Things to do in Northern European Russia
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Krayevyedchesky Museum
The varied exhibits of the Krayevyedchesky Museum include good features on Sami and Pomor history and the Anglo-American occupation. There's a good souvenir shop, and museum guides can be hired for city tours in English.
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Geological Museum
The town’s neat, widely spaced concrete-block architecture is hardly an attraction, but there’s a new, central Geological Museum
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History, Architecture & Art Museum
Today the kremlin houses the main exhibits of the city's History, Architecture & Art Museum. Forty-minute kremlin tours in English are available from the excursions department (722 511) in the Gavriilovsky Korpus. The museum's history and natural history section, in the same building, ranges from stuffed wildlife to stuff on Stalin's periods of exile in Vologda.
Those with a morbid streak will appreciate the female skeleton from the 2nd century BC and the astounding, Hieronymus Bosch-like anonymous painting from 1721, Strashny Sud (Frightful Trial).
The museum's art section on the east side of the main courtyard includes some astonishing examples of Vologda lace and embro…
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Lake Semyonovskoe
Atop the hill 2km north of pl Pyat Uglov, Lake Semyonovskoe is the focus of the largest open space near the centre and a favourite playground for Murmansk. The lake is named after the would-be hermit Semyon Korzhnev, an old tsarist soldier who retired at the turn of the 20th century to a cabin on the shore and was the only resident for miles around. Imagine his disappointment when Murmansk appeared on his utopian horizon!
The lake and indeed much of Murmansk are overlooked by Alyosha, a truly gigantic concrete Great Patriotic War soldier from whose feet you can enjoy spectacular views over the city. The lake is frozen for much of the year but in summer people swim and boa…
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Blue Water Holidays
Murmansk is the starting point for July and August cruises to the North Pole and Arctic islands on Russian icebreakers, an exotic and expensive experience where passengers see dramatic seascapes and, with luck, Arctic wildlife (the voyages last around two weeks). You will need to book well in advance and many agencies include flights from Helsinki or Moscow to Murmansk in their packages.
Cruise to the North Pole in one of Russia's nuclear icebreakers, or take a trip to dramatic Franz Josef Land or Novaya Zemlya and Severnaya Zemlya in non-nuclear icebreakers. The ships are fitted out for passengers and some of the profits go towards the upkeep of Russia's icebreaker fleet…
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Museum of Diplomatic Corps
This unusual two-room museum chronicles a little-known blip in WWI history. In February 1918, with the Germans approaching Petrograd, Allied ambassadors were ordered to evacuate. US ambassador David Francis suggested simply relocating. Studying a map, he chose Vologda. Other embassies followed his lead, the French, Italian and Serbian ministries sharing a luxury rail carriage parked in Vologda station. That proved handy since in July all the embassies decamped again to Arkhangelsk. The eclectic and impressively researched exhibit has some notes in English and is housed in the former US embassy, a tired if once-grand timber house with a four-pillar wooden portico.
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Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery
This working Spaso-Prilutsky monastery, dating from the 14th century, rises beside the Vologda River on the northern outskirts of the city. It's a beautiful place even though visitors are restricted to limited areas inside. Standard modest dress and covered heads for women are required.
The upper church of the five-domed Transfiguration Cathedral (Spaso-Preobrazhensky sobor), built in the 16th century, is still in the early stages of restoration, but the lower church is full of icons and holds services. Behind is the beautiful, wooden Dormition Church (Uspenskaya tserkov), built in 1519 with a single spire and an equal-armed cross plan.
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Quark Expeditions
Murmansk is the starting point for July and August cruises to the North Pole and Arctic islands, an experience where passengers see dramatic seascapes and scenery and, with luck, a good deal of Arctic wildlife. Book well in advance (many agencies include flights from Helsinki or Moscow to Murmansk in their packages). Voyages last around two weeks to the North Pole itself or to Franz Josef Land or Novaya Zemlya and Severnaya Zemlya.
The ships are fitted out for passengers and some of the profits go towards the upkeep of Russia's icebreaker fleet.
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Museum of the Northern Fleet
Naval buffs make the trek to the Museum of the Northern Fleet covering the founding of Russia’s first navy in Arkhangelsk, the Murmansk convoys of WWII and the modern fleet. The museum is within a turquoise, somewhat crumbling three-storey cultural centre fronted by anchors. Take bus 10 to the penultimate stop (‘Nakhimova’, opposite ul Admirala Lobova 43), walk on for 300m, then turn left and it’s 80m up ul Tortseva. Shimmy through the building’s foyer and the museum is to the left, within.
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Gostiny Dvor
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Arkhan-gelsk’s raison d’être was the Gostiny Dvor, a grand, turreted brick trading centre built between 1668 and 1684. Luxurious European textiles, satin and velvet arrived here while flax, hemp, wax and timber for ships’ masts were exported. The once-huge complex is now only a shadow of its former self but some partly restored sections host exhibition rooms that usually have a couple of worthwhile historical and/or art displays.
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Art Gallery
Arkhangelsk’s most compelling art gallery jams together a remarkable selection of 18th- to early-20th-century Russian paintings ranging stylistically from Stanislav Khlebovsky’s very operatic Death of Prince Oranskogo (1861) to Pili Petrovichev’s impres-sionist Beryozy (Birches, 1917). Upstairs are impressive icons, bone carvings and decorative art displays. However, the building containing all these delights is an architectural crime against humanity.
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Arcturus
Cruises to the North Pole and Arctic islands on Russian icebreakers are an expensive experience, but worth it, if it's your thing. You'll see dramatic seascapes and scenery and, with luck, Arctic wildlife. (Book well in advance). You'll either travel in one of Russia's nuclear icebreakers - to the North Pole itself; or in a non-nuclear icebreaker - to one of the Arctic islands. The ships are fitted out for passengers and some of the profits go to the upkeep of Russia's icebreaker fleet.
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Purga
A naked derriere moons you at the top of the entry stairs forewarning of this place’s delightful craziness. Sit in cave-alcoves while bands play blues-rock and art students dressed up as fake grannies engage customers in hilariously nonsensical conversation. They also serve standard food (mains from R150), so you can make a night of it. Booking ahead is wise at weekends. It’s around 35 minutes south of the centre by trolleybus 6 then 30m west of bus stop Pervomayskaya.
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Geological Museum
The bright new Geological Museum is open to drop-in guests. Labelled mineral fragments are sold here as souvenirs. By appointment, more specialist visitors can arrange a guided visit to a second Mineralogy Collection on the top floor of the next-door Kola Scientific Centre. Friendly academics speak English but if you don’t have the geological background to pose relevant questions you’re likely to feel embarrassingly out of your depth.
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Sami History & Culture Museum
Under Stalin, the once-nomadic Sami (Lapp) people were brutally suppressed and forcibly collectivised. Of Russia’s roughly 1600 Sami, some 900 now live in the tiny administrative village of Lovozero (Luyavvr) where a little Sami History & Culture Museum displays 2000-year-old petroglyphs and sells various Sami crafts including reindeer-fur slippers and carved bone-work. Staff can arrange English-speaking translator-guides.
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Museum of the History of the Exploration & Development of Northern European Russia
To the non-geologist, Apatity's most interesting museum is the Museum of the History of the Exploration & Development of Northern European Russia, which has explanations in English. It features Russian Arctic expeditions (with unique drawings of Novaya Zemlya) and interesting archaeological material on the Kanozero and Chalmny-Varre petroglyphs and the nine ancient labyrinths around the Kola coast. There are also old Sami and Pomor artefacts.
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Fine Arts Museum
The Fine Arts Museum is surprisingly good. It boasts an impressive selection of 14th- to 18th-century icons and a good selection of 18th-to-early-20th-century Russian painting, with work by nearly all the leading names - look for Stanislav Khlebovsky's Death of Prince Oranskogo (1861) and IB Lampi's portrait of Catherine the Great (1790s). On the 2nd floor, don't overlook the 19th- and early-20th-century textiles and decorative art.
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Poseidon
Murmansk is the starting point for July and August cruises to the North Pole and Arctic islands (Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya) on Russian icebreakers. The voyages last around two weeks and you'll see dramatic seascapes and Arctic wildlife. Book well in advance. The ships - either a nuclear icebreaker or non-nuclear ship - are fitted out for passengers and at least some of the profits go towards the upkeep of the fleet.
reviewed
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Kraevedchesky Museum
The extensive Kraevedchesky Museum is in the 17th century Gavriilovsky Korpus. Beyond all the stuffed mammals (go on, make that bear growl) is a rich prehistory section including a 3500-year-old lady skeleton clasping at her modesty. Look for the Hieronymus Bosch–like 1721 painting Strashny Sud, in which demons, angels and endless salmon-pink humanoids fight out the final tribulations of eternity.
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Kola Travel
The main reason to come to this prosperous nickel-smelting city is to engage the services of experienced, multilingual Kola Travel, a Russo-Dutch travel firm offering an inspiring selection of Kola adventures including hiking, biking, rock-hunting, snowmobile safaris. Their 4WD trips include one to a middle-of-nowhere village where you can sleep in a comfy but traditionally styled turf hut.
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Hiking
In summer (about mid-June to mid-September) the Khibiny mountains provide the best hiking in northwestern Russia, in an expanse of flat-topped mountains divided by deep valleys, swift rivers and lakes. The highest point, Yudychvumchorr, rises 1200m above sea level. Don't treat these hills lightly: avalanches happen and the weather can be extreme, even in summer, so don't wander off without a guide.
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Mineralogical Museum
The Kola Scientific Centre's Mineralogical Museum, with 900 samples of Kola Peninsula minerals, rocks and ores, is a little more specialist than the Geological Museum but the colourful minerals from the Khibiny-Lovozero massif will impress anyone. Officially, visits should be prearranged, but if you ask at the reception desk of the building they'll probably send you on up to the museum.
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Museum
One of several fine old wooden buildings at the northern end of Leningradskaya houses this lovable little museum evoking the life of a 19th century, 17-child middle-class family. Amid portraits and old dolls are musical boxes and an old gramophone that still plays. A selection of beautiful photos showcase other examples of Vologda’s historic wooden architecture.
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Old Ski Station
There are two main ski stations, on the north and south slopes of Aykuayvenchorr mountain at the foot of which the town stands. The lengths and steepness of the runs are comparable at both - good for both beginners and experienced skiers. The old ski station, on Aykuayvenchorr's northern slopes immediately above the town, is a little cheaper. Take your passport as ID to rent equipment.
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Statue of Yury Andropov
Unveiled to protests and arrests in 2005, a very youthful statue of Yury Andropov commemorates the USSR’s 1982–84 supremo who had been chief of Petrozavodsk’s Komsomol (Communist Party youth wing) some 50 years earlier. Andropov is best remembered as a long-term KGB director. Was the statue a sign of President Putin rehabilitating his former boss?
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