Kaluga



Kaluga

Name: Svetlana Tarasova

Age: 30

Profession: Photographer

City: Kaluga

How long have you been doing photography? About a year.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for?  Kaluga is a city located in the central part of European Russia, and is the capital of the Kaluga region. The city stands on the banks of the Oka River, about 190 km southwest of Moscow. It is a railway station on the Moscow-Kiev line.

The founding date of Kaluga is not known, but it is some time in the first part of the fourteenth century. The first written mention of Kaluga was in 1371. It was then a small fortress of the Moscow state.

Kaluga is known first of all because of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (the Russian space program founder). He was living and working in Kaluga in 1892-1935. That's why the city is often called the cradle of the Russian space exploration.

The city has a Space Museum – the world's first and largest museum in Russia about space exploration. It was created with the direct participation of Sergei Korolev and Yuri Gagarin.

What are some things that only locals would know about the city?

One of the most famous Russian photography schools is in Kaluga. 

Kaluga is also famous for its great number of churches. 

There are many preserved historical places and cosy old yards, making the town a favorite destination for filmmakers.

Which places or sites are a must for someone to see if they visit your city?

  • Korobov Chambers (an example of "chamber architecture" from the end of the 17th century)
  • Zolotaryov Estate (the end of the 18th - early 19th centuries)
  • Trinity Cathedral (1786-1819)
  • Kaluga Gostiny Dvor, built by the famous architect Pyotr Romanovich Nikitin (1784)
  • The Stone Bridge across Berezuysky Ravine (1775-1778), one of the largest viaducts in Russia (160 meters).

There are also many museums, from The House-Museum of Tsiolkovsky (Tsiolkovsky Street, 79/81) and The House Museum ofChizhevsky (Moskovskaya Street, 62), to these others:

  • Kaluga Regional Art Museum (Lenin Street, 104)
  • Kaluga Regional Museum of Local Lore (Pushkin Street, 14)
  • Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics (Academician Korolev Street, 2)
  • Kaluga Planetarium (Academician Korolev Street, 2)
  • The Museum of Crafts, Architecture and Life (Kirov Street, 45/16)
  • The Municipal Cultural Institution "The House of Masters" (Grigorov Lane, 9)
  • The Puppet Museum "Bereginya" (Moskovsky district, Kozlovo village, 1)
  • The Museum of the War of 1812 (Maloyaroslavets town, Moskovskaya Street, 27, 23, 13)

Anything else? Come to see Kaluga, becouse it is the heart of Russia!

Website: http://www.tarasova-svetlana.inspider.ru/

Instagram: @starasovaventsolaire



Tags: spaceOka
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955