"Культура, традиции России"

Culture, traditions, holidays, cities

 Russian folk art reflects the richness and diversity of the nation's soul. Folk art is a complex and multifaceted branch of the Russian modern culture. It lives together with the nation, and has its roots going back deep into history, providing a mainstay and fertile ground for the national culture.

The high artistic merits of works of folk crafts, their strikingly balanced forms and carefully chosen subjects are attracting artists to the folk art, an inexhaustible source of creativity. Many generations of handicraftsmen have contributed to the Russian folk art. It is integral in artistic structure and highly diverse in ethnic specifics, from the choice of material to interpretation of artistic tools.

Wood and clay, stone and bone, leather and fur, straw and twigs are all used in a natural way by skilful hands to make articles for the home into veritable works of art. Today, folk art in Russia lives in two basic forms - handicrafts practised on a broad scale and works of art created by gifted persons working at home.

The most popular handicrafts in present-day Russia are: wood carving and painting (Bogorodskoye, Khotkovo, Abramtsevo-Kudrino); the Golden Khokhloma; ceramics (Gzhel); clay toys (Dymkovo, Kargopol, Filimonovo, Abashevo); lacquer painting (Fedoskino, Palekh, Mstera, Kholui); decorative tray painting (Zhostovo, Troitskoye); artistic metalworking (Velikiy Ustiug silver niello, Rostov enamel, Kazakovo filigree); bone carving (Kholmogori, Tobolsk, Chukotka, Khotkovo); artistic stone working (Tyva carved sculpture); lace making (Vologda, Vyatka, Yelets); embroidery, golden thread needlework, pattern weaving and rug making.

Russia's cultural legacy includes outstanding achievements in the fields of literature, architecture, ballet, musical composition and performance, which have historically occupied the most prominent places in Russian cultural life. The country's best-known writers are those of the 19th and early 20th centuries - Aleksandr Pushkin, Nikolay Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Anton Chekhov, and Maksim Gorky - their influence being felt throughout the world. Among the greatest Russian composers were Aleksandr Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, and Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky. Their legacy is evident in more contemporary music, notably that of Sergey Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky, Sergey Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich. The tradition of Russian realist theatre was exemplified in the work of Konstantin Stanislavsky of the Moscow Art Theatre. The leading theatre company for ballet is the Bolshoi in Moscow (founded in the middle 1770s). Russian ballet had a formative role in Western dance through a number of figures, such as Sergey Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky.

Russia's most characteristic architectural feature is its onion-domed churches. In the world of art, religious icons, Futurism and revolutionary graphic art are instantly recognisable Russian forms. Cinema has always been an important art form and leisure pursuit, the revolutionary period best represented by Sergey Eisenstein's iconic "Battleship Potyomkin" and "Ivan the Terrible", the recent past in the symbolic works of Andrey Tarkovsky.

January 1 - The New Year The New Year is the first in calendar and in popularity. It will be true to say that now the New Year is a greater holiday than Christmas in Russia. Long before December 31 sparkling fir trees appear in the streets, shops, offices and houses, bringing the joy of festive preparations and hope for happy miracles in the coming New Year. It is time to make wishes and presents to all friends and relatives. Children are looking forward for Father Frost (actually he is Grandfather Frost - Ded Moroz in Russian) and his granddaughter Snow Maiden (Snegurochka) to arrive at night and leave presents under the fir-tree. The grown-ups traditionally stay up for the whole night, making merry with friends and relatives. 

January 7 - ChristmasRussian Christmas comes two weeks later than in other countries, on January 7. This difference is due to the Orthodox Church that follows the Julian (old style) c alendar. However, our 'spacious soul' cannot but feel with the rest of the world celebrating this fairy holiday on December Christmas came to Russia in X century to substitute for pagan festivities of the winter solstice. Traditionally, people celebrated the Christmas Eve (January 6) with their families. The next day, however, carousing and merrymaking started, including masqueraded visits to neighbors with song singing, round-dancing and playing traditional games. Russian Christmas is rich with beautiful traditions. One of them is called Kolyadki. At Christmas night young people put on fancy dresses, gather in a noisy crowd and go in every house on their way, singing carols and merry songs. Hosts of the houses thank singers with all the kinds of sweat stuff like candies, chocolates and pastry. Among other Christmas traditions are wishes of wealth and happiness for everybody and snowball games. It was a custom for young ladies to tell fortune on these days; lots of fortunetelling methods have kept till days - yet they are not so widely used, of course. In Soviet times they abolished Christmas as an official holiday. In spite of that, it was still secretly celebrated by many people.

Spring - Maslenitsa (Shrovetide, Pancake week) By the end of winter, right before the Lent comes a Pancake week. It is a celebration of the sunlight and spring. A century ago Maslenitsa was a merry, wild and widely celebrated holiday similar to the carnival in Western countries. It was a time of games and contests especially horse racing and fistfights. A big doll of straw was burned as the final act of saying goodbye to the already passed winter. Through the whole week people cooked pancakes (bliny) served with honey, caviar, fresh cream and butter. Nowadays the celebration is not so diversified but people do treat themselves and their guests with tasty pancakes.

May 9 - Victory DayRussia celebrates Victory Day on May 9 to commemorate the millions fallen in World War II. Flowers and wreaths are laid on wartime graves and veterans come out into the streets wearing their military orders and medals. A solemn military parade takes place on the Red Square in Moscow. In the evening a colored salute is fired as a token of the victory over fascism.

July 7 - Ivan KupalaThis holiday is equivalent to the Holiday of St. John the Baptist and relates to water. To celebrate this day young people gathered near river and ponds, sang songs and danced. Mass baths were taken in that day. In the evenings fires were burned and young people tried to jump over the fires holding each-others' hands. If after the jump hands were still together, it meant a sign of close wedding. People went deep into the forests in pairs and alone to find a fern flower, said to blossom at Ivan Kupala night only and to fulfill wishes. It is not a public holiday, yet is still remembered and loved by some people. The same concerns Troitsa, another holiday manifesting the mixture of pagan and Christian traditions.

Russia is a democratic federate republic (the Russian Federation) with presidential government & two –chamber parliament.The capital of the Russian Federation is the administrative, cultural & historical centre of Russia. Moscow will impress you by the unique combination of the past & the present – the bright colors of ancient monasteries & churches go along with the buildings of communist era & the modern architecture of banks & office buildings. Besides two major cities of Russia, Moscow & St. Petersburg, there are many other cities & villages with a splendid architectural & cultural tradition: Kazan, Omsk, Samara & others.Russia attracts visitors from all over the world with its enigmatic charm & the unique things it has to offer. Russia is a country of very rich history. Some of architectural, historical and cultural monuments in the territory of Russia are included in the list of Universal Objects of UNESCO(38% of world objects), including Moscow Kremlin& Red Square, historical center of St. Petersburg, & palace & park complexes of its suburbs, white stones monuments of Vladimir-Suzdal land &cities of «Russian Golden ring», Troitse-Sergieva Lavra in Sergiev Posad, Ascension Church in Kolomenskoe & others.Russian territory is very vast so there are a lot of native zones that are very multifarious. Russia occupies 11.5 % of the total world’s dry land, including a part of Eastern Europe & about one third of north Asia.

The town was founded in September 1777 as St. George fortress on the Azov-Mozdok defense line. In 1783, a treaty between the Russian Empire and Georgia was signed making Georgian king Erekle II a subject of Russia. After 1785, Georgiyevsk grew considerably. After 1802, it was the center of a Caucasian guberniya. The early 19th century marked a peak in Georgiyevsk's influence as a trading center. Starting in 1822 the town's influence began to wane.

Well-known Russians who visited Georgiyevsk include: Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Leo Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, and Emperor Alexander II. Generals Nikolay Raevsky and Alexey Yermolov lived in the town.
After 1868, Georgiyevsk was a small town in the Tersk guberniya. In 1875, a railway station was built six kilometers away in Nezlobnaya. This became a new beginning in town's development. In 1894, the first blacksmith works was founded. This was the beginning of "ArZiL", the biggest enterprise in the town. In 1900, a slaughter house and oil mill were founded. In the 1920s, Georgiyevsk became a big industrial and trade center of the Predkavkazye (the central part of the North Caucasus),
During World War II, Georgiyevsk was under German occupation from August 9, 1942 until January 10, 1943. After the war, Georgiyevsk became the largest center of machine construction in Stavropol Krai.