Russian Travel Guide

The endless summer of the wakesurfer Artyom Khalyavin

Among his colleagues Artem Khalyavin is known as a challenger of the ocean, lover of the waves and fearless conqueror of the elements. He has won the Russian Wakesurfing Championship multiple times and is thrilled that he gets to do what he loves, having turned a hobby into his life’s work. It is when he’s on the water that he really comes to life. A gifted teacher and a successful athlete and entrepreneur, Artem has found himself in surfing. Quiet and focused, he himself has somehow managed to absorb the mystery of the ocean along with its intrinsic hardness and strength. He sees life as an endless wave that must be caught and conquered.

Коллекция Russian Travel Guide. Города. Москва

The View From Up On High. The Churches of Veliky Novgorod

It is better to die than to allow one’s gods to be insulted,” the people of Novgorod stated, resisting attempts to convert them from their pagan beliefs to Christianity. In the face of this opposition, Prince Vladimir’s envoys resorted to brute force. With fire and the sword. It was in this way that Novgorod was brought round to the Christian faith in the 10th century. But a new strength was born out of that fire. Christianity united the different tribes and groups. Two centuries later, the majority of the churches in this medieval city were part of a vast monastery. Every community in Novgorod had its own church – the inhabitants of each neighborhood in the city, even streets, merchants working in the different trades, aristocratic families. The church signified heavenly patronage and affirmed the existence of the community within the sacral space of the city. The history and architectu...