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 If you are in a fair way to date Russian woman, you are the luckiest man on the earth, because you are also in a fair way to enter one of the most intriguing and amazing cultures in the world.
Russia is the country of great history and of giant artistic and cultural heritage revealed today through masterpieces of world-known poets and writers, artisans and architects, dancers and singers, theater performers and producers.
It is impossible to reveal all aspects of Russian culture and art in one article and there are tons of books written about it. But I hope that this review will encourage you to further and deeper acquaintance and research. It will also help you to have most pleasant travel to Russia, as you know what you should look for in this country.
The roots of Russian culture and art lie in the early East Slavic culture and Russian culture has developed as a kind of mixture of Orthodox Christianity and Byzantine art and architecture.
Russian icon painting was inherited from the art of the Byzantine churches; today many old icons adorn Russian churches, while the largest collection of old icons is displayed at the Tretyakov Gallery.
Although Byzantine architecture was the basic architectural style in Russia, old and modern Russian architects adopted and developed many other trends that one can see walking around the cities of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other historic and cultural centers.
For instance, Saint Petersburg is a real outdoor museum of neoclassical architecture with beautiful column facades and arcs, fountains and statues, and of course, famous Winter and Summer Palaces.
Byzantine, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo architecture, Neoclassicism, the Art Nouveau, Constructivism, and the Stalinist Empire style are to name but a few styles found in Russian cities.
 Most known wood painting syles are called Gzhel, Khokhloma and Pisanka.
The best samples of Russian artisanship are matryoshka dolls, samovar (traditional teakettle, sometimes beautifully painted), and decorative painting of wooden objects, most often on dishes.
Thus, the oldest arts in Russia are icon painting and church architecture.
Matryoshka doll is a wooden figure, which can be pulled apart to reveal another doll of smaller size inside. It has in turn another doll inside, and so on and so forth. Most often, the number of nested figures is usually six or more.
The shape of matryoshka is mostly cylindrical, rounded at the top for the head and tapered towards the bottom; the dolls have no hands, because they are painted. The artistry lies in the painting of each doll, which can be very elaborate. Most often, these are girls with pink cheeks and nice smiles in traditional Russian dresses and kerchiefs on their heads.
Needless to say that geniuses of Russian music, poetry and prose, cinema, theater and dance have always driven the attention of world public to Russian artistic scene.
Russian literature is a unique phenomenon recognized and studied throughout the world.
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is a poet for all proceeding and succeeding generations. Having being killed at the duel when he was still very young, the poet managed to leave to Russia a great number of works including poetic fairy tales for children such as A Tale of the Fisherman and the Golden Fish, great poems such as Ruslan and Lyudmila and Eugene Onegin and a plenty of short poetry pieces. Tchaikovsky and Glinka are some of Russian composers who drove Russian classical music onto the world scene. In particular, Michael Glinka took the initiative in launching the first opera performance, which was A Life for the Tsar, staged in 1836.
Classical music and opera are also exceptionally rich in traditions.
Russian most popular operas include Boris Godunov, Eugene Onegin, The Golden Cockerel, Prince Igor and the Queen of Spades. These are very aesthetic, beautiful and exceptionally moving performances staged to the works of Great Russian authors, which will make your soul thrill and rejoice, worry and sympathize.
Russian cuisine has rich historic traditions and offers a wide diversity of soups, fish delicacies, cereal based products and drinks.
For instance, black caviar originally was a Tsar delicacy, served to the most important guests and foreign ambassadors. Today black caviar is also very expensive delicacy usually served for some ceremonial events such as celebrations and holidays. Nevertheless, it is exported abroad and considered one of the most exquisite dishes as well.
What else to say? In fact, there is much… In terms of culture and arts, Russia is an inexhaustible source for exploration and research. Enjoy your new experience!
Original Russian products are black caviar, smetana, buckwheat dishes, rye flour and rye bread, pelmeny (similar to ravioli), schi (cabbage soup) and many other national dishes have influenced many cuisines of other nations. Literature has flourished through all ages and Russia boasts a great number of talents in prose and poetry. |
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