Kaluga



Kaluga

Name: Svetlana Tarasova

Age: 30

Profession: Photographer

City: Kaluga

How long have you been doing photography? About a year.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for?  Kaluga is a city located in the central part of European Russia, and is the capital of the Kaluga region. The city stands on the banks of the Oka River, about 190 km southwest of Moscow. It is a railway station on the Moscow-Kiev line.

The founding date of Kaluga is not known, but it is some time in the first part of the fourteenth century. The first written mention of Kaluga was in 1371. It was then a small fortress of the Moscow state.

Kaluga is known first of all because of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (the Russian space program founder). He was living and working in Kaluga in 1892-1935. That's why the city is often called the cradle of the Russian space exploration.

The city has a Space Museum – the world's first and largest museum in Russia about space exploration. It was created with the direct participation of Sergei Korolev and Yuri Gagarin.

What are some things that only locals would know about the city?

One of the most famous Russian photography schools is in Kaluga. 

Kaluga is also famous for its great number of churches. 

There are many preserved historical places and cosy old yards, making the town a favorite destination for filmmakers.

Which places or sites are a must for someone to see if they visit your city?

  • Korobov Chambers (an example of "chamber architecture" from the end of the 17th century)
  • Zolotaryov Estate (the end of the 18th - early 19th centuries)
  • Trinity Cathedral (1786-1819)
  • Kaluga Gostiny Dvor, built by the famous architect Pyotr Romanovich Nikitin (1784)
  • The Stone Bridge across Berezuysky Ravine (1775-1778), one of the largest viaducts in Russia (160 meters).

There are also many museums, from The House-Museum of Tsiolkovsky (Tsiolkovsky Street, 79/81) and The House Museum ofChizhevsky (Moskovskaya Street, 62), to these others:

  • Kaluga Regional Art Museum (Lenin Street, 104)
  • Kaluga Regional Museum of Local Lore (Pushkin Street, 14)
  • Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics (Academician Korolev Street, 2)
  • Kaluga Planetarium (Academician Korolev Street, 2)
  • The Museum of Crafts, Architecture and Life (Kirov Street, 45/16)
  • The Municipal Cultural Institution "The House of Masters" (Grigorov Lane, 9)
  • The Puppet Museum "Bereginya" (Moskovsky district, Kozlovo village, 1)
  • The Museum of the War of 1812 (Maloyaroslavets town, Moskovskaya Street, 27, 23, 13)

Anything else? Come to see Kaluga, becouse it is the heart of Russia!

Website: http://www.tarasova-svetlana.inspider.ru/

Instagram: @starasovaventsolaire



Tags: spaceOka
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955