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

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.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
The Latchkey Murders

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...
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.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Marooned in Moscow

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.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

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.

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