State Hermitage Museum

State Hermitage Museum, Russia

Opened to the public in 1852, the State Hermitage Museum is one of the oldest museums in the world. The museum started with Catherine the Great’s own collection, beginning in 1764. Today, with about 3 million pieces, the collection housed at this museum complex is also one of the largest in the world, in ten buildings.

Collections at the Hermitage Museum include Western European art from over the 13th to 20th centuries, Egyptian artifacts, Classical works, and even prehistoric works of art. Famous works housed at the Hermitage Museum include some from Rembrandt, Leonardo, and Michelangelo.

Mother Motherland

Mother land in Russia

Also called Motherland Calls, this statue of a woman raising her sword to the sky commemorates the Battle of Stalingrad and serves as a symbol of victory during the WWII battle, in which the Red Army defeated the German troops. The statue’s name more literally translates to “the Motherland that gave birth to me is calling,” referring to the allegorical Mother Russia.

At the time of construction, the monument was the tallest sculpture in the world, at 85 meters (279 feet) tall, weighing a heft 8,000 tons. The 200 steps to the base of the statue symbolize the 200 days that the battle endured.
The sculptor, Yevgeny Vuchetich, used local model Valentina Izotova as the basis for the sculpture. The sculpture’s hasty construction and the site’s rising water levels have caused the statue to lean considerably over time, prompting concerns that it may collapse. The city is now working to restore it to its upright position.

Golden Mountains of Altai in Russia

Golden Mountains of Altai at Siberia, Russia

The Altai mountains, located in Russia, contain natural reserves, lakes mountains, and a plateau. The Golden Mountains of Altai UNESCO site includes three general areas: Altaisky Zapovednik, Katunsky Zapovednik, and the Ukok Quiet Zone (Ukok plateau). The site also includes Lake Teletskoye and Belukha Mountain. The regions are located along the borders to China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan.

The Golden Mountains of Altai are noted for their high level of biodiversity and a variety of vegetation zones, from steppe and forest-steppe, to mixed forest, subalpine vegetation, and alpine vegetation. The region is a habitat for endangered species including the snow leopard.

Humans have inhabited the region for almost a million years, with Paleolithic settlements found in the Gorno-Altaisk region. The mountains have been the site of tribal unions, khanates, and empires ranging from the Scythians, to the Turks, Uigurs, Yenissey Kirgiz, Kidans, Mongols, and Oitrats. The local people are Russians and the Altaisky, who are Turkish-speaking hunter-gatherer people who continue to live in the natural environment.

Within the site, Katun Nature Reserve which was established in 1991 and joined the Golden Mountains designation in 1998, is home to 700 plant varieties, 51 mammal species, 140 bird species and various reptiles and fish. Ecosystems contained in this portion include glaciers, alpine tundra, meadows, and forests.