Curated playlist
World Heritage Sites in Russia
- Kamchatka PeninsulaThe American Civil War sailed past Kamchatka in May 1865. A Confederate raider hunted Union whaling ships nearby.
- Peterhof PalacePeter the Great built Peterhof Palace to rival Versailles after visiting France's court in 1717.
- YaroslavlFor a few months in 1612, the Russian city of Yaroslavl was the nation's capital. Moscow was under foreign control.
- Kazan KremlinThe Kazan Kremlin was built by order of Ivan the Terrible on the rubble of a Tatar khanate's castle.
- Saint PetersburgIn 1703, Peter the Great laid Saint Petersburg's founding stone on an island just taken from Sweden.
- Altai MountainsDenisova Cave in Siberia is the only known place where three human species lived.
- Red SquareMoscow's Red Square was once called beautiful, not red. The Russian word krasnaya originally meant beautiful.
- Trinity Lavra of St. SergiusIn May 1923, peasants heard a radio concert inside a Russian monastery.
- Vladimir, RussiaThe Russian city of Vladimir cannot agree on when it was founded. Chronicles say 1108, but the city says 990.
- Lake BaikalLake Baikal in Siberia holds more freshwater than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
- Saint Basil's CathedralSaint Basil's Cathedral is not one church but nine on a single platform.
- Wrangel IslandWoolly mammoths lived on Wrangel Island until around 2000 BC. That is roughly 6,000 years longer than on the mainland.