The mysterious Nivkh people, or “the children of the sea and the taiga,” as they call themselves, live in the northern part of Sakhalin Island. The Nivkh have lived hand in hand with nature for hundreds of years, and to this day their primary activities include hunting and fishing. They have, of course, also managed to adapt to modern life in other ways. The Nivkh number at a little over 5,000 and are known for their unusual beliefs. They believe that the spirits of the Sea, Forest, Earth and Air help them in their everyday lives. This belief is reflected creatively through their melancholy songs and expressive dances. The Russian Travel Guide’s Igor Maximenko found out what gear fishermen use when hunting salmon, the correct way to sun-cure the fish and how Nivkh summer and winter houses are built. Learn this and much more in RTG TV’s new programme from Sakhalin Island.
As Russia prepares for the 2014 Winter Olympics, big changes are taking place in the southern city of Sochi as the Olympic village is built from the ground up. Dozens of world-class sport complexes are under construction, along with hundreds of kilometres of new roads, tunnels and bridges. And all of this is being done in the mountainous region of the Caucasus. Mast lighting is being installed on the “Russian hills” where the Olympic ski jump complex is located. It is impossible however, to get heavy ground equipment to such heights, so workers must use helicopters instead. Between the peaks of Mount Aibga the wind is extremely unpredictable and constantly changes direction, which complicates things further. The pilots have to install 50-foot mast lighting in difficult to access areas, but not every helicopter is capable of hovering over an installation point for several minutes. The Kam...
Having seen the gardens of the French kings, Emperor Peter the Grat wanted to create his own “Versailles”, and to even surpass it. But, in choosing the site of his future residence, he set a key condition – the water in the fountains should be “self-propelled”, through a fall in height, rather than by using expensive pumps as were employed in Versailles. Peter had begun developing this idea for a grandiose park and palace ensemble on the shores of the Finnish Gulf when he first began to fight Sweden for an outlet onto the Baltic Sea. Many of Peterhof’s fountains are dedicated to the victories of the young Russian fleet over a more experienced and powerful opponent. The main jet of water, Samson, is dedicated to the decisive battle of Poltava. The concept for the new, sumptuous residence the drafts that reveal all of its main constructions – these were all the work of Peter the G...