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Underground World of the Azish-Tau Mountain Range
The Azish Tau Ridge in the Western Caucasus is known for its karst caves, which permeate a group of mountains, creating a complex network of underground routes. Some of them, such as the Great Azishskaya Cave, were first studied and explored many years ago and are nowadays equipped for tourist visits. The majority of these caves however, will only ever be documented and described by scientists and researchers – not tourists. RTG TV host Denis Golovko went along with professional speleologists to help study the underground pathways. Prehistoric animal bones and darkness-loving bats waited for him in the Earth’s depths, where he learned how to explore sunken caves using scuba equipment.
Smolny cathedral
Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg is a masterpiece of world architecture due to its picturesque beauty, expressive composition and exterior decoration. Thanks to its fluid, literally melting shape the construction creates the impression that the church is hovering over the ground. Every day hundreds of people visit Smolny to witness architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli’s great work. Tourists are often even lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a ceremonial religious procession of Orthodox believers. RTG’s new programme explores the history of the cathedral’s construction, what happened to Rastrelli and why the famed architect decided not to build a bell tower, which would have been the tallest building in the city.
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Smolny cathedral
The Uglich Case. The Beginning of The Time of Troubles
The Church of St. Dmitry on the Blood, located in the town of Uglich, is a unique document. It preserves the history of tragic events that took place at the turn of the 17th century, events that have gone down in the history of Russia as “The Time of Troubles.” They lasted 20 years, and almost destroyed the Russian state. Uglich was almost razed from the face of the Earth. Of its 40,000 inhabitants, only 500 survived. And it all began with the death of a single child, Tsarevich Dmitry. The different versions of those events to be found in legends and in the evidence assembled during the investigation in the 17th century, in an RTG film.
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