The moscow kremlin

The Kremlin is the heart of Moscow. It is a wonderful architectural ensemble with 3 magnificent cathedrals, the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, palaces, fortress walls and 20 towers.

The high wall which surrounds the Kremlin is 21.5kilometers long. It was built by Russian builders, supervised by Italian architects in the 15^th century. The 20 towers on the Kremlin wall were built for decoration in the 17^th century, when Moscow stopped being a fortress.

Nowadays you can hear the clock strike on Spasskaya Tower every quarter of an hour.

Among ancient buildings in the Kremlin there are churches and the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, built in 1600 by Russian architects under Boris Godunov.

The Dormition Cathedral is the largest temple on the territory of the Kremlin. Inside it you can see very fine old frescoes. Some of them were restored in the 20^th century. Russian tsars and emperors were crowned in the Dormition Cathedral.

The Archangel Cathedral was built by Italian architect Aleviso Novi. There you can see the Tomb of Moscow princes and tsars, the graves of Ivan the Terrible, of his son Ivan, and of his second son, tsar Fyodor.

In the Annunciation Cathedral you will see unusual oil paintings done in the 15^th and 16^th centuries by Andrei Rublev and his disciples, great artists of the time.

The Granovitaya Palata (Palace) faces the same square. It is a beautiful building, built in the 15^th century. In this palace Moscow tsars held magnificent receptions in honour of foreign ambassadors. The Granovitaya Palata is connected with an enormous Grand Kremlin Palace. In a large wing of the Palace there is the Armory and the Museum of Applied Art.

Other historical monuments of the Kremlin are the Tsar Cannon (16^th century) and the Tsar Bell (18^th century), both of enormous size and made by Russian masters. The Tsar Bell is 6meters tall and weights 210 tons. (It never worked, because when it was ready for lifting there was a bad fire in the Kremlin and it was damaged).

The Kremlin with its golden domes and magnificent towers attracts everybody’s attention and makes a great impression on tourists and guests of the capital.

For the last eight centuries the Moscow Kremlin was the witness of many glorious and tragic events of our history. Now the Moscow Kremlin is one of the greatest museums of the world. The Kremlin palaces and chambers are keeping the state regalia, invaluable icons and treasures of the tsars.

The chuvash republic

The Chuvash Republic has a rather favourable geographical position for the development of tourism. It is situated in the centre of the European part of Russia. It borders on two regions and three republics: to the West it borders on the Nizhny Novgorod region, to the North- on the Republic of Mari-El, to the East- on Tatarstan and to the South - on Mordovia and the Ulyanovsk region.

Chuvashia has an area of 18,700 square kilometers. It stretches for 190km from north to south and for about 160km from west to east.

1,359,000 people live on this comparatively small territory. 60% of the population live in towns and 40% live in the country. The density of population is one of the highest in Russia. It is about 74.3 persons per square kilometer.

Chuvashia is a multinational republic. Representatives of sixty-two nationalities live here, including Chuvashes, Russians, Tatars, Mordovians, etc. The official languages are Chuvash and Russian.

The capital of the republic is Cheboksary. There are nine towns in Chuvashia. The second largest is Novocheboksarsk, the rest are Alatyr, Shumerlya, Kanash, Kozlovka, Yadrin, Tsivilsk, and Mariinsky Posad.

The landscape of the Chuvash land is specific. There are no mountains on its territory, but the surface is slightly hilly with a plenty of small lakes (400) and rivers (nearly 2,500). The largest lakes are Astrakhanka, Lebyazhye and Chyornoye. Among 2,500 rivers there are rather big ones (the Tsivil, Anish, Kubnya, and Kirya). The greatest advantage of the republic is the Volga River. In the northern part of the republic there is a plateau, which is crossed with many ravines. The central part of Chuvashia the Sviyazhskaya Plain has not deep valleys.

Chuvashia is not rich in mineral resources but it is rich in natural resources such as forests and mineral springs. One third of its territory is covered with forests. They are mainly situated along the Sura River and in Zavolzhye. In the south-east of the Republic there are almost no forests at all. You can see groves everywhere in Chuvashia. In the forests there are many oaks and pines. Many forests are mixed. Typical representatives of the local fauna are elks, bears, wolves, foxes, wild boars, hares, martens, otters, squirrels and hedgehogs.

There are many mineral springs in Chuvashia. That is why the balneological institution for mud cures and health centre “Chuvashia” was opened on one of them. Both traditional and non-traditional methods of treatment are used in the health centre. Besides, clean air with smells of pine tar helps improve people’s health.

Ecological zones in Chuvashia occupy approximately one third of its territory and deserve much interest as the places for recreation and ecological tourism. They are: the Prisursky State National Park, the Chavash Varmane National Park, the Zavolzhye National Park, the Cheboksary branch of the Botanical Gardens of Russia.

The climate is moderate continental. The average temperature in January is -15, in July is +19. The lowest temperature, marked there in winter, is -46 and the highest temperature in summer is +38. The precipitation is 450-500mm a year, 70% of which falls in the warm season.

THE NATIONAL STATE SYMBOLS OF THE CHUVASH REPUBLIC

The Chuvash Republic has its own National Flag, National Emblem and National Anthem.

The Regulations of the National Flag of the Republic and the National Coat of Arms were adopted by the State Council of the Chuvash Republic on the 29 of April 1992. (Article158 of the Constitution of the Republic)

The National Flag of the republic is a symbol of the Chuvash State. It is a rectangular panel, divided horizontally with yellow above and purple below. In the centre we can see armorial bearings. A tree of life is a symbol of revival and above it there are three suns which mean present, past and future of the Chuvash people. The National Flag of the Chuvash Republic is flown constantly over the buildings, where the president of the Chuvash Republic, the State Council (Parliament) of the Chuvash Republic, the Cabinet (Government) of the Chuvash Republic, and local self-government bodies have their offices; for the period of meeting - over the buildings, where sessions of the State Council of the Chuvash Republic or meetings of the Chuvash Republic local self-government representative bodies take place; during holidays and memorable days - over the buildings of Ministries, State Committees and departments, other state bodies of the Chuvash Republic, those of enterprises, institutions and organizations, as well as apartment houses. The National Flag of the Republic may also be hoisted during ceremonies and other public events held by state bodies of public organizations and enterprises.

The National Coat of Arms of the Chuvash Republic is its official emblem. It is a gold heraldic shield with a purple base and the ancient Chuvash emblem The Tree of Life, crowned with three suns. It is framed with a purple gold-bordered ribbon on which The Chuvash Republic is written in golden letters in the Chuvash and Russian languages. The purple base of the heraldic shield signifies the Chuvash Land. The yellow colour symbolizes the space under the sun, inhabited by the Chuvash people. The originator of the National Flag and the National Coat of Arms of the Chuvash Republic is Elli Yuryev. He is also the designer of the Coat of Arms of Cheboksary (1969).

The National Anthem of the Chuvash Republic was written by the famous Chuvash composer Herman Lebedev and the Chuvash poet Ilya Tuktash. The Anthem of the Chuvash Republic expresses three circles of images: arousing nature from sleep to new life; family – parents, children, relatives; unity and harmony of all relatives in the Chuvash world. The melody and the lyrics of the anthem are very close to Chuvash folk songs but they have up-to-date sounding and meaning.