts can still be found in these burials.
Great Salbyk kurgan - Republic of Khakassia. Once 27 m high mound, with a diameter of 496 m, made in the 3rd century BC.
Pazyryk kurgans - Altai Republic. Group of kurgans from the 5th century BC, created by Tagar culture. Numerous priceless artefacts have been found here.
Safronovskij kurgans - Republic of Khakassia. Group of pyramid-shaped kurgans, built by Tagar culture, around the 5th century BC. At the base of kurgans still are standing sculpted stones, up to 7 m tall.