Salekhard



Salekhard

Name: Yevgenia Zhulanova

Age: 29

Profession: Photographer

City: Salekhard, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug

How long have you been doing photography? What style or genre most interests you? I have been doing photography for about four years. I am most interested in modern documentary photography.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for? Salekhard is the only city in the world which lies directly on the Arctic Circle. It is the capital of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, a very rich region of Russia, thanks to the oil and gas sector. Yet there are no large production enterprises in the city itself. It is mainly a city of bureaucrats and functionaries.

Salekhard was founded in 1595 by Russian Cossacks. You can get to the city by airplane, or by train to the nearby city of Labytnangi, then cross the river Ob.

What is something about your city that only locals would know? The tastiest local fish is muksun, but there are limits to how many can be caught and therefore it can be difficult to find it on sale. Yet nearly every local knows how to get it. In the North, people are incredibly responsive and kind, and look ten years younger than their actual age. To this day many two story wooden homes have neither running water or toilets, and water is delivered a few times a week. Locals call the rest of Russia "the land" or "materik" (mainland).

Which places or sites are a must for someone to see if they visit your city?
The abandoned station Chaika in the tropospheric radio relay communication line Sever. This is a former Soviet communication system built for staying in touch with distant regions of the country. The Chaika station is located 12 km to the east of Salekhard. Chaika was rebuilt in December 2000, but the entire Sever system was taken out of commission in 2003. Locals call the place "the locators."

In the spring Salekhard hosts the Day of the Reindeer Breeder. This is a huge holiday and breeders come to the city from throughout the okrug. There are concerts and competitions in locally popular sports (log pulling and reindeer racing).

One of the symbols of the city is the monument to the mammoth, located at the crossing over the river Ob.

Any time of year is a good time to go fishing with locals.

Anything else you would like to add? The North purifies.



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

Some of Our Books

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.  
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. 
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
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...
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.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

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