Russia in the past decades was shut off from the rest of the world with no information available about it. By the time the Soviet Union fell, the country was once again open to the rest of the world. Even after the barriers have been taken off and Russia is not secluded anymore, there is still a cloud of mystery that surrounds Russia. Here is a list of things that would definitely surprise you about the mysterious land of Russia.
In Russia Lake Karachay is placed near the biggest nuclear factory in the country. This is considered to be the most polluted location on the whole planet. There are loads of nuclear leaks and meltdowns every year. These then flow into the Techa River which ultimately ends up in Lake Karachay. Also, the lake had been filled with concrete to hopefully stop the nuclear leaks from touching the shores.
There is a common notion that Shamanism does not really exist today. Actually, on an island in Siberia, there are still many who practice it. Olkhon Island is probably one of the only places where Shamanism still exists. There is a Shaman’s Rock on the island's west coast too. If ever you get to visit Russia, make sure you go to this island and explore this amazement.
January 31, 1990, would definitely go down as one of the most important days in Russian history. The first Mcdonald’s was opened this day, warming Russian hearts everywhere. It is located in Moscow, right in Pushkin Square. Since this was undoubtedly a completely new thing for the then called Soviet Union, you can imagine the amount of crowd it attracted. Thousands of people came to feast on the newly opened fast food joint.
If you look around the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in South Kamchatka you will notice that the bears here have a little problem. These brown bears have actually gotten addicted to kerosene and gas barrels made for aviation fuel and also in generators and helicopters. People have seen bears lurking around these helicopters just to get a whiff of kerosene that they drop on the forest floor as they take off.
The Hermitage is certainly a special museum compared to the other ones in Russia and the world. The St. Petersburg museum actually has over 70 cats living in it. They serve as protectors of all the artifacts from rodents that come inside the museum. This is actually a longstanding tradition that dates back to the 1700s during the time of Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter, The Great, the founder of St. Petersburg.
In Europe, you get to see the most beautiful cathedrals that cannot be compared to any other in the world. Even from a picture, you can see just how incredible Saint Basil’s Cathedral is. Postnik Yakovlev had built this fascinating architecture in 1561. There were rumors of Ivan, The Terrible, blinding Postnik after he was done. His reason was he did not want anyone else to replicate this structure’s beauty.
To tackle Russia’s low populations, back in 2003, the government issued a holiday that aimed to conceive new babies so that their population grows. This holiday is rightfully called Day of Conception and happens annually on September 12th. This holiday has ended up raising the birthing rates of the month of June. Women who give birth in June would even receive cars, money and household appliances.
You should not be too shocked to learn that the largest railroad in the world happens to be located in the largest country in the world. This is the Trans-Siberian railway. It travels through the entire country and goes from the European side of Russia to the Asian Pacific coast of the country. The full ride amounts to approximately 152 hours and 27 minutes.
There is yet another shocking fact about Russia that will blow your mind. In the past beer was not categorized as an alcoholic drink at all in Russia. This was changed after the year 2011. So by the year 2011, then-President Dmitry Medvedev officially signed into the law that beer would henceforth be considered an alcoholic beverage. This law then kept some due restrictions as to where it could be sold.
Red Square is one of the most crowded areas in all of Russia because of all the tourists. Its beauty and size is something that draws millions of tourist every year to visit. If you have never been to the country you would probably associate the name with Russia's checkered past. But this is not associated with the Soviet Union. The name of this site originated from the word Krasnyi which once meant beautiful.
While Russian men are considered macho and manly, it is the women who actually run things. You would be surprised to learn that approximately 11 million more women are there in Russia as compared to men. The life expectancy is 75 years for women as well while for men it is considerably lower. It is known that Russian females enjoy more freedom than others around the world.
Just think of how clean and wonderful the world would be if every member of a community agrees to join in on a massive cleaning activity. This idea is actually being executed in Russia. Subbotnik is a day in Russia when residents of a location join forces to clean up the city. This was something that originated during the Russian Revolution and is still continued till date.
Between 1922 and 1991 Russia remained under the Soviet Union rule. There were several statues of Soviet heroes like Lenin and Stalin standing on every other location. When the Soviet Union fell, where did all these statues go? Most of them have been destroyed but some have been kept in the Fallen Monument Park in Moscow. Say what you will but they are truly fascinating to look at.
Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo is situated close to St. Petersburg and was once called home by the beloved Amber Room. This chamber was ridiculously luxurious with amber panels, gold leaf, and gold mirrors. During World War 2, this room was captured by the Nazis and placed in Königsberg to be rebuilt. This was the last information given about this room. Wondering what happened to it? Same!
There is something about cloakrooms that Russians cannot get enough of. Most of the big businesses will always have a cloakroom. You would certainly not get to waltz inside a bar, restaurant, museum or gallery if you do not leave your coats in these cloakrooms. The masterminds who thought of this idea were baboushkas. These elderly women certainly do their job efficiently.
Yittygran Island in Russia is indeed a spectacular place. On the North Shore of this island, you will see that there are plenty of whale bones, enough for the whole place to be called Whale Bone Alley. The abundance of these bones has been put to good use, arranging them in an attractive and meaningful manner creating a tunnel-like effect. There have been many speculations but most agree that they are bones of whales being caught and fed on, kept on the island as souvenirs.
Moscow’s Metro system has gained popularity because it is probably the most decadent metros in the world. The ceilings are have been decorated with amazing artwork and the floors are always kept clean and could give any museum in the world a run for its money. One mystery is the Metro-2 that is linked to a number of secret military bunkers. This has never been proven but in Russia, you never know.
For over a century, Prussians have been diving and swimming in minus 22-degree weather. There is an argument that it is to mark the start of winter while other claims it rejuvenates the health. 76-year-old Jitka Tauferova has revealed that ice swimming has changed her whole life. “The last time I had flu was 25 years ago and my back pain disappeared. Better blood circulation improves healing broken bones, and my heart is like a hammer. I feel great.”
Roman Fedortsov, a Russian deep sea fisher who lives in Northwest Russia has become a popular Twitter personality as he has been posting the creepiest catches he had ever witnessed. These creatures have as you can see are capable of sending shivers down the spine to people across the globe. He discovered a new species of sharks, fish with razor-sharp teeth and even sea spiders.
Russia is a country laden with lakes, rivers, and seas. Fish is obviously a very integral part of the Russian diet. The technique of ice fishing is one that is popular among the Russians as well. An ice saw, an auger or a chisel is used to cut through the ice where the fish are then lured to the rods using fat heads, wax worms, and crappies. Unlike in America, women in Russia love to go fishing just as much as men do.
Crossing the bridge in St. Petersburg to get to the Peter and Paul Fortress, a number of rabbit statues will greet you. These rabbit statues have been created to commemorate the abundance of rabbits in this area during the 18th and 19th century. The island would experience frequent heavy floods leaving the rabbits to fend for their lives during this time. Today the number of rabbits have decreased but these statues can be found everywhere.
When we look at icicles we might see them as something extremely beautiful. However, no Russian citizen would even be seen walking under them. In Russia, icicles form in bulk sizes that end up severely harming or seriously injuring citizens. Therefore, all of these misfortunes have resulted in the government blocking the pavements from any danger posed by icicles.
Because of the bad weather that constantly invades Russia, big cities like Moscow is perpetually haunted by heavy traffic. Some cars have to stop and wait for hours just to move while some do not have to worry about being stuck in traffic. The rich in Moscow are known to call an ambulance just to make it through traffic without issues. This is, by all means, unfair but money can do anything.
If you explore Moscow, you can see two statues of dogs. One dog statue is made of bronze having a shiny nose. He is located in Ploshchad Revolutsii metro station and touching his nose is said to bring you good luck. The other one is Laika, the space dog who was sent into space back in 1957. Laika will be forever remembered in the Russian society even though she did not survive her expedition 61 years ago.
If ever you catch yourself under the spell of someone while in Russia and you want to gift them some flowers, there is something you must always keep in mind. The flowers that you hand them must always be an odd number. This is a tradition that has been passed on by the former Soviet country. Even for funerals, the odd number of flowers are always used.
If you meet a Russian for the first time, you will obviously be shaking their hands. This is something that most people all over the world practice. But make sure you never give a handshake to a Russian under a doorway. There is a superstition in Russia that shaking hands under a doorway leads to enmity between the two parties and is a bad omen. So just avoid this in Russia.
Russia’s forest has often been compared to that of South America’s rainforest. There is a reason for this. Since both of these forests have been absorbing huge amounts of carbon dioxide, they are often placed together. Because of this important function of theirs, they have been named the lungs of Europe. So in case anything happens to the forest here, Europe would definitely be in big trouble.
New Years in Russia is definitely the biggest holiday ever. Unlike some countries in the world, you will never find anyone working on a New Years in Russia because the whole country is celebrating. There is a week-long party that takes place in Russia which happens from Christmas till the 7th of January. Most of the days are for partying, gift exchanging and dining but Christmas is usually spent strictly with family.
The source of wealth in Russia is by no means tiny. There are a whopping 78 billionaires who live in Moscow. The country has more billionaires than anywhere else in the entire world. That said, Russia’s entire stock market is still lesser than that of Apple. While Russia’s entire stock market is reportedly about $513 billion, Apple alone is approximately worth $652 billion.
What comes to your mind when we say the word 'Tetris'? It would surely teleport you back to the 80s and the huge impact it had during the time of its release by the Nintendo Entertainment System. You would be shocked to know that Tetris is not a Japanese creation, but is actually Soviet Union's first entertainment software to make it to the United States. The creator is Alexey Pajitnov, a Russian scientist and game developer.
Even though we immediately think of Russia when we come across these dolls, their origin has a heavy Japanese connection. The creator of the famous Matryoshka doll, Sergey Malyutin found a Japanese Daruma doll on his hands. He found several other Daruma dolls inside which intrigued him a lot. He drew inspiration from this and ended up producing the first ever Matryoshka doll in 1890.
If you have ever been to the Yakutia region in Siberia, you will discover Oymyakon aka the coldest town on the entire earth. This place is full of strong people as you could already imagine. The average winter drops to a temperature of about -58°F. There coldest winter ever recorded took place in the year 1938 where the temperatures was an unbelievable -108°F. How did anyone survive that?
During the 18th century, Peter, the Great wanted to create a city that would reduce Versailles to a slum-like place. So what did he do? He decided to make Petergof. The city has over four huge cascades along with 173 fantastic fountains. Have you ever come across something as beautiful as a Bolshoy cascade? The cascade has about 64 fountains where 225 bronze statues are placed.
Russia is always up for competition. So while America is playing golf with their own arms and a golf cart, Russian’s are playing the sport using helicopters. Players would play with a three feet tall ball down a snowy route from the helicopter with the help of a giant mallet that is fixed to the chopper. The player drives the chopper across the course. Unbelievable, right?
Russia is full of superstitions. Back in the ancient times, Russian would firstly let a cat explore a newly built house before anyone as there was a notion that the first person to enter a house becomes the first one to lose his or her life. A cat has nine lives, so they found no trouble with this. If the cat refused, this would mean they had to rebuild everything from scratch.
When we talk about waterways and bridges, the city that pops up in our imagination is usually Venice, Italy. But that is because you have never heard about Saint Petersburg. This city actually has three times the number of bridges that Venice has. Often called “Venice of the North”, there are many people who feel that this city is more romantic than Venice, Italy.
You must know that if you are romantically involved and serious with a Russian woman or man, you will most likely be treated as a part of the family. There is an ongoing tradition for Russians to be supportive of their closest and dearest ones. History has told us that Russians are known to be very loyal to their near and dear ones. So if you are dating a Russian, you will immediately be treated like a son or daughter.
The fact that Russia is the biggest country in the whole world is not something new. We are all aware that the land takes up only a certain portion of the landscapes and cities. So there are several secrets about Russia that is yet to be discovered. You would be quite astonished to know that the whole entirety of the country is almost equal to the size of Pluto. Russia is 17 million sq km and Pluto is 17.6 million sq km.
Russia and the United States for many years have been in competition with one another. During the Cold War, the two nations were heavily butting heads with one another. The two countries are in deep contrast with each other but are very close in proximity. For example, there is a 2-mile distance between the Big Diomede Island from Russia and Little Diomede Island from America.
Even though Russia is rich and large in size, there are a lot of people who do not get to experience the joy of living in such a wonderful country. There have been recent reports which prove that over 17 million people are living under the poverty line in Russia. This basically means that 12% of the entire population makes less than $220 dollars a month. You can see multiple beggars on the streets of Moscow too.