Assumption Cathedral of the island city of Svyazhsk (World Heritage)
According to estatelearning, the island city is located in the eastern part of European Russia (Republic of Tatarstan), at the confluence of the Svijaga and Schchuka rivers into the Volga. However, the settlement only became an island in the 1960s, when the Volga was dammed by a dam near Samara. Today a heaped dam connects the 62 hectare island with the mainland.
The city and fortress of Svyashsk was founded in 1551 by Tsar Ivan IV, the Terrible, as an outpost for the conquest of the city of Kazan and for the Christianization of the Tatar Empire. To do this, he had the wooden houses of a bastion that he had built on the upper reaches of the Volga completely dismantled, transported 1500 kilometers downstream on rafts and reassembled in Svyazhsk within four weeks. After the conquest of the Tatar Empire, the fortress was converted into a monastery and has been the center of the Russian Orthodox faith in the region ever since.
Assumption Cathedral of the island city of Svyazhsk: facts
| Official title: | Assumption Cathedral of the island city of Svyashsk |
| Cultural monument: | A fortress from the time of Ivan IV. which became the center of the Russian Orthodox faith on the border between Orient and Occident. The frescoes inside the cathedral are considered to be particularly rare examples of Eastern Orthodox wall painting. |
| Continent: | Europe |
| Country: | Russian Federation, Republic of Tatarstan |
| Location: | at the confluence of the Sviyaga and Schchuka rivers into the Volga |
| Appointment: | 2017 |
| Meaning: | The location and architecture of the Assumption Monastery illustrate the policy and missionary program of Tsar Ivan IV for the expansion of the Moscow Empire. |
The Assumption Cathedral
Of the 37 monuments on the island, the stone Assumption Cathedral, built in 1561, is the most important building. It is part of the monastery of the same name, which is surrounded by a defensive wall. The cathedral received a new baroque dome in the 18th century, but otherwise remained unchanged in its original appearance. The interior of the cathedral is particularly important. Here you will find particularly rare frescoes in the Orthodox-Oriental style from the time of Ivan IV, including a representation of the Tsar himself, which is said to have been created during his lifetime. Also unique in the world is a fresco of St. Christopher, on which he is depicted not – as is often the case in the Eastern Church – with a dog’s head, but with a horse’s head.
Lena-Felsen Nature Park (World Heritage)
Over a length of 80 kilometers, the pillar-like Lena rocks created by frost blasting line the east bank of the Lena in Yakutia.
Lena rocks nature park: facts
| Official title: | Lena Rocks Nature Park |
| Natural monument: | Natural park with spectacular rock pillars up to 100 m high several kilometers along the Lena River in Siberia; 530 million year old limestone cliffs covering an area of 12,000 km² from the Cambrian; wondrous, free-standing forms partly made of frozen karst; large number of fossils from the Cambrian, including finds of stone axes from up to three million old settlements; Site with arctic desert landscape Tukulany with sand dunes as well as mammoth and bison fossils; the world’s most extensive reef, created by multicellular animals |
| Continent: | Asia |
| Country: | Russia |
| Location: | Sakha (Yakutia), Central Siberia |
| Appointment: | 2012 |
| Meaning: | Unique natural phenomenon of overwhelming beauty; enormous importance for the study of the geology of our planet |
Putorana Plateau (World Heritage)
The protected area in the Central Siberian mountainous region is home to arctic and subarctic ecosystems with taiga and tundra vegetation. Among the unique animal populations, the reindeer are of particular importance: 500,000 of the animals regularly cross the plateau on their journeys.
Putorana Plateau: Facts
| Official title: | Putorana plateau |
| Natural monument: | Untouched nature reserve on a basalt plain up to 1,700 m high in northern central Siberia, 100 km north of the Arctic Circle; Arctic and sub-arctic ecosystems of approx. 18,000 km² with the vegetation forms of tundra and taiga with over 25,000 fjord-like lakes and thousands of waterfalls; 400 species of higher plants, 34 species of mammals (including wolves, martens, bears, elk, Putorana snow sheep, huge herds of reindeer), approx. 140 species of birds (e.g. arctic peregrine falcon, capercaillie, sea eagle); continuous collection of 11 mm per year |
| Continent: | Europe |
| Country: | Russia |
| Location: | Norilsk, Central Siberia |
| Appointment: | 2010 |
| Meaning: | Unique, completely untouched biological wealth of an arctic flora and fauna with an extraordinary landscape of outstanding beauty; natural laboratory for the study of arctic ecosystems |
Novodevichy Monastery (World Heritage)
Novodewitschi (New Maiden Monastery) is one of the fortified monasteries from the 16th / 17th centuries. Century, which incorporated into the defense system around Moscow. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful complexes built in the so-called Moscow Baroque. The monastery maintained close relationships with the royal family and the nobility.
Novodevichy Monastery: facts
| Official title: | Novodevichy Monastery |
| Cultural monument: | Monastery in the so-called “Moscow Baroque”; once part of a series of monastic ensembles integrated into Moscow’s defense system; Wall edged with 12 towers, surrounded by a park; four churches, bell tower (72 m), refectory and other residential and utility buildings; close connection with the history of the Kremlin; used by the women of the tsarist family and by the Russian nobility; Perfect Russian architecture, rich interior design, important collection of paintings |
| Continent: | Europe |
| Country: | Russia |
| Location: | Moscow |
| Appointment: | 2004 |
| Meaning: | Outstanding and exceptionally well-preserved example of the so-called “Moscow Baroque” |
Novodevichy Monastery: History
| 1524 | Founding of the monastery by Vasily III. (Father of Ivan the Terrible) commemorating the capture of the city of Smolensk (1514) |
| 1525 | Construction of the main church (Smolenskij Savor) |
| 1610-11 | Conquest of Novodevichy by Polish troops |
| End of 17th century | Completion of the architectural monastery ensemble |
| 1812 | Conquest of Novodevichy by Napoleon |
| 1994 | Establishment of a new nunnery |
