In what is now northwestern Russia there was once a group of tribes. They had succeeded in resisting being ruled by anyone else. But the tribes just couldn't get along with each other.
They ended up seeking some order by actually inviting an outside prince or chieftain to rule over them. The one that ended up being was named Rurik. It doesn't seem to be known for sure where he was from, but Rurik was almost certainly of Viking or Scandinavian origin.This began, in 862, what was known as the Rurik Dynasty that would last over 700 years.
The Rurik Dynasty ruled over a kingdom known as the Kievan Rus. Vladimir the Great was a Rurik prince in Kiev who made what would turn out to be the momentous decision to adopt the Byzantine rite of Christianity for his kingdom. This was, as we saw in "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began", was because his envoys were so impressed with the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
The Kievan Rus ultimately broke apart, but had succeeded in being a conduit for the spread of Christianity and it is today acknowledged as the predecessor state of Russia, Ukraine and, Belarus, and is where the name of Russia comes from.
The next power that arose was the Grand Duchy of Moscow. This state gradually annexed the neighboring states that had been the remnants of the Kievan Rus, and lands to the east as well. This was still the Rurik Dynasty that had been founded centuries before.
A leader called Ivan the Great had married the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, from before Constantinople had been conquered by the Ottomans. Since Constantinople had been claimed to be the "Second Rome", the holy successor city to Rome, Ivan claimed Moscow as the "Third Rome", meaning the center of Christianity.
Finally, in 1547, the grandson of Ivan the Great, known as Ivan the Terrible, proclaimed the annexed lands as the Tsardom of Russia, with himself as tsar. But he is the one who built the magnificent St. Basil's Cathedral, and how terrible can someone be who can build something like that?
The place where Rurik had arrived to begin his rule over the quarreling tribes was Novgorod, to the northwest of Moscow on the way to what is now St. Petersburg. This was Rurik's capital and Ivan the Great eventually annexed what was known as the Republic of Novgorod into the Grand Duchy of Moscow, before all of it became the modern nation of Russia.
In 1862, a metal monument was unveiled in the Kremlin of Novgorod to celebrate the millennium since the arrival of Rurik in 862. His arrival is considered as the beginning of Russia and the monument is known as the Millennium of Russia. We usually think of the Kremlin as being in Moscow but it is simply a term for a walled citadel and there are also kremlins in some other Russian cities.
The first of the following scenes in the Novgorod Kremlin is of the Millennium of Russia Monument. The figure holding the shield is Rurik. The other figures, both on the top and the bottom of the monument, are other important people from Russia's history. The adjacent cathedral, St. Sophia, was the main cathedral of the Novgorod Republic.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
Notice how the Millennium of Russia Monument resonates with the Tsar Bell, in the Moscow Kremlin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bell#/media/File:Tsar_Bell_in_Kremlin.jpg
The alphabet that is used in Russia is the Cyrillic Alphabet. It was originally based on an alphabet created by St. Cyril, who was a missionary from Byzantium. The alphabet was so that people who spoke Slavic languages could read the Bible. Peter the Great, of the Romanov Dynasty which followed the Ruriks, made some of the letters look more like the Latin alphabet. He personally created the letter that looks like a backwards "R".
There is an enclave of Russia far to the west of the rest of the country, on the Baltic Sea. This is Kaliningrad. The city began with a medieval fortress built by the Teutonic Knights. Kaliningrad used to be part of East Prussia, when it's German name was Konigsberg. It was repopulated with Russians after the Second World War. The city had been part of Russia before, at the time of the Romanov Dynasty, and had also once been part of Poland.
One thing that the city is known for is a famous puzzle, known as the Seven Bridges of Konigsberg. This is a simplified illustration. It is supposedly impossible to walk a route that will cross each bridge once and only once. No swimming, tunneling or flying is allowed. It has to be only walking. It has to be one continuous walk, not two separate walks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Bridges_of_K%C3%B6nigsberg#/media/File:7_bridgesID.png
Anyway, here is Kaliningrad.
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.7208414,20.501261,3a,75y,81.01h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sf-Hc43dWzoVW53TAF26cHg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Df-Hc43dWzoVW53TAF26cHg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D74.68767%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
The city of Yaroslavl was, like Novgorod, a state that was annexed by the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The great river of the European part of Russia is the Volga River. It runs a very long route from north to south and is kind of like the Mississippi River of Russia. Yaroslavl is, like several other major cities, on the Volga River. All of these cities originated in medieval times and are important industrial centers.
https://www.google.com/maps/@57.6283552,39.8927423,3a,75y,66.49h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sempfXYVBMbmiAOQ3HeCAkg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DempfXYVBMbmiAOQ3HeCAkg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D50.901157%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
The city to the east of Moscow, on the Volga River, that used to be called Gorky has been renamed Nizhny Novgorod. "Novgorod" seems to mean something like "new town" and the original Novgorod has been named Veliky Novgorod, to distinguish the two cities. The following scenes begin in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.
https://www.google.com/maps/@56.3277047,44.0017685,3a,75y,217.8h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sSLfopn6KL2Er1VGYVuV9Wg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DSLfopn6KL2Er1VGYVuV9Wg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D203.2707%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Far to the east of Moscow is another medieval city on the Volga River, about a thousand years old, Kazan, that is now an important industrial city. The following scenes begin in the center of Kazan.
https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7962188,49.1252096,3a,75y,3.07h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sREyesZgqMmrvwtrqgkLkUQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DREyesZgqMmrvwtrqgkLkUQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D1.7296219%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
Well to the west, and not on the Volga River, is another major city that originated in medieval times, Voronezh.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.6641768,39.1973719,3a,75y,104.82h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0CiNWlB5-Geq5cxZeW5WPw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0CiNWlB5-Geq5cxZeW5WPw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D113.10479%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Moving on to southern Russia, Rostov-on-Don is on the Don River.
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.2200934,39.7077414,3a,75y,20h,110t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s6T9HJ0ou9Ghpp81GkxOmbg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6T9HJ0ou9Ghpp81GkxOmbg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D20%26pitch%3D-20%26thumbfov%3D100
This is Krasnodar, in the central part of the city beginning at Memorial Arch.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.024688,38.9704395,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1su0qvWSJ-0sPMfizBQQWdKA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Du0qvWSJ-0sPMfizBQQWdKA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D125.36427%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Back eastward to the Volga River is the city of Saratov. The following scenes begin in the center of Saratov.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5356972,46.0265931,3a,75y,91.7h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1slaXe5-tA3gKGyplpBz_xQQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DlaXe5-tA3gKGyplpBz_xQQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D92.733284%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Another major city that originated in medieval times but is now an industrial city on the Volga River is Samara. I can remember that, when I was a youth, this city was called Kuibyshev.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.189431,50.1006053,3a,75y,140h,100t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sr-sr-ZPox-CPGx0c-373EQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dr-sr-ZPox-CPGx0c-373EQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D140%26pitch%3D-10%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Finally, on the Volga River, we come to the city that is named for the river, Volgograd.
Of course, Volgograd is the city that was formerly known as Stalingrad. The greatest battle that the world has ever seen took place here, in 1942-43. It was given to the world as a glimpse of apocalypse.
But that is not what our view of Volgograd is going to focus on. In another way of looking at things, it is not fair that this quiet and peaceful city be defined solely by the battle that took place there. There was an equally horrific battle at St. Petersburg, then Leningrad, a siege that went on for nearly three years. But St. Petersburg is a larger city that has plenty of other things to distinguish it. For Volgograd, in contrast, the battle that took place there is the only thing that comes to mind.
The vast majority of people that were involved in the Battle of Stalingrad had never been to the city otherwise.
Here is what the world does not see very often, quiet scenes of everyday life in the city that was once known as Stalingrad. But you may notice that there are far fewer older buildings than there are in the other cities of southern Russia.
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.6983053,44.4724059,3a,75y,100h,100t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sOeocd1HFm_RHE6j5h2pslA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DOeocd1HFm_RHE6j5h2pslA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D100%26pitch%3D-10%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
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