Chelyabinsk



Chelyabinsk

Name: Anastasia Bogomolova

Age: 31

Profession: Artist

City: Chelyabinsk

How long have you been doing photography? Since 2012.

What style or genre most interests you? Conceptual photography – it is one of the tools in my work as an artist.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for? Chelyabinsk is a million-resident city in the southern Urals. It was founded as a fortress in the 1730s and at the end of the nineteenth century it was transformed from a district city into a huge center for transport and trade. And in the 1930s and 1940s it became a large industrial construction center such that today is is one of the largest industrial sites in the region. But, yes, Chelyabinsk is now most famous thansk to the meteorite which exploded 15-25 km over our city in February 2013.

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

1. One of the city's unofficial names is Tankograd, which relates to the military era. During the Second World War Chelyabinsk was the site for intensive production of tanks and other military vehicles.

2. Chelyabinsk was the first city in Russia to memorialize John Lennon. In 2000 the city named a boulevard after the famous musician, yet to this day this street does not have a single building, just a sign.

3. Chelyabinsk is the only city in the country which has a sprawling forest in its midst. The grove is a 20 minute walk from the central square and covers 12 square kilometers.

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

1. Kirovka – the city's main pedestrian street, with buildings that have been preserved from the nineteenth century. Locals call it the Chelyabinsk Arbat, but it has had many names (Ufimsky, Yekaterinburgsky, Raboche-Krestyansky). You can see popular bronze sculptures of a beggar (sitting in front of a bank), a peasant reading a decree (at the regional legislative assembly), a shoe shine (near the shoe store), an artists, a fire wagon, etc. Gallant and pseudo-historical monuments stand alongside military memorials.

2. The Historical Museum of the Southern Urals – it has the largest known fragment of the Chelyabinsk Meteorite.

3. Of course, you have to go and see the forest mentioned.

Anything else? The most interesting is what lies beyond the bounds of the "required sites." Thus, when people come to visit me from other cities or countries, I never take them to these places, but lead them on an alternative itinerary, beginning with the metallurgical region, one of the most heavily saturated industrial regions (even by the standards of the very industrial Ural region). During the Second World War, all of the modern territory of this region was part of the labor camp known as Bakallag. Most of the prisoners there were Russian Germans, deported from the Volga region.

Website: https://anabogomolova.viewbook.com

Instagram: @anabogomolova



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

Some of our Books

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.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

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.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

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.

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.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

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.

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