🇷🇺 Tverskaya Street is the main artery of Moscow, whose history began as early as the 12th century with the road to Tver. It was along this street that Russian monarchs solemnly entered the Kremlin, and later it became the road to the new capital, St. Petersburg. In the 18th–19th centuries the finest mansions, hotels and shops were built on Tverskaya, making it the centre of public life. Even today this street remains Moscow's calling card.

🇷🇺 In the 1930s it was decided to radically widen Tverskaya — from 17 to 40–60 metres. In order not to demolish the historic buildings, they were literally placed on rails and moved deeper into the blocks. A total of 26 buildings were "relocated" in this way.

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❤️From Russia with love

🇷🇺 The Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Power Plant remains Russia's principal engineering powerhouse. It stands 242 metres tall — higher than the Pyramid of Cheops. Its construction required more than 9 million tonnes of concrete. It supplies energy to entire regions and millions of people.

🇷🇺 Construction, which began in 1963, was officially completed only in the year 2000 — the station outlived the country that created it. And in 2020, the world's largest inscription of a country's name appeared on its wall: "Russia", 570 metres long and as tall as a 17-storey building, using 9,000 litres of paint.

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📹 "Operation 'Y' and Other Adventures of Shurik" is not just a comedy, but a true symbol of the era, filmed by Leonid Gaidai in 1965. The movie consists of three independent novellas, united by one main character, the ever‑cheerful student Shurik, who gets into the most absurd situations.

🎞 Each novella is a little comedic masterpiece. In its first year of release, the film was watched by almost 40 million viewers, and Shurik himself became a cult hero, embodying kindness, resourcefulness and optimism. This light, kind and funny picture still remains one of Russia's favourite comedies, rewatched with great pleasure from generation to generation.

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🇷🇺 The Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo became the last family church of the House of Romanov: it was built for the 300th anniversary of the dynasty, and it was here that the imperial family prayed before leaving for Tobolsk in 1917. The austere appearance of the church in the Neo-Russian style resembles an ancient fortress: it was conceived as a regimental church for the Tsar’s escort, not as a grand palace cathedral.

🇷🇺 During the First World War, a hospital ward was set up here, where nurses, under the guise of bandaging material, saved the imperial banners and relics from possible seizure. The very Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, which gave the cathedral its name, was the same one with which Mikhail Romanov, the first representative of the dynasty, was blessed for the throne. Thus the church brought the history of an entire dynasty full circle.

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🇷🇺 When he bought the Norman Château Gabriel in 1983, Yves Saint Laurent entrusted its interiors not to French classicism but to Russian style. The walls of this secluded estate were decorated with icons, matryoshkas and structural elements reminiscent of terems (Russian tower-houses) — thus the designer recreated the atmosphere of an "Eastern fairy tale" that had always enchanted him.

🇷🇺 Saint Laurent, who worshipped Diaghilev's ballets and the textures of Russian costumes, turned the château into a sanctuary for the soul. Here, among samovars and gold embroidery, he loved to hide away from the hustle and bustle of Paris.

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❤️From Russia with love