The Culture of Russia

Russia’s great distance from western civilizations, severe climatic extremes, vast land mass and myriad ethnic communities have given rise to a culture that is unique, distinct and wholly unlike anything you are likely to have experienced before.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia has been trying to restore the old art, architecture, churches and other cultural symbols and artifacts from the pre-Soviet era.

Literature has always been at the forefront in Russia. In the nineteenth century Russian literature went through a golden age and it is then that literary greats like Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky sprang onto the world stage. Although Russian literature declined under the Soviet regime, dissidents like Solzhenitsyn and Boris Pasternak continued this great tradition.

Russian icon painting, inherited from the art of the Byzantine churches, can be found at the Tretyakov Gallery. Russian Avant Garde art is also well known. Architecture has blossomed in recent years leading to the mushrooming of both skyscrapers as well as buildings in the Stalinist style.