All conscious Russian Orthodox people know of St Serafim Vyritsky… this was his home. His grave is here and is a special attraction for Orthodox pilgrims. St Serafim prayed for the victory of the Red Army and for the deliverance of his town from Fascist occupation. This town is near to St Petersburg, but it has a deep rural feel to it.
BMD
The Sayano-Shushenskaya State Nature Biosphere Reserve is in a remote area of the West Sayan in the southern Krasnoyarsk Krai on the left bank of the Yenisei River in the area of influence of the Sayano-Shushenskoye Hydroelectric Dam Reservoir. At present, the Reserve is 3,904 square kilometres (1,507 square miles) in area, about 25 percent is Siberian Cedar forest. The Russian state has set aside another 6,904 square kilometres (2,666 square miles) as an addition to the Reserve in future; it’s banned all development in this region. That’d give it 10,808 square kilometres (4,173 square miles)… Yellowstone National Park is 8,983 square kilometres (3,463 square miles), thus, you could throw Yellowstone into this Reserve, with room to spare. In comparison, Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens) is 3,629 square kilometres (1,401 square miles), roughly the size of the present preserve… the planned preserve area is a little under three times the size of Long Island. No small park by any measure, is it?
BMD
In rural parts, many Russians do keep tame bears as pets. WTF! It HAS to be Russia… you can’t understand it with your mind, you can only accept it for what it is…
BMD
Founded in 1780, the claim to fame of Holy Trinity Serafimo-Diveyevsky Convent is that it had a connection with St Serafim Sarovsky. Closed in 1927, it reopened in 1988… well before the fall of the USSR.
BMD
Voices From Russia, Too 
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