Chelyabinsk



Chelyabinsk

Name: Anastasia Bogomolova

Age: 31

Profession: Artist

City: Chelyabinsk

How long have you been doing photography? Since 2012.

What style or genre most interests you? Conceptual photography – it is one of the tools in my work as an artist.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for? Chelyabinsk is a million-resident city in the southern Urals. It was founded as a fortress in the 1730s and at the end of the nineteenth century it was transformed from a district city into a huge center for transport and trade. And in the 1930s and 1940s it became a large industrial construction center such that today is is one of the largest industrial sites in the region. But, yes, Chelyabinsk is now most famous thansk to the meteorite which exploded 15-25 km over our city in February 2013.

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

1. One of the city's unofficial names is Tankograd, which relates to the military era. During the Second World War Chelyabinsk was the site for intensive production of tanks and other military vehicles.

2. Chelyabinsk was the first city in Russia to memorialize John Lennon. In 2000 the city named a boulevard after the famous musician, yet to this day this street does not have a single building, just a sign.

3. Chelyabinsk is the only city in the country which has a sprawling forest in its midst. The grove is a 20 minute walk from the central square and covers 12 square kilometers.

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

1. Kirovka – the city's main pedestrian street, with buildings that have been preserved from the nineteenth century. Locals call it the Chelyabinsk Arbat, but it has had many names (Ufimsky, Yekaterinburgsky, Raboche-Krestyansky). You can see popular bronze sculptures of a beggar (sitting in front of a bank), a peasant reading a decree (at the regional legislative assembly), a shoe shine (near the shoe store), an artists, a fire wagon, etc. Gallant and pseudo-historical monuments stand alongside military memorials.

2. The Historical Museum of the Southern Urals – it has the largest known fragment of the Chelyabinsk Meteorite.

3. Of course, you have to go and see the forest mentioned.

Anything else? The most interesting is what lies beyond the bounds of the "required sites." Thus, when people come to visit me from other cities or countries, I never take them to these places, but lead them on an alternative itinerary, beginning with the metallurgical region, one of the most heavily saturated industrial regions (even by the standards of the very industrial Ural region). During the Second World War, all of the modern territory of this region was part of the labor camp known as Bakallag. Most of the prisoners there were Russian Germans, deported from the Volga region.

Website: https://anabogomolova.viewbook.com

Instagram: @anabogomolova



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

Some of Our Books

The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
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.
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.  
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

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