People & heritage
Kizhi: meet the people who preserve heritage
An announced museum programme introduced visitors to the craft of conservator Alexander Tikhonov.
THE COUNTRY IN DETAIL18 STORIES
People.
Meet the people caring for places and making things happen.
10 September 2026
People & nature
Volunteers studied Mount Dionisiya to help protect it
A team gathered scientific evidence for a proposed protected area near Anadyr.
Country library
Kizhi: timber, craftsmanship and the art of conservation
Behind the wooden churches stand generations of carpenters, researchers and conservators.
Country library
Veliky Novgorod: a city where the past has a voice
The kremlin, frescoes and birch-bark letters bring a medieval city into human focus.
Country library
The Tretyakov Gallery: finding your way into Russian art
A collector’s story and a practical way to see more in a painting than its familiar title.
Country library
Tea, samovars and conversation: discovering everyday culture
How an everyday object connects craftsmanship, family memory and time shared around a table.
Country library
Vladivostok: a city worth seeing from different levels
Harbour views, streets and museum stories introduce the Far Eastern city through places and people.
Country library
Russia’s peoples: begin with an attentive question
Explore languages, crafts and family traditions while keeping the individual person in view.
Country library
The Curonian Spit: a landscape cared for every day
How wind, woodland, sand and human work shaped an extraordinary Baltic landscape.
Country library
Vologda lace: the work within a delicate line
Bobbins, linen, patterns and their makers: look beyond the ornament to the person who created it.
A taste of place
Kalitki and kitchen memory: meeting Karelia through food
Family recipes, fieldwork and several languages reveal a region through the people who cook there.
A cultural route
Perm: a city you can listen to
An opera house, traces of an older building and carved wooden figures offer three starting points for a cultural visit.
Living craft
The Kolomna kalach: a craft you can taste
A working bakery offers a way into the history of bread, the shape of a kalach and the skills behind it.
Voices and memory
Kalevala: hearing the people behind the epic
The singers of White Sea Karelia, Elias Lönnrot’s work and an oral tradition with individual names and places.
Science in detail
Pulkovo: how astronomers measure the sky
Star catalogues, glass photographic plates and public tours introduce the observatory as a place of sustained scientific observation.
Protected landscapes
The Volga Delta: lotus flowers, birds and a nature reserve at work
Four islands on a nature trail, aquatic plants and a history of bird protection introduce Astrakhan Nature Reserve.
Art in everyday life
Gzhel in colour: from majolica to artists’ porcelain
Historic vessels, the revival of painting and individual makers reveal a ceramic tradition that extends beyond blue and white.
City details
Wooden Tomsk: houses, carving and the memory of a city
The House with Dragons, a museum in Kryachkov’s home and an address associated with writer Vyacheslav Shishkov offer three approaches to the city.
ANOTHER WAY TO EXPLORE
