Bryansk



Bryansk

Name: Ekaterina Razina

Age: 28

Profession: Photographer

City: Bryansk, Dyat'kovo (both in Bryansk region)

How long have you been doing photography? What style or genre most interests you? I am a professional wedding photographer, and started shooting while I was still in school. I prefer the genres: portrait, industrial landscape, and event atmospheric reportage.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for? Bryansk is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk region, located 379 kilometers (235 mi) southwest of Moscow; it recently celebrated its 1031 anniversary. In ancient times, the Vyatichi – warlike tribes, lived on the banks of the Desna river. The legendary bogatyr Peresvet, who killed the Tatar warrior Chelubey in the Battle of Kulikovo, was born here. Our wild forests also preserve the history of the Bryansk Partisans in great Patriotic war.

Today's Bryansk is an important center for steel and machinery manufacturing, and is home to many large factories. The main industries are machine building, metalworking, chemical, electrical equipment, electronics, wood, textile and food industries, locomotives, diesel engines, freight cars, motor graders, pavers and other road equipment, agricultural equipment, construction materials, and garments. The population of Bryansk is about 430,000. The city has different shopping centres, theatres, cinemas and all sorts of modern entertainment.

What is something about your city that only locals would know? Places in Bryansk region have some unofficial names, like The Great Wall of China, Mexico, and even... Isengard and the Field of Miracles. Only in Bryansk can ask the bus driver to return you to 'The Motherland' ('Rodina'), or 'The Dream' ('Mechta') and actually get on the bus with the inscription 'THE JET' ('Samolyot').

People in Bryansk pronounced their g's like 'gh', just like Belarusians or Ukrainians.

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

Bryansk: The Mound of Immortality like in Central Park Solovyi ('The nightingales'). This earthen embankment is 12 meters high and is topped with an 18-meter-high star. Bryansk citizens brought the earth here to build this colossal monument. A time capsule with a letter to people in the future is hidden beneath the Mound. It will be opened in 2017, 50 years from when it was placed there. 

Dyatkovo: Visit the Eighth Wonder of the World – the world's singular crystal iconostasis in the Church of The Burning Bush Icon. The iconostasis weighs seven tons and was made in Dyatkovo Crystal Factory, founded by the noblewoman Maria Maltsova in 1790.

Website: http://rozarock.ru/

Instagram: @rozarock



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

Some of Our Books

The Moscow Eccentric

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.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
The Samovar Murders

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.

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