Russian Travel Guide

Krasnodar Rice

It is a well-known fact that rice has played an important role in people’s diets for thousands of years. This cereal grain was brought to Russia from Persia and was initially called «Saracenic millet». Russia began growing its own rice only in the 16th century. The country’s first attempts at harvesting the grain were carried out in the lower reaches of the Volga River and in the Kuban River wetlands. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Soviet government made the decision to bring rice cultivation to an industrial scale. As a result, in 1931 the Soviet Union’s only Institute for the Scientific Research of Rice was opened near the city of Krasnodar. In order for the institution to conduct its first projects, 2,000 types of grain from all over the world were brought to the institute. Russian scientists gradually developed their own varieties of rice that could adapt to the local soi...

Коллекция Russian Travel Guide. Природа. Карачаево-Черкесия

Winter recreation in Mandrogi

Although the times when people wrote letters on birch bark and played the gusli (a harp-like instrument) are long passed, they don’t seem far off when in the village of Verkhnie Mandrogi on the Svir River. In Veps (a Finno-Ugric language) the word “mandrogi” translates to mean “rapids,” and fittingly so — there was a time when paddling down certain parts of the river could be quite dangerous and that is why people opted to drag the boats along the earth instead. The old village is long gone and a historical village designed for tourists stands in its place. Visitors can stay in wooden houses with beautifully carved trims, ride horses, discover the secrets to various folk crafts in this artisan settlement and take part in the programme entitled “Immersion Into the 19th Century.” This programme allows participants to spend a day living as a peasant, doing all of the work and ch...