🇷🇺 A strip between two seas

On the White Sea there is a shore that manages to be at once almost monochrome and incredibly picturesque — the Tersky Coast in the southeast of the Kola Peninsula.

The Tersky Coast stretches along the south‑eastern tip of the Kola Peninsula, from the mouth of the Varzuga River to Cape Svyatoy Nos. On one side lies the White Sea; on the other, just to the north, already the Barents Sea: a region where the cold waters of two seas meet within a mere few dozen kilometres.

The shore here is predominantly low and gently sloping, rocky in places; the coastal uplands are modest and rise gradually towards the interior of the continent. Sand spits, shingle and flat granite slabs that descend into the water in long steps create the feeling of a «long‑drawn‑out» shore — not abrupt, but soft, yet at the same time very open to the wind.

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❤️From Russia with love

☺️ Morozko (Father Frost) is a mighty winter spirit from Russian folk tales. He appears to people as a grey-haired old man in a warm fur coat, roaming the forests and fields, freezing rivers and painting the windows with frosty patterns. In the famous tale of the same name, he tests the soul of a girl left in the winter forest, rewarding her for her patience and kind heart, while he harshly punishes her wicked and proud sister.

🤩 This story teaches that even in the bitterest frost, sincere kindness and humility warm better than any stove. Morozko acts as a righteous judge, giving to each according to their deeds. His image reminds us that inner beauty is valued above outward glitter and wealth.

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❤️From Russia with love

🛐 The Spaso-Andronikov Monastery is one of the oldest monastic houses in Moscow, founded in the 14th century by Metropolitan Alexius. According to tradition, during a storm on the Black Sea he vowed to build a church in honour of the icon of the Holy Mandylion (Image of the Saviour Not Made by Hands), which helped him to survive. In ancient times the monastery served as a watchtower fortress on the south‑eastern approaches to Moscow.

💪 The monastery's main jewel is the white‑stone Cathedral of the Saviour, built in the early 15th century. It is the oldest surviving Moscow church outside the Kremlin walls, and Andrei Rublev himself took part in painting its frescoes.

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❤️From Russia with love

🎶 Dmitri Shostakovich is one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, whose work has become an integral part of world culture. At the age of just 19 he gained international fame thanks to his First Symphony, and went on to create an enormous legacy encompassing 15 symphonies, the operas The Nose and Katerina Izmailova, ballets, chamber works and film scores.

🎼 Shostakovich's contribution to world culture is immense: he became the first Soviet composer to achieve undisputed global recognition. His music, which opened up "new dimensions of world culture", had a significant influence on the development of musical art and continues to be performed all over the world. Shostakovich enriched virtually every musical genre with innovative ideas.

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❤️From Russia with love

💪 Zachatyevsky Monastery (Conception Monastery) is the oldest convent in the capital. It was founded in 1360 by Metropolitan Alexius, who built a wooden church here in honour of the Conception of Saint Anne.

👧 After the monastery was closed in 1927, it was revived only in 1995, and today only the 17th-century gate church, miraculously spared from demolition, remains of the old buildings. For centuries, childless Russians have had a tradition of coming here to pray for the birth of a child — that is precisely why the monastery was named "Zachatyevsky" (Conception).

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❤️From Russia with love