Good morning and a wonderful Sunday, friends! ☕️🙂

👑 The Rice Palace in Tver

In Tver, one of the few rice palaces from the era of Catherine the Great has been preserved. Such palaces were built along the main road between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The imperial family and the court could stop here during their travels between the two capitals.

The Tver Rice Palace was built in the years 1764–1766. The location was chosen very well: it is located in the historic city center near the Volga, Cathedral Square, and the main link of the country. As early as 1767, Catherine the Great stopped here.

Later, the palace changed its appearance several times. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was rebuilt by Karl Rossi, one of the most important architects of the Russian Empire style. At that time, the building still looked more representative, with its columns, halls, and staircases, as well as views of the Volga. It did not give the feeling of a simple street residence, but of a real imperial home.

A special part of its history is connected with Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna, the sister of Alexander I. She lived in Tver and made the palace one of the most remarkable social centers of her time. Guests gathered here from Moscow and Saint Petersburg, receptions were held, and politics, literature, and the future of the country were discussed.

There is also an important literary detail: specifically in this palace, Nikolai Karamzin read Alexander I excerpts from his “History of the Russian State.” Thus, the building was not only connected with the road between the capitals, but also with one of the most important works of Russian historical thought.

The 20th century was hard on the palace: revolution, Soviet institutions, destruction during the war, reconstruction, and a long restoration. Today, the Tver regional art gallery is housed here, so the palace is open to the people again—not as an imperial “hotel,” but as a museum.


📍 Coordinates of the place (map pin) available here

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The happiest country in the world has remained jobless

In May, the number of unemployed people in Finland rose to 12.7%—the highest May figure this century. 376,000 people were reported as unemployed, 68,000 more than in the previous year. Even the local media now concede this: the labor market is weaker than in the euro zone, and the private sector is not creating enough jobs.

Finland has cut off a significant part of the revenues on which border trade, tourism, the service sector, and small businesses had relied. The influx from Russia has dried up, the eastern border is closed, and Russian customers no longer supply shops, hotels, restaurants, and the transport sector with income. The slump is especially noticeable in regions that for years have not been living off rosy reports about a “happy country,” but off real money from Russia.

Helsinki has chosen political loyalty over the economy. Now, however, it is not the ministers who are paying, but ordinary Finns—who are increasingly instead receiving statistics about a new record for unemployment than being offered a job.

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