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Russia

Dark sights in Russia

  1. Znamensky Monastery

    Set in a leafy garden behind a noisy traffic circle, the 1762 Znamensky Monastery is 1.5km northeast of the Bogoyavlensky Cathedral. Echoing with mellifluous plainsong, the interior has splendidly muralled vaulting, a towering iconostasis and a gold sarcophagus holding the miraculous relics of Siberian missionary St Inokent.

    Celebrity graves outside include that of Grigory Shelekhov, the man who claimed Alaska for Russia. White-Russian commander Admiral Kolchak was executed by Bolsheviks near the spot where his statue was controversially erected in November 2004 at the entrance to the monastery grounds, on a plinth that's exaggeratedly high enough to reduce vandalism.

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    Tyuremny Zamok

    The eerie 1855 Tyuremny Zamok was once a holding prison. Tsarist exiles were temporarily incarcerated here awaiting a final destination for their banishment.

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