Anna Popova

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: miljko, antuanetto/Getty Images)

What does the expression “pouring from empty to empty” mean?

Archive photo; Alexei Bushkin/Sputnik

What were Soviet comic books about? (PICS)

Public domain

Who was Russia’s only king?

Gateway to Russia (Photo: spacedrone808/Getty Images, mascaron.org)

Did you know? The Russian double-headed eagle is over 500 years old!

Public domain

How an American writer lived with Tolstoy & traveled with vagabonds in Russia

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Alexei Savrasov/Tretyakov gallery; Vladimir Makovsky; Public domain; Freepik.com)

10 Russian proverbs about summer

Alyona Yashina/FC Zenit / TASS

6 facts about Zenit soccer club, one of the oldest in Russia (PHOTOS)

Igor Onouchin / TASS

Did you know that Russia is washed by three oceans? Yes, really!

Sputnik

8 Soviet movies about time travel that you can watch FREE ONLINE

Dina Eltseva

This painting has 15 encrypted Russian proverbs & catchphrases!

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Getty Images, Klipartz/Public domain, Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky)

What did Russian classic writers say about SUMMER?

Andronius / Getty Images

5 islands in Russia where you can relax (PHOTOS)

Russian museum

What’s going on in the painting ‘Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo Field’ by Vasily Sazonov?

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Westend61, ctoelg, Natalya Kosarevich, sayu_k/Getty Images)

10 Russian proverbs about birds

milan2099 / Getty Images

What should a foreigner do if he gets sick in Russia?

Denis Mamin / Getty Images

Why are there more bridges in St. Petersburg than in Venice?

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Apilart/Getty Images; Pushkin House; Royal Collection)

Why did Russians start calling St. Petersburg ‘Piter’?

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Sputnik; Georgy Yungvald-Khilkevich/Odessa Film Studio, 1978; Vasily Levin/Odessa Film Studio, 1975; Vitaly Melnikov/Lenfilm, 1975; Vasily Pichul/Gorky Film Studio, 1988; freepik.com)

10 hunks of Soviet cinema (PHOTOS)

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: freepik.com)

What does the expression “like snow on one’s head” mean?

Alexei Danichev / Sputnik

5 facts about the largest datsan in Tsarist Russia (PHOTOS)

Russian museum

What is going on in the historical painting by Pavel Chistyakov?

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: fotostorm/Getty Images; Jacques-Louis David; Freepik.com)

What does the expression “to sit in a puddle” mean?

KEYSTONE-FRANCE/Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images

10 Russian movies that won awards at Cannes

ilkercelik / Getty Images

How is the double-headed eagle from the Russian coat of arms different from the others?

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Yandex)

This village near Moscow has the longest geographical name in Russia!

Sputnik

How a French director helped the movie ‘The Cranes Are Flying’ get to Cannes

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Mark Zakharov/TO Ekran, 1976; Legion Media)

What does the expression “on a platter with a blue border” mean?

Komsomolskaya Pravda / Global Look Press

How is the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ elected?

Russian museum

How Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich came up with the first traffic rules

Russian museum

How Empress Maria Feodorovna arranged colorful fancy-dress balls (PICS)

Stephen Simpson / Getty Images

What does the expression “don’t spill the water” mean?

Museum of Moscow/russiainphoto.ru

May Day demonstrations through the lens of Soviet photographers (PICS)

Vitaly Belousov / Sputnik

Who can become a godfather or godmother in Russia?

Public domain

Mikhail Zemtsov: The first certified Russian architect

Pyotr Myasoedov

Why was Archpriest Avvakum burned alive?

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: freepik.com; Konstantin Kokoshkin/Interpress/Global Look)

What is a ‘zga’ and why can't you see it?

V.N. Pchelin

Why was ‘Saltychikha’ considered to be Russia’s CRUELEST woman?

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Lenorlux/ Getty Images; Klipartz)

10 most UNUSUAL geographical names on the map of Russia

Klavdy Lebedev/Tretyakov Gallery

What is happening in the painting ‘Abolition of the Novgorod Veche’ by Klavdiy Lebedev?

‘Ilya Muromets’ Alexander Ptushko, Anatoly Petritski/Mosfilm, 1956 / Legion Media

5 Soviet fairy tales directed by Alexander Ptushko, which you can watch ONLINE

Westend61 / Getty Images

7 MAIN masterpieces of Carlo Rossi in St. Petersburg (PHOTOS)

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: André Skonieczny/Global Look Press; freepik.com)

10 popular Russian phraseological units with… body parts!

Tretyakov gallery

What is going on in the painting ‘Religious Procession in Kursk Province’ by Ilya Repin?

Sputnik

6 Soviet screen adaptations of Shakespeare, which you can watch ONLINE

Pavlikhin (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Where was the last church of the Nicholas II family located?

Alexander Galperin / Sputnik

How religious processions are held in Russia

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Legion Media; Howard George/Getty Images)

What does the expression “(well) kneaded kalach” mean?

Shidlovsky / Sputnik

5 facts about Ernst Neizvestny, The man who dared to argue with Nikita Khrushchev

Russian museums

Why was Kozelsk called ‘The evil city’?

Yuri Abramochkin / Sputnik

How did the Soviet authorities spoil their ‘favorites’?

ilkercelik / Getty Images

These heraldic eagles are three-headed! Why?

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: freepik.com)

10 proverbs about food

Viktor Vasnetsov/Viktor Vasnetsov museum

10 masterpieces of Russian painting, which were worked on for up to… 40 years!

Gateway to Russia (Photo: YorVen/Getty Images; Legion Media; Fyodor Moller)

What did Russian classic writers think about Lent?

Tretyakov gallery

What’s going on in the painting ‘Jesters at the Court of Anna Ioannovna’ by Valery Jacobi?

Tsyganov Sergey (CC BY-SA 4.0); Public domain

How did St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg get a mini copy?

Public domain

For many years, there was a week-long ‘mushroom madness’ in Moscow. Why?

Kira Lisitskaya

What does the expression “he already nailed the throat” mean?

Marina Khankova

‘Russian Alphabet’: How an artist from Moscow Region came up with magical stories for each letter of the alphabet

Shchusev Museum of Architecture; Hermitage

Why did Catherine II order half of the Moscow Kremlin to be demolished?