Showing posts with label moscow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moscow. Show all posts

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Moscow, Russia

I got this multiview through a direct swap with Svietlana in May.

The top image features The Kremlin at night.  In the Russian language, кремль means fortress.  Though there are many other kremlins in Russia, the word is usually used when referring to the most popular one found in Moscow.

The administration of the Russian President (currently Dmitry Medvedev, but I'm pretty sure is once again going to be Vladimir Putin next year) is located in the Moscow Kremlin.

In the bottom image, we can see the Cathedral of the Assumption, the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, and once again, the Moscow Kremlin.

The Cathedral of the Assumption is the oldest and the most important church in the Kremlin.  In 1326, the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church was transferred from Vladimir to here, making it the center of the state of Muscovy, the most powerful of the Russian principalities.  Here, tsars, Grand Dukes, and more importantly, emperors, were crowned.  Patriarchs, metropolitans, and bishops were also consecrated here.  Read more about the Cathedral's history here.

The Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, standing at 81 meters, was the tallest building in Russia for almost 400 years.  There are 21 bells in the tower and the belfry.  The largest is the Assumption Bell weighing 70 tons, and is the first bell to ring during church holidays.  Read more about the Bell Tower here.

Moscow is Russia's capital city

And what better way to send this postcard than together with a stamp of a kremlin?

The Ryazan Kremlin was founded in the year 800

Sunday, September 25, 2011

The Pashkov House in Moscow, Russia

This white palace, standing on Pskov Hill, is one of the most beautiful buildings in Moscow.  It was built in the 18th century by the renowned architect, Vasily Bazhenov, for the rich landowner, Peter Yegorovich Pashkov.

Today the building is currently owned by the Russian State Library, the biggest library in Europe (second in the world, after the US Library of Congress).

The Pashkov House is one of the places in Russia with a permanent rat problem

I got this from Marina through the Other Languages RR 195.  She shared a Russian saying, "Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей" (Don't have 100 roubles, but have 100 friends).

The postcard came with the following stamps:

Part of the Mint Never Hinged Lighthouse set released in 2006 

Death-cup and meadow mushrooms, inedible mushrooms

The badger stamp on the left came from a joint issue with Belarus in 2005.  The Amur (Siberian) Tiger (scientific name: Panthera tigris altaica) is listed as an endangered species

Read more:
http://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/04mappen/pasjkov.html
http://russia.rin.ru/guide_e/5/2.html