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This 1980s era Soviet tower block has been given a Periodic Table theme in honour of Dmitri Mendeleev the inventor of the periodic table who was born in a village near the city and later attended the local grammar school.
At the entrance to the city, this structure, commissioned for the prized Perm Museum of Modern Art, symbolises both a gated entrance to the city and looks like the letter "p" in Russian, the first letter of the name of the city. Fun facts the monument contains 5,200 logs and cost around £120,000 to build.
During the two year plus siege of Leningrad hundreds of thousands of people died from starvation and disease. Alongside them were many cats who had been keeping the city's rat population at bay. With the cats gone rats began to devour the city's food resources and even the Hermitage Museum's art. In an attempt to tackle this problem Siberians began sending their cats to the city. Years later these feline heroes have been honoured with the dedication of an alley to them and the construction of a series of monuments. Interestingly the Hermitage museum still has 74 cats guarding the museum's stores.
In 1990 Marina and Vladimir Smirnov established the Soviet Union's first private museum in Pokrovskoye, the tiny, 2,000 resident, hometown of Grigory Rasputin. 85km down the desolate Tobolsk tract, the Rasputin Museum is located in a reconstruction of the monk's house, opposite the site of the original. Sadly this was torn down by the Soviet authorities in advance of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow as it was becoming a pilgrimage site for sympathisers of the Russian Royal family. The Smirnovs, who gave us a two hour tour of the museum, are evidently extremely proud of their collection which include original signatures, photos and general Rasputin paraphernalia. The museum's signature pieces are the chair in the left of the photo, which the couple claim belonged to Rasputin himself (and allow guests to sit on!!) and the window frame in the centre, which was saved from the rubble of the original house.
Built in 1987 as the "pedestrian" bridge it was renamed in 2003 after a local competition for the longest / most unusual kiss (depending on the website) by a local radio station. It has since been voted the most iconic symbol of the city. As is the tradition in Russia many couples lock a padlock to the bridge with their names engraved and toss the keys into the river symbolising the eternity of their love. When I visited there were hardly any locks on the bridge which seemed odd, however apparently they have to cut them off every two years to counter the weight added to the bridge!
The futuristic White Tower, built in 1931, was at the time the largest water tower in the World. It is a prime example of the Constructivist Movement in architecture which dominated the Soviet Union, and came to define Yekaterinburg, in the 1920s and early 30s. Today, despite being a city icon and recognised by UNESCO as a significant monument of the era the building is slowly falling into disrepair hemmed in between a new motorway and a petrol station.
During the 1990s Yekaterinburg had a serious problem with Mafia fighting between what were known as the "Uralmash Gang" and the "Central Gang." The Shirokorechenskoe Graveyard contains the graves of many victims of this conflict. Towering tombstones depict life-sized images of the gangsters, many in leather jackets holding Mercedes-Benz car keys, a symbol of power and wealth at the time.
The T-34 is widely recognised as one the most effective and influential tank designs of WWII. After the war the UVZ factory where it had been produced shifted its focus to other products including railway wagons, however they continue to build tanks and supply them across the World to countries such as Poland, Germany, India and Angola. Today UVZ is the World's largest tank producer earning the city its nickname Tankograd (grad being a suffix for city).
Built by Akinfy Demidov, once the richest man in Russia bar Peter the Great, there are many rumours as to why the tower is leaning. Some say he wanted it to point towards his home town of Tula, others that it was due to the intentional flooding of the tower's basement where it was claimed Demidov was illegally minting coins. Whilst the list goes on apparently however there is little evidence to support any of them and surveying data suggests that it was simply the result of unstable foundations which the architects failed to notice until half of the tower was constructed, hence the attempt to level the tower out towards the top.
Pobeg, from Kazakhstan, works as a security guard of sorts. Sitting in a tiny shed he watches over a handful of cars at night.
I asked if I could take a picture of him next to his booth but he was keen to get a picture with this car instead.
I asked if I could take a picture of him next to his booth but he was keen to get a picture with this car instead.
For more photos go to the page '2011-2012'