Russian Travel Guide

St. Petersburg's historic addresses. Part two

In St. Petersburg there are many institutions which, after hundreds of years, are still working in their original field. Just as it did 200 years ago, the Literary Café on Nevsky Prospect continues to attract poetry lovers. At the beginning of the 19th century, this café was the well-known Wolf and Beranger Confectionery and a favourite place of great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. It was at this very confectionary that Pushkin spent his final moments before his fatal duel with Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès. The Eliseyev Emporium is another place with a long history and it continues to sell sweets and other exotic delicacies. You can still buy live leeches at Doctor Pel and Sons’ Chemist’s Shoppe and the doors of the luxurious Astoria Hotel, a historical place known for its many famous guests, are still open. It is now one of the most prestigious hotels in Russia. ...

Коллекция Russian Travel Guide. Экстрим. Северный Кавказ

IMPERIAL PORCELAIN. THE BIRTH OF A HISTORICAL STYLE

Empress Elizabeth of Russia had a burning desire to drink her coffee from a Russian- made porcelain cup. It was not a whim, but a matter of national pride. The ancient Chinese secret of porcelain-making had been unraveled in Europe by the mid-18th century, and no home could claim to be truly aristocratic unless it had a set of expensive Meissen porcelain conspicuously on display. Peter the Great’s daughter Elizabeth promised herself that Russia would one day produce porcelain of matching or superior quality – an achievement that would have made her father, who had a similar desire, proud. A small factory was erected in 1744 on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. In it, young scientist Dmitry Vinogradov conducted his experiments. Just a century later, and this enterprise had taken on the grand name of the Imperial Porcelain Factory and was producing amazingly beautiful pieces of ex...