The Metaphysics of the North

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Roadside Chapel of Cyricus and Julitta — Magic of Old Northern Roads

In Russian folk tradition, the Road was considered a rather eerie place, where a traveler could encounter many dangers: wild beasts, ruthless men, and of course, the Unclean Force.

Roadside Chapel of Cyricus and Julitta — Magic of Old Northern Roads

Roadside Chapel of Cyricus and Julitta — Magic of Old Northern Roads

Lampovo: Old Believer Village near St. Petersburg

The Izhora Plateau—known in old Western sources as Ingermanland —is not the sort of place you would expect to find Russian Old Believers. No famous spiritual centers ever rose here, no wandering prophets o...

Lampovo: Old Believer Village near St. Petersburg

wooden architecture Russian North rural heritage Ingermanland winter photography northern villages folk culture старообрядчество староверие древлеправославие деревянные дома архитектура

Lampovo: Old Believer Village near St. Petersburg

Veps Castle

Did you know that in ancient times the mighty Vepsian lords built stone fortresses right into the cliffs, defending their realm and keeping the land of Vepsia independent for centuries? You’ve never heard of it? G...

Veps Castle

заброшка финны онежское озеро руины крепость вепсы онего фортификация финский ленобласть Finnish fortifications WWII ruins abandoned places Northern Russia photography Karelia autumn mystic travel Finno-Ugric culture

Veps Castle

The Stone Woman

In the Pskov lands, caught between the cultivated Enlightenment of St. Petersburg on one side and the former Baltic provinces on the other, one can still encounter relics of ancient faith that rival those of Mezen or K...

The Stone Woman

псковская область двоеверие святыня Почитаемый крест народная традиция могила medieval cross grave

The Stone Woman

Gimoretsky pogost — the town of the dead of the Russian North

On a mountain, atop a high hill, behind sturdy gates and oak walls, far from human dwellings, on the border of forest and field, there has stood for nearly four centuries a town of the dead — the Gimoretsky churchyard....

Gimoretsky pogost — the town of the dead of the Russian North

кладбище гимрека гиморецкий погост колокольня деревянная церковь graveyard wooden church

Gimoretsky pogost — the town of the dead of the Russian North

Dumino Sacred Grove: A Cemetery Shrine of the Russian North

язычество кладбище святыня архангельская погост роща поминальная реликтовые деревья Антропоморфные Abandoned graveyard forgotten north gravestones sacred landscapes

Dumino Sacred Grove: A Cemetery Shrine of the Russian North

Dumino Village

An abandoned settlement in the Kargopol lands, where you can feel like a true Robinson Crusoe. This place is an archetypal example of the coexistence of the sacred and the mundane: the silent village borders a sa...

Dumino Village

заброшка русский север заброшенное руины деревня Нежилая деревня избы Abandoned sacred cemetery grove

Dumino Village

The Road to Dumino

Several years ago, on April 30th, we set out on a journey to our most beloved Arkhangelsk Province — to Kenozero National Park. There is a magical place we had long dreamed of visiting: the abandoned village o...

The Road to Dumino

нежилое заброшенное север пейзаж лес лесной природа медведь медвежий болото озеро весна Abandoned northern nature north forest swamps lakes

The Road to Dumino

Medveditskaya Ridge: Journey into the Anomalous Zone

In the godforsaken Zhirnovsky District of Volgograd Oblast, right on the border with Saratov, lies a place long wrapped in legends and myths — the Medveditskaya Ridge.

Medveditskaya Ridge: Journey into the Anomalous Zone

мистика аномальщина аномальное мистический степи степные пейзажи Place of Power dancing” forest

Medveditskaya Ridge: Journey into the Anomalous Zone

Vorzogory — Village of the Wind on the White Sea

The main wonder of Vorzogory (with stress on the first syllable) — a small Pomor village — is not its large peasant houses (there are bigger ones elsewhere), nor the two-church ensemble of the Vorzogory Pogost, whose o...

Vorzogory — Village of the Wind on the White Sea

русский север деревня северный арктика село арктический pomors Arctic

Vorzogory — Village of the Wind on the White Sea

The Friday Stone

The Friday Stone is a massive sacred boulder with a deep hollow on top that never dries out. It lies about a hundred kilometers from St. Petersburg, in a field by the road between the settlement of Volodarskoye and the...

The Friday Stone

следовик двоеверие лужский район чашечник mystical megalith

The Friday Stone

Naglimozero Artova Hermitage

All that remains of the Naglimozero Artova Men’s Hermitage in the taiga wilderness of Kenozerye—founded in the remote 17th century by a former streltsy soldier named Timofey—is the solitary cell of its last monk and a ...

Naglimozero Artova Hermitage

архангельская область каргопольский келья духи леса зимние пейзажи Каргополье winter snow wilderness taiga

Naglimozero Artova Hermitage

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