Bolgar

Bolgar town lies on the shore of Volga river. It contains the evidence of a medieval city.

An early settlement of Volga-Bolgars existed between 7th - 15th centuries, AD.

It was the first capital of the Golden Horde in 13th century.

The big minaret.

Bolgar represents the historical cultural exchanges and transformations of Eurasia.

Khans tomb.

Khans tombs and tombstones. 

The white chamber and below is the bath.

The black chamber from the inside.

The small minaret.

Another excavation on the process.

If you click to enlarge, you'll see the black line. It was a line on the ground which tells that the whole city was burned down during the invasion of Mongols. Each later on the ground tells different times of whose occupation. That is according to what materials were laid to make houses. 

The minaret and crosses.

The place continue to be the most popular destination for Muslim pilgrims. At the same time, a church is located just beside the mosque. The church is a Russian Orthodox one. People in this small town go yo the same area to pray. They just enter different doors. 

I have read the entire history of Volga-Bolgars and it is impossible to retell in one sitting. It is very interesting to know how the east and the west were interconnected at those times. How Mongols achieved such a period in history. Life in this part of the world was quite impressive as the turn of events were pretty rich in culture & now history.

I'm adding some link which you may read if you find it interesting to dig deeper down this historical town.

Bolgar History

Mongol Invasion of Volga-Bolgaria

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The Eternal Regimen

The Commemorative March of the Eternal Regimen was the highlights and the most important part of the 70th Victory Day celebration/commemoration in Russia.

Thousands of people in every city have taken part in the march bringing the portraits of their relatives who died during the WWII. 

As you probably know that Russia and the former USSR republics lost some 25 000 000 ++ lives in the war. It then will not surprise you to know that every Russian person you meet has someone in his family or someone he knows amongst the casualties of the war.

70 years passed but the sorrow it brought to every family is still strongly evident. People could not have forgotten a close relative passing away in such a tragic event.

Many of those portraits are parents, brothers, grandparents & great-grandparents to some.

It is heartbreaking to witness such march especially when you know many of them in the crowd. 

It is one thing when you just learn about it in history books. It is one thing when you just hear people talk about it. But it is another when you hear stories yourself from first hand witnesses, survivors and families of those who perished.

"NO ONE IS FORGOTTEN, NOTHING IS FORGOTTEN"

That's what they would tell you and that's  what the message they would like to convey.

The march halted at the eternal flame where people laid flowers, uttered prayers and stood in silence while watching the flame.

Flames can be very mesmerizing. If you stand in silence and stare at it, many thoughts will flourish into your mind ... especially philosophical questions about life & death.

Note: This is a different flame from the other war memorial I have posted before. There are at least 2 in the city. 

The pictures of many people holding portraits of their deseased loved ones are not my shots, I took them from the interenet since I didn't get a good chance to take photos myself. The rest however are mine.

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Our World Tuesday

WATW

WWII Memorial & Eternal Flame

May is a month of holidays in Russia. May 1-4 is a holiday celebrating Labor Day and May 9-11 is a big holiday celebrating and commemorating the Victory Day of the WWII.

Since the country has been to many different wars, memorials to those wars are seen all around. Losing 20,000,000 lives of both army and civilian, WWII was an extremely important part of their history. 

Many memorial monuments come with an eternal flame. It is an eternal flame of glory forever lit for the known and unknown lives that were lost in the war. 

I like this massive sculpture of a man trying to rise after having fallen. It represents the people, the country that no matter how much the war has taken from them, they stood to survive.

The whole complex is with the sculpture, stele, and the eternal flame. This is just one of the complexes. I'll  show you what's in the Victory park next post.

The city is busy preparing for the big event on May 9. 

Linking with: 

Our World Tuesday

A Photowalk in early Spring

 Weekend was a nice. It was sunny and dry in the morning. I decided to take a walk around the city center to see how the weather has changed for spring so far.

The roads and pavements were finally free of snow. However it was still cold especially at this area where the ricer is somewhere behind those residential.

It was becoming more and more cloudy and colder too. This is a commercial building. Many spaces are still for rent. I saw it under construction when I first came.

There were some nice elements in this building and on the other building at its back. I wasn't  able to get much closer though. There was a wedding pictorial going on and I didn't  want to disturb.

As I approached the Freedom square, it finally rained. First I had to tske shelter from the city hall (I didn't  make a picture of the building)

And when the rain stopped for awhile, I found a nice cafe just across the ballet theater. The place is not very big but spacious enough. I like the big sofas. It is attached to tge old house (to the left) where Lenin used to go for chess games.

Sun came out agsin after the rain as you can see the sky is clear and blue.

It is a busy season for the theater. People start arriving for the first show. It is Nureyev festival.

You may cluck beliw for his biography.

NUREYEV  

(taken from the internet)

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Men's Day

23

February

Dyen  zashchitnika Otechestva

DEFENDER OF THE FATHERLAND DAY

It is now popularly called Men's Day to go along with the Women's Day on March 8. This is also a counterpart of the Father's  Day in other Westetn countries.

Historically,  it was the date of the creation of the Red (Soviet) Army in 1918. It  was historically celebrated by those who served in the army who therefore defended their homeland. 

However, if the men in one's  life have not been a part of any war, it still considered polite and important to recognize them in this day. In this way,  it can be shown that men and women are both important  to one another as Women's  Day is widely celebrated. It is considered rude to forget about Women's  Day celebration in Russia.

The funny side of this celebration is that it's  one day a man is allowed (very often by wives or girlfriends) to do as they please. They are exempted from taking the trash out, driving the kids to school and so on. They are usually pampered on this day. 

Since it is a non-working holiday, I had the chance to watch some of them celebrate the holiday. I saw many couples and families in the mall. It is them, men, who are shopping. Well, being shopped by women in their lives. It's either a wife, a girlfriend or a mother. It is funny to observe from aside. They are happy, though sometimes they look shy, they still can't  hide in their faces the feeling that someone is taking care or pampering them. Some of them are walking alone, probably enjoying the "freedom" from kids and wife :). Others are with other male friends. 

I think it is a nice holiday. I believe that men should be given a day of pampering just as women on March 8. The best thing about it is that one brings happiness to another.